The Grand Order - Solomon

Disclaimer: I do not own Highschool DxD or Fate.

Note: This is an AU story, so don't expect things to be the same as in the anime or manga.

'Thinking'

"Talking"

"The Time of Crowning has Come; He is the One who Begins All."

…

Chapter 7

- Solomon PoV -

With four more souls added to the unbreaking of Tiamat's seal, her power began to grow more active with every passing day. Where before she could only inhabit a statue for maybe a few minutes before ultimately losing the connection, she soon found herself able to manipulate one for almost an hour without issue.

That had, of course, led to more than a few steamy encounters with the dragoness now that we'd crossed the first line in our relationship.

Gugk…gugk…gugk!

Leaning back against one of the marble columns that I'd created, I sighed in pleasure as the Tiamat-controlled stature devoured my length with a passion that was impossible to ignore.

The water that she created in order to lube her throat made delightfully erotic sounds every time her lips kissed my groin, replicating what I can only dream will one day be the same sounds I'll hear once she's been freed.

"That's it…" I gasped out, letting my hand rest on the smooth surface of the marble horns that connected with the statue's head as she picked up the pace.

Feeling her tongue swirl around the crown as she sucked noisily on the tip, my hips jerked forwards as I tried to instinctively shove the rest of my length in her mouth as I came. "Tia, I'm cumming!"

Her voice in my head made several erotic moans as she reached down to fondle my sack, coaxing me into dumping everything I had into the statue's mouth as she eagerly swallowed everything.

POP!

Pulling back slowly, she deliberately made her lips POP as soon as my length came free of her mouth. Her eyes - as white as the rest of the marble body - stared at me pointedly as she ran her tongue over her lips, making sure to gather the few small ropes that had ended up on them before swallowing it audibly.

"Feeling better, darling?" She teased.

In wake of having put myself onto the Satan Lucifer's little sister's radar, I'd been noticeably worried about any future trips back to our old dimension now that people were starting to take notice of me.

And after using CHALDEA to get an idea of what the aftermath of my departure looked like, I was slightly concerned to see that the redhead - who I now knew to be called Rias - had posted several familiars all around the town, and was now working with her fellow King "Sona" to gather any and all information about people who wield chains in combat.

Obviously, they weren't going to find anything about me considering I hadn't ever shown anyone the ability before. But now that the information was out there, the next time I'd need to make a trip could result in any bystanders drawing connections.

Luckily, Tiamat was more than happy to offer a way of relieving that built up stress the moment she'd felt it through our connection.

"Amazing, actually." I chuckled breathlessly, getting an amused giggle from her in reply that lingered in my head as the waves of euphoria started to dissipate. "…Thanks, Tia."

Feeling better now that the rising panic had faded, I let my robe fall back down around my legs as I pushed myself off the column that I was leaning against in order to look at the recent changes I'd made to the dimension.

Where once a rather sloppily put together campsite used to be, now was an actual temple that acted as my first real home.

Having gone for a more Greek-styled open theme, I'd used my Creation Magic to create over a dozen large marble columns that rested on a base of pure stone; preventing them from sliding whenever the ground got wet and slippery.

The columns were then used to hold up a traditional triangular-shaped roof that protected me from the rain, while several walls that were made further towards the middle of the temple acted as my bedroom; where I'd made a larger bed to fit myself and Tiamat, and a couple of dressers and wooden bookshelves to store my clothes - mainly duplicate robes - and the books that I'd brought with me. And some of the smaller figurines, too.

In the middle of what I'd dubbed the main living room - which was nothing more than a couch and a small table - stood the CHALDEA globe.

Glancing past the column I'd been leaning against from my position under the end of the roofline, I listened to the sounds of the rain as it fell in a light shower over the grass plains; soaking the ground and filling the nearby streams with a fresh source of clean water as several of the animals nearby took shelter beneath trees and other foliage.

As the sound of the rain filled my eardrums, I let out a sigh as the Tiamat statue came up behind me to wrap her arms around my waist, allowing me to lean back into her embrace as her voice drifted into my head.

