Valerie glared at the dragon in front of her. In truth, she wanted to rip him to shreds. A quick death was much too kind, but doing so would make her appear like a true monster. She breathed deeply, a red hot inferno forming in her throat.

The blue dragon started panicking. He stopped flapping his wings and dove for the water. He aimed to preserve the legend of Sparrow.

Valerie shook her head, remembering that the many of her kin she'd slain. It's always the same with you guys. You can dish out a punishing, but when it comes to your time, you will try and run. Do you think the water will save you?

It was clear that he thought so. He dove beneath the water's surface, and the water drakes all channeled their magic. They shot arcs of lightning towards Valerie and others shot jets of water.

Red flames erupted from her scales, coating her body, and all of the magic that collided with her was quickly erased. Valerie dove beneath the water's surface and released the breath she'd been holding in.

It shot forward like a red beam of light, and she stared at the fleeing dragon.

Goodbye.

The beam of red struck him, and he was promptly erased.

At least the collateral damage only struck a bit of underwater hills. It seemed that all of the life here had fled away from the drakes.

Speaking of…

Valerie turned her head towards the drakes, but none of them dared to attack her. They all went limp and stopped moving as if they were too afraid to do anything. Valerie flapped her wings, launching herself back out of the water and performed a transformation in the air.

She reverted to her humanoid form and landed on the ship. All of the lizardmen on board knelt.

"Lady Valericae, we had no idea…"

Valerie turned and glared at the kneeling lizardman. "You had no idea? Do you think such words will save you?" She turned her blazing eyes towards a group of women huddling together. She channeled red flames into her fingertips. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't erase all of you right now."

The lizardman's eyes went wide. "My Lady! We will all serve you if…"

Valerie snapped her finger, and the red flames shot into the air in front of the lizardman's mouth. "I was not talking to you."

The sound of his voice was erased, and none of the other lizardmen dared to speak.

Though, one of the sirens did. She stood up and walked in front of Valerie. "I will accept the punishment that you wish to deal out to us."

Valerie felt the pumping of her heart slow down. The adrenaline that plagued her body started to calm, and she grit her teeth. So annoying.

The dragoness sighed and canceled her magic. "It is not my place to judge you."

"That's right," Aqua said. She surfed on top of the water with her own magic and used it to launch herself onto the ship. "It is my place to judge you."

Several of the Empress's advisors stood behind her, including a certain person that Valerie had seen at the docks. The man who led them to the castle. Though, if the dragoness was honest, she'd already forgotten his name.

Aqua walked over to the siren who stood more than a head taller than her. The empress frowned. "Did Myriam ask you to be here?"

The siren's eyes widened, but she stopped herself and shook her head. "No, we came here on our own."

"You don't need to lie to me. I can tell, but I want to know why."

The siren tried to look away, but Valerie had no patience for this act.

Valerie only wanted to be back with her kitten. Any stalling would only cause her rage to bubble again. She channeled magic into her finger and formed a small red arrow. I guess this is a time when I can lie. Sorry kitten.

"If you do not speak," the dragoness said, pointing her finger to the sirens behind their leader, "I will start erasing each of them one by one."

The leader siren flinched and waved her hands. "Please! Okay, it was Myriam! She is the one who led us here."

Aqua smiled wryly and shook her head at Valerie. "I guess if your way works." The empress looked back towards the siren with narrowed eyes. "You will tell us all about it. Don't worry, we will make sure you are treated well as prisoners." Aqua looked towards the lizardmen. "As for all of you…"

Valerie sighed at the pathetic groveling lizardmen in front of her. They looked up at her with a gaze of reverence. "Do not worry about all of these. Besides, they technically didn't do anything. It was all of those drakes that killed your people."

Aqua frowned. "Yes, those drakes."

But a certain fairy flapped her wings and landed on Aqua's shoulder. "Those people aren't dead, you know."

Valerie stared at the little fairy with a wrinkled brow, but then she finally nodded after pondering. "I see. So you weren't just a normal fairy, after all?"

Elody started giggling. "Did you think that a normal fairy would be permitted to be around the empress? It's true that my lady is stricken with fairy love, but not even she would allow some nobody around."

Aqua's face reddened, and she clapped her hands. "Back to the matter at hand please. I am not sure that I can willingly let all of these lizardmen go. They served as an accomplice to that dragon after all, and it's still unclear where he came from or who he was."

"Sparicae, that was his name as it was recorded in my tongue."

"Sparicae?" Aqua asked with a frown. "Sounds a lot similar to your name."

Valerie glared at the empress, stopping her from speaking further. "The names are not even close. Only the ending is, and that's simply because it's a common ending in the dragon tongue. After all, a lot of them wanted to name their little ones after me."

Aqua had to try hard to stop herself from laughing. She turned towards the lizardmen instead and continued her train of thought. "So, what do you think should be done about all of these?"

Valerie shrugged. "Unfortunately, they have all taken a liking to me. How about a small deal? All of those serpents were tamed by Sparicae. If I leave, it is likely they will start to go crazy again, and then you'd be forced to kill them. A very lamentable situation. While they are still lowly ancestors, they are my kin in some regard. I could make them obedient. They would serve as a way for you to travel in the water, much like how this ship moved."

"You would actually do that for us?"

"Don't push your luck by asking questions. Everything I do is for my kitten's sake. Just thinking about how happy she will be when I return…"

A certain kitten jumped out from behind the royal entourage and waved shyly. "Well, about that…"

Valerie lunged towards the kitten and picked her up. "How were you able to…"

The kitten lifted a small pendant on her chest. It held the same medallion that the empress had given her before, only now it contained a hint of fairy magic. "Well, you see, Elody said this thing could hide my scent and mana signature. I didn't think it would actually work."

The fairy in question zipped in front of the kitten and glared at her. She waved her finger in Bery's face. "Hey, hey, hey! How is this supposed to be a secret mission if you jump out the second you see her, huh? What happened to that girl who said, 'I will be good and hide,' huh?"

Valerie chuckled and looked at the pendant. The dragoness sighed and shook her head. "You couldn't wait for me, little kitten?"

"Well...I wanted to see what you would do. I was very curious, and remember...I had never been on an actual ship before. Now, I have!"

Valerie sighed. "That makes sense. Still, I don't know if I can say that I like it. How was this pendant able to get past my barrier?"

Elody looked like she wanted to continue chastising Bery, but she shook her head in defeat. "In a way, the pendant didn't get past your barrier. Bery had already accepted the medallion. I sort of figured out how your barrier works. If it was a simple barrier, it would have destroyed Bery's clothes. The truth is that your barrier is able to accept things that Bery desires as long as they don't harm her, right?"

Valerie's eyes widened. "How did you figure that out so fast? I was not even gone very long? Did you and Bery have a conversation while I flew out to the ocean?"

Bery's only answer was a small laugh. The kitten looked towards the sirens instead.

Aqua nodded to her men. "Magic chains for all of the sirens. We will sort out the others after, but these ones cannot be allowed to leave. Myriam will pay reparations for what has happened."

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