The moment the black dragon claimed to be Onyxia, Lewis immediately rejected it.
"Impossible!"
"You absolutely cannot be Onyxia!"
"Why?" Jaina asked.
"Why, meow?" Onyxia looked equally confused.
How could she not be herself?
Lewis folded his arms and gave his reasoning.
"Onyxia is the Black Dragon Princess."
"The daughter of Deathwing, Neltharion—the Earth-Warder himself."
"She should command the power of the earth, possess a body far stronger than ordinary dragons, wield sophisticated magic, and breathe devastating flames."
"To be honest, if I had known from the beginning that my target was really Onyxia, I would have abandoned the mission and run away immediately."
"Even if she were weaker than her father and brother, she still shouldn't be this weak."
"Frankly speaking, aside from that deep-breath attack, you have very little in common with the Onyxia I know."
Onyxia was stunned.
The reason he didn't believe her was because she was…
Too weak?
What kind of logic was that?!
She didn't know whether to feel proud or depressed.
Proud because Lewis clearly held the real Onyxia in extremely high regard.
Depressed because she had become so weak that nobody believed she was herself anymore.
Still, remembering Lewis's earlier threats about what would happen if she lied, Onyxia desperately tried to defend herself.
"I have reasons for being weak, meow!"
"After arriving in this world, I couldn't sense the earth's power anymore!"
"Without it, I became much weaker!"
"Also, the magical laws here are different!"
"I temporarily lost the ability to cast spells, meow!"
"If I'd been given enough time, I could've adjusted and recovered!"
"But you attacked me before I had the chance, meow!"
"In conclusion, I'm really not that weak!"
"Immortal Lewis, I'm not lying, meow!"
She spoke so quickly she nearly bit her own tongue.
The effort was obvious.
Lewis turned toward the others.
"She claims she lost access to earth power and couldn't use magic after arriving here."
"Thoughts?"
Ciri and Tonks knew nothing about dragonflight powers.
Their opinions were useless.
So all eyes fell on Jaina.
The sorceress thought for a moment.
"I don't know much about the Earth-Warder's power specifically."
"But regarding magic…"
"I can believe it."
"When I first arrived in this world, I couldn't cast spells either."
"It took me over half a month to recover basic spellcasting."
"Almost an entire year before I could use magic normally."
Onyxia immediately nodded furiously.
"See?!"
"See, see?!"
"I'm telling the truth, meow!"
According to Lewis's rough estimates, Onyxia at full strength would be approximately:
LV19 Black Dragon / LV6 Mage.
A black dragon naturally possessed spellcasting equivalent to an eleventh-level caster.
Combined with six levels of actual mage training, her effective spellcasting capability was comparable to a seventeenth-level mage.
Roughly equivalent to Jaina.
If interdimensional travel had temporarily disabled that magic, her current weakness became much easier to understand.
Lewis finally nodded.
"Fine."
"I'll accept half of that explanation."
Onyxia's eyes lit up.
Then he continued.
"But you'll need stronger proof."
"Something only Onyxia would know."
"Again?!"
The little dragon nearly collapsed.
She was at their mercy.
What choice did she have?
"I know!"
Suddenly inspiration struck.
"I can tell you what I was doing right before I arrived here!"
"No other dragon would know those details, meow!"
She straightened proudly.
"I infiltrated human society under the identity of Lady Katrana Prestor."
"After the Second War, I returned to Stormwind alongside King Varian Wrynn."
"Using charm, political skill, and subtle magic, I climbed into Stormwind's highest circles."
"I secretly corrupted nobles."
"I manipulated the conflict between the aristocracy and the stonemasons."
"I engineered the disaster that destroyed the Stonemasons' Guild."
"The resulting riots accidentally killed Queen Tiffin, meow."
"With Varian overwhelmed by grief, I became the true power behind Stormwind."
"Before I was transported here, I was even organizing aid forces for Lordaeron after the Scourge invasion—"
"Wait."
Jaina suddenly interrupted.
"You said Lordaeron had only just fallen?"
Onyxia blinked.
"Yes?"
"And what year was it?"
"Year Twenty After the Dark Portal, meow."
Jaina froze.
"That's impossible."
"When I left Azeroth, it was also Year Twenty After the Dark Portal."
"Arthas had only recently conquered Lordaeron."
Everyone immediately understood.
The implication was staggering.
Jaina slowly said:
"The flow of time between worlds is different."
"My arrival here happened twelve years ago."
"But your arrival happened only recently."
"In Azeroth, however, almost no time passed between our departures."
Her expression softened.
For the first time in years, genuine hope appeared in her eyes.
"If I ever return…"
"My family may not have aged much at all."
Meanwhile Onyxia was trying to push the conversation back toward herself.
"So…"
"That means I passed, right, meow?"
Jaina smiled.
"That decision isn't mine."
"In matters like this, we follow Lewis's judgment."
Onyxia nearly exploded.
You are Jaina Proudmoore!
Student of Antonidas!
Future ruler of Kul Tiras!
Deputy Head of Magical Law Enforcement in this world!
You're older than him!
Where's your pride?!
Your dignity?!
Yet she wisely kept those thoughts to herself and looked hopefully at Lewis.
Lewis nodded.
Then shook his head.
"Not enough."
Onyxia stared.
"What do you mean not enough?!"
"You can still be repeating information you've heard elsewhere."
"Your testimony isn't conclusive."