"…you've come so far from the boy I'd seen when I first awakened." She whispered softly, not wanting to break the serenity of the moment as we watched the rain fall together. "It amazes me how quickly you've grown to become so important to me, in such a short span of time."

Feeling myself relax the more she spoke, I smiled as she had the statue's face come down to kiss me slowly on the neck; careful not to hit me with her overly-sized horns. "In the eons before my sealing, time seemed to stretch on forever as every day seemed to blend into the other."

"Seeing the same arguments, the same struggles for power and domination, playing out over and over again… made it all seem like an endless cycle of disappointment and despair."

"And then I was sealed away…"

Hearing her paused, I turned my head to the side in order to kiss her marble cheek as I sent whatever feelings of comfort and support I could through our link.

She never said anything, but she'd been a little melancholic at times after she'd felt Ddraig's power in that boy's Sacred Gear. The loss of her children hit her at random moments, and knowing that he'd suffered the same fate as her was hard for the Matriarch of the Dragon Race to handle.

Keeping quiet as she seemed to gather her thoughts, I knew that it was better to just simply offer my silent support than to try and get her to move past it.

As a mother, that was impossible for her. Tiamat's children would always hold a place in her heart, and I accepted that as easily as I accepted that I'd managed to find my own place in her heart as well.

I felt, more than saw, her smile as she sent back equal parts gratitude and care before she continued on.

"…and then another lifetime went by as I felt the ages pass me in my slumber. Sealed away from the word. Bound helpless in the darkness of the Sacred Gear's depths until you awoke me." Giving my body as small squeeze, she added. "Now, I stand in a new dimension, with a person I've come to love in my arms… and I can't help but feel excited at the thought of the future that now awaits us."

Love, huh?

Just the thought of it alone no longer made me nervous. Sure, I'd already moved past the hurt of LeFay's betrayal, but that didn't mean my heart had been ready to even think of trying to get back out there again. But the thought of Tiamat made my heart race in ways I'd never felt before.

She had - over the months we'd been together - become someone who meant more to me than anyone in my life. Someone whose kind heart, and endless love, helped me through some of the darkest times and showed me that there was more to life than just pain and betrayal.

There was love, and loss. Passion, and joy. Sadness, and laughter.

And most of all, Her.

Tiamat, the Primordial Mother of Dragons.

Who somehow found it in her heart to fall in love with a soon-to-be 17-year-old who happened to love her back just as much.

…I'd barely even realized that it had been almost a year to the day since I'd left the Golden Dawn behind. And look at where I was now?

With a soft, loving smile on my face, I replied. "I love you too, Tia… and I'm excited for our future, no matter where it takes us."

- Timeskip -

After that, there had been several more alerts from CHALDEA where I'd successfully managed to gather more souls to add to the breaking of Tiamat's seal.

None as exciting as the one in Kuoh, of course.

But there had been a few Vampires, Stray Devils, and even a Stray Magician who'd found themselves added to list of souls. Each one caused the restraints around Tiamat's power to loosen, and allowed her to use more of her powers to help me further our goal. Until we hit a recent roadblock.

"Getting distracted?" Came that ever-teasing voice of hers.

Shaking my head with a chuckle, I continued to watch as several statues I'd made of Tiamat moved around under her control as she had them work to either gather and cook food for me to eat, or cultivate the slowly growing garden that she was meticulously making in order to add some color to the otherwise pure white of the marble temple that was our home.

"Of course, I am." I replied with a grin. "It's not every day a lucky guy like me gets to witness such a sight."

And by sight, I meant the dozen naked bodies of Tiamat that moved about without a stitch of clothing to cover them. The fact that as long as she held the connection to them meant that the statues bodies reacted like a living body would, made it an even better sight.

…so, so many jiggling breasts and perky butts. It was a challenge just walking around without getting a hard-on every time one of them walked by.

Luckily for me; as much as she teased, Tiamat always made sure I never went unsatisfied at the end of the day.

"Perhaps you would prefer to take today's training session off, and enjoy yourself." She purred in my head as a nearby statue turned and winked at me. A marble hand moving up to cup a massive tit that practically devoured her fingers underneath its sheer size and softness, only to turn away with a blown kiss as it went back to work "It wouldn't do to work yourself into exhaustion after all the effort you've put in recently."

