"By the way, you can call me Lupin Gold." Lupin was the name of this particular avatar, and Gold was one of his family names, a nod to the Gold Dragon he had evolved into.

"Lupin, that's not how it works," Fafalarri said, unperturbed by the refusal. In his mind, Leonidas simply didn't yet understand the Domain of a Myriad Dragons. "Joining the Domain doesn't prevent you from being part of other organizations."

"We are a simple fellowship of dragons. We ask nothing of you, except that if the paradise we have built for ourselves is ever in peril, you, as one of our kind, will lend us your strength. After all, the only inhabitants of Xanajar are dragons."

Leonidas didn't respond. The terms sounded reasonable. He was tempted.

"And about those female dragons you like," the old Sapphire Dragon added, seeing the waver in Leonidas's eyes and playing his trump card. "In Xanajar, the number of single female dragons is, at minimum, in the hundreds of thousands."

Hook, line, and sinker. Female dragons were Leonidas's Achilles' heel.

"Alright, fine. Let me think it over. I need to consider it," Leonidas said, retracting his flat refusal.

"But setting that Xana-whatever aside for a moment—"

"Xanajar Paradise."

"Right, whatever. Setting Xanajar aside," Leonidas pressed on, his focus snapping back to the present. The promise of dragon chicks was a weakness, but it wouldn't blind him. "This southern territory—I'm taking it. And my bro who came with me… you've seen him, right? He's a demigod from the abyssal world. Vicious, unpredictable, no moral compass. Has a particular taste for creatures with high-tier bloodlines."

Having accepted the premise of a negotiation, Leonidas felt it would be improper to get his own hands dirty. But that didn't stop him from leveraging Orion's Curse Avatar as a thinly veiled threat.

"If he goes berserk, there's no stopping him," he warned. "So, if you're thinking of pulling a fast one, don't say I didn't warn you. When that happens, not a single one of your little dragon kids will get away."

Fafalarri stared at Leonidas for a long, silent moment before speaking.

"My true descendants left for Xanajar long ago," he said, his voice devoid of emotion. "The dragons remaining in this territory are of impure bloodlines."

The statement was utterly ruthless. It was also a stark reminder that to a demigod, most beings were ultimately expendable.

"You might be making the right move, but I don't like your attitude," Leonidas shot back. He was no saint, but he was a dragon of passion and loyalty. To abandon his own people… he might do it if there were no other choice, but he would never speak of it with such cold detachment.

"I have already said, the southern territory is yours," Fafalarri replied. "The dragon beasts on that land are now your property. If you value them, you will end this war quickly." The old dragon shrugged, not so much shirking responsibility as deftly transferring the entire burden onto Leonidas's shoulders.

"Well, I'll be damned. You sly old lizard!" Leonidas yelped, vanishing from the Dragon Soulscape.

***

In the skies above the real world, a heaven-shaking roar suddenly erupted, followed by an urgent, furious command.

"CEASEFIRE!"

An unrestrained wave of demigod pressure washed over the battlefield. Without warning, every combatant, friend and foe alike, regardless of rank or power, was forced to their knees.

"I hereby declare that the southern lands now belong to me, Lupin Gold!" Leonidas's voice boomed across the plains. "Effective immediately, the coalition army will withdraw to the border. All dragonkin and their subordinate races are to return to their habitats!"

And just like that, in the most unbelievable way imaginable, the war was over.

Orion stared at the two dragons circling in the sky, his brow furrowed in confusion. One moment they were trying to tear each other apart, and the next, after a brief standoff, they had just… stopped? He hadn't seen or heard any communication between them. It was utterly baffling. Still, he trusted Leonidas, and this was his bro's show. What he said, went.

"Need me to do anything?" Orion asked, maneuvering his Curse Avatar to Leonidas's side, taking an aggressive stance as he fixed his gaze on Fafalarri.

"Bro, the war's over," Leonidas said, scanning the battlefield to confirm both sides were withdrawing before turning to Orion. "I'll explain everything later."

He gestured with his head toward the Sapphire Dragon. "Bro, this is my new… friend, Lord Fafalarri. He brings gifts." He'd almost said my new meal ticket. "Our conflict is finished. As a precondition for our talks, the southern dragon territory is now ours."

And so, with Fafalarri's full support and Orion's silent witness, Leonidas took complete possession of the entire dragon territory.

On the ground, the abrupt end to the fighting left everyone bewildered.

"The war's over? You don't think his lordship will make us give the dragons back, do you?" It was Dirtclaw, sounding more than a little nervous. During the battle, with no archlords to keep him in check and Gustalon providing air support, he'd gone on a capturing spree for his old buddies in the Stoneheart Horde. He'd even snagged some lesser dragon beasts for the grunts who'd come up with him from the cannon fodder troops. Their bloodlines weren't pure, but they were a hell of an upgrade from the cave spiders and icefield snow wolves they usually redeemed with battle achievements.

"Relax, Dirtclaw, my little apprentice," Lorelia's lazy voice drifted from her Nest. With the fighting stopped, the Stoneheart Horde contingent had gathered around the massive spider as a precaution. "That esteemed patron up there doesn't care about our scraps. Besides," she added, her tone turning playfully indignant, "are my little spiders not good enough for you? So, dragons can fly, big deal. Every last one of you swapping your mounts for flying lizards… who do you think you're insulting, huh?"

No one said a word in response to Lorelia's playful chiding.

If Lilith held the highest station among the women of the Stoneheart Horde, then Lorelia's position was something else entirely—unique, untouchable. She was adored not only by Orion, but by the entire old guard of the horde's senior elders. She was the one they had all bled for, the one they had nurtured with their own sweat and sacrifice.

In the entire Stoneheart Horde, her status was a class of its own. She was the Warden of the Horde, but in reality, she was its matriarch-in-waiting, operating under the guise of being Orion's companion. In the early days, Orion, the succubus sisters, Thundar, Onyx, and the other elders had all seen her as their child, their hope for the future.

More than that, she was the first of that old guard to reach the Legendary level—the core figure who represented their generation and safeguarded all their interests.

Her words carried weight.

"I didn't switch," Onyx coughed, breaking the awkward silence.

"See? The prophet still cares about me…"

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