The little dragon nearly burst into tears.
Nothing was ever enough!
Then Lewis smiled mysteriously.
"I've heard that dragon transformation magic is exceptional."
"Ordinary detection spells can't expose it."
"It perfectly reproduces the chosen mortal form."
"Some dragons have even produced children with mortals."
Onyxia's ears twitched.
She already sensed where this was going.
"The interesting thing," Lewis continued, "is that a dragon's mortal appearance isn't freely customizable."
"It is fixed."
"One dragon."
"One human face."
"Correct?"
Onyxia suddenly had a terrible feeling.
Lewis grinned.
"In that case, Lady Onyxia…"
"Why don't you show us your human form?"
"If you're really Katrana Prestor, we'll know immediately."
The black dragon was horrified.
He even knew that?!
Dragon transformation magic wasn't ordinary shapeshifting.
A dragon literally became the mortal equivalent of itself.
The appearance was fixed.
Permanent.
Impossible to alter.
If she transformed, her identity would be proven instantly.
The problem was obvious.
"I'm a cat right now, meow."
"I can't transform."
Lewis casually displayed the dim crimson crystal.
"You seem to misunderstand."
"This restraint isn't just an on-off switch."
"I can loosen it."
"But only enough for a human transformation."
"And if you try to break free…"
His smile widened.
"The consequences are your responsibility."
The crystal glowed faintly.
Immediately Onyxia felt the pressure around her loosen.
A tiny portion of her true power returned.
For a brief moment, she considered rebellion.
After all, she was Deathwing's daughter.
Not some obedient pet.
But caution prevailed.
Instead of attempting to return to dragon form, she shifted into her human identity.
The black cat vanished.
In her place appeared a breathtaking woman.
Long black hair.
Snow-white skin.
A mature, seductive beauty overflowing with aristocratic charm.
The infamous Lady Katrana Prestor.
The moment Lewis saw her face, he nodded.
"Now I believe you."
"You really are Onyxia."
Seeing success, Katrana immediately shot him a dazzling smile.
A smile so flirtatious that Jaina, Ciri, and Tonks all simultaneously narrowed their eyes.
Then Onyxia made a mistake.
She tried to transform directly into her dragon form.
The restraint reacted instantly.
Her power surged—
And the crystal surged harder.
The transformation collapsed.
Her body shrank.
Smaller.
Smaller.
Even smaller than before.
A moment later, a tiny black mouse stood where the dragon princess had been.
"…"
"…"
"…"
The mouse froze.
Lewis laughed.
"I warned you."
"Actions have consequences."
He picked up the panicking little mouse by the tail.
"I suppose this is your new form now."
The black mouse squeaked in terror.
Meanwhile Ciri looked thoughtfully at Lewis.
"You already believed her, didn't you?"
"You weren't surprised by her human appearance at all."
"Not completely."
Lewis shrugged.
"Her explanation about losing earth power and spellcasting ability made sense."
"But even a one-percent chance of deception is still a chance."
"So verification was necessary."
Tonks immediately pointed a finger at him.
"Liar."
"You just wanted to mess with her."
"Obviously."
Lewis replied without the slightest shame.
"She caused us a tremendous amount of trouble."
"She deserves a little suffering."
Then his expression became serious.
Looking at the tiny black mouse trapped in his hand, he addressed the others.
"Now comes the real question."
"What do we do with her?"
"Kill her?"
"Imprison her?"
"Release her?"
Tonks answered immediately.
"Kill her."
"She infiltrated a kingdom."
"Corrupted nobles."
"Manipulated society."
"Destroyed innocent lives."
"None of that is something a good person does."
Jaina nodded.
"She is Deathwing's daughter."
"That alone makes her dangerous."
"No matter how you look at it, eliminating her is the safest option."
Ciri raised her hand.
"Agreed."
"And she tried flirting with you right in front of us."
"She definitely deserves death."
Lewis chose not to comment on Ciri's suspicious priorities.
Instead he offered a different perspective.
"I think we should keep her."
The others blinked.
Lewis continued calmly.
"Yes, Katrana Prestor was a disaster for Stormwind."
"But we shouldn't ignore her talents."
"She entered a nation where nobody knew her."
"Created a false identity."
"Rose into the highest levels of government."
"Manipulated powerful factions."
"Controlled influential people."
"That kind of ability is exactly what we're lacking."
His eyes narrowed thoughtfully.
"In fact, it's something we desperately need."
"We can give her limited freedom."
"Let her repeat what she once did in Stormwind."
"Except this time on our behalf."
"I don't believe the Ministry of Magic or the old wizarding families are any smarter than Azeroth's nobles."
The logic was hard to refute.
Lewis and Jaina represented official power.
Ciri represented military strength.
But none of them specialized in political infiltration.
Onyxia did.
She was arguably one of the greatest infiltrators in Azeroth's history.
After thinking it over, the others slowly nodded.
The idea had merit.
Still, Ciri voiced the obvious concern.
"And what if she loses control?"
Lewis glanced at the squeaking mouse.
"What of it?"
"I trust my magical contracts."
"And even more importantly…"
A smile appeared on his face.
"We're all strangers in a foreign world."
"People in that situation should stick together."
He flicked the mouse lightly on the forehead.
"But before that…"
"This little rat can spend some time learning humility."
The tiny black mouse let out an indignant squeak.
Nobody paid attention.
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