As Arad spent time with Mira and the Fenrir sisters, and as another of his clones was still at the private quarter, a new threat had shown up at the edges of the empire, all the way at the borders of the high elves.

Cerilla frowned as she stared at the twilight sun, gulping as the mountains shook and the trees danced. Behind her, the wood elves were already shaking, and one of them pointed at the horizon. "It’s coming again!"

The ground withered, and the trees crumbled into dust, the mountain stopped shaking, and the sun flashed deep red. From behind the clouds, a large shadow danced for a second and then faded into pure light.

"What? Did it go away?" Jasmine pulled her binoculars and tried to spot the horror, but couldn’t see anything.

"I’m telling you!" A pale elf with grey-purplish skin growled as she approached them. "That’s divine beast, don’t attack it! It just hates intruders, and your strangers."

Cerilla glared back at her, "Divine beasts are smart and intelligent creatures, we’re all elves here, and if it can’t see that, then it is just another wild monster."

"That first attack was a mistake! I’m sure it’ll understand. Don’t you see? The divine beast had just retreated without attacking a second time." As the moon elf cried, Cerilla smiled. "Do you honestly think that thing is that smart? It didn’t understand anything, but ran away in fear."

"Are you crazy? The divine beast has nothing to fear. It has lived here for thousands of years, and in power can reach the gods! That’s why it’s called a divine." As the moon elf shook the guards trying to hold her down, Cerilla giggled and pointed at the empty sky above the wood elf city.

"Are you sure about that?"

The clouds shimmered, the sky twisted, and the night stars seemed to move on their own. The ground silently vibrated, and the air turned cold as a gust of wind washed over the trees. The shadows on the ground moved, and the mana in the air flew upward, and soon, darkness fell.

It wasn’t night, but a massive shadow. All of the wood elves cried, and the moon elf fell on her knees, sweating as her eyes opened wide.

It was black, dark, massive, and overbearing. A creature so massive that the entire city fit between its front legs, and its wings were wide enough to engulf the world, and what was even more terrifying was the seemingly infinite magic burning from its obsidian scales.

A black dragon the size of a mountain towered over the village, glared at the crimson sun, and then snarled. Whatever that divine beast was, it ran away the moment it noticed the presence of such an immense creature.

The dragon stopped moving its head for a second, and then glared down, straight at where Cerilla was with a sharp stare, its eyes burned purple, and steam gushed out of its massive nostrils.

"That stag..." The dragon growled, "It’s an abomination, and those elves." He reached down with his snout and glared right at the moon elves, "... they are its worshippers."

"What?" Cerilla gasped, and the dragon looked at the sky.

"The sky, the sun, and moon here, they are all fake... illusions created by that thing to mask its power from the divines." The dragon’s scale started faintly glowing, and then a deep rumble gushed out of its chest, light and heat accumulated in its belly, and slowly made its way up the chest, neck, and then the throat.

"Get down! All of you!" Jasmine cried and even fell to the ground as the dragon unleashed a massive breath of energy at the sky, punching a hole in its fabric. The wood elves watched in horror as the sky above them cracked, the sun died out, and the moon crumbled into dust.

The moment the real sun showed up, the moon elf woman’s skin was engulfed with a severe rash and started burning up, her hair was set ablaze, and all power escaped her body in the blink of an eye. She screamed in pain, but was immediately engulfed by the shadow of the dragon’s great wing.

The dragon looked to the east and saw a somewhat massive tree that was at least two hundred meters tall engulfing a small elvish village, where all of the inhabitants were moon elves, and they all were burning as well under the sun. He engulfed them as well with his wing and glared at the sun.

"Amaterasu, can’t you just stop? Let them be for now. I’ll handle that stag," The dragon growled, and the sun flickered for a moment, and in the next, the moon elves stopped burning in the sun when he removed his wing.

As the dragon was looking around for that abominable stag, the king of the wood elves silently approached Cerilla and whispered. "You talked with this dragon, who is he? And did he just tell the goddess to the stop, and she listened to him?"

Cerilla smiled, "Him? That’s your future son-in-law. That’s Arad, my husband and the current emperor of the empire that I told you about." Jasmine quickly added after, "And be careful, if he as much as sneezes, this entire region would not even be mentioned in history books."

Arad quickly learned that the abominable stag had gone into hiding, and that the area should be somewhat safe now, so he looked down. "That thing ran away the moment I showed up. Even though I tried to sneak up on it." He sighed, and his eyes fell right at the king of the wood elves.

"Since it is safe, would you mind coming down? It’s hard to talk to you while looking up." As she waved her hand, Arad shifted to his humanoid form and landed right behind the king.

He was tall, over three meters and a half in height (12 feet), muscular, wider than a wall, and clad in dark ebony armor from toes to neck. The wood elves’ king, who was six feet tall, only reached Arad’s belt in height. Compared to Arad, everyone looked the same way a halfling would look to a regular person, too short.

"DIE!" The moon elf woman immediately jumped at Arad with a sharp dagger, and none of Cerilla or Jasmine’s guards tried to stop her. They all remained still, and the wood elves’ king couldn’t believe it. He had never seen guards before not protecting their own king and emperor, but... they indeed let the woman attack Arad.

Of course, Cerilla and Jasmine’s guards knew what they were doing. Out of everyone here, Arad was the only one who absolutely didn’t need any protection. In fact, if this woman thinks anything less than a true god could harm him, she is going to be in a lot of pain.

Arad didn’t move either he remained still and let the woman take a jump and strike at his neck with all of her strength. The dagger snapped like a twig hitting a steel statue, and the woman looked terrified.

She quickly pulled a second dagger and swung at Arad’s chest, only to have that dagger shatter as well, making her fully aware that he was harder than anything she could throw at him. She took a step back, pointed at him with both hands, and chanted a spell. Grey light and sparks of magic gathered between her palms, formed into a blinding beam, and fired right at Arad’s face.

[Moon Ray]

The spell flashed like a welding arc, almost blinding anyone who looked at it straight. The woman held the spell for a whole minute and until all of her mana ran dry, only to find out that Arad was still unscathed, and without a single scratch on his oak skin.

"Are you done throwing a tantrum?" Arad took a step forward, and the moon elf woman fell to her knees, exhausted and terrified. "Now, I need you to explain a few things to me. Why are there only women in your village? Why is there a sapling of Qliphoth here? And what is that abomination doing here?"