As if to prove her point, I glanced down at the Key as it displayed the latest update on my progress.

Solomon

Creation Saint - [36%]

Reaching the rank of Saint had been a milestone in my growth. The difference between the lower three levels and that of a Saint felt like I'd gone from using a regular Sacred Gear, to unlocking its Balance Breaker.

Constructs like the temple were even easier to make now, to the point where I'd even been able to make the entire roof in a single attempt. And the additional statues were now something I could make several of at a single time, as long as I kept the details on them rather simple.

I'd even been able to start making changes to the weather of the dimension, as well. The rain cycles now happened whenever I wished them too, and regrowing things like destroyed trees or plants was as simple as pointing at them with the Key and willing them to regenerate now.

"Not just yet, I want to get at least a little practice in today." I shook my head after a moment of thought. "I can't let myself get lazy now that we're finally making some real headway."

Glancing up at the sky, I stared at the noticeable new addition to the dimension that had become a necessity following my recent trips back to our old dimension.

Hovering in the cloudy blue skies like some omnipresent deity, a massive ring of light now dominated a good portion of the sky.

Ars Almadel Salomis, the most recent power I'd created that acted as a storage device to contain the souls of those I'd gather on my trips.

Following the trip to Kuoh where I'd gathered four Fallen souls, it became noticeable almost immediately that the Key was having issues trying to hold onto them when it had never been designed to do so in the first place.

Leading to a horribly intense burning sensation that felt like my hand was being branded with a hot iron, before Tiamat had come up with the idea of storing them someplace else.

It turned out that after the first soul had been used to start the process of breaking her seal, the seal itself had started adapting itself to prevent our attempts, and now it prevented her from using them one at a time to undo it like she'd been doing.

Which meant that if we wanted to break her seal from this point on, we had to do it all in one go with as many souls as I could gather - or risk the seal adapting once again and ruining all of our hard work.

And there was simply no way the Key would be able to hold up to that kind of strain. A few souls at the maximum, but when talking about the number we'd need to set Tiamat free? Impossible.

It was actually rather fortunate that I'd reached the rank of Saint when I had.

Creating something like Ars Almadel Salomis would have been impossible had I been even a single rank lower. And that would have basically halted our plans for the foreseeable future.

Which - while not a significant loss with the amount of time we had - was not a particularly desirable outcome.

We were already growing impatient with how long it was taking right now, ever since we'd finally broken that first barrier that took our relationship from companions to lovers… and now we both were itching to join together in the flesh.

We'd even stopped ourselves from going all the way together as long as Tiamat was stuck using the statues as substitutes; wanting our first time together to be with each other, and not by way of a facsimile… even if they were very realistic facsimiles, in both appearance and actions.

Turning my hand out towards an open area of grass plains as I refocused on my task, I let my Creation Magic flow out in excess as I called out, "Ars Enkidu!"

In a swarm of flashing gold, dozens of chains that were now as thick as my arm shot out in the direction I'd pointed to.

The process of creating them in massive numbers had become a simple effort now that I'd done it countless times before, and it was almost like how a conductor would direct a symphony with how easily the chains followed my movements; twisting and curving with the smallest of motions.

ALERT!

Multiple presences detected within specified parameters!

Dropping my hands with a sigh, I let the chains disappear with a thought while I moved back into the temple as the CHALDEA alarms rang out through the building and into the open air of the dimension.

Feeling a small breeze flow through the temple's open layout, I absentmindedly raised my hand to hold my longer white hair out of my face.

Normally I'd have cut my hair to a more manageable length by this point, but Tiamat had said she preferred how it looked now. And who was I to disagree with what my lover wanted?

It wasn't like having longer hair really bothered me, and letting it grow out did make me look a little more sophisticated.

"I swear, it's like CHALDEA enjoys interrupting me whenever I'm about to start doing something." I mumbled after I'd moved the strands of white hair out of my face, feeling the small trickle of amusement from Tiamat at the idea.

