Mordred slowly opened his eyes and he felt that his body was stiff as a board. Groaning, he stretched his muscles and his bones popped like bubble wrap.
"Mordred! You, you're finally awake." Tiamat hugged him tightly.
"Ugh, w-what happened mom?" Mordred blinked, he was still groggy and his memories were hazy.
"We had a talk with Augusta, but she ambushed us by taking over Lavinia's body." Tiamat explained and he suddenly perked up.
"Where is that woman? I'll kill her for breaking Lavinia's heart and trying to control her body!" Mordred gritted his teeth and Tiamat held his face.
"I already did, don't worry. That greedy garbage won't bother us again." Tiamat softly caressed his hair.
"Lavinia! What happened to Lavinia, mom?" Mordred looked around in a hurry.
"I'm here Mo-kun, oh I'm so sorry. It was because of me that Augusta managed to possess my body." Lavinia teared up as she apologized profusely.
"No... No, it's fine if you're okay." Mordred looked at her and sighed in relief after seeing that she was fine and dandy.
"You had us worried... I had to use divine dividing's juggernaut drive in order to stop you from using Apophis' power. Your body couldn't handle it and it started melting you." Vali furrowed her brows after remembering what happened.
"Now I remember..." Mordred could still feel his burning rage, but it was slowly weakening after learning that Augusta is dead.
"Nya, it was terrible. You rampaged all over the place and we can't even make communication magic work due to all the mana saturating the area." Kuroka hugged him tightly and Shirone rubbed her face on his chest.
"Sorry about that, I lost my cool. Then Apophis tried to capitalize on my outrage." Morded sighed, patting their backs to assure them that he was fine now.
"Where's Dulio and Ise?" Mordred looked around for them and they were nowhere to be found.
"Dulio's training with Zenith Tempest, he said that he should've been the most useful there. Because his sacred gear can control water, ice, and fire." Tiamat informed him.
"I see, it isn't really his fault. Augusta used the balance breaker of Absolute Demise and Incinerate Anthem. While Apophis' primordial water is simply on another level." Mordred frowned.
"Ise is training with Tannin. She saw Vali enter juggernaut drive for a few seconds. It ignited her soul as a dragon. Saying that if she was able to use her balance breaker, then she would've been able to boost Dulio to better control the situation." Lavinia smiled wryly.
"I owe my thanks to my kin then, you guys are a lifesaver. It seems that we are getting too hasty. This wouldn't have happened if we steadily increased our strength first." Mordred felt awful.
"No! It's just... It's just a freak accident really. This is all my fault, If only I knew that Glenda and the other wizards of Oz are like that." Lavinia gritted her teeth.
She was ashamed of endangering her new family. They were just kids, even Dulio who was near her age is still wet behind the ears.
Morded was different because Tiamat raised him, but Vali almost died due to taxing her mana and body with juggernaut drive.
Dulio got in mortal danger in order to swoop in and save Vali after her transformation ended. And Ise was left behind. Everything could've gone wrong. And she felt it was because of her selfish desires.
"Lavinia... You did not know that the wizards of Oz were like that. It is not your fault, as you said. It was a freak accident. We were caught lacking and everybody wasn't prepared to fight against two balance breakers." Mordred hugged her and patted her back.
"But... I was the one who didn't have enough strength. Augusta capitalized on it and you guys suffered! I know that if she wasn't using my body, you guys would've killed her easily." Lavinia started sobbing.
"No more tears Lavinia, we were caught by surprise. It was a mistake on everybody's part. We will learn from this. Potential enemies must either be neutralized or killed with extreme prejudice." Mordred nodded sagely.
"That's right... Punch now and ask questions later." Tiamat agreed with his new standard procedure.
"She was suspicious and hostile, suspicious people must be apprehended immediately upon sight." Mordred ordered and they nodded.
"Yes, this is a world where you can't trust people easily. Get rid of them fast if you can." Tiamat thought there was nothing wrong with that. It was a very dragon-like way of thinking.
