Chapter 298: Otherworldly Stage
The queen of the Lamia race greeted the Centaur representative with a warm, genuine smile.
"It’s been too long." She said, her voice carrying a sage-like, shamanic quality. "How have you been? Is everything going well?"
The centaur leader returned the smile with equal warmth.
"Everything has been going perfectly. We’ve been upholding our duties and serving our queen every single day. There’s nothing to regret."
The Lamia queen tilted her head, her slit-pupiled eyes curious.
"And how is your queen? The last I heard, she was traveling again."
The centaur leader’s smile brightened.
"She’s doing wonderfully. She’s been traveling across the continent, visiting different bodies of water, purifying them as she always does."
She paused, her expression softening as she said,
"She’ll return soon, I’m sure. She always does."
The Lamia queen nodded, satisfaction evident on her face.
"That’s good to hear. Please extend my gratitude to her when you see her. The work she does...it’s invaluable."
But just as she was about to continue, she noticed someone standing behind her who wasn’t there before.
Someone small, with a curious gaze fixed on her tail.
The pony-like centaur, the leader’s younger sister was staring at the Lamia queen’s scales as if they were a specimen under a microscope.
The Lamia queen smiled gently.
"Do these scales of mine intrigue you so much?"
"No, it’s not that."
The pony centaur shook her head, not looking up.
"I was just wondering...do they have any defensive properties?"
The Lamia queen tilted her head. "What do you mean by defensive properties?"
The pony centaur finally met her eyes.
"I mean, if I were to take this sword—" She began pulling her blade from its sheath, the metal gleaming in the sunlight "—and stab it into you, I wonder if they would have any resistance against that."
The other lamias tensed immediately, their coiled bodies shifting into defensive postures.
But the Lamia queen remained calm, her expression unruffled.
"I’m sorry, dear." She said, her voice still gentle. "My scales don’t have such features. I have to disappoint you."
The centaur leader’s face flushed with embarrassment.
"How can you say something like that? Come back here this instant!"
She grabbed her sister by the arm and pulled her back.
She then turned to the Lamia queen, her expression apologetic.
""I’m so sorry. She’s always been like this—curious about everything, always poking and prodding. Please forgive her."
The pony centaur, however, refused to back down.
"I’m not saying anything wrong." She insisted, crossing her arms. "I’m just saying that if she had some sort of defensive scales, she would have a powerful natural weapon."
"I’m actually giving her good tips!"
She spoke as if she were proud of her observation and the lamia queen should be grateful she had even mentioned it.
The two leaders exchanged a look of mutual exasperation, both smiling despite themselves.
—
Nearby, a much more cheerful exchange was taking place between the harpies and the fairies.
The harpies, rough around the edges, with sharp talons and feathers that caught the light, preened and showed off their wings.
The fairies, bright and energetic, fluttered around them, their tiny bodies leaving trails of sparkling dust.
"Your feathers are so shiny!" One fairy exclaimed, hovering near a harpy’s wing.
"Your sparkles are prettier." The harpy replied, though she seemed pleased by the compliment.
"Let’s race!" Another fairy suggested. "From that tree to the big rock over there!"
"You’ll lose." A harpy cackled.
"We’ll see!"
They took off in a blur of feathers and sparkles, their laughter echoing across the valley.
It was wholesome and sweet, a rare moment of pure, uncomplicated joy.
—
Nearby, a far less pleasant conversation was unfolding.
The dragonkin, who considered themselves the strongest of all races, had approached the goblins.
Their massive forms towered over the small green creatures, and their smiles—wide and full of sharp teeth were anything but friendly.
The goblins shrank back, their eyes wide with fear.
They huddled together, clutching each other’s arms.
Finally, the queen of the goblins stepped forward. She was small even by goblin standards, but her voice carried a surprising amount of authority.
"Keep your subordinates in check." She said, her eyes fixed on the dragon queen. "They are needlessly scaring my people."
"We came here for peace talks, so this kind of behavior is completely inappropriate."
The dragon queen stood with her arms folded, her chest thrust out proudly as if she were above everyone else.
She glanced down at the much shorter goblin leader—then looked away, dismissive.
"The weak are trampled by the strong in this world." She said, her voice cold and matter-of-fact. "That is the law of nature. If you want to do something about it, grow stronger. Stop complaining to me."
The other dragonkin stood taller, puffing out their chests in solidarity.
The goblin leader gritted her teeth, her small hands clenching into fists.
"You—you—!" She took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down. "I may not be able to do anything about your bullying, but the Hero will definitely have our back. You can’t face him!"
The dragon queen’s eyes gleamed with sudden interest.
"The Hero?"
A slow smile spread across her face.
"I wonder how strong he is."
She cracked her knuckles, and the goblin leader’s confidence faltered.
She had hoped to threaten the dragonkin with the Hero’s name, but instead she had only piqued their curiosity...and their appetite for battle.
—
Meanwhile, at the very edge of the valley, the red- and blue-skinned ogres were doing their best to provoke the giants, who for some reason no one called them as such.
The ogres, sports-mad and aggressive, kept shouting and waving their clubs.
"Come on, let’s fight!"
"Let’s have a brawl right now!"
"We really want to see just how tough you big guys actually are!"
But the towering giants, who were trying to keep to themselves, completely ignored the noise.
"Fighting is utterly useless." One giant replied, looking forward. "Who has time for such barbaric things? We are not like the mindless beasts around us."
They completely disregarded the ogres as if they were beneath notice.
This only made the ogres taunt them even harder.
"What’s the use of having all that muscle and height if you’re just going to stand there? Fight us and stop being such cowards!"
But the towering race, whom no one could yet properly identify simply ignored the insults entirely, looking down with pure disdain.
They wanted nothing to do with mere local brawlers.
—
Before long, every single race in the valley was locked in conversation.
Some were genuinely friendly, some were openly hostile, and others just targeted each other with sharp, testing words.
There was no single mood across the gathering.
It made sense; over the thousands of years since the continent had existed, countless wars between these races had lasted for decades and even centuries.
Old rivalries still simmered right beneath the surface, perfectly captured by the heated bickering between the beastkin leaders nearby.
The cat-eared beastkin leader flicked her tail irritably, looking away.
"Keep your mutts on a leash. I can smell their stench from all the way over here."
The wolf-girl leader bared her teeth in a sharp, dangerous grin.
"Jealous that my pack actually knows how to hunt, little kitty? Go back to chasing string."
Behind them, their respective followers began to growl and hiss, tails lashing as weapons were nudged.
But in the current era, things had technically become peaceful.
There were no active, bloody wars. Especially after the male elves had left the continent, the lands had grown significantly quieter without constant territorial conflicts.
Even so, there had never been a proper, unified meeting for everyone to convene and establish order, hierarchy, or clear status among one another.
Many of the races barely knew each other beyond basic names. The entire gathering was a disorganized mess.
This was especially true because the previous generation of matriarchs had at least possessed some level of political understanding and handled the old treaties.
But ever since they had sacrificed themselves to summon the Heroes, that mutual understanding was completely gone.
Everything had been left to the younger leaders, the daughters, and the untested successors to maintain.
These new leaders didn’t have established connections with one another, and they were all fiercely ambitious and full of ego.
It was an explosive mix.
But just as the commotion grew louder and louder, and some races like the vampires and the dark elves seemed on the verge of fighting on the spot, something happened.
One of the fairies, who had been flying around and exploring the forest with an innocent gaze, smacked into an invisible wall.
"Ow!" She rubbed her forehead, her tiny wings fluttering in confusion. "What in the world was that?"
She looked ahead. There was nothing there—just empty air and the forest beyond.
But as she slowly moved forward, she felt something solid. An invisible barrier, blocking her path.
"Guys!" She called out, her voice high and urgent. "Look at this! There’s something in front of us!"
Everyone turned their heads. Whispers spread through the crowd.
"By the gods, there actually is."
"I think I can see it now. It was invisible before."
The queen of the lamias spoke up, her voice calm and measured.
"It appears to be a spell. Cast by multiple individuals together, to block the other side."
The ogre leader gripped her weapon tightly.
"Is it a threat? Do we have to beat someone up?"
The mermaid leader looked around nervously.
"Oh, please don’t let it be anything dangerous. We’re literally sitting ducks right now."
She gestured at the empty space where the portals had been.
"The portals have disappeared. If anyone decided to attack us, we couldn’t even run away."
Her fellow mermaids nodded, their faces pale with fear.
Paranoia spread through the valley like wildfire.
None of them truly trusted the Hero who had summoned them here—they had never met him, only heard stories, and the stories were not all good.
For all they knew, this was an elaborate trap.
Then, a voice rang out.
Cool. Male. Calm.
"...It’s time."
Every head snapped toward the barrier.
Weapons were drawn. Daggers gleamed. Knives flashed. Eyes narrowed.
The leaders tensed, ready for anything.
And suddenly—the massive barrier shattered.
Boom!
It didn’t just vanish; it exploded into countless glittering, magical fragments that rained down onto the grass like a shower of stars.
But the gathered races couldn’t care about the barrier itself and instead stared in absolute shock at what they saw beyond the barrier.
"Oh my god." Someone gasped. "What is that?"
"I’ve never seen anything like it before. It’s so shiny...so colorful..."
"Just what is this?"
None of the gathered races could believe their eyes.
Right in front of them stood a massive stage.
But was unlike any stage they had ever seen.
It was made with gleaming metal, had beautiful curtains and elaborate decorations, complete with a backstage area and a prominent center stage.
Lights surrounded it—blue lights, pink lights, massive floodlights that seemed to drink in the sun’s rays and amplify them.
It looked exactly like a concert stage!
But to these demi-human races, who had never encountered such a thing, it was magic beyond comprehension.
They stared openly, their expressions ranging from wonder to confusion.
"What...is this?" The lamia queen whispered.
The dark elf matriarch forgot her feud with the vampire queen.
The dragon queen’s arrogance faltered.
The goblins emerged from behind each other, curiosity overcoming fear.
But just as the wondrous, otherworldly stage stood revealed before the gathered demi-human races...
...thick white fog suddenly billowed from hidden machines positioned all around the platform.
The dense mist rolled across the stage like living clouds, swallowing the elaborate set in seconds and spilling outward toward the stunned onlookers.
Panic erupted instantly!