Nonetheless, I walked up to the globe and watched as CHALDEA zoomed in on the latest opportunity to collect more souls. But this one seemed to have found a particularly powerful soul…

…seriously?

"…Once was happenstance. Twice was coincidence. But three times?" Even Tiamat couldn't keep from feeling disbelief as the latest detection showed the town of Kuoh. "How is such a thing possible?"

Honestly, it was getting ridiculous that so much was happening in Kuoh.

Sure, it was under the control of two younger sisters of current Satans; but that shouldn't have led to so many encounters being noticed by CHALDEA as there had been.

The town was barely a few thousand people in total, and most of the land itself was almost always patrolled by one of the Devil Kings' Peerages!

Pulling up the video, I felt an overwhelming sense of confusion as I watched a 10-winged Fallen floating in the air over the town's sole high school.

Apparently, he was… monologuing to the Gremory girl and her Peerage?

Why did CHALDEA think this was an opportunity?

Even if I'd gotten stronger in the last few months, that didn't mean I wanted to try going toe-to-toe with a Fallen that had been around since the Great Biblical War. And even more so since it's the warmongering Kokabiel - whose face was unfortunately rather recognizable - that was involved.

Watching the events as they unfolded, things only got more bizarre as everyone seemed to just stand around while they watched Gremory's Knight try to take on a crazed Exorcist.

The fight was boringly one sided before the Knight seemed to gain some sort of deus ex machina type of powerup as he stared at a small crystal longingly.

As soon as he had created an oddly contrasting sword with what I assumed was his Sacred Gear, the fight turned in favor of the Knight as he defeated the exorcist fairly quickly.

Things seemed to pause as a nearby clergy man started to make a comment on the new sword the Knight made, when Kokabiel suddenly rammed a Light Spear through the man's chest.

"O-Okay, what?" I muttered. This was all getting to be really strange; like some type of poorly written script that hadn't been fully thought out.

Things continued in that same vein for a while longer, with Kokabiel single-handedly defeating all of the Devils with ease - even defeating the perverted boy who was the current Red Dragon Emperor without issue - as was expected of someone who'd fought for centuries in the Great Biblical War. But he never went for any killing blows.

At this point I was questioning if maybe CHALDEA had an error in when I'd created it, only to pause in shock as another person made themselves known in the already strange situation. A person, clad in white dragon armor and shining blue wings, that suddenly inserted themselves into the fight by taking Kokabiel on single-handedly.

"Albion…" Tiamat whispered to herself sadly.

Watching the scene as the sudden change of events played out, I finally realized why CHALDEA had alerted me to this craziness as the White Dragon Emperor soundly defeated the 10-winged Fallen before deciding to let him live as they turned to speak with the Devils - leaving the Fallen to lie defenseless on the ground as everyone all but ignored his presence.

"Ars Paulina."

Well…if they were just going to leave such a powerful soul lying around.

- Kuoh -

- Rias Gremory PoV -

Watching as the White Dragon Emperor taunted her Pawn, Rias was still struggling with getting her emotions under control after the jarring last few minutes.

Between almost having been killed in an attempt to enrage her older brother into starting a war, and watching her Knight nearly turn Stray as he fought the exorcist Freed like a madman; she would freely admit that her mindset wasn't in the best of places.

Which is why she felt more relieved than angered to see those familiar golden chains pierce through the downed Kokabiel's chest moments before his body disintegrated while everyone watched in shock at the sudden turn of events. The act even forced the White Dragon Emperor to turn his focus away from her battered and bruised Pawn, and onto the newly revealed white-haired boy that stood off to the side.

'Please don't let this be another person trying to reignite the Great Biblical War.' She pleaded to whatever god, demon, or celestial being that had been making her life difficult up until this point.

"YOU!" Issei shouted, causing her to grimace as he struggled to stand on shaking knees. "You're the one who killed Yuuma!"

'Yuuma?' She thought in confusion. '...Oh, right. The Fallen who killed him and tried to take Asia's Twilight Healing.'

Ugh. She'd almost forgotten about that in the chaos that followed that night.