"Maybe not everyone... But I agree, we should be more careful and shut down people like Augusta immediately. I should've used worthlessness on her magic." Cleria sighed and thought that was a perfect opportunity.
"We learned from this Cleria, we won't be as lenient next time." Mordred squinted his eyes.
"Now that's out of the way, let's talk about you. I was mistaken, I tried to strengthen you as a sacred gear. Apophis managed to do a lot of damage to you due to my teachings." Tiamat looked ashamed.
"It was beaten into your head that you should get control of Grendel as fast as possible. And you tried it with Apophis too. Which led to this disaster." Tiamat patted his hair lovingly.
"You are a human as well, you don't grow like a dragon. It was a mistake on my part that could've cost you your life Mordred. Forgive me, I won't make that mistake again." Tiamat hugged him tightly, as if she was afraid.
"Mom... I also wanted to grow stronger quickly, the blame isn't for you to take alone." Mordred furrowed his brows.
"No, you don't understand. I moulded you to what you are now. It is due to my influence that you seek strength in the first place. We have to change that." Tiamat frowned at his words.
"But... We need to be strong, stronger than everybody else. Every faction will be out to get us." Mordred was confused about her sudden reluctance to make them as powerful as they can get.
"That's true, but that is why I am here right? I will be your shield. I'm your mother Mordred. Ohh, my baby. You matured too quickly. Slow down, please." Tiamat begged him.
"You and your kin will burn out at this rate, relax. All of you are still young. Even Lavinia just reached the age where she is starting to be at her prime." Tiamat pointed out.
"But we will stagnate..." Mordred got worried and Tiamat shushed him.
"It's fine, mom's here. You should spend more time with your friends. Go on adventures, make connections. We all know that we need it. I haven't been exactly the most sociable person. Heck, all dragons aren't social butterflies." Tiamat chuckled.
"She is right, kid. You are burning so brightly that you will burn out until nothing is left. Listen to her, the debacle earlier almost took you out and your family. Take your time and reach your body's maturity first." Albion advised.
"Your body is developing. Tiamat isn't saying it, but I can feel your mortal vessel is already straining from absorbing Grendel's soul." Albion pointed out and Mordred was shocked.
"Really? Why didn't you tell me mom?" Tiamat winced. "I wanted to make you as strong as possible remember? But that changes now."
"I see... My body is most likely still getting used to Grendel's powers. And adding Apophis to the mix didn't give me any favors." Mordred frowned at that.
He would have to change his plans to try and absorb the evil dragons as much as possible.
"Good thing you are rational, you are feeling it right? The reason why you're leaking a lot of your aura is because your mana core is unconsciously getting rid of the excess." Albion added.
"That's why I didn't feel the effects. I thought that whenever I'm putting a tight lid on it, that's just how it's supposed to feel." Mordred remembered that whenever they went incognito, he felt bloated.
When he can't get rid of excess mana, he was turning himself into a pressurized container. And he didn't even know that. And containers that have too much pressure inside them explode.
"This is serious indeed, thank you for your advice Albion." Mordred sighed heavily.
"Anytime kid, when you grow more. Your soul and body will be able to accommodate more of their powers. Give it time, don't worry. You can still hone your skills to the maximum." Albion nodded in satisfaction at their little talk.
"How about you Vali, are you okay?" Mordred asked the Lucifer.
"Yes, I am. Better than ever in fact. Balance breaker!" Vali took out divine dividing.
"Vanishing dragon, balance breaker!" Albion's voice sounded out and she transformed. Gaining white armor with blue jewels.
"Good for you Vali, I'm proud of you." Mordred smiled at her and she nodded in pride.
"Lavinia has a surprise too." Vali pointed at Lavinia's chest where a cross was resting on it.
"Hmm? What's that?" Mordred tried to get a feel of it. Lavinia isn't a Christian, nor was she religious. So she won't wear something like that. And it wasn't for fashion either.
"Incinerate Anthem!?" Mordred blinked dumbly. "But how? I thought that sacred gears go back to heaven's system and they basically go through a cycle of reincarnation?" Mordred was surprised.
