Kaiser the True Monarch has always been the most unique being among the three children of Alastor. As a fragment of Shana' soul, he too adopted upon himself one of her strongest emotions, creating his own self from it, as well as inherited a portion of his father's power. But unlike the other two, Kaiser was conceived from a very particular emotion, one that stood out as the strongest positive feeling the cat girl Shana possessed: courage.

So what was courage? Was it the will to go up against what would normally terrorize anyone else? Or was it the resolve of one's own determination that allowed them to achieve impossible feats? Each might have their own definition of courage but perhaps, there was one that would fit the most to the True Monarch: the audacity of defiance.

It took a lot of courage to dare to go against the will of something much more powerful than oneself. It was thanks to this emotion that allowed Shana to be alive all these years. It was what helped her to overcome all those ordeals till the very end. Even in that short moment of despair at the end of her life, she faced it bravely, thinking only of the boy by her side, the one that would be left behind. And Kaiser was a being made essentially of that feeling.

The will to defy all was a powerful thing. With a strong enough will, one might think they could overcome even the most arduous trial of all. And sometimes that included the most terrifying challenge of the living: death.

.....

"....What the hell is that?" the dragon lord uttered as he laid his sight upon the harrowing figure in the sky. Every trace of the being named Kaiser was gone. Instead, something else was at his place.

A bizarre creature was hovering on air with a large pair of ashen wings, the colour of something that has been burned at an intense heat so much that nothing but ashes remained. And yet somehow, these cinders have managed to retain their shape, going as far as attaining a new form of plumed ailerons. But those angelic wings were perhaps the only thing that seemed holy as the rest of the creature's body could only be described as fiendish to say the very least. Wielding a seemingly armor made out of bones with palpable crimson fleshes twitching from inside the white cartilage, the creature had a mouth for the face, dangling with gnawing teeth.

" *Heavy Exhaling* What a dangerous thing you have there! To think that it managed to damage me to this point!" the creature spoke in a familiar voice. "It was an...intriguing experience."

"Kaiser? Is that you?" Celdora challenged upon recognize the voice.

"That's not possible! You should be dead!" shouted Taragon in disbelief. No one has ever managed to survive the full blast of a mana bomb and still lived to tell the tale. So how was it possible that he survived?

"I was. But now I am back. If you think the shackles of death can repress me, then you have severely underestimated me." Kaiser spoke. "A True Monarch never dies, as long as his people need him."

"Argg...this won't be over yet, not by a long shot." Taragon grunted in anger. Indeed he has underestimated Kaiser by thinking that the mana bomb would solve his problem. It took a lot of efforts for the young black dragon to sneak out this weapon from the sealed chamber of his father and all that was for nothing. He thought that by taking out Kaiser, the use of the mana bomb would be justifiable when he would be challenged by the rest of the council but in this case, not only did he commit a crime by stealing the bomb, Kaiser was still alive and well. But it was not like he was at his rope's end. Taragon still had something up his sleeves: the ultimate weapon of Oros. "I will wipe out all of you vermin...in time." Said the black dragon before taking flight toward Canaan.

The first battle has ended with the rebels emerging as the victor. However, there was now one problem. For the first time, Kaiser's true form underneath that white cloak has been revealed: a faceless demonic monster that was certainly not part of the Prime races and certainly not a human like many of the dragons have assumed he was. Aside from Celdora and a few confidants, no one knew that Kaiser was actually a demon. Or perhaps that sentence was not true. Because of the special circumstance surrounding his creation, it was unclear what exactly he was. Was he a demon? Possible. A new lifeform? Perhaps. But the main question was how would the dragons, those who stood by his side so far, react to this revelation?

Flapping his ashen wings and slowly landing in the middle of his allies, Kaiser stood solemnly as he watched the startled crowd who were clearly taken back upon seeing his appearance. To be frank, they didn't know how to react as well. This man might perhaps be a demon but they saw his accomplishment. They have fought by his side both as foes and allies. And strangely, they trusted him, so much as they put him to be their leader in this rebellion. He was admired by all. Yet, this seemingly 'betrayal' has crushed that trust...or did it?

"Before anyone of you wants to speak, let me say something: yes, I am a demon!" claimed Kaiser to the crowd around him. Murmurs and loud whispers came from left to right in front of the shocking revelation. "And yes, I have hid this fact from all of you since the very beginning." Kaiser looked at Celdora as a sign to tell him that the dragon lord must not say anything. If there was to be a change in leadership, Celdora must be the one who would take over to make sure that this rebellion would succeed. For that reason, the dragon lord must not be related to Kaiser at all, even if he had to feign ignorance about this fact.

"Why?" many of the crowd questioned the demon. "Why did you not tell us? Is what they said about you true after all? You are just using us? You want to become our king later so you can keep Oros under the control of the demons?"

"No! The demons are not a threat nor are they enemies of you people. We too seek to have peace, to coexist, to share this world with you as part of nature. Though I do admit that I initially came here with a personal intention in mind, it changed as I came to know all of you. I wanted to help you people to regain your freedom and hope that this will allow you to have your own judgment about demons instead of being clouded by the vision of the dragon council. As for me, my vision is that one day demons and the rest of the world could cast aside our differences and become friends. That's my goal.