Sona had not been happy to hear how that night had gone, and even less so that the person - or boy, as she now knew - behind the Stray's disappearance, and the death of the Fallen, had once again gotten past the town's security wards without anyone noticing.

And that was to say nothing of how her sister-in-law Grayfia had felt when she'd had to report what happened to the higher-ups. Because there was no way she was going to try and cover up an attempted incursion onto her town by a group of Fallen.

That was just asking for her overprotective brother to come and pull her out of Kuoh and barricade her in her room back in the Underworld.

Was it her fault that the fact that her Pawn had somehow become scatterbrained in regards to this 'Yuuma' after witnessing her death had fallen between the cracks and been all-but forgotten? Not in her opinion.

She was a teenaged girl after all, and making mistakes or forgetting small details like that were bound to happen.

Not everyone had a photographic memory like Sona.

"…who?" The newcomer asked after a long pause, staring at Issei with a blank expression on his - admittedly attractive - face before his eyes lit up in recognition. "Oh, her… My bad?" He added with a shrug, not looking remotely sorry.

The fact that even he seemed to be confused as to her Pawn's anger made Rias feel a bit better regarding the situation. Neither of them knew why Issei was so mentally attached to his late murderer, and frankly neither of them cared about this 'Yuuma' beyond the opportunities she'd provided them.

She was just some unimportant Fallen who'd bitten off more than she could chew, and it came back to bite her in the ass.

That was simply how their world worked.

"I'LL KILL YOU!" Issei screamed.

Seeing the green gem of the Boosted Gear on his arm as it flashed in response to his mounting rage, there was little time for her to call out in warning before he was suddenly bound head-to-toe in dozens of golden chains. "Wha-… LET ME GO, BASTARD!"

"…um, no?" The stranger stated in amusement. Watching as the perverted brunet flopped on the ground uselessly as he tried to break free, to no avail.

Rias felt her concern for her Pawn's life diminish the longer that the newcomer did nothing but watch Issei roll about. 'He isn't here for us.'

That was no small amount of relief; and her shoulders dropped whatever tension was still in them as she watched the stranger open his mouth.

"…W-"

Whatever he was about to say next was interrupted by the armored figure of the White Dragon Emperor, who had silently been observing things before finally intruding themselves into the conversation.

"You shouldn't have done that, Magician." They warned, flexing the wings of Divine Dividing as the Balance Breaker armor lifted into the air. "I was tasked with bringing Kokabiel back alive… the Grigori will not be pleased he's dead."

…she wasn't about to have another fight on her hands, was she?

She had already used up all of her magic to try and bring down Kokabiel, and the White Dragon Emperor had already proved they were stronger than all of them put together by defeating the Fallen easily.

There was no way she could hope to stop them, and even less of a chance against the stranger or his chains.

If the power coming off this new Magician was anything to go by, he was far stronger than she was, and likely matched the White Dragon Emperor's power despite the latter's Balance Breaker being active - which was ridiculous, because he hadn't felt this strong the last time he'd appeared.

Why were all of these absurdly powerful beings suddenly showing up in her town and causing all sorts of mayhem on her watch?

Didn't her older brother pick Kuoh in the first place because it had the least amount of supernatural activity?

…was it too late to rethink that plan of returning back to the Underworld? The thought of being boarded up in her room was actually starting to sound nice compared to dealing with all of this craziness.

… …

- Solomon PoV -

Well… shit. I'd really not thought everything through when I saw Kokabiel lying beaten on the ground. And now I'd not only revealed myself to the Devils, but I had an angry White Dragon Emperor getting ready to attack me.

Raising my hand in preparation of using my chains against him, I felt a trickle of worry pass through my connection with Tiamat as she asked without saying anything.

Please, don't hurt him.

It was obvious she was talking about Albion, and that by killing his wielder I would likely cause her child pain.

But it was that same person who was about to attack me, and she knew that it would be selfish of her to say it out loud when I could very well be fighting for my life with one hand tied behind my back.

Heaving a reluctant sigh, I acquiesced to her plea with my own silent response at the same time as I changed my plan.

