Ash tried to say something more, but Fernandez, manipulating a branch, suddenly caught Ash and-
Whoosh!
Threw him out of the Ark.
"Wait, bro...!"
Unable to finish his words, Ash was sucked out and disappeared.
Creak!
The passageway in the audience chamber, opened in the wall, was quickly sealed off with thorny vines.
While Fernandez was doing this, Lark slowly crawled on the floor, approaching the side of Fernandez's throne.
"Are you really okay leaving my sister-in-law and nephews behind?"
Fernandez asked, head bowed.
"Do you really have no regrets?"
"A soldier's wife and children. I always told them to be prepared in case I'm gone."
Lark chuckled.
"Besides, Ash will take good care of them. I trust him."
"..."
"I will stay with you."
Fernandez hesitantly uttered.
"I am a failed executioner, brother."
"Aren't I any different?"
As Lark reached below the throne, he took a deep breath and leaned his back against it.
"Both of us, under the pretense of serving the empire... have killed countless innocent lives."
"..."
"Entering the endless purgatory within this prison named Ark... it's a fitting punishment for us."
Then Lark shrugged his shoulders playfully.
"Or, remaining as souls in the world's last humanity. Depending on the perspective, that could be a punishment too."
"Brother..."
"Let's be preserved together, Fernandez."
To Lark's words, Fernandez murmured heavily.
"It will be a long and boring journey."
"Ha-ha, isn't that how a journey between brothers is supposed to be?"
Eeeeeeeng-
The entire Ark began to glow intensely white.
The black thorny vines emitted a bright light. Surrounded by it, Lark nodded.
"Now, we have plenty of time... let's have a leisurely chat. Tell me the stories of you and Ash, the battles you fought where I wasn't."
"...I shall do that, brother."
Fernandez, nodding, suddenly looked down at the bottom of the Ark.
The city and the world he tried to protect and destroy. And.
"And after that story ends, the story that will follow..."
Picturing the youngest returning to that place.
"...I hope it will be a satisfying ending for that child."
He said so.
Flash-!
And then, the massive Ark turned into particles of light and disappeared as if it had never existed. Without a trace.
***
"Bro...!"
Thrown out of the Ark, I helplessly fell through the air, looking up at the Ark as I descended.
The giant Ark, its black hull soon enveloped in dazzling light,
Flash-!
Turned into particles of light and disappeared.
As if it had never been there in the first place. Without leaving any trace.
"..."
Somehow, my heart ached.
For a moment, I dumbly followed the Ark's disappearance with my eyes.
'...Huh.'
Then I realized my current situation.
'Wait, am I... falling right now?!'
Startled, I looked around. This is crazy?!
I'm falling from the sky to the ground. The fierce wind brushing past my ears and the rapidly approaching ground became evident.
'If you're going to drop me like this, you could've at least given me a parachute, Fernandez, you bastard!'
Shivering, I racked my brain to land safely.
'Calm down, calm! A means of flight-'
I quickly searched for emergency measures, from skills to traits and inventory.
That's when it happened.
Sssssshhhhhhh-!
From a distance, I heard a mechanical sound approaching, and in the blink of an eye, a massive airship halted right below my falling path.
Seeing the appearance of the airship, my eyes widened in astonishment.
'Alcatraz...?!'
It was the Alcatraz, the imperial family's exclusive flagship.
And on the deck of the airship - the Emperor was standing, remotely controlling the airship with light emitting from his wrist.
The Emperor looked up at me calmly and then slowly spread his arms. And.
Whoosh!
"Gotcha."
He lightly caught me, falling, as if embracing.
"..."
Suddenly held like a child in his arms, I looked up at my father with a stunned face. The Emperor wore his usual stern expression.
"Hmm, seems like the first time I'm holding you since you were a baby..."
He shifted his arms to gauge my weight and then furrowed his brows.
"Have you gotten much heavier?"
"Of course, haven't I grown in over 20 years?!"
I blurted out in disbelief.
And what? First time holding since I was a baby? So, you neglected me throughout my infancy?
You should have held me more often! Isn't it because you neglect me that Ash turned out like this, huh?!
Regardless of my grinding teeth, the Emperor lightly set me down next to him. I staggered onto the deck of the Alcatraz. Anyway, I'm alive thanks to him.
"..."
The Emperor quietly looked at the distant sky. I followed his gaze.
The Ark, as if its existence had been a lie, disappeared without a trace, with only a few particles of light scattering in the air.
"It's gone."
"...Indeed."
Rumble...
The massive thorny vines supporting the Ark disintegrated like puzzle pieces, scattering and falling apart below.
The once black vines, absorbing light, turned white like burnt-out charcoal.
Seeing this scene made it all the more real.
It's over.
The shutdown protocol, the Final Ark plan... thwarted.
But despite the clear victory, I didn't feel completely relieved.
Lark.
Fernandez.
In my mind, I couldn't accept them as real brothers. But maybe, in this body and soul, the memories are engraved.
The two people I could never meet again, who were my brothers for a long time...
"As I said before, the spirit realm is not the afterlife."
The Emperor suddenly spoke.
"A space existing somewhere between life and death... a place for transcendents, deities. To set up a refuge there..."
The absolute ruler shook his head from side to side.
"To create an Ark and a prison rooted in the Everblack, to imprison souls and escape forever."
"Do you think it's foolish?"
"No, the idea itself was plausible. Theoretically, even if the current world perished, that Ark could persist... However."
However?
As I looked at him, the Emperor grimly smiled.
"...I just thought, if life continued eternally like that, it would be terribly boring."
Slowly taking his eyes off the trajectory of his departed sons, the Emperor turned to me.
"Thank you, Ash. For doing what I should have done."
"It's an honor to have been able to act on your behalf, Your Majesty."
As I bowed lightly in response to the Emperor's praise, he brushed his disheveled hair back with a dry hand.
"Before I am a father, I am an Emperor. I can't afford to spare Fernandez, who rebelled against me."
"..."
"But... even though I am an Emperor, I am also a father."
His fist clenched tightly.
"It is harsh for me too, to punish my own son with my hands."
"..."
"Avalanche and Ember Keeper... lost them too..."
The Emperor, closing his golden eyes tightly, muttered slowly.
"The most guilty one is me..."
Silence engulfed the empty air.
After standing in silence for a while, the Emperor slowly called my name.
"Ash."
"Yes."
"You are now the only son I have left."
"..."
"Don't die too easily."
"You too, Father."
My unexpected remark made the Emperor's eyes widen. I flashed a sly smile.
"You are the only father I have left."
"...Ha-ha."
With an incredulous smile, the Emperor shook his head.
"You really don't lose out in words."
"I must be my father's son."
"Right you are, you scoundrel."
Right after, the Emperor spread his arms wide.
"Now, proclaim our victory to the ground!"
His thunderous roar echoed throughout the Imperial Capital.
"We have all survived!"
***
Upon returning to the ground, it was chaos. Especially the soldiers who had followed Fernandez were all in disarray.
How many armies would sincerely follow an order to die together?
That's why Fernandez had brainwashed his entire army with powerful mind control magic and illusions.
To make them believe that this 'Final Ark' plan to massacre the citizens and die together was natural, right, and just.
That's why Fernandez's army had obediently followed this absurd deed.
But now, Fernandez had left the current world and gone to the spirit realm.
Instantly, all the brainwashing and constraints he had placed were gone, and Fernandez's army regained their senses.
And then they realized.
What they had been doing.
Under the Emperor's command, the forces of the World Guardian Front took the lead in suppressing them.
Unable to further resist in front of the Emperor, they surrendered meekly.
And it wasn't just Fernandez's army that was thrown into chaos.
The citizens of the Imperial Capital, though not as much as the army, were also under brainwashing, mind control, and illusions.
Some had regained their senses after the Emperor's shout, but most were still in a daze, as if lost in a dream.
Now that it had all disappeared.
Realizing what had happened, the citizens were shocked and poured into the streets. The entire Imperial Capital was in uproar.
And in various parts of this bustling Imperial Capital... many people were relieved.
"Honey! Oh, honey!"
"Mother, are you safe?!"
"Jake! Are you hurt?"
"I'm fine, Susan. The nightmare is over. It's okay..."
Calling each other's names, rejoicing in having survived this chaos... they embraced each other.
Throughout the city, people hugged each other, confirming each other's warmth, their survival. I watched this scene quietly.
"Your Highness!"
Someone called me then. I turned in that direction.
"Are you safe, Your Highness?!"
Running towards me from the harbor... it was Serenade.
"Serenade?"
I blinked in surprise.
"How did you get here... I told you to stay safe with the Merfolk King."
"Your Highness threw yourself into such great danger, how could I possibly stay put?"
My party members were sneaked into the harbor through the inner sea by the Merfolk, and Serenade was with them in the sea.
Despite my instructions to stay safely out in the open sea to avoid being swept away... this reckless woman had followed me into the city.
"I'm glad it's resolved. I believed that Your Highness would succeed."
With trembling hands clutching my sleeve, Serenade said this with tears glistening in her eyes.
"..."
Staring blankly at her, I suddenly spoke.
"Serenade."
"Yes, Your Highness."
"I have a favor to ask..."
"Please tell me."
"Would you hug me just once?"
Surprised by my sudden request, Serenade blinked a few times, then,
"Of course, gladly."
She opened her arms wide in front of me.
I slowly approached Serenade and carefully embraced her.
From Serenade's nape wafted a soft, refreshing scent.
Somehow, it was comforting. I closed my eyes tightly and quietly took a breath.
Serenade gently patted my back with careful hands and whispered tenderly.
"It's okay, it's all right. You did really well..."
***
That day, I saved the Imperial Capital, New Terra.
And lost both my brothers.
It was in the second year of starting this game, during winter.
--TL Notes--
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