"Are you really sure that this is a good idea?" I inquired with a wary frown.

"Indeed, I am. The more powerful allies we have, the more secure our nation of Arcadia will be. Which will raise our chances of successfully negotiating with the other nations to free the remaining two Demons who are still captive, without needing to resort to violence," Pointed out Satan objectively.

"Well, if you say so, I guess..."

"I have to say, I’m feeling really nervous right now, not to mention anxious," Remarked Izzy, taking a deep breath and slowly exhaling.

"I suppose that’s only natural, considering the situation. But it will be fine, my dear, there’s nothing to be nervous about," Responded Satan, patting her shoulder reassuringly.

Today’s the 25th of Maius, 2020, a little over a week had passed since we renamed Hematite to Arcadia. Things have been going pretty well, and a couple of days ago, Satan approached me and suggesting getting more allies into our nation.

Word of our conquest of Hematite had spread throughout the Dark Continent, and it’s not impossible that the other nations may think we’re vulnerable since we only just finished our battle to take over the nation, and try to attack us and take it for themselves.

We suffered zero casualties in the battle, but we don’t exactly have a particularly big army on our side. Not to mention, we killed all of Hematite’s Knights, and the remaining Adventurers probably won’t be too keen to fight alongside us if it comes to that, at least for now.

Between myself, Satan, Lucifer and Izzy, I doubt there’s any army in this world who stands a chance of defeating us, but while we’ve got plenty of quality, we could use a bit more quantity to our forces.

So, in order to rectify that issue, Satan decided that we need to bolster our ranks...and he got the idea to meet with a member of one of the other Demonic Grade Monster species.

Specifically, a Dragon King...more specifically, Izzy’s mother, the Plasma Dragon King Frielektra.

The Dragon Kings are the oldest beings in this world, they’re extremely powerful but tend to be averse to conflict, so they spend most of the time living in hiding and hibernating.

Apparently, they used to be more outgoing and would fly around quite frequently, but after humans began to grow in number and strength and started to villify all other races and species, the Dragon Kings decided to remove themselves from the picture and went into hiding.

There are four of them in total, the Plasma Dragon King, the Water Dragon King, also known as the Frost Dragon King by some, the Wind Dragon King, and finally, the Earth Dragon King.

"So, I’ve been wondering something...why is it that Izzy’s never met her own mother? Azazel said he doesn’t know, but all things considered, you should definitely know," I said to Satan curiously.

"It’s...complicated. Ordinarily, Dragon Kings reproduce asexually, and they lay eggs that hatch into ordinary Dragons and Wyverns. But they rarely do so, since Dragons and Wyverns can mate with each other and reproduce normally, so the Dragon Kings only lay eggs when they instinctively sense that the Dragon or Wyvern populations are diminishing.

All the Dragon Kings are female, so there’s no way for them to mate with each other to produce a new Dragon King. Additionally, they don’t really raise the Dragons and Wyverns they hatch, they watch over them for a few weeks and then send them off into the world once they grow bigger, they harbor no real emotional attachment.

To get to the point, the Dragon Kings aren’t really cut out for parenting, it’s not a natural concept to them...so, after Frielektra realized that I had impregnated her, we discussed it and decided that I would raise Izzy. We had intended on having Izzy meet her eventually, but then the humans attacked us and I never got the chance to do so," Explained Satan, as we entered a cave hidden in a mountain.

We’d come to the nation of Imole in the Light Continent, to a treacherous mountain range in the northern area of the nation.

There are a lot of Monsters in this area, though they’re staying away from us...they can probably sense that attacking us would be fatal, so they’re keeping their distance.

"Wait...does that mean I hatched out of an egg?" Inquired Izzy in bemusement.

"Yes, that’s right," Nodded Satan affirmatively.

"Huh...I’m not entirely sure how to feel about that."

"When you sent Izzy into hiding in that Labyrinth, why didn’t you have her go find her mother instead?" I asked him.

"Well...because she didn’t have a very good sense of direction. I was afraid she would get lost if I sent her so far away," He replied with a wry smile.

"Hey!"

"I’m sorry, dear, but it’s the truth."

I can see why the Plasma Dragon King chose this place as a hiding spot...there are a lot of Monsters here, I can sense their gazes on us, though I’m not sensing any real hostility or aggression, it’s mostly fear and wariness.

"It’s really hot in here," I mused, wiping my brow as I felt beads of sweat forming across my forehead.

"That’s a good sign, it means she’s definitely here...I was afraid that she might have moved to a new hiding spot after all this time, but it looks like we’re in luck," Replied Satan, before we entered a large, dark space, the air immensely humid and sweltering.

My eyes took a moment to adjust, before I spotted a large figure at the back of the space, the outline resembling that of a Dragon, except about twice as big.

Suddenly, the figure moved slightly, a couple of pale blue, fiery glows gleaming through the darkness as the Dragon King opened her eyes, before narrowing them as the heat in the space sharply intensified...

"Who goes there? No, that isn’t important...leave this place immediately, or die."

_____________________________________________

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