I won't.

Instead of using the Key, I called on the rings of Telos Karma mere moments before the White Dragon Emperor launched himself at me. Flying upon wings of blue light at breakneck speeds as the concussion of a shockwave followed his rapid movement.

Unfortunately for him - or her - that was exactly what I was hoping they'd do.

And with a deft wave of my hand, I called upon the power of my own Sacred Gear to counter his. Willing it to enact a single impossible request like only Telos Karma could do. Manipulating the very nature of my opponent as he soared ever closer to me, all the while asking the rings to do one thing.

Forget how to fly.

Typically, if I wanted to try and affect something of significance, I'd have to content my powers against the strength of my target.

For things like making the Key a possibility, it was only thanks to Tiamat's own power backing me that I'd been able to pull that off.

Sure, I did most of the work myself by coming up with the magical matrices, arithmetic, and runic algorithms. But the power and control requirements necessary to pull it off were beyond me at the time.

In situations like this, I'd learned it was better to target things that were more improbable to have happen than just focusing on something like "make them weak"; which wouldn't have worked at all, because even from this distance I could tell that the White Dragon Emperor was stronger than me.

At least… for now.

So instead of going for the obvious, I went for something improbable that my opponent wouldn't expect me to target, and therefore wouldn't have the time to gather enough power to fight of my attack. For instance, something like making a Dragon forget how to fly.

CRASH!

Watching the white armored form crash to the ground, everyone besides myself looked on stunned as the White Dragon Emperors body rolled and skidded for several dozen feet before they landed in a crumpled heap a short distance away from me.

"Ars Enkidu."

Before they could pull themselves up off the ground, I bound them with the same golden chains I was using to keep the Red Dragon Emperor from moving.

It was a temporary solution at best, but I hoped that it would at least buy me a precious few seconds to either prevent an all-out battle from taking place, or give me the chance to flee before they could free themselves.

Almost instantly, however, my new captive began struggling against their restraints with far more success than their "rival". Making use of the legendary power that their Sacred Gear was known for as they forced themselves up onto their knees.

"DIVIDE!" A voice called out from the White's armored form, making the sapphire blue gems glow briefly as the energies flowing through my chains were instantly halved.

'Ah, shit.' The sound of the links of the chains being strained and stretched filled the otherwise silent clearing as the Devil spectators watched the White Dragon Emperor struggle to free themselves with increasing levels of success.

Unlike the Red Dragon Emperor, who was so weak from his earlier battle that doubling his power meant nothing compared to the strength of my chains, the White Dragon Emperor was almost completely fresh and had the full strength of their Balance Breaker to back them up.

In response to their efforts, I tried creating more and more waves of chains to bind their form.

But for each new wave of chains that wrapped around them, the annoyingly-repetitive sound of Divine Dividing's call announced another instant halving of their power. And with it, a further drop to my rapidly depleting magical reserves.

"You need to leave, Solomon… There is nothing to be gained by staying here any longer, and for every drop in your power the White Dragon Emperor is only getting stronger." Tiamat called out pleadingly. "Should this fight go on, you will not even have enough power to return to our dimension."

She's right. At the rate their able to use Divide thanks to being in Balance Breaker, I simply cannot make enough powerful chains fast enough to restrain them.

"BOOST!"

And to make matters worse… the Red Dragon Emperor had finally caught his second wind, and was now slowly struggling with increasing success to break free of the chains that bind him.

Dammit all. This was getting way too out of hand.

'You're right, Tia. We got what we needed, there's no use overstaying our welcome.' I agreed, carefully maintaining the flow of power to my chains as I split my focus and began working the Key into creating a new portal. The weight of a Fallen cadre's soul burned within the Key as it protested my actions, threating to destroy my greatest creation as I pushed it to the limit.

It was inevitable, of course, that if my full focus unable to keep either of the Dragon Emperors down forever, that only half of my focus would be even less effective and holding them at bay.

SNAP!

With a roar worthy of a Dragon, the White Dragon Emperor freed themselves from the chains I'd bound them in.

An explosion of energy came from them at the same time as the chains were broken, creating a small concussive force that actually forced the Red Dragon Emperor and the other Devils to fall backwards.

"HALF DIMENSION!" Enraged to the point of madness, the White Dragon Emperor called upon one of Albion's lesser-known powers to shrink space itself.

Taking the very concept of "Divide" to its absolute limits as they compressed everything around me in half just to keep me trapped.

Terrified at the sight of the area around me shrinking in on itself, I hastened to finish the portal before things got any worse.

"DRAGON SHOT!"

…as if the universe wanted to show me just how bad things could get, the Red Dragon Emperor finally broke free of his own restrains, and added his power into the mix by sending a beam of crimson energy towards me that was rapidly expanding to fill the shrinking space.

The twin attacks, made by the eternally rivaled Dragon Emperors, was horrifyingly impressive in their compatibility. Working together, they created a two-pronged assault that would have easily killed anyone who wasn't at least a High-Class, if not Ultimate-Class Devil.

"Ars Paulina!"

Luckily for me, their efforts were mostly in vain as I finally managed to create a portal back to my own dimension. The golden portal a blessed sight to witness as I dove towards it, only to shout in pain as my back caught the tail end of the Red Dragon Emperor's attack moments before the portal closed behind me.

"FUCK!" I screamed out as my body collapsed on its own. The stench of burnt flesh instantly filled my senses as a searing pain erupted where I was hit.

Without even looking, I knew that my back was probably already blackened and bleeding as a warm liquid dripped down what remained of my lower back.

"SOLOMON!" Tiamat cried out in worry, instantly connecting herself to the statues both in and around the temple as them came to life moments before they raced down to help me up. Only for them to move even faster as I tried turning in a way that caused another pained scream to tear from my throat.

"Careful! The damage to your back is extensive…" Her voice quivered momentarily.

Looking through the statues, she was able to get a better picture of how bad I looked, and it didn't sound good.

Even still, I tried to get up on my own without help. Only for my shaking limbs to prove impossible to steady myself with as my body went into shock.

"You've done more than enough… Let my extensions take care of you." She all-but begged. "Please…"

Even if I had the strength to refuse, I wouldn't have. The sheer desperation in her tone and the overwhelming amount of emotion that I was feeling through our connection silenced any protests that I might have had.

"…thanks, Tia." I whispered as my vision swam from the pain and blood loss, while strong marble hands gently grabbed me before lifting my body up into a pair of comforting arms.

Tiamat wordlessly send her thanks back at my relenting as she controlled the statues to carry me over to the nearby stream.

Every step made by the statue, no matter how slow and delicate it moved, sent a brief flare-up of pain as I was carried down into the crystal-clear water. And I had to bite down rather hard just to keep from making any more noise as the cold sting of the water washed over my back, before I eventually sighed in relief as the purifying liquid helped dull the pain.

Blearily, I noticed more statues moving around in the background as they brought out a fresh robe and several fluffy white towels for me to get cleaned off with later, as the one that still held me let go of one arm to begin removing my destroyed clothes.

"I should have been more careful." I muttered in a daze as the statue pulled the last bits of clothing off of my body, leaving me to float naked in the stream as it grabbed a small hand-towel I'd made long ago in order to dab at the burnt skin along the edges of the wound. "It was stupid of me to linger as long as I did… I knew I should have left the moment I'd gotten Kokabiel's soul, but I'd still hesitated."

"Do not be too hard on yourself, beloved." Tiamat cooed gently, her voice coming across my mind like a soothing balm as she had the facsimile carefully wipe down the blood on my lower body. For once not even mentioning my nakedness like she normally would.

"You couldn't have foreseen the White Dragon Emperor to turn on you as they did… nor that the Red Dragon Emperor would set aside his rivalry with them to join in the fight against you."

Grunting as the hand-towel touched a particularly sensitive spot, I groaned through clenched teeth as the pain gradually lessened. "…at least we didn't walk away empty handed."

On my palm, the Key glowed almost blindingly with the power of a 10-winged Fallen's soul. Unlike the heat on my back, the warmth radiating from the rose compass was much easier to handle. And it quickly cooled off as I channeled the soul out of the Key and into the Ars Almadel Salomis that hovered in the sky overhead.

Seeing the ring of light grow noticeably larger with the powerful new addition, I sighed in relief as the straining on the Key subsided, allowing me to begin channeling Creation Magic through it towards my wound.

'This day could have gone better.'

… …

- Tiamat PoV -

Carefully manipulating the hands of the statue to not apply too much pressure as it cleaned around his wound, Tiamat felt lucky that she didn't actually have a physical body anymore; because the sight of her beloved's wound made her sick to her stomach.

After all, she was the one that caused it.

Oh sure, it was really the Red Dragon Emperor's attack that had done the actual damage. But it was her fault that Solomon had been forced into a position that left him so vulnerable in the first place.

If only she hadn't asked him not to harm them… if she'd just kept her thoughts to herself and let him do what was necessary, he wouldn't have ended up like this.

But she couldn't help it, no matter how hard she'd tried.

The mother in her, the same one that had done nothing as her children helped seal her away, refused to allow any harm to befall her children. And while Solomon might not know it yet, his chains and Creation Magic could do more than just harm the wielder… he could potentially harm the Sacred Gears as well, if he wanted.

Which meant that he could have harmed Albion, her other middle child who could be just as rambunctious as his brother Ddraig.

So, she did something she now deeply regretted.

She'd forced Solomon to fight with one hand tied behind his back. Knowing that he'd do anything she asked of him without a second thought.

And the worst part of it? Was that she knew she'd make the same mistake again, if the situation called for it.

A mother's love was an unshakable thing, forcing her to make choices that she'd never have chosen in a different situation. And in the end her beloved paid the price for it.

It wasn't fair to him, what she did.

By all rights, he should be furious at her for making him weaken himself by fighting not to harm his opponent, when they clearly had no qualms with doing the same.

Instead, he'd chosen to take it out on himself. Blaming his own supposed weakness for why he was injured, when he should be blaming her.

…she knew she had to make it up to him.

But with his injury, the idea she had in mind would have to be put on hold until it healed. So, she'd settle for doing everything she could through the statues to make sure he had his every need attended to, while promising him in her head that she'd make it up to him one day when she was finally freed.

Perhaps… once they've left their old world behind entirely, and truly broke away from it all… she could repay his kindness for sparing her children, with children of his own?

'Our children would be powerful…' She mused as she had the statue lift Solomon's body out of the steam and onto a towel-covered patch of grass nearby, before slowly and carefully rubbing down his naked skin. Her attention momentarily drifting to the dangling piece of manhood between his legs as she continued that train of thought. 'And it would only be right that I be the one to help give him the gift of a family… A gift that so many others have taken for granted, but one that Solomon has never had before.'

The thought of her carrying his child in her womb sent a pleasant thrill through the Mother of Dragon's body.

'Soon, beloved…' She promised even though he couldn't hear her.

The pain and stress having finally caught up with him between her cleaning him off and carrying him into the temple that had become their home.

While the statue carried him over towards the bed and laid his sleeping body down before cuddling up next to him, she used her link with the other statues to stare up at the expanded ring of light that hovered in the night's sky overhead.

The additional Fallen's soul had increased its size greatly from what it was before. To the point where it was now less of a possibility, and more of just a matter of time before they had enough souls necessary to set her free.

And then, she and Solomon would be free. Free to leave their old world behind for good, and start a family all their own.

'Soon.'

- END -

Author's Notes:

And that's Chapter 7!

I really wasn't sure how to go about showing Telos Karma in action, considering how little explanation there is on its use. While it says that the Longinus can make a swordsman forget how to wield a sword (like Xenovia) I couldn't find any more information on how it went about doing that. So, I did the best that I could.

Also, I've started a Pat reon page if anyone would like to donate. You don't have to, and nothing you'll find on there is much different than what you'll find here besides a few chapters of unfinished works. But I figured I'd try and see if there's any chance of making a living out of this. You can find me under the name: Crownborne

Hope you all are still liking it so far! Thanks for checking out my story!