Cain sat on the couch after Bahamut left, squeezing between Sofia and Alice. "That was exhausting," He sighed.

"You should rest a bit," Sofia looked at Cain with a smile, glancing at Sara and Marina. Their problems need to wait.

"I can't rest just yet," Cain said, "I heard you talking earlier. We should start with the orcs," He looked at Sara, "But I don't believe smiting them is a good idea." He added.

Sara stared at him with a happy face, almost tearing up. "But why?"

"Depending on where they are, we could get other people mixed in." Cain looked at her, "The best solution is having your army reach them as quickly as possible."

"Then? Do you have any spells to get the army there in time?" Sara asked.

"They still have to travel a few days, and the entrance is in you're father's room, but I doubt they would mind." Cain smiled, "I have a teleport gate in Balto's quarter and one in Furberg. The army could use those to move quickly."

Sara nodded, "I will inform them immediately,"

"How will you do that?" Cain asked, and Sara showed him a tiny orb, "The arch made it. It uses the signals my head emits and sends it to her," She showed it to Cain.

Cain looked at the tiny orb, "Hemm, I see," He lifted it up and closed his eyes. "Let me try,"

***

King baltos was in a meeting with the nobles and the archmage about the situation.

"That's stupid! We can't send the cavalry away from the capital for over a month!" One of the nobles screamed, "What if we got attacked?"

"That's right! We should send a small party and recruit soldiers from the villages close to the orcs." Another noble suggested.

"That wouldn't do anything. An untrained soldier would die immediately, orcs are strong." Another noble growled, "What about the adventurers?"

"They are already fighting, but the orcs far outnumber them. It's only a matter of time before they get overwhelmed. We need a large army to fend off the orcs."

"You!" Another noble glared at the archmage, "Can't you use some big spell and wipe them out?"

Shaking her head, she replied, "I don't have such strength, nor the time to learn it." She looked at the nobles, "The orc's army is too large."

The nobles started mumbling, "Silence," Baltos shouted, silencing them. "Sara is asking the white mage for help. Let's wait for her reply."

"Princess Sara? How could she?" One of the nobles gasped.

"I sent her alongside Noel with him," Baltos replied, "Let's hope it will help us today."

"That is unacceptable! We can't trust that monster!" One of the nobles shouted.historical

"That's right, the power he wields is too great," Another growled, "Is there no way to control him?"

Baltos glared at them, "You're glaring at it right now." He said, "We can't pull him however you want, but we can ask him to help."

The nobles started mumbling again, unable to accept that someone as strong as Cain was outside of their control. No matter how they looked at it, there was no way to get him to obey. Money, women, status, nothing would sway the white mage.

As everyone was talking, The crystal orb the archmage kept in her pocket flashed, sending light into the air. "Hello!" The projection of Cain appeared, "Is it working? It seems to be, looking at your ugly faces," Cain smiled. He looked at the scared nobles.

"Cain!" Baltos stood with a smile, "How did you use the orb?" The archmage gasped, staring at Cain. Sara alone was supposed to be able to use the orb. It wasn't made for anyone else.

"Haha, it was simple enough that I could control it." Cain replied, "Forget about that. Tell me about the orcs,"

the archmage's face shifted, "Around three hundred thousand orcs have emerged in the east, and they are heading west, Eating everything in their way." She said, "The army would take more than two months to reach them, and recruiting villagers would cause more deaths than we can handle."

Cain nodded, "I see. By the time the army could reach them, the casualties would have reached the sky. And we shouldn't forget they would be exhausted from the travel."

"Exactly. We were thinking if you could help in any way." The archmage looked at Cain.

"It's more complicated than I expected. I could just come and blast them away, but that will cause a lot of damage." Cain thought, "A straightforward war would mean a lot of casualties to the army,"

Someone poked Cain's back, "Cain, can you let me handle it?"

The nobles looked at the projection, spotting a faded figure behind Cain. "Wait, get closer," Cain moved to the side, and when she approached, it was Sofia.

"I know a few people there who could help," Sofia said with a smile, "Can you let them handle the situation?"

Baltos looked at her, "You're Sofia, right? Who are those people?"

Sofia smiled, "Elderly who seek glorious death. I already woke them from their slumber,"

ROOAAAR! The castle shook, and all the nobles fell from their chairs. Baltos rushed to the window, punching it open and looking at the sky.

Tens of chromatic dragons were flying toward the east. But there was something strange about them, their scales looked scratched, and some even had empty patches or lost limbs. There were even two dragons helping a third one to fly.

"DRAGONS!" Baltos cried.

"They are old, but still could fight," Sofia said with a smile. "They are the ones who slumbered across the land, awaiting their death. I just gave them a chance of attunement."

The nobles started shaking as they saw a massive red dragon swoop down at the castle. BAM! In a fiery explosion, the dragon took a humanoid shape and smashed into the meeting room.

He was a frail old man, barely able to stand up on his shaking knees. The moment he saw Sofia on the projection, he fell on his face, "AHH! Tiamat, to think we would hear your voice in our last years." He cried.

"Do not fret. What you did in the past is nothing to be blamed on," Sofia replied.

"No, we turned our back on you in the past, lost our beliefs, and fell from grace. For you accept, and call us again." He looked, tearing up, "The young one cannot remember the old days, but we do. Even if it was the last thing we do, we would attune for the sin of turning back on our goddess." He stood, turning toward the window.

"Fly, and spread your wings," Sofia said, and the dragon lunged out.

Baltos glared back at Sofia and Cain, "Hold up? Who is she?"

"She's Sofia," Cain replied with a passive face.

"That dragon just called her Tiamat!" The archmage gasped.

Sofia smiled, waving her hand, "Now that you mentioned it, I'm the chromatic dragon goddess, Tiamat. Nice to meet you again." Sofia smiled, glaring at the nobles. It was a clear threat.

The nobles lost their ability to speak. They only glared up with their mouths flapping like dying fish. "W-why help us?" One of the finally managed to speak.

Sofia glared at him, "I'm not helping you," She smiled, "I'm giving my believers a last chance to repent and help my husband at the same time."

Cain looked at Baltos with a smile, "Even so, there is a portal I left in your quarter that is linked to Furberg. You could use that to move the army."

"Wait, in my quarter?" Baltos gasped.

Cain smiled, "Of course, it's yours now." He cut the call.

The archmage looked at the orb in her hand, "He controlled the orb I made, and even set a portal inside the king's quarter without us noticing," She sighed, "How could spells achieve such a thing?"

Baltos stood and looked outside the window. He could see the dragons flying in the distance, "Thank goddess. I got by his side," He sighed, praying to Chauntea.

***

Cain sat back on the couch, "Was that alright?" He looked at Sofia.

"Yes," She smiled, "Now that the king is missing, it's my chance to take over the dragons. Lola is helping me as well. She would try and become the dragon queen in her father's place." Sofia explained.

"And you want the world to know that Tiamat is back. So the old dragons can wake up?" Cain asked.

"No, I can speak directly to them." Sofia smiled, "When the dragons reach the later stages of their twilight, they usually retreat to their layer and sleep their last decades or centuries. It's their deathbed." She looked at her hand, "Those dragons were once worshippers of Tiamat, but they lost hope and belief once she died. I only gave it back to them before they die,"

"So you sent them to war?"

"Dragons are hard-headed, they will think I'm a fake one unless I give them a harsh trial." She smiled, "They wanted to go out with a bang,"