But I know that friendship and understanding need to be built upon trust. My action, out of fear that you might reject me, has proven to be wrong. Therefore, I swear upon my honour to all of you: at the end of this insurrection, I will depart from Oros and leave the position as your leader up until now to another more worthy individual than I am. Who that person might be, it's up to you. So I ask of you to put your trust in me once more, at least till the end of our movement. This is something I started and I swear that I will finish it." Kaiser gave his speech.

"...." The crowd remained in silence as the dragons looked at each other, unable to take a firm stance. In the deepest part of their hearts, they trusted him and in a stranger manner for an unexplainable reason, they still did. However, it was just that this came too sudden and because they only told them now without taking the first initiative but instead via the current circumstance.

'How would they react now that everything begins to fall apart? And just after such a glorious victory...Depending on what happens next, it might be the end of this insurrection.' thought Malick as he observed the people around him. And to his surprise, something unexpected happened.

"So...what exactly is the problem?" a young dragon, most average of all with nothing special, stepped out of the crowd and casually said. His question raised a demur in the mind of those around him. Did he not understand anything that just happened?

"What?" asked the crowd.

"I mean, ok he is a demon....so what is the problem? It's not like it will change anything right?" the youngling said. He was one of the youths who were inspired by the rising movement of the insurgency that claimed to retake the freedom of the dragons. And yet, even facing this lie from his leader, the youth didn't change his mind nor did he doubt the cause of this movement one bit. "I am still young compared to most of you seniors so I might not that wise to see things as clear as you did. But for years I have questioned our hatred for the demons...no that isn't right. It's not our opinion but the opinion of the dragon council about the demons. Me personally, I have never seen them doing anything against us. Many have told me that they are evil but I see is us killing them for no reason at all. I am not that good with history so I don't know what happened in the first place but even if they did something bad, isn't it enough already? Why continue this unreasonable hate toward them while we are the ones who did the killing?

As for Kaiser....I mean, yeah, he didn't tell us about his race but he has been quite truthful to everyone about everything else...at least that's how I see this. And when that guy threw the bomb thing, if not for Kaiser who risked his life for us, we would not be here, standing around to doubt him.

So I don't know about you but I will put my trust in Kaiser."

The speech was a bit clumsily spoken but the intentions were well delivered and received by all. And that was the push they needed.

"So do I." another dragon stepped up.

"Me too."

"Make it three!"

"Why not four?"

"....Five...I am not sure but...I will continue to trust you...for now."

In an instant, the tide turned again, this time for the better. One by one, the dragons decided to put their trust in their leader once more. While some doubts remained, they were put aside for now as the insurrection would persist. They have come this far already to stop now. What would happen after could be decided later.

"Everyone...I thank you for placing your confidence in me again. Now let's us march toward Canaan! It's time to put an end to this!" Kaiser proclaimed as his body began to regenerate and took the form of his usual self once again.

And so the rebellion army resumed its course. Their next destination: Canaan.

But as they drew closer to the ancient citadel, they noticed something strange. The once green dense vegetation that grew around the towers has all wilted. Dry and swarthy, it was as if life has been sucked out from them. The land also was barren to the point no one was sure if they were indeed in their once beautiful capital. Furthermore, where were all the guards? How come the dragon council let them in so easily? It was impossible to think that the last army they encountered was their last? Not only were they weak, there was just too few of them to think that it was the last defence of the council. Everything felt like a trap but there was no other choice but to push on.

"Fools who dare desecrate the land of your ancestors, behold the wrath of the Gods!" a familiar figure appeared on the sky. The dragon Taragon has shown himself again, this time even more arrogant than before. How funny it was to see his haughty attitude right now while just a moment ago, he had to flee like a coward! But he had a good reason to be arrogant. For he now held in his hand the ultimate weapon of Oros, figuratively.

All of the sudden, the ground beneath Kaiser and his army trembled as the towers began to illuminate a cobalt light. In addition, trails of magic and strange symbols appeared everywhere on the soil. If seen from above, the six external towers of Canaan have formed an enormous magic circle in the shape of a hexagon with the largest tower at its center.

"You used the Sixth Heavenly Seal???" shouted the white dragon Malick. "How?"

"Hahaha I am surprised to see that someone among you knows about it and yet didn't even tell his allies." Grinned Taragon.

"Malick, what is he talking about?" Kaiser yelled in the middle of the chaos.

"The Towers of Canaan need a special key to be activated. Without it, the seal will not work. But I thought the key was lost. And even if they have the key, everyone who knows how to use it is supposed to be dead." Malick said.

"All but one. My father Maragon is an Ancient dragon since the times of the Gods. There is nothing he doesn't know about." The young black dragon responded.

"Maragon is still alive? But even if he is, he would never condone this kind of action, to use the mana bomb out of all things on his own people." The white dragon claimed.

