M: "A considerable amount," the priestess said, going over to inspect the powder, "many of my priests have been bedridden from the amount of fumes they inhaled, we thought it was simply because of the tapestries that caught fire." She then translated something Ivan said, "we have had heavy restrictions on black powder within town limits after many careless people were not storing it properly and fires kept breaking out, not to mention any form of weaponry is strictly forbidden to enter religious buildings, there shouldn't be black powder anywhere near here.

———

Francus was panicking and yelled something at Anglo, and instead rode off for his farm, seemingly going to save his family. One of the knights jumped on his horse and went to get reinforcements while the other stayed to protect the countryhumans. He screamed for Mandara to run, the kid tried but another shot was fired and hit Apollo's hindquarters, causing the horse to go down and throw Mandara off.

Mandara got up quickly and hid behind his horse for cover, who decided that the best thing to do right now was to play dead. Two Prussians jumped out of the bushes while the third one came tumbling out with Saxon on top of him. Prussian number 1 started fighting with the remaining knight while Prussian number two went towards Mandara, grabbing him by the arm, tossing him to the ground, then grabbed him by the throat and lifted him up to finish him off with a dagger.

N: Anglo stayed where he was, numb to the chaos around him; however, when he saw Mandara in danger, he patted his horse and whispered, "Run at them." The horse did as he was ordered, digging his hooves into the ground before charging at the Prussian, where he swiftly head-butted the knight. The Prussian lost his grip on the prince and fell to the ground, and was immediately walked over by the steed.

The winged country slowly got onto his two feet, shaking dangerously as he approached the knight. He dragged his wings behind him as he grabbed for the fallen dagger, and as he stood over the Prussian, he stabbed him right in the chest, making sure that the enemy was dead by rotating the dagger. Once he was sure, he faced Mandara and weakly smiled, "You're safe now," before his legs gave way and collapsed to the ground.

Meanwhile, further away, Saxon found the Prussian who shot Artur and each one was trying to wrestle the other to the ground. The musketeer was able to shoot the entity's knee, causing him to collapse, but while he was reloading, the entity was able to grab hold of a club-like stick and club him across the head. The Prussian collapsed, his head pulsing from the impact as he watched Saxon crawl over to him, anger burning in his eyes. Arriving next to him, the entity proceeded to use the butt of the musket to repeatedly hit the Prussian's face.

"Sie haben Artur getötet (So you killed Artur)," he hissed, smashing the musket against the other's nose, "dann hast du meinen Mann erschossen (then you shot my husband)," earning another hit in the eye, "Du hättest in dem Moment sterben sollen, in dem du geboren wurdest (You should have died the moment you were born)." With that, he aimed the musket at the Prussian's head and shot, and he stared at the motionless body in front of him. However, he felt as if the Prussian hadn't got all that he deserved so he continued to beat up the knight.

Anglo watched as Saxon continued, his eyes felt heavy as he tried to keep them open. "Saxon," Anglo mumbled, although he knew the other couldn't hear him, "stop." Having lost too much blood, the winged country found it hard to stay awake, so he slowly closed his eyes as he drifted into unconsciousness.

———

"Well, it turned out someone was not complying with the rules," England concluded, sprinkling the powder back to the floor and dusting off his hands, "if there are restrictions, then we can limit the number of suspects to the people who still own black powder."

The country looked back at the statue and wondered, "and there might be another reason. Is there any reason why Empyr himself would destroy his own temple?"

M: "Disrespect, vandalism, misuse, the possibilities are endless when we speak of the gods' will," Evelyn stated, "we can even say that he is feuding with another god and the rival god destroyed his temple, we may never know if there is divine intervention."

Just then, a raindrop fell onto Evelyn's nose making her blink in surprise, another fell onto her shoulder, then another on Ivan's head, and soon the town was subjected to a light shower, dampening the charred rubble and washing away the soot on the statue, even making it look like the dragon was crying.

"Empyr weeps at the destruction of his temple," Evelyn interpreted the surprise rainfall, "if it was the work of the gods then it wasn't by his paws."

———

"No." Mandara screamed, he rushed over to Anglo, "no you can't die, please don't die."

He looked over to Saxon and the knight, the Mandorian had taken down the Prussian but left him alive and was currently tying him up, so he screamed to Saxon, "Anglo's dying, please help, the Prussian isn't worth it!"

N:   Saxon immediately jolted his head up when he heard that Anglo was dying, his eyes in shock as he saw the winged country on the ground. "No, no, NEIN," he shouted as he rushed over to Anglo's side; however, he collapsed due to his knee, so he half-limped/ half-crawled to his side.

"Nein, don't go," he sobbed, carefully cradling Anglo's head, "Bitte geh nicht (Please don't go)." He reached over to the other's back and felt a damp patch as he removed his hand. His hands were shaking as he tore at his shirt and tried to close the wound, trying his best to hold back his tears.

