Seeing Tiamat constantly attacking my residence without a shred of hesitation, I clicked my tongue in annoyance as I floated into the air, past Mandy, who had been doing nothing but blocking her attacks. Raising my hand, I swiftly manifested a large purple palm, which blocked a massive dragon's claw, yet in the end, although my attack sustained slight damage, it emerged victorious and held firm.
"Care to explain what the meaning of this is, Tiamat? I'm not in the mood to fight, so if you kowtow and apologize, I'll forget about this." Asked Elif in slight annoyance as he folded his arms and looked at Tiamat, who floated just outside of his residence.
As I looked at Tiamat, I observed her entourage of servants, which only made me frown as she clearly didn't come here just to annoy me. Upon closer inspection, I noticed they all seemed excessively angry; usually, the Dragons have arrogant expressions, especially when standing before us Elves. Instead, they looked furious, which I attributed to whatever foul play Aurora most likely did.
'Tsk, you couldn't have tried to ruin my relationship with Cordelia or Lucifer instead, Aurora?' Thought Elif with an annoyed expression as he clicked his tongue while staring at Tiamat, who furiously glared at him.
I clearly understood why Aurora would choose Tiamat instead of Cordelia and Lucifer because, unlike those two, who I had a good enough relationship with that I would be able to talk to them, not to mention they weren't stupid enough to be completely fooled by Aurora as they would probably notice something seemed wrong. However, when it came to Tiamat, it wouldn't matter whether we both knew there was foul play; we both hated each other and would simply use this as an excuse.
Well, Tiamat would, at least; I wouldn't need some excuse, as I would attack whenever I felt like it.
"A-APOLOGIZE!?" Exlciamed Tiamat furiously as she and her entourage of servants glared at Elif, who calmly nodded, unbothered by their gazes.
"And kowtow, don't forget that. I'm a Prince, after all; it's only natural for those beneath me to kneel." Said Elif lightly as he brushed his lustrous silver hair, revealing his purple symbol on his forehead, only for him to raise his hand, blocking a sudden attack.
Blocking Tiamat's beam of highly condensed flames, I narrowed my eyes at her while lowering my hand, watching as she closed her mouth.
"Ho, you're starting to anger me, lizard. That isn't something you want to do." Said Elif with a deep frown as he held his hands behind his back while staring at Tiamat, who scoffed before waving her hand.
"My servant said a short woman with pointy ears and a big sword attacked him! I've come for vengeance!" Stated Tiamat sternly with a wicked expression as she glared at Elif before pointing at Mandy, who matched her description.
"I can't tell if you're generally stupid enough to believe such words or don't care. It's hard to tell." Remarked Elif softly as he tapped his chin while looking at Tiamat, who gritted her teeth.
"Tch, give me that servant Elif, and I'll forget it happened." Declared Tiamat with a wicked grin while staring at Elif, who raised an eyebrow in confusion before shaking his head.
"What? Why would I do that? I haven't even questioned my servant." Asked Elif in genuine confusion as he stared at Tiamat as if she were a fool before floating towards Mandy.
"Mandy, did you do as that lizard said? Did you attack her servant?" Added Elif with a mischievous smirk as he looked at Mandy while winking, causing her to faintly smile.
"Ha, yes, I did, Your Highness. Dragons are known to be powerful, and so I attacked him, hoping to have a good fight, but he couldn't even take a single blow from my sword. I was disappointed." Said Mandy apologetically as she lowered her head while glancing between Elif and Tiamat.
"Ah, I see. It seems you're correct, lizard, but from the words of my servant, it sounds like your servant was too weak, and it was his fault." Remarked Elif lightly as he looked at Tiamat, who angrily gritted her teeth while raising her hand, manifesting a large dragon's claw.
'Haa, finally, just attack me; everything else was simply wasting our time.' Mused Elif lightly as he brushed aside his purple streak of hair and launched his purple palm at the incoming dragon's claw before glancing at Mandy, not bothering to observe the outcome of the clash.
"With acting skills like that, you could partake in a play, Mandy." Said Elif calmly as he glanced at Mandy, who faintly blushed while shaking her head with a smile.
"I appreciate your compliment, Your Highness, but truly, it's nothing special. You need at least this level of control if you wish to make it through the Royal Guard training regime; otherwise, I'd have long since lashed out in anger at our superiors." Stated Mandy with a faint smile as she looked at Elif, who faintly nodded while shifting his focus to Tiamat, who had been knocked into the distance by his palm.
As Tiamat came flying back, a trail of blood leaked down her mouth, though she seemed unconcerned about it as her expression remained furious; yet before she could attack, Cordelia suddenly appeared alongside the current overseer of the city.
"Please, no fighting within the Bubble City. If you have a problem that needs to be resolved, leave the city." Stated Cordelia sternly as she looked between Elif and Tiamat, prompting the latter to aggressively bare her fangs.
"Tsk, who the hell do you think you are, little fish!? Ordering me around like I'm your servant! I'm a DRAGON!" Exclaimed Tiamat furiously as she glared at Cordelia while her tail aggressively swung behind her.
"Yet, you're in my territory… The Ocean, Tiamat. Don't forget, you Dragons may have ruled the OverRealm far in the past, but the ocean was the one place your kind dared not to set foot in. Do you wish to find out why that was the case?" Remarked Cordelia firmly as she floated towards Tiamat, dangerously narrowing her eyes while grasping the hilt of her sword.
Just when it seemed like Cordelia and Tiamat were about to fight, the latter suddenly grinned before backing down, which was a surprise since she'd never done so against me.
"Heh, you win, Cordelia, I'll stop for now. But after I deal with that tree hugger, I'm going to kill you next." Stated Tiamat calmly as she approached Cordelia, the two standing less than a foot away from each other.
Cordelia didn't say a word and simply stared into Tiamat's eyes, showing her how she wasn't the least bit scared, though eventually, they separated with Tiamat approaching her entourage of servants floating just outside my residence. Although reluctant, she and her servants left, flying back towards their residence while Cordelia focused on me.
"Your presence wasn't needed, Cordelia; I had everything completely under control." Said Elif with a faint smirk as he looked at Cordelia while approaching her, causing her to blink.
"If you call flinging Tiama through multiple buildings, 'Under control', then yes, you were doing a splendid job, Elif." Said Cordelia blandly as she folded her arms and gazed at Elif, who averted his gaze while shrugging his shoulders.
"It wasn't my fault she was too weak to stand her ground." Said Elif lightly as he glanced at Cordelia, who continued to stare at him, causing him to click his tongue.
"Alright, how much were the damages? I'll reimburse you." Added Elif in slight annoyance as he turned and glanced at the overseer of the Bubble City.
"Sixteen-hundred Low-God Spirit Stones." Stated the Overseer as he glanced at Elif, who waved his hand, causing one hundred sixty middle God spirit stones to float in the air.
"This should suffice. Now, if you excuse me, I must return to cultivating, which was rudely interrupted by that lizard. Unless, of course, you would like to spar, Cordelia?" Stated Elif lightly as he glanced at the Overseer before floating away, only to glance at Cordelia with a wink, causing her to lightly shake her head.
"No, I have some rather important things to do." "Hmm, so that explains why you were so late." Said Cordelia and Elif, respectively, as the former shook her head while the latter nodded in understanding.
"Make sure to visit, Cordelia; you're always welcome to come." Added Elif with a seductive smile as he winked at Cordelia before blowing a kiss, causing her to roll her eyes while she and the Overseer flew off in the opposite direction of Tiamat.
Watching Cordelia leave, I floated down towards where Mandy and Illumia were.
"Everything has been resolved?" Asked Mandy curiously as she looked at Elif, who nodded.
"Yes, you can return to doing whatever you were previously doing." Replied Elif with a nod as he slapped Mandy's butt while entering his residence with Illumia following him.
"Is something the matter, Your Highness?" Asked Illumia with a faint frown as she looked at Elif's back while walking down the halls.
"Hmm, Cordelia… She's suspicious. She made Tiamat back off easily and only arrived to stop the fight after I had hit her." "You believe they have perhaps spoken beforehand?" Said Elif and Illumia, respectively, as the curiously tapped his chin while the latter furrowed her brows.
"I don't know. But they've garnered my attention." Muttered Elif lightly with a deep, thoughtful gaze as he softly sighed before closing his eyes.