Akando swallowed and stared out at the beach. Right before his very eyes, a massive behemoth was growing. It was golden, made of stones. The vehicles that the foreign invaders had arrived in were tiny in comparison to the one his great god was creating. He gripped the shaft of his axe and swallowed again. Even though he had been blessed by the god multiple times, and his strength had risen to inhuman levels, he still felt tiny in the great god’s presence. When Flying Serpent demonstrated his powers of creation, it reminded Akando of his own mortality. He couldn’t help but shout, “Praise Flying Serpent!”

“Praise Flying Serpent!”

Hundreds of thousands of natives had gathered, and more were arriving with every passing second. All the leaders—whether they be priests, village heads, or the chiefs of tribes—had received an oracle as long as they were within sight of any golden statue that Vur had erected earlier. The messenger was a spirit rabbit, and the message was simple: The great god is tired of his lands being invaded by foreigners; he’s going to deal with them once and for all by attacking their homeland; send your greatest warriors to the beaches.

“Board the vehicles!”

Prika hovered in the air, flapping her wings. On top of her head, Vur was in his human form, sitting with his legs crossed. With the help of Diamant, he manipulated the rocks far below in the ocean, constructing ship after ship, each one larger than a dragon. They rose up to the surface like bubbles, water cascading out of holes in the ship once they emerged. When the ships were emptied of water, the holes on their bodies sealed themselves, and a ramp extended from the stern of the ship towards the beach, allowing the natives to board them without trouble. Prika furrowed her brow upon seeing thousands of natives entering a boat. “Are you sure that thing won’t sink? It’s made out of rocks. I don’t want my new source of romance novels to drown immediately after I got them.”

“It’s impossible for anything to sink in the ocean when Mistle doesn’t want it to,” Vur said.

Prika scratched her snout. “You know, I never expected you to get so strong,” she said, rolling her eyes up to look at Vur. “Look at you, creating things and being worshipped as a god. It feels like just the other day you were still a baby, and now you can catch a meteor in your sleep. Sure, my meteors aren’t as strong as your gramps’ meteors, but still, didn’t you struggle while dealing with his? It’s not like I’m bitter or anything.”

Vur raised an eyebrow and lowered his head, meeting Prika’s gaze. “I’m a dragon, and dragons get stronger the more they sleep, and I’ve been sleeping a lot recently.”

“Dragons get stronger the more they sleep?” Prika asked. She snorted. “Who told you that nonsense?”

“My dad did.”

Prika blinked twice. “Did I say nonsense? You must’ve misheard. I didn’t say anything at all.” She cleared her throat. “Anyway, why are you listening to that talking food? What’s the point of bringing all these people across the ocean? They’ll just slow us down.”

“They’ll help us find Tafel and everyone else,” Vur said. “Searching alone takes too long. Why would I do that when I can have them do it for me instead? It’s similar to how Auntie lets her skeletons do everything for her.”

“I guess you have a point,” Prika said and scratched her chin. “They’re pretty efficient too, it seems. They’re all loaded up. Ready to go?”

“Yep. Let’s go.”

***

Mary yawned and leaned back, resting against the railing of the crow’s nest she was in. She was atop a ship, the same one Tafel had found her on. For some reason, she found it really relaxing to be out at sea. As for searching for Vur and Prika, she wasn’t too concerned; they’d be found eventually. For now, she just wanted to take it easy. Sure, she didn’t have many responsibilities after she handed over her authority to that evil dragon’s elven mate, but it’s not like she was completely free either. Taking care of Mary Junior was rough. Sometimes, the turtlesnack would cry at night, waking her up. Other times, it would nibble at her toes if she forgot to feed it for a few days.

Mary sighed. She wouldn’t have to worry about Mary Junior if that evil dragon weren’t there, looming like a sword over her head. When was Tafel going to help her get rid of him? She promised to help her one day, but every time Mary asked about it, Tafel would skirt around the question and bring up the topic of food instead. Mary shook her head. Even if she was a little dumb at times, she still knew how to read obvious cues. Tafel didn’t want to help her, so the task of slaying the evil dragon would have to be accomplished on her own.

Speaking of evil dragons, one seemed to be flying in the sky right now. Mary furrowed her brow and sat up, squinting at the sky. There was a red dragon on the horizon, barely larger than a dot. Was that Prika? Or was it another dragon that happened to live in this world? Either way, it didn’t matter. Mary grasped the necklace that Tafel had given her and injected some mana into it. Moments later, a portal appeared, revealing a demon, who was sitting on a plush couch with a book in her hands. “Good morning, Mary. Still out at sea?”

“I think I see Prika,” Mary said, cutting straight to the chase. “Come.”

Tafel’s eyes widened. “Finally,” she said and placed the book down, heading through the portal. She yelped as her foot stepped on empty air, and she barely caught herself on the crow’s nest railing to prevent herself from falling. She pulled herself up and cleared her throat, closing the portal behind her with a wave of her hand. “Please open portals on stable ground,” she said before looking around. “Where’s Prika?”

Mary pointed. “Over there.”

Tafel squinted and frowned. “Your eyesight must be much better than mine because all I see is a dot.”