牛奶色隔壁有夫之妇

The tense atmosphere lasted for some time, yet no one moved. Despite being powerful vampires, Harker and Alastair knew the dragons were not the type of beasts one could go against, especially if they were in a similar level of power.

They did not know Arthur\'s true power, and suddenly starting a fight there would not benefit any of them.

"You were the ones who opened up the rift, right?" Arthur asked, but he was almost sure that was the case, as Leonard was the one who told him that.

"No, we did not," Alastair said.

That silence repeated, and Arthur\'s mind worked at full speed to understand the situation. The way Alastair spoke made it seem like it was the truth. Arthur saw no strange reactions, even with his keen dragon senses. But, despite all the information he had, it seemed the ancient vampire was telling the truth.

Arthur looked at him and said, "this is impossible. Everyone knows your Von Stein family is trying to take over the demon continent, and guess what? A rift that brings the end of this world appears right above your castle. What a coincidence!"

Harker, beside Alastair, took the chance and said, "you may not believe in us, but we are telling the truth! You are right about us wanting to get control over the demon continent and wage war against the central continent, but we did not start the apocalypse. We did not open that rift!"

"How can I believe you? What proof do you have for me?"

Only a stupid person would believe in just the words of a liar. Arthur knew these two in front of him were not good people, and he would only trust the terms of those who were. But that did not mean they could not convince him after sharing truthful information that could prove their point.

The vampires thought awhile, and then Alastair said, "we have proof. There is an order called The Blue Rose Order, and we have captured some of its members, with one being a duke here. We believe they are the ones behind this. Follow me; I will show you."

Arthur frowned after hearing that. He knew about the Blue Rose Order, as he was a member! But they never spoke about opening up a portal that would bring beasts to their world, as that was just something for crazy people to do.

They casually walked inside the castle, not caring for the screams outside as some of the beasts who came from the portal were on the ground now, and a fight was breaking out. That was happening worldwide, but not a single rank four beasts had come out of the rift yet, so all the rank four mages needed to do was move their hands a little bit, and all the beasts would die horribly.

Alastair took the lead, and they eventually reached a dungeon area that Arthur had never seen before, hidden behind a secret passage inside the room where both Harker and Alastair lived.

It was a secret place guarded by many magical formations, which even Arthur would have to take some time to break through.

There was a staircase behind the secret passage — like all dungeons — and it led to a place with many cells and some prisoners.

Mikael, his daughter Tessa, and some other members of the Blue Rose Order that Arthur had yet to know.

"These are the ones I told you about, those who are in some kind of secret order, trying to take over this castle and this world, it seems," Alastair said.

But when Alastair and Harker looked at Arthur to see how he was reacting to all of it, Arthur had his gaze on something else instead of someone else.

A man in another cell was lying on the ground, visibly dead. What shocked Arthur was the appearance of that man. It was someone he knew.

"Leonard!!!???"

~~~~

"Hahaha, this old man finally did it!"

An old man left his personal space with a joyful smile.

"Father, did you reach it? Rank 4, I mean?"

"Of course I did! I cannot wait for that brat, hum, lord of dragons to see my accomplishments! I can speak with him now that my power has increased!"

Nefion had trained every day since Arthur had to leave the central continent. It was impossible for others in that continent to reach rank four without proper techniques, but for Nefion? It was not.

He was a mighty dragon who had lost his power a long, long time ago, and he was slowly getting it back! It was a matter of time before Nefion was again at the highest rank possible for his race, the dragons!

He and Eleonora were preparing to rejoice after that accomplishment, yet something strange appeared in the sky, which caught Nefion\'s attention immediately.

Others may not know, but when Nefion laid his eyes on the rift in the sky, he knew it was the Dream Realm!

"I-I know that place. I went there once a long time ago; this is not good."

"What is it, father? Are we in danger?" Eleonora asked as her breathing became irregular, and she was getting nervous at the sudden appearance of a rift in the sky.

"Not now, sweetheart; we need to contact Arthur, NOW!"

Nefion could establish contact with Arthur with his new powers, but that would still require some preparations. That is why he and Eleonora went on that mission as fast as possible before the situation became impossible to overcome.

~~~~

Arthur was flying with Leonard, carrying him along as his red mantle could fly faster. But, as his main body saw Leonard\'s body inside that cell, Arthur\'s avatar stopped mid-air and created some distance from Leonard.

"Huh?" Leonard said, looking toward Arthur.

"What happened? Are you alright?" Leonard asked, yet got no answer. Arthur just stood there, looking at him, trying his best to see through that disguise, yet it was impossible, no matter how hard he tried.

"You are not Leonard. Who are you? What are you?" Arthur said as he grabbed his crimson-red spear and pointed it toward Leonard.

"What? What do you mean? I am Leonard. Please, put the weapon down, and let\'s talk," Leonard said, gesturing for Arthur to put his weapon down, but he did not listen.

"Cut the crap, and tell me who you are, now!"

After a brief moment, Leonard started to laugh like a maniac, "how did you discover I am not the real Leonard?"

Then the person in front of him reverted its appearance, and when Arthur saw it, he could not believe his eyes. So that person was someone he knew long ago, someone he thought was dead!

It was Captain Claridge! One of the first influential pirates Arthur met was when he got lost in the archipelago. He remembered that time on the island when everything was destroyed after the fight with the Doom Order, and Claridge was supposed to be dead!

"I am Claridge, you do not know me, but you will. Tell me, do you believe in demons? I thought it was only stories, but when I was almost dying on a desert island, one of them came to talk with me, giving me power. It saved me! And now, my task is to bring the end to this world!"