"Incinerate Anthem latched on to Lavinia. It's said to be an independent type of sacred gear. And those can pick their wielders even if they haven't died yet." Tiamat explained it.
"Wow, congratulations Lavinia. At least we got that dirty strumpet's Longinus." Mordred clapped in glee. He was excited to have another Longinus in their midst. Which now makes five out of thirteen.
"Hehe~ Thanks Mo-kun, I have to train hard to use it. Make the effects of my sacred gears independent with each other. It will be counterproductive if they fight one another." Lavinia scratched her cheek sheepishly.
"Your bishop piece even mutated, I can feel it. You'll be our ace against filthy devils." Mordred beamed. Incinerate Anthem is a holy relic after all.
Similar to the true Longinus and holy chalice, Sephiroth Graal.
"Umu, those filthy devils that would scheme won't know what's coming." Tiamat was pleased with Lavinia getting Incinerate Anthem.
They went quiet for a second. "So, what do I do now? I have to postpone absorbing Apophis' soul. But I can use shadows more, I can feel it. Something changed." Mordred called for the shadows.
And making them do his bidding went much more smoothly.
"Train your skills hard. Master your swordplay, train all kinds of martial arts. Your friend Sairaorg loves to train in that right? Learn youjutsu and senjutsu from Shirone and Kuroka." Tiamat gave him some options.
"Yeah, that's a good idea mom." Mordred started thinking of other alternatives. "Maybe I should consider the evil dragons as trump cards?"
"Ohh! That's it! You won't be over reliant on their powers if you do that! So learn all kinds of things. Magic, fighting styles, weapons. The world is your oyster!" Tiamat smiled at him and he nodded.
"Hmm, then I need a technical teacher mom. You're more of an instinctual fighter. All dragons are." Mordred went into deep thought.
"How about that guy, Okita Souji? It isn't a big favor, so you can still save the large one Tiamat. Sirzechs do owe you two favors." Lavinia suggested.
"You're a genius Lavinia, that's why you're the 2nd best after mom. I am lucky that I found you in Grauzauberer." Mordred beamed at her and she blushed.
"You exaggerate." She smiled sheepishly. Vali and the nekoshou sisters were in a bad mood though.
"Then I'll try to give Ise some pointers, so she could use her balance breaker." Vali didn't want to be idle and she teleported to the dragon mountains in order to get some training in too.
"Nya, we'll start on a training plan in order for you to start using senjutsu and youjutsu. Shirone, start with senjutsu, you use that more. I'll teach him youjutsu when he comes back." Kuroka was fired up.
"Un nee-san. Don't worry, Mordred-nii, you'll be the best senjutsu and touki user ever." Shirone's tails were swishing around due to her eagerness.
"Thank you everyone, you are my pride and joy." Mordred smiled at them.
"Of course nya, as our king. It's our duty to help you! Don't forget to give me kittens though." Kuroka chuckled.
"Now that I have a lot of free time, I'll try and find some legendary personages to try and train you Mo-kun, only the best should be training you." Lavinia ruffled his hair.
As a mage of Grauzauberer, she would be able to get more information about the other factions due to her colleagues. And she can just scam them by telling them about primordial magic.
The magic system that all mages are striving to achieve, just like how Merlin developed magic back then. But basing it on the devils'.
"Thanks Lavinia, we have plenty of time. Train your Incinerate Anthem too, that's a big addition to our forces." Mordred nodded at her.
They all left and Tiamat started to call Sirzechs to cash in on the favor from the Naberius incident.
Sirzechs readily agreed, his knight wasn't doing anything much anyways. "This will get him busy, so Rias won't get any weird interests due to his stories about the samurai and Kyoto back when he was in the Shinsengumi." Sirzechs chuckled.
Rias who was spying on her brother to learn more about being a leader heard him. So she went to Souji so she could also train under the samurai.
__
Thanks for reading everyone, I'm setting up the way in which Mordred will see his future queen. But the person won't join until much later. Anyways, ciao.