When he did all he could do, he cupped his red hands around Anglo's face, which looked surprisingly peaceful, and he continued to mutter to the winged country to wake up. After a moment, he rested his head on the other's chest, letting his tears fall as he heard the faint beats of Anglo's heart. He didn't care if he cried in front of Mandara; he just didn't want Anglo to go.

———

England nodded, stretching out his hand as he caught the raindrops, "so for the time being, let's focus on non-divine intervention." He faced the mayor, "do you have a record of anyone who still has black powder?"

As the adults talked, Johann began to wander into the ruined temple, wanting to help out, when he saw something inscribed in the broken wing of the statue. He walked towards it, minding to step over the odd stone, and he crouched down to fully reveal the inscription. "Sir England," he called out, "is it me, or you don't usually carve writing in a place you can't see. Or at least do it neatly."

M: Evelyn heard what Johann said and walked over to him to inspect the stone wing, with the rain washing the ash away it was easier to read it.

"Tahnbor jentwa montixel," she said, not realizing the consequences of what she did.

The wing suddenly started cracking, red light spilling from the cracks, Evelyn jumped up in shock and pulled Johann away. The wing then floated up and reattached to the stub of the statue, the other wing and the antler doing the same as even more red cracks appeared all over the statue.

The group backed up as they watched what was going on, a low rumble came from the very heart of the statue and the stone pieces started falling away, revealing pink scales and grey fur. The two Mandorian immediately bowed as the statue came to life and shook the stone and dust off its back, looking around as if it was confused at its newfound freedom.

It wasn't actually the Empyr, just a normal dragon that was brought to life by the charm written on its wing, which seemed to have been embedded in its membrane. It looked at the group with interest wondering if these were the ones who gave it life.

———

Mandara knew there was no hope for Anglo, they needed help, divine help, so he prayed. He prayed like he never prayed before, and those prayers were heard.

The rain that had been softly falling turned purple, a shimmering purple like they were falling through a stained glass window. The rain had been enchanted to heal the injuries of whoever it touched that still lived, so not only was Anglo completely healed, but so was Saxon, the knight and remaining Prussian, and even Mandara's old wing wound disappeared without a bruise or scar.

N: The moment Anglo was healed, he took a sharp breath as he felt his wound heal, and his eyes fluttered open. The entity glanced at the Anglo's face, and when he saw that his eyes were open, he embraced the winged country and shed tears of joy and relief.

"Don't do that," Saxon said, holding Anglo tighter, "don't leave me again."

"I'm here," the other replied, patting the entity on the back as he sat up, "I'm not going anywhere." He smiled as he returned the hug; however, even if he was healed, he still felt exhausted from the near-death experience, so he asked, "Could you carry me back, bitte? I feel quite tired." The winged country yawned, and soon shut his eyes again as the entity gently lifted him up.

———

England followed the Mandorians and bowed too; however, he noticed that Johann didn't. The boy only watched in wonder as he saw the dragon, and he gasped, "Woah,  Drachen (dragon)." The boy took a step forward but England warned him not to.

"You shouldn't approach it," he spoke quietly, but his words fell on deaf ears as Johann slowly walked towards it.

Seeing its confusion, he tilted his head also in confusion and smiled when the dragon mirrored him. He tilted his head the other way and grinned when the dragon followed him. He stretched out his hand to stroke its grey fur, but it backed away from his touch. "It's ok," the boy reassured, "I won't hurt you," and with that, his fingers reached the fur and began to stroke the beast.

M: The dragon started purring as Johann stroked it, seemingly liking being touched, and after a bit, it got down on its back like it was asking for a belly rub.

The two Mandorian chuckled as they watched the dragon and child, standing up when they realized it was not a god.

"That is remarkable," the woman said, "I have only heard stories of such spells, never witnessing it with my own eyes, but who wrote it to begin with."

"YES, YES IT WORKED," a voice screamed, an older fellow came running through the growing crowd of spectators, though he looked like he had been on drugs for over a week.

Ivan groaned and explained, "that is my crazy cousin, Ed, he lost the vote for mayor a year ago and has been trying to plot against me."

"Indeed, Ivan, and I have succeeded," Ed screamed, "I destroyed the temple and wrote the spell, which needed fire to work, now that I have the great Empyr as my servant you will bow to me."

The Empyr look-alike dragon heard Ed and growled, clearly not wanting to be anyone's servant.

N: Johann provided the dragon belly rubs, but when he heard Ed, stood in front of it and spread out his arms to protect it, despite the dragon being much larger than the boy. "No one is going to be anyone's servant," argued the boy, "and it's definitely not going to be a servant of the likes of you."

"Well, well," smirked England, as he approached Ed, "it seems like we have found ourselves the culprit." He placed a firm hand on the man's shoulder and asked him, "So tell me, the crazy cousin to Ivan, was it worth it to desecrate the temple of Empyr and to harm many of the priests who serve him, write a spell and control a dragon to get back at your brother? I mean," he glanced back at Johann and the dragon, "it doesn't seem like it is the actual Empyr, and I'm pretty sure it would rather torch you before becoming your servant."