"Desperate times call for desperate measures. But enough talking! Now die!" In an instant, an energy barrier appeared between Taragon and the rebels, cutting them out of Canaan. But that was not all. Azure beams and volleys of mana began to shoot out from the surface of the towers toward the rebellion army, decimating them.

""

Triangles of light appeared in front of the army, shielding them from harm as the white dragon shouted at Kaiser. "We must retreat now! Else this thing will destroy us all."

The shields created by Malick, while powerful, would not be able to protect this many people for long. In addition, they could not advance into the towers as the energy barrier prevented them from doing so. These two mechanisms together formed the ultimate defence of the City of Firmament Spires.

Without any other choice, Kaiser ordered his troops to retreat back out of the range of those beams. While he was bitter about it, Kaiser refused to be his people to die for nothing. This marked the first defeat of the Everlasting Monarch since the beginning of this campaign and a victory to the dragon council. Their plan has worked. Thanks to the barrier, now they just needed to wait for the end of the conflict in Mara for their allies to come and finish this civil war once and for all. That would be the case if nothing else changed. But unknown to both sides, a new visitor has just taken his first step on this ancient continent. How would he, such a tiny figure, affect the outcome of this war? Only time would tell.

* * *

Meanwhile in Cedra, at the mansion of the Osborne family, the leader of the band of mercenaries Hunters has decided to pay a visit to the young lord of the house upon hearing Tasha's miraculous recovery.

"Here is your tea, lady Maria! Please enjoy!" Tasha put down a warm cup of tea on the table from her plate before retreating from the room as she hymned happily to the door.

Taking on the aromatic cup on her hand, Maria commented about the maid. "That's indeed quite an odd behaviour. So you said that she doesn't remember anything that happened to her?"

"Yeah...I guess that experience was a bit too traumatic for her mind. Maybe it's better this way." Said Edward.

"I don't know..it just seems a bit ... too convenient to me. Did you try to press her more?" asked Maria.

"Miss Maria, I don't think that is a good idea to talk anymore about this issue. It's already fortuitous enough for me to see her smile again and I don't intend to do anything that may put her through that again."

"But you are aware that there are still remnants of the cult of Lumen out there, right? If she could remember something, even the slightest detail of their plan, it might help us locate their other hideouts...."

"And we will. But we would have to do it without Tasha's help." Edward affirmed.

"Why do I feel like you are hiding something from me?" said Maria.

"Then we share our opinion. Your excuse of sharing my idea does seem a bit....convenient to me too." Edward sipped his tea.

"What is that supposed to mean?" the woman changed her tone.

"Nothing! I am only asking you to treat me the same way as I treat you. I did not ask about your past nor did I inquire more about how you came to me in the first place. It's not like I doubt your intention to make the demons equal to the primes but I feel like there is something more to your reason being here. Still, I did not press on the matter. It would be nice if you do the same for me. It's for our own goods, don't you agree?" Edward spoke. "

"...You are starting to learn." Maria uttered.

"I have to...For Tasha!"

"Very well! I will drop this matter from now on. But I do hope that you know what you are doing. Not just for your own sake but for hers as well."

"...I too hope so." Edward muttered softly to himself as he put his hand on his chest where the brand was. "His Majesty will be going to lead our troops to the southern borders in a few days. The war is finally here. I have wished that we would not come to this but now I know it's just a hopeful dream. *sigh*"

"It comes much quicker than I thought it would. But I guess it's natural for things to end this way, especially after the attack on Eiseinheim." Maria stated. "That was too far and quite underhanded of your leader to do such a thing..."

"No it wasn't king Charles. He didn't even know about the attack until the next morning after it happened. During the meeting yesterday, the king was very furious about it too and has asked for the one responsible to come forward. But as you might have guessed, no one did. However, I think it's pretty clear that it was those dwarves of Dor who were responsible. From the report and Valhalla' accusation, a zeppelin was used during the attack that almost led to the destruction of the palace. As far as I know, only the dwarves have access to that kind of technology. Unfortunately, we can't just accuse them without proof. Even more, if we press them too much, they might pull out their support..." Edward explained.

"Your country has become too dependent on them. At this rate, your king Charles might as well be a puppet to them."

"That's what we, the royal guards and the headmaster of Helios are trying to accomplish: to free Ceadric from their control but they have the support of all the nobles and our resources come from them. Until we find a way around that, Ceadric will have to remain under their influence.

In my opinion, there are two possible ways out of this.

The first option is to find another country that will support us until the situation becomes stable. But as you can see, it's impossible right now as we are at war with all our neighbouring countries. I doubt that they will be willing to support us after what happened in Eiseinheim." Edward conveyed.

"If your country surrenders now, the situation will solve itself. The leaders of the other countries, even the demons, can be quite ...reasonable. They too want peace so if they can avoid war, they would be more than willing to help you." Maria grinned.

"Even if that is the case, the council of Ceadric will never agree to that. They are now practically slaves to the merchants of Dor. As for the king, you should know that his Majesty holds much less power than you think as all major decisions must be passed by the council first. I know that King Charles will do it if he can but unfortunately, it's no longer his call anymore."

"That's why I say your king is a mere puppet. But alas, what is the second option?"