See William off.

Both William and Trin stand together before the great wooden gates of Castle Phoenix's dark towering walls. She's once again garbed in the cute blue and silver qipao Luna sold to her, and despite having lost all of her possessions during the quest, she seems elated. There's a healthy colour in her cheeks as she smiles and waves goodbye to you and your allies--scaled silver tail thread through the back of her dress wagging left and right. While she acts with enthusiasm, William is more composed with a subtle yet polite raise of his hand and nod of his head before turning towards the exit.

You wish them safe travels. Even Malakae, who stands beside you, waves her hand back at the other dragoness. Meanwhile, Delphi rests upon her head, and grins mischievously while kicking her heels up and down.

"We should adventure again sometime!" Trin shouts.

"Hopefully sooner than later," you call back. "This shared enemy of ours needs to be stopped, and I'd be overjoyed to have the aid of other Demon Kings."

With his hands in his pockets, William proceeds through the gate. "And you'll have it," he responds. "We have great power, Kyle. Outstanding potential. With the gift we've been given, we can accomplish anything. Elok Daven, or David, will fall by my hands. I'll be there, as will my allies."

And off they go once again. I can never read that guy, but now that I've gotten to know Trin more, it does make me wonder what kind of Demon King he is. I wonder how they all met, and what they do for fun. It's hard for me to fully trust him. I mean, a bad guy can have nice allies. I wouldn't be surprised if some people serving Elok Daven turned out to be all right. They made their choice though. Hopefully, if there are good people on the other side, they'll make the right choice before the end.

"So," Delphi ponders aloud. "When they're a ways down the mountain, is Trin going to have to awkwardly strip down again so that she can transform and fly them away?"

"... I guess so," you reply.

"That's pretty funny. Dragons are silly."

"Hey." Malakae glances up towards the pixie on her head, even if she can't quite see her. "This is why Trin is weak. One must be open to making sacrifices, especially when it comes to the raw power of a dragon. It's important to accept what we are. Proud. Noble. Strong. Dragons don't wear clothing, so if a dress must be discarded, then so be it."

She snickers. "Of course you'd say that, you freak."

"Oh get off me!" she barks. When she swings her hands up to grab the girl, Delphi flutters away just in time.

After a moment longer, you turn and begin heading back to the castle. However, you spot Jelly quickly skipping in your direction. As she moves, she tugs her hoodie close against her body, perhaps protectively, or with adoration for Luna's generous gift. She halts her speed with a stumble forwards, and for a moment, you flinch forwards in preparation to catch her. She stops successfully, and looks up into your eyes with sparkling glee.

Jelly slaps her jiggly hands together with a strange sounding clap. "Thanks again for bringing me along today, Kyle. I had loads of fun. There was action, horror, and an explosive finish! Are your adventures always like that?"

You think for a few seconds. "Kinda, I guess."

"There are so many people here!" She spins around as if to gesture to all the people people who aren't currently present. "It must be so hard to manage. Everyone wants different things, and not everyone can go out with you on your adventures. I mean, sometimes they go out on their own, but not super far, except for Nyllia and her friends. I guess that's because we're all wanted by the Empire still. But that'll change one day, right?"

"That's right, Jelly. That's the plan. With Elok and Breiah out of the picture, hopefully King Thadius will be too, and then our own Catherine can become queen again. After that... I don't really know. Maybe we can move back into Dragonhide Manor, though right now it's being used as some kind of resting point above their weird cross-empire tunnel. Or maybe Castle Phoenix can become an official town of Tivera. Or it can stay independent. Honestly, all I've decided on officially is that the assholes making things hard for us need to go. That's all that matters for now."

"True! Assholes. Assholes. Assholes," she repeats.

"Don't act like you're an innocent kid learning to swear. I know you know that word already."

She slowly turns her face to reveal a mischievous little smile with a tongue between her teeth. "Maybe."

"Come on. Let's get ready to eat dinner. Tomorrow, I'm gonna be taking a party to the tower of Lord Barkis to see if he's home. Things might start ramping up quickly, so get as much rest as you can. I think it's time to start taking control like a real Demon King. Nobody wants to make the first move. The Circle of the Unicorn needs to get off their asses and join me, William, and Vex. The problem is finding where the bastards are hiding."

"It's gotta be somewhere along that tunnel, right?"

"Definitely. Possibly even at the end, but we already went to Muian's lair. So either his base is around where we looked and we missed it, or it's somewhere on the way. It doesn't really matter though, because if we bring an entire army through that tunnel, there are a hundred different ways we can all die. It's pretty much the worst direction to invade possible."

"You're right," comes a voice. From around a nearby building comes Vivilia the witch. "But my sister needs to be stopped. She's carrying on the will of our father, and we can't allow that to go any further than it already has. We've amassed a lot of allies, though. Maybe we need to tackle this on multiple angles."

"True," you respond. "We know we can get in through the underbelly of Tolis, and we're allies with Shadow Garden. Another way in is Dragonhide Manor in Avana, and while I might not be able to so easily stroll right into the city, Nyllia and her party has been coming and going still. There still might be something we missed around the lair of Demon King Muian as well. One more front. I feel like we need to find the final missing piece of the puzzle. The two entrances we know don't help us enough."

"Speak with the Circle. I know they can be fickle when it comes to caring about things like this, but if they don't want the land stricken to darkness, some of them best lend some kind of aid. They're some of the most talented mages around. That magic has to help."

"Are you still okay facing your sister?" you ask.

"... Yeah. We did face one already."

"True, but she was already gone. We just let her soul rest in peace."

"At this point, it feels like Breiah is gone already too."

"Feel free to speak with her, Vivi. It's likely her fault all of this has happened, but that doesn't mean we need to strike an arrow through her heart without having a single word with her sister. Just know that if she attacks, we need to defend. If she fights alongside David, she might need to fall along with him."

"Thank you," she whispers back. "And I know. I'm prepared to make that decision."