M: "Who are you to say, imposter," Ed shouted at him, "your kind pretends to be gods, you say I desecrate them when you pretend to be them. Not to mention your British buddies are now putting tariffs on our goods."

There were muffled gasps and murmurs coming from the crowd, even though everyone knew Ed was crazy they also knew he wasn't a liar when it came to politics and economics, which is one of the reasons why he felt he should have been mayor.

Ed took out something from his pocket, it was a thick stick that had all sorts of runes carved into it, albeit messy. "Alright then, let's see how well your 'godly powers' protect you from this,"

He pointed the stick at the dragon, it growled at first but then it started whining and shaking its head like there was something stuck on its face, it growled a few more times in what sounded to be pain then it stopped, its eyes started glowing pure red and it got down into an attack stance, growling at England threateningly.

———

Mandara also let out a breath of relief, they all stood up just in time for galloping to draw closer and at least twenty knights came riding up, Rowen and the knight that left were at the front.

"Rowen, what are you doing here," Mandara asked.

"I had a bad feeling and came to check on you, then we were told that Prussians were here and came immediately." The captain explained

He yelled at his men to spread out and find the Prussian camp, most did and a few stayed to protect the countryhumans. Rowen jumped down and rushed over to Saxon and Anglo, "are you hurt, where are the farmers, are they safe?"

N: "I'm -," Saxon began, then he began to move his leg to check his knee, "better? I think the rain healed all of us, so I'm sure we are fine. As for the farmers -" The entity glanced back at the body of Artur, "the older farmer, Francus, is fine and probably safe, but as for Artur ... he gave his life to save mine."

Anglo, asleep in Saxon's arms, moved slightly and flicked his wing, getting a smile from the entity. He looked up to Mandara and said, "Thank you for helping Anglo. If I lost him, I-I don't know what I would do."

As he spoke, he noticed something in his peripheral vision, and he turned to see a faint blue aura in the woods. As the Head of Insurgents, his black sclera granted him the ability to identify different types of countryhumans, and he especially could tell the difference between a country, who would have a blue aura around them, and an insurgent, who would have a red aura.

"I think," he thought out loud, "there is still a country in the woods, although they are not moving." He looked down at Anglo, who by now had wrapped a wing around the entity, so he asked, "could someone take Anglo so I can see who it is."

———

"Woah there," England spoke as he took some cautionary steps backward, "I'm not the threat." He turned back and snarled at Ed, "I never said that I was a god, heck, it was you people who keep on acting as if I am." He looked back at the dragon, his face turning pale from fear.

"Hey there, dragon," the country said quietly as the beast walked towards him, "you're not in control, snap out of it. I'm not the bad guy here, ok?" The dragon didn't hear his pleas and growled as it snapped at the country. Luckily, England dodged but could see that the dragon was going to attack again, so he was about to run when Johann jumped in front of him.

"Don't hurt him," the boy standing in front of the country in an attempt to protect him, "he's my friend and I won't allow you to go near him to cause harm." His eyebrows furrowed as he stared into the glowing eyes, "don't allow anyone to control you."

M: The dragon raised its head, smoke started forming at the side of its mouth like it was ready to spew fire out at the two, but was distracted by a piece of rubble being thrown at its head, it turned to Ivan who started shouting in Mandorian and ran away, so the dragon gave chase. Evelyn was the only one that tried to stop Ed, most of the other humans either ran away or were too scared to intervene.

———

A knight came over and took Anglo, they rounded up the prince and the horses to take everyone back, leaving Rowen and Saxon's horse.

"What do you see," Rowen asked.

N: "I see a blue aura, meaning that there is a country," Saxon replied as they approached the tree-line, "and I can only see it if I've seen the country before, so we just have to hope they are not hostile." As they searched for the country, the entity heard some muffled noises, so he headed towards the source. His eyes widened when he saw a green countryhuman with a rope gagging her.

"Celtica?" he asked, kneeling next to the angered Celt, and removed the rope.

The moment she was freed, she shouted, "A mhic-na-galla! (Son of a bitch)," right into his face, startling the entity, and continued to shout profanities in Scottish Gaelic.

"Ok, enough of that, lady," the entity grumbled, helping her up, "no one is here to listen to your Scottish." He noticed that she had some bruises on her and wondered if the rain reached her, but quickly dismissed it as he led her back out into the open.

——————

England joined Evelyn and tried to pry the stick out of his hand. "Give it to me," he ordered, reaching out his hand to grab the stick, but Ed moved it just out of reach. He let go of the human, balled his fists, and lifted his arms into a fighting stance. "I'm sorry," he apologized, and proceeded to punch the Mandorian square in the face. He picked up the dropped stick, studied it, and began to wave it around, "How the heck does this work?"

While England was with Ed, Johann chased after the dragon, shouting after him to stop, but he gradually wasn't able to keep up. He looked around him and found a shortcut that he could use to get ahead of Ivan, so he quickly changed his direction and took it. Running through the alleyway, he barged through the running crowd, burst out in front of Ivan, and shouted to the dragon, "AUFHÖREN (STOP)!"