"Super High Speed Healing," I chanted, as I placed my hand on Terrastra’s shoulder, her injuries closing up as her right arm grew back.

"Uh, thank you, human...I appreciate it," She remarked as she moved her right arm around, a look of relief on her face.

"Sure, don’t mention it," I replied with a smile.

"I suppose the price for this is that I join your forces, is that right?" She inquired warily.

I guess it’s only natural that she’d be suspicious of me...man, the humans of this world really went out of their way to make the worst possible impression they could with every other race in existence, didn’t they?

"No, not at all. I’d like to request that you join us, yes, but that’s all it is, a request, nothing more...if you’d prefer not to, then by all means, you’re free to leave, I won’t stop you. After all, an ally who’s only on my side because they were forced to isn’t someone I’d be able to trust. Therefore, it’s your choice to make...if you agree to my request and join us, you’re free to live as you please within Arcadia, so long as you don’t hurt anyone. But if you’re against the idea of allying yourself with humans, then you can leave and go wherever you want," I stated directly.

"How strange...I don’t sense any deceit in your words. There’s also the fact that not only the other Dragon Kings, but the Demons as well, have allied themselves with you...the Demons were nearly driven to extinction by humans, and until today, I assumed that none of them were still alive. If they determined that you were trustworthy despite what they were put through, then it must be true, the humans of this nation aren’t like the majority of humans we’ve grown accustomed to over the centuries," She mused thoughtfully.

The other Dragon Kings and Izzy had just returned to Arcadia a short while ago, after which they brought Terrastra to me for healing. I wasn’t totally sure if my Light Magic would be able to heal a Monster, but fortunately, it worked.

It’s a good thing they found her and brought her here when they did...had a bit more time passed and the stump of her right arm had started to close up, I wouldn’t have been able to regenerate her arm.

"I intend to change that norm, and I believe that we’ve already taken several steps towards achieving that. Our nation of Monsters, Demi-Humans and humans is allied with all the other nations in the Dark Continent, and hopefully, within a few generations, all the prejudice that had been instilled throughout the history of this world will disappear. Well, at least, that was my hope, until I was made aware of this whole mess with the Vampires. And now, with the information that they have Magic Items that unleash their full power even during the day, the situation has grown even more dire," I sighed in exasperation.

"What do you plan to do about the Vampires?" She inquired curiously.

"Hm? Well, I mean...there’s really not much of a choice in the matter, we have to fight them. Otherwise, we’ll all either be wiped out or kept as slaves for them to feed on."

"I see...very well, then. I shall ally myself with this nation. They attacked me unprovoked and attempted to kill me...I will make them regret that. And it seems like I will have the best chance of doing so if I join this nation’s forces..."

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Point-of-View: Jevera

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"I see...so you successfully located the Earth Dragon King but failed to eliminate her, and after revealing our secret weapon, no less. What do you have to say for yourselves?" Inquired Lord Dracula icily.

"I-I have no excuses, my Lord...please forgive this failure," I stuttered nervously.

"How incompetent...and not to mention foolish. If you had located her, then why not wait till nightfall before making your move?" Scoffed one of the others.

"W-we couldn’t do that...the Dragon Kings have strong senses, she likely would have detected us and escaped if we had waited," I replied shakily.

"I thought you just said that you have no excuses? Because that sure sounded like an excuse to me. What a disgrace, not only did you fail to kill a lone Dragon King despite having her outnumbered, but you also revealed the barrier...if she joins Arcadia like the other Dragon Kings did, the Dark Continent will no doubt be made aware of it, possibly even develop a way to counter it!"

"If I may...there is something useful we learned during the battle against Terrastra, a small silver lining in this cloud of failure," Spoke up Jagger.

Huh? We did? What is he talking about?

"Oh? And what would that be?" Inquired Lord Dracula in response.

"The barrier has a rather glaring weakness...while it does allow us to unleash our full power, and it is durable enough that even a Dragon King can’t break through it, it has a fault we cannot ignore. It doesn’t extend into the ground, so it is possible to escape it...had it formed an enclosed sphere that extended beneath the ground as well, she would not have been able to escape as she did. It’s possible that humans who are proficient in Earth Magic would also be able to escape in that same manner," Remarked Jagger.

"Hm...yes, you bring up a good point. Have the humans who created the barrier fix that, we cannot let such a weakness stand now that we are aware of it. I suppose there’s at least that one minor positive to glean from this failure..."

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