Chapter 466 — How Do I?

Agatha’s gaze drifted away.

"Whereas my husband..."

The words hung for a moment before she continued.

"Over the years of losing all his family one by one, Felix became more and more bitter. He blamed himself for every death, felt guilt that ate away at who he used to be and carried hatred for a world that kept taking everything he loved."

Her voice became quieter.

"He’s changed so much that I don’t even recognize the man I married anymore. The boy who joined the military with his brothers because he wanted to be a hero has become someone who drinks until he can’t stand and speaks poison about people who don’t deserve it."

She stopped, taking a breath.

"Recently, he became even more restless when he received news that Lyandra and Alaric were entering a portal together. And now..."

She didn’t finish.

’Now they’re stuck in there.’

Damian completed the words she’d left hanging, in his mind.

Then Agatha shifted, turning to face Damian more directly.

"I apologize on his behalf. Although I don’t know what he said to you today, I know my husband well enough to–"

"It’s alright."

Damian’s interruption cut through her words.

His crimson eyes met her black ones.

"There’s no need for apologies... To be honest, all of this doesn’t even matter much to me."

His hands clenched slightly on his knees.

"I have bigger worries to stress about than whether someone likes me or thinks I’m a threat to their family."

Agatha studied his face for a long moment.

"And what is your biggest worry, child?"

Damian didn’t know if it was the domain making him feel safe, or the alcohol still burning through his system, or the exhaustion that made keeping walls up feel impossible.

But something inside him let go.

"Our world is doomed to fall."

His voice came out flat and certain.

"In a span of a few years, one catastrophe after another awaits us. Things are coming that will make the portal breaks and Monster attacks we deal with now look like children’s games."

He looked up at the sun hanging in Agatha’s domain.

"And I don’t know if I’ll be able to keep my loved ones safe when it happens."

’What’s... happening to me? Why am I telling her all of this?’

His jaw clenched.

"There are beings so powerful that they’ve set their plans in motion years before I was even born... Ancient things that move pieces on boards I can’t see, that manipulate events in ways I only notice after everything’s already happened."

’Stop! You’re saying too much!’

But he couldn’t stop, his voice becoming quieter.

"And I’m afraid that I’m just a chess piece for one such individual. That everything I do, every choice I make, every fight I win or lose... it’s all part of someone else’s design."

His hands trembled slightly.

"You see... I can fight. I can refuse to give up. I can do whatever it takes, pay whatever price is necessary."

He looked at Agatha directly.

"But how do I win against something I don’t even understand? How do I protect people when I can’t see the threats until they’re already here? How do I break free from manipulation when I don’t know where the strings are?"

"..."

Silence fell across the domain.

The sun continued shining, warm and gentle. The flowers swayed in a breeze that carried no danger. The tree stood strong and protective above them.

But Damian’s words hung in the air like storm clouds, darkness pressing against the peace Agatha had created.

She looked at his face, studying the exhaustion written in every line and the weight pressing down shoulders too young.

Then she smiled slightly, and waved her hand.

The domain collapsed around them, reality reasserting itself as the room materialized back into existence.

"Come with me."

She stood, her walking stick supporting her weight.

’What did I just do?’

Damian rose as well and followed her toward the door, his mind reeling from the realisation of how much he’s just revealed.

****

Outside, the night sky hung over them, vast and dark, stars scattered across it like diamonds on black silk.

Snow fell gently, drifting down in lazy spirals, covering the courtyard in white.

Damian looked at the woman beside him, his breath misting in the cold air.

"Madam Onyx–"

TAP TAP TAP

Agatha hit the ground with her walking stick three times, the sound echoing across the courtyard.

Silence answered for several heartbeats.

Damian waited, confusion growing, his mind trying to understand what she was doing.

Then his enhanced senses screamed.

Something large was coming toward them from the sky in the distance, moving fast enough to create pressure waves he could feel even from here.

His head snapped up, crimson eyes searching the darkness.

Two golden orbs appeared in the night, glowing like small suns, growing larger as they approached.

Then from the darkness emerged a creature that made Damian’s heart stop.

An obsidian dragon descended from the night sky, scales blacker than the darkness around it, wings spread wide enough to block out stars.

BOOM

It landed in front of them with impact that cracked the courtyard stone, snow exploding outward in a wave.

ROOOOOAAAAR

The sound hit Damian like a physical force, primal and overwhelming, carrying power that made his enhanced body want to freeze in place

Thump thump thump

His heart pounded in his chest, adrenaline flooding his system despite the exhaustion.

’Is this... a fucking dragon?!’

His mind raced, trying to process what he was seeing.

He looked closer, searching for signs of mutation that would mark it as one of the flood dragons on Earth.

’No, it’s not mutated... It really is a fucking original dragon from beyond the portals!’

The implications crashed through him.

’How the fuck does she have a dragon?!’

He watched Agatha raise her hand.

The dragon lowered its massive head, pressing its snout against her palm.

It made soft noises, rumbling sounds that seemed impossible from something so terrifyingly large, almost like purring.

’She’s... she’s petting it?!’

Damian stared, his exhausted brain struggling to process the scene.

’She’s petting a dragon like it’s a fucking house cat!’

An original dragon, one of the apex predators from another world, was acting like an oversized cat getting scratched behind the ears.

Suddenly, Agatha’s voice cut across the courtyard.

"Lily, eat him."

’The fuck did she just say?’

Damian’s mind went blank for a split second before panic flooded in.

The dragon’s golden eyes shifted, locking onto Damian.

Its lips pulled back, revealing teeth that gleamed in the starlight.

A growl emerged from deep in its chest, the sound making Damian’s hair stand on end.

He backed away, his hands rising defensively.

"Madam Onyx–"

The dragon’s jaws opened, tongue visible behind rows of teeth designed to tear through anything.

It lunged forward, moving faster than something that size had any right to move.

"Wait! Madam Onyx, what–"

"Who?"

Agatha’s voice came from behind him, calm and expectant.

The dragon’s head filled Damian’s vision, close enough that he could feel heat radiating from its maw.

’She wants me to–’

"GRANDMA!"

His voice came out as a scream.

But the dragon didn’t stop.

"GRANDMA! GRANDMA, CALL IT OFF!"

Jaws kept approaching, golden eyes blazing with what might have been amusement.

"GRANDMA, PLEASE!"

Damian squeezed his eyes shut, his mind racing.

’Fuck! This woman must have gone mental from all the losses! Yes, that’s it! That’s why that bastard Felix ran the moment she showed up! He knew his wife was bonkers!’

He waited for teeth to close around him, for everything to end in the jaws of a dragon because an old woman had lost her mind.

"..."

Several heartbeats passed, but nothing happened.

Then–

"AHAHAHAHA!"

High-pitched laughter erupted from somewhere in front of him.

Damian opened his eyes slowly.

A teenage girl stood where the dragon had been, maybe sixteen or seventeen years old, with black hair falling past her shoulders.

Her face would have been completely human except for one detail, a single obsidian scale sat beneath the corner of each eye, catching the light from the stars above.

She was doubled over, hands on her knees, gasping between fits of laughter.

"Hahaha... Mother... did you... hahaha... did you see!"

Her words came out choppy, broken by giggles she couldn’t suppress.

"His eyes went so wide... hahaha... and then... and then he screamed–"

She tried to mimic his panicked yelling but dissolved into more laughter instead.

"GRANDMA PLEASE! Ahahahaha!"

Agatha’s shoulders shook, her hand covering her mouth, eyes crinkling at the corners with genuine amusement.

"It’s always... haha... so fun when you... hehehehe... bring someone new!"

Lily wiped tears from her eyes, still giggling.

"But this one... ahahaha... this one was the best reaction yet!"

She took a deep breath, trying to calm down, but one look at Damian’s frozen expression set her off again.

"He’s still... hahaha... he’s still standing like that! Mother, look!"

"Hehe... I see it... oh dear..."

They both laughed harder, leaning on each other for support.

Damian stood frozen, his heart still pounding like a war drum, his hands still raised defensively, his mind struggling to catch up with what had just happened.

Agatha finally controlled her laughter enough to speak properly, wiping tears from her eyes as she looked at him.

"My dear grandson..." Her smile was warm and genuine, carrying affection. "Only now do you behave like your age."