The group left Metgar’s restaurant and headed towards the limo-like hovercar that was waiting for them outside.

“Would you like a lift anywhere, Senator Pevaphio?” Lorelie asked.

“No need, I plan to return to the royal palace and contact the other Senators regarding Adam’s suggestion.

“Bye, mum.” Tephe said before bounding happily in front of Adam just as he noticed a flash of light appear on top of a building across the road, and said, “Adam, let's play the Bintendo when we get back.”

Adam moved instinctively and grabbed hold of Tephe’s wrist before pulling her into his chest and spinning on the spot with her.

“WAH!” Tephe said in surprise just before a red blaster bolt impacted Adam’s back.

“GAAHHHH”, Adam groaned loudly in pain as he released Tephe and collapsed onto one knee.

“ADAM!” Stacey, Rowena and Lorelie said in panic as they quickly moved towards him.

As she moved towards him, Rowena’s nose suddenly twitched and made her body freeze as it picked up on the scent of Adam’s blood that was now leaking from his back. As she stared at his blood, her eyes started to glow, and her bicuspid teeth grew instinctively until her blood picked up on something that stopped the process.

Rowena’s blood was warning her of a deadly threat. There wasn’t much that could cause Rowena’s blood to react this way, given how old and powerful she was; however, one of those things was standing right beside her.

Pevaphio's dragonic eyes had narrowed into slights, and as she breathed heavily, small whips of green flames could be seen appearing from her mouth.

“They dare,” Pevaphio said in a dangerous low voice.

As Rowena watched, Pevaphio’s body suddenly began to expand and morph as large dragon wings appeared behind her back before Pevaphio leapt into the air.

Soon, a giant green dragon, four times the size of Tephe in her true form, appeared above the floating capital city before Pevaphio opened her wide maw, and a deafening dragon's roar echoed over the entire planet, even under the ocean where the royal capital was.

💫💫💫

“USNN is reporting live from Oceana Seven, where, behind me, you can see dragon fire still ravaging a part of the floating capital city.” A female Merinmian news reporter said while behind her, green fire could be seen burning.

“Reports suggest that two individuals who are yet to be identified attempted to assassinate Dragon Princess Tephe as she emerged from Metgar’s restaurant. Patrons of the restaurant state that Dragon Princess Tephe was dining here with several individuals, including her mother, Senator Pevaphio, Diva Lorelie and Diva Rowena.

Luckily, it appears that Dragon Princess Tephe was protected by an individual who was accompanying her, most probably a bodyguard, and so is unharmed.

In her rage at her daughter's attempted assassination, Senator Pevaphio assumed her true form before attacking those who attempted to assassinate Dragon Princess Tephe.

We have managed to obtain a video that was taken by a Merinmian citizen who was recording Diva Lorelie and her group at the time.”

As she finished speaking, a video began to play showing a giant green dragon roaring in anger towards two individuals atop a roof opposite Metgar’s.

“YOU DARE ATTEMPT TO ASSASINATE MY HATCHLING?” Pevaphio, in her true form, bellowed so loud that the entire city could hear her.

“No… no.. we.” A male Leonian tried to respond, but failed as he stood before an angry mother dragon.

“DIE”, Pevaphio bellowed angrily as green dragon fire gathered within her maw before it burst forth and bathed the building the two were standing on, along with the buildings behind it, for several hundred meters.

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“Reports suggest that the Merinmian royal family has ordered the area where the dragon fire still burns to be locked down while the defence force investigates this matter.

Stay tuned to USNN for more updates on this story”

💫💫💫

“Tell me exactly what happened and why an angry dragon is burning down my city?” An angry male Merinmian who sat upon a throne made of coral beneath the ocean asked angrily.

“My king, reports suggest that…” A female Merinmian replied as she began to report what exactly had happened.

“You're telling me that someone attempted to assinate this individual called Adam Spencer, who is working as Lorelie’s bodyguard; however, Dragon Princess Tephe got in the line of fire and only didn’t get hit because Adam took the blaster shot in her stead?” The king asked.

“That is what our interview with the victims, including Diva Lorelie, has revealed.”

“Do we have any idea who the assassins were?” The king asked.

“The bodies of the two individuals were completely incinerated after being hit by dragon fire, so we were unfortunately unable to ascertain their identity. However, a Bounty Hunter by the name of Ceto, who was in the area, came forward and informed us that the Bounty Hunters Guild has posted a bounty on Adam Spencer. She was apparently a team member of the two assassins; however, she refused to join the job after finding out who the target was.”

“Summon the Bounty Hunter Guild leader here at once.” The king ordered one of his aids who stood nearby.

“My king, the Bounty Hunter Guild leader has just recently sent a request for an audience with you.” The aide informed.

“Then hurry and summon him.”

“Yes, my king.”

💫💫💫

“Ugghhhh.” Adam groaned as he woke up in a warm, comfortable bed.

“Adam. Are you ok?” Stacey suddenly asked in a relieved voice as she saw him waking up.

Adam opened his eyes to find that Stacey, Lorelie and Tephe were all sitting near his bed.

“What happened?” Adam asked grogily as he tried to sit up.

“Don’t sit up, your wound still needs a few hours before it recovers completely,” Lorelie instructed as she stopped him from sitting up.

“You took a blaster shot to the back while protecting Tephe; you collapsed soon after, and you have been unconscious all night. If the doctors Lorelie called didn’t say you were fine, we would have been worried sick.” Stacey replied.

“I’m sorry, Adam, if I hadn't been playing around, you would have been able to dodge the attack instead of protecting me,” Tephe said apologetically.

“Don’t be silly.” Adam said as he raised his hand and rested it on Tephe’s head before gently stroking it as he continued, “There is no guarantee I could have avoided the shot that moves at the speed of light even when I noticed the glint of the sniper scope.”

“So that's how you knew that the attack was coming”? Stacey asked.

“Yes, I noticed the glint of the light reflecting off the sniper scope; it was fortunate.”

“You call this fortunate? You were shot in the back.” Stacey said with exasperation.

“Better that than Tephe being killed,” Adam replied, causing Tephe to sniff.

“So what happened after I collapsed?” Adam asked.

“Take a look,” Lorelie replied as she pointed to the holographic screen on the wall that was once again showing Pevaphio breathing fire over the city.

“Holy fuck, that's cool,” Adam replied as he watched the holographic screen.

“You think that's cool?” Stacey asked.

“Well, yeah, before I found Spector Dragon’s, I believed they were mythological creatures that I didn’t think were real. Now I’m patting a cute dragon on her head.”

“Hehe,” Tephe replied as Adam called her cute.

“I’m kind of disappointed I didn’t get to see it in person.”

“If you want, I can show you my true form,” Tephe replied.

“Really?” Adam asked with excitement.

“Sure.” Tephe nodded.

“Not until tomorrow,” Lorelie instructed. “Adam needs to rest, and you're not transforming in my house.”

💫💫💫

“The Senators' Dome recognises the Oasis Galaxies Senator.” The supreme speaker spoke from his floating platform within the Senators' Dome.

“Thank you, Supreme Speaker.” The Oasis Galaxies Senator said as the huge holographic image of her appeared.

“Fellow Senators, I have just spoken with Senator Pevaphio. First of all, I am glad to inform you all that her daughter Tephe is safe and sound after the attempted assassination attempt we have no doubt all heard about on USNN.

Now onto the main topic, Senator Pevaphio has offered an interesting suggestion regarding the Terran trade embargo. She suggests that we do not place a full trade embargo on the Terran race and instead only deny them access to the items they greatly desire but do not desperately need. As for the TISF, we should deny them access to the shared military technology program.”

💫💫💫

“Please explain to me why your guild has placed a bounty on Diva Lorelie’s bodyguard.” The Merinmian king said to the Bounty Hunter Guild leader who stood before him.

The guild leader sighed before saying, “Director Drot, who is the headquarters Director that runs all Bounty Hunter Guilds within the Oasis Galay and those surrounding, contacted me and ordered me to place the bounty up on behalf of the guild.

I naturally refused after hearing that the bounty target was Diva Lorelie’s bodyguard and the one who saved her. After my refusal, he went and used his authority as Director to place the bounty personally.

While no Merinmians will accept the contract, I can’t prevent non-Merinmians from accepting it, as happened earlier.”