Chapter 1761: Succession [2]

"It's good to see all of you healthy," he said with a smile on his face.

"I can say the same to you, you bastard!"

Juno grinned and jumped on him, ruffling his hair.

"I had to go through a lot of shit for you. You better properly repay me later."

"What do you want?" August asked with an exasperated sigh.

"You know already."

He did. There was only one thing Juno would ever ask for in a situation like this.

"Fine," August said.

"But only this one time."

Juno grinned.

"You won't be disappointed."

"What are you two talking about?"

The rest also approached. Valerie was the one who asked the question, but the rest were also wondering. After all, August was acting like he was about to do something he really didn't want to do. It was surprising to see such a reaction from him.

Unfortunately, Juno wasn't going to give them an answer.

"That's a secret. If I tell you all about it, then he really won't do it."

Naturally, it was a statement that made the rest even more curious, but Juno was already in the process of crisis diversion.

"By the way, it's pretty obvious that you healed us, but what about Mikaela?"

None of them were particularly worried.

When August entered and acted like them being fine was normal, they understood that he didn't want to concentrate on his own good deeds. As such, none of them brought up Melania, who should have been dead.

August had put another shirt on, so they couldn't see the black scar on his chest. He didn't plan to show it to them either.

As long as Melania was fine, nothing more needed to be said. It was something they all silently agreed upon. Mikaela's case was different.

They didn't necessarily worry. As they'd had some minutes before August's arrival, they had also taken the time to understand her situation.

A mental shock of the level she received couldn't be solved by people of their level, which was definitely not something they liked to see. However, Juno and Raul gave the rest assurance that it wouldn't be a problem.

After all, the solution to Mikaela's problem was in her own clan. Her grandmother would easily be able to bring her back, so what was the use in worrying about her?

For now, it was better to let her rest and cure her mental fatigue. By the time she awakened, the world would be at peace.

August explained that to them as well, and afterward, he found a place to naturally segue into the elephant in the room.

"...by the way, I grabbed him and incapacitated him to find out the truth. He succumbed eventually, probably because his backer is a corpse. I wanted to kill him when he told me what he did, but I figured it was better to leave it to you guys."

He threw Lucas at them. He landed on the floor with a subtle thump. He was still completely fine in both mind and body. Only, August had blocked his ability to move or speak.

The latter of those was given back to him as he was thrown.

"Right, this guy."

Valerie frowned.

He was the cause of everything to an extent. Without his betrayal, Wilhelm wouldn't have found the opportunity to catch them off guard and trap them.

And, he was the reason why a certain member of their team was turned useless.

She was still in the cavern. In fact, she was watching them as they spoke.

However, not a single other person acknowledged her presence.

The others experienced it personally. August learned it through Lucas and confirmed it through the others' behavior.

Ophelia had left them to die. Because she was busy pitying herself, she refused to lend a hand in such a desperate situation.

She was free to do whatever she wanted. She was her own person, after all. If she wanted to sit there and die, then she could do it on her own.

Just, if that was the person she decided to be, then she no longer had anything to do with their group.

She lost the privilege of calling them friends. As for what she would do with herself from here on, she could figure it out herself.

The only assured thing was that it would have nothing to do with them, and it would have nothing to do with Lucas.

This was his moment to die.

August did well to bring him in front of the people he betrayed. They had quite a few words they wanted to say to him.

As the world was filled with a variety of curses and the disgusting sounds of a dragon being beaten and killed, August looked outside and began to wonder.

'How is it going out there?'

They faced many setbacks before reaching their goal. Was it the same outside?

Had the Sea Tribes managed to push the forsaken dragons out of Arulion yet? Had the larger battles already started?

Unknowing of the fact that there was a time dilation separating him from the outside world...

...August was only just worrying about things that happened quite a long time ago.

***

Right, when August was three years into his trial against the First Dragon Emperor, the battle outside had become one that needed to be viewed in terms of hours, not weeks.

Hendricks was already being confronted. The Holy Clans were gone. The nobles had been prosecuted.

Now, enough time had passed for August to exit his trial and solve the situation outside. Naturally, even more time passed in the real world.

August really brought together too many powerhouses for any individual force to resist. The forsaken dragons were cornered and killed as necessary, and the nobles were quelled until their few hundred clans turned into a few tens instead.

The nobles were a force that had been scrutinized by the world for a long time, so they couldn't escape persecution. The forsaken dragons had caused so much pain, but somehow, they didn't face extermination.

August had two requests for his helpers.

The first was to spare noble clans who didn't deserve to be killed.

And the second was to only kill the forsaken dragons when it was necessary. Once Hendricks was defeated, the necessity disappeared.

They were placed in a prison with their strength completely suppressed as they awaited trial for their misdeeds.

Not many people understood why August wanted to give them a chance, but it wasn't their problem. They were just following orders, after all.

The forsaken dragons were taken away. The nobles were gone. There was nothing else holding the kingdom back.

The people had now been awakened to their new bloodlines, and with their berserk states dispelled, they were now free to do as they wished with the gift they'd received. The population rose rapidly as well with the many dragonkin who became True Dragons and joined the kingdom's people.

Arulion was in ruins, but it was more peaceful than it had been for the past month at the very least.

And, to bring a true end to the crisis that struck them, a single dragon rose from the ashes.

With wings that were no longer filled with holes, with a form filled with vitality rather than one that was withered, the Dragon Emperor took his place in the sky.

He no longer had to fear the Holy Clans.

That freedom meant the world to him.

In order to give his kingdom something to remember him by, something other than his failures, he showed himself in front of them today.

Because after this day, his throne would be someone else's to bear.