"I disagree."
Just as Caesar was deep in thought and Mercphobia was completely off guard, Karamir suddenly appeared out of nowhere with tears in his eyes and said, "I allow you to die, Lord Water Dragon."
"Karamir, stop being so willful. My existence will ultimately lead to everyone's destruction."
Mercphobia looked at Karamir and sighed. "Only by sacrificing my life can everyone be saved."
"Lord Water Divine Dragon."
Karamir cried his heart out.
"Hey, do not try to pull off such a melodramatic plot in front of me."
Caesar looked at the two of them with a helpless expression. "Can you tell me when your strength increased."
Mercphobia paused and explained everything to Caesar.
Caesar listened. He quickly calculated the time and realized it almost matched the time when the god Ankhseram admonished him.
"God."
Caesar laughed with disdain and grabbed Mercphobia by the neck.
"Bring it on."
Mercphobia thought Caesar was about to strike him, so he did not resist. He closed his eyes and looked relieved.
"You cannot even control this little bit of magic. You so called Five Divine Dragons are weak."
Caesar's mocking voice echoed in Mercphobia's ears. The next moment Mercphobia felt sharp pain on his neck, as if a burning iron touched him.
"Cough cough."
"Lord Water Dragon."
Caesar released him. Mercphobia fell to the ground. Karamir rushed over and looked relieved.
"You will not kill me. Why. Pity."
Mercphobia clutched his neck in disbelief.
"A little. But this magic leakage is easy to solve."
Caesar spoke calmly. "I imprinted a magic mark on you. I have done it before."
"Magic runes."
Mercphobia moved his hand. Karamir noticed a ring of light blue patterns with detailed designs tattooed on Mercphobia's neck.
"We have lost techniques in Ishgar that absorb overflowing magic and store it inside them."
Caesar gave a short explanation. "I created a super large magic rune for you. It can store half of your magic. When it gets close to full, go somewhere quiet and release it. After emptying it, you can refill it. Without overflowing magic, your worries are gone."
Mercphobia was stunned. He checked inside himself and saw that his leaking power was being absorbed into the rune.
The magic rune space was huge. At his current rate of magic loss it would take at least one year to fill it.
That meant he only needed to release the magic once a year. He would not need to fear hurting anyone again.
"Thank you."
Mercphobia stood and bowed to Caesar.
Karamir also bowed and thanked him many times.
Living was clearly better than dying. Mercphobia also wanted peaceful coexistence between humans and dragons. Helping him was not a bad idea.
It was unknown if Elefseria agreed with this seal.
"Oh right."
Caesar spoke and caught their attention.
"What I did only treats the symptoms, not the cause."
Caesar's voice carried meaning. "If you want to be truly cured, you need to stop acting high and mighty. Go to the ground. Live with them. Remove the myths around you. Or marry an ordinary human. And stop letting people call you Lord Dragon. You have a name, do you not."
Mercphobia froze and glanced at Karamir.
Karamir blushed and looked at him with hope.
Mercphobia scratched his cheek and turned away. Karamir pouted in frustration.
"Enough already."
Caesar felt overwhelmed by their behavior.
After resolving the Water Dragon issue, Mercphobia invited Caesar to stay overnight. He picked vegetables and fruit from the farmland and cooked a meal.
Mercphobia's cooking was not amazing. It was not bad. It was simply average.
At night Caesar lay in the room prepared for him. The ceiling looked like an ocean view. Fish swam above his head. His mind was elsewhere.
"Mercphobia's power losing control must be the work of the gods."
Caesar muttered. "His past crimes became twisted into legends and history. They turned into the strongest belief in the hearts of the people of Elmina. When their faith reaches its peak he might become a real water god."
A dragon becoming a god without killing other gods.
It might only be Caesar's guess. There could be something deeper behind it.
The time Mercphobia lost control and the time he was admonished by Ankhseram were almost the same.
Caesar refused to believe there was no connection.
"Will everything end once Ankhseram is destroyed."
Caesar remembered what zeref said and hesitated.
He would take things step by step.
Caesar trusted what he saw more than what he was told.
"Find the Moon God Dragon Selene. Get the magic to travel between parallel worlds. Then we can find where Ankhseram hides."
Caesar raised his arm and clenched his fist. "Lift the curse and give zeref and Mavis normal lives. That would be perfect."
Caesar laughed softly. He lowered his arm and closed his eyes.
He needed sleep. Next was the Wood Dragon.
That guy was not someone you talk with for a few minutes.
It had been a long time since Caesar had any real activity.