Just as the four fathers and sons were having a brief moment of family time, there was no leisure for such luxuries.
Kuguugugung!
The assault of the Outer Gods’ hands, which had momentarily weakened, intensified once again.
Until now, they had simply been poking or scratching with their fingertips, but now they began to grab and forcefully tear at my sky fortress in a more concrete manner.
The sight of countless hands, tens or hundreds of times larger than my body, endlessly descending from the sky and ripping off the ceiling of my fortress was… truly a chilling spectacle.
“I request your interception!”
I immediately ordered Lark and Fernandez.
“You two elder brothers, please defend the fortress and continue to repel the hands of the Outer Gods!”
The two brothers nodded firmly, then lightly boarded their ship — ‘The Last Ark’ — and without hesitation, soared into the sky, wielding their swords and magic.
Following the trajectory of the Last Ark’s ascent, a dazzling light burst forth as sword strikes and magical bombardments intertwined. The hands of the Outer Gods that tried to grasp the ark were torn apart and exploded.“I shall join as well.”
The Emperor also drew his sword with his right hand and began to control La Mancha with his left.
“Father!”
I urgently called out to the Emperor before he could set out.
“What about the method to remove Everblack? What did you see when you connected to Everblack earlier?”
“…”
The Emperor was silent for a moment, then,
“It’s alright.”
He suddenly said this.
“Pardon?”
To me, who asked back in confusion, the Emperor smiled gently.
“Trust me. Everblack is fine. It will soon open the way by itself.”
“But!”
“Everblack is humanity’s guardian tree. And it’s also a lighthouse that sees the future.”
For some reason, there was a sorrowful smile on the Emperor’s face as he looked at the tree.
“This tree has never once not been for the people. It’s the same now.”
“…”
“Believe in our thorn tree. And, let’s do what we can do now.”
The Emperor seemed to have gained confidence from seeing something inside Everblack.
For some reason, he didn’t give a specific explanation, but I nodded.
Just as my people trust me.
I too, because I trust my people.
I decided to accept the Emperor’s conviction.
“I will, Father.”
Everblack will open the way by itself.
We buy time until then.
“Huhu. Good. Then shall we go too! We can’t let your brothers have all the fun as fellow guardians, can we?”
Tuhak-!
La Mancha soared up following the Last Ark. I also spread my dragon wings and flew up alongside La Mancha.
“By the way, Ash. You truly are blessed with good people.”
The Emperor suddenly said.
“Everyone is coming to help you even here in the spirit realm.”
“Pardon?”
I opened my eyes wide.
What does he mean? The only ones who could come to help me in this spirit realm are Lark and Fernandez, right?
Then the Emperor silently pointed his hand towards the sky.
“Look.”
I looked up at the sky following the Emperor.
There were countless giant palms falling towards us, slicing through the sky. There were so many hands that they filled the sky without gaps, falling as one massive curtain.
“All I see are enemies trying to kill me, not those coming to help me!”
Despite my complaint, the Emperor just smiled silently.
The next moment, the falling palms filled my vision and occupied the entire sky. The unbroken hostility completely obscured the sky.
Soon, the whole world was plunged into complete darkness.
The sun rises.
Tearing away the curtain of darkness, the sunlight illuminated the spirit realm with a ferocious intensity as if to incinerate it.
I looked over there in surprise. The dawn broke brