Chapter 283 The Handshake

"Ogne, you do know that you brought a Corrupted One into our home, don't you?" Brako asked, looking calmly at the kneeling old half-dragon.

The lord present had long horns like all the residents of those islands, but his looked more worn and old than even Alexis' horns. Although this was true, Brako did not look that old, in fact, he seemed to be younger even than Ogne, however, only by a few years.

Brako had gray hair as well, but this only on the sides of his head, while on top, sharing space with his horns, there were brown strands.

He wore a strange white robe, like Ogne, but Ogne's thin facial features made him look more gentle than someone with the lord's appearance, who had thick features and a voluminous beard, a different kind of beauty.

Hearing his glorious lord's question, Ogne shuddered a little, but did not flinch, "I know, sir. Still, this man was accompanying the two half-beasts who came from far away, or rather, he was being used by them or something, so I couldn't just release him from his prison. Of course, if it's an order from you, I'll kill him right now without hesitation."

Wanney's pupils contracted at that moment, and he looked at Luke and Meredith startled, perhaps looking for an objection from them. The two half-beasts remained quiet, and didn't even look at the man.

"Okay, okay... First, I will listen to them, then I will decide what we are going to do. For now, just an introduction will be enough. By the way, my name is Brako Griffin, and I am the Elected One to rule these flying islands for the next fifteen years."

Luke was relieved that the lord of the place seemed a far more ordinary person than Ogne, who was literally the personification of the stereotype of the Dragons of legends, tremendously powerful and tremendously proud.

The half-wolf placed his right hand on his chest and bowed his head slightly, as did Meredith beside him.

"We are two travelers from the Broteforge Empire who just want to get over the plains so we can get to Mount Palatine faster." Luke spoke with respect for the figure present.

Brako placed his right hand on his chin and spoke, "In the end, they were just ignorant travelers trying to pass through our territory. I'm relieved that it wasn't something more serious, like dangerous invaders.... Still, it is strange that they are still alive, Ogne has killed hundreds of travelers who dared to step foot on the plains, and he has a habit of attacking first and asking questions later."

At this point, Ogne blushed and looked away from the lord. "You know that for most people it is strange to hear a dragon asking anything. They would attack me anyway! I am very handsome, rare and intimidating, anyone's first thought when they first see me is Death related."

"I know, I know. I'm not blaming you. Anyway, I am intrigued by the fact that you guys are alive.... You are certainly very strong, however, there is no one stronger than Ogne who would leave you without scratches, so this leads me to believe that you have come to a mutual agreement.... What made you two stop fighting?" Lord Brako demonstrated why he was considered a wise man, analyzing the entire context in seconds.

Luke, Wanney and Meredith were impressed by Brako's speed of completion, but Ogne was not, he just rested his eyebrows raised by the elation of having to explain himself.

"The man in black acknowledged that I was a half-dragon and also said that his girlfriend is of our race." Ogne explained after regaining the upright posture of his spine.

The lord looked at Luke with the wrinkles in his eyes squeezed out, as if such a thing was hard to believe. However, all he found in Luke's eyes was a deep seriousness. "She's a woman, right? How old is she? It's been many years since we've heard about another being of our race that doesn't live on these islands."

"I never asked her age right, after all I don't care about that, but she must be 25 or 26." Luke stated.

"Um~. There are a few women in that age range around here, however, all five of them have lived here since they were little, and have only been out a few times." The man ran his thick fingers through the tip of his bulky beard.

"She lives in Broteforge currently, and is fighting on the front lines of the war." The half-wolf understood that a misunderstanding was occurring, and soon set about resolving it.

Lord Brako was more surprised to hear about the war than about the location of the half-wolf. "What are you talking about? What war?"

Only then did Luke get a dimension of how long information takes to travel, especially to reach more isolated peoples as this one appeared to be.

"You don't know about the..." Meredith was about to tell, but Luke suddenly stepped forward and put his arm in front of her chest, as a gesture for her to stop talking.

With a stern expression this time, Luke didn't hesitate and said, "We won't say anything more until we're sure of one thing. Do you know about the demons that rule the Melki Empire?"

Brako looked him in the eye, and showed no expression. Then he turned toward the strange plants behind him, and watered them again. Thus he remained for a few seconds, until the lord himself broke the lingering silence that was in place.

"Yes, we know about the demons, and well, as far as I thought a minute ago, only leaders like me of the Half-Dragon People knew about that reality. In a way, I'm relieved that we don't have to carry that burden alone."

"You guys are on their side?"

"On their side? That would never be possible, even if they offered an entire nation to us, after all, our race was almost extinguished before The Calamity happened. Back then, the demons discovered that our race is the most powerful in the world, and started hunting us down to use as receptacles for their evil bodies."

Brako continued to water the plants with his metal watering can.

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"My people tried to resist, but only a few were left, since then we have isolated ourselves and seek little by little to rebuild ourselves, of course, out of sight of any other people, so that the past does not repeat itself again." His voice had a melancholy tone, as if he had lived through everything he described.

The half-wolf was undecided whether to believe the lord's story or not. His mind told him not to trust such simple words with so many enemies lurking to kill everyone he loves, but his heart processed the lord's emotions, and his instincts told him to trust this old man.

"I don't know if I trust you, and I certainly don't advise you to trust me. So what do you think about a mutually beneficial arrangement?" Luke extended his right hand to the lord, even though it was a few feet away.

Ogen looked at the half-wolf's hand, looked at his glorious lord, not believing that a stranger was even extending his hand to him. Still, he didn't interfere because his Lord didn't ask.

Brako nodded, placed the watering can on a wooden table that was a little further away, walked over to Luke's outstretched hand and shook it with his right hand as well, initiating an agreement that would literally change the fate of the world.

*

Since the day of Luke Lange and Brako Griffin's agreement, only a week has passed, and much has changed.

The residents of the peaceful, but also dull, region of the Flying Isles needed to go back to training, after all, there was now a threat greater than any most of them had faced in their entire lives.

Although the half-dragons had known that the Melki Empire had been run by demons for some time, they never thought that they had an expansionist vision, not even that they challenged the Broteforge Empire. However, the demons waited a long time to act even after they completely dominated Melki, they waited so long that they seemed to know the exact moment to act, and that moment came when the Flak Kingdom went to war with the Daiyu Dynasty, so the demons' biggest antagonist, the Cardinal Church, was much more limited.

? Brako didn't listen to all this information for free, he also explained what this Corruption was that Ogne had commented on while flying over the Islands.

The Corruption was a kind of spore that was spreading all over Melki's territory, and although it was not deadly to breathe these spores, it still caused a pain as agonizing as inhaling acid. Its origin was mysterious to the half-dragons, however, Wanney knew exactly what Corruption was, which within the Melkian army had another name: Alamanos.

Wanney explained that the Commanders of the army he had forcibly disinherited pointed out that the Alamanos spores are from a time as old as water and fire, and that these natures were born almost at the same time, but while water has the gift of nourishing life and fire of extinguishing it, the Alamanos have the function of fortifying it.

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However, as the spores killed every single wood in the Melki Empire, the more voluminous the army of monsters became, creating Corrupted, people capable of controlling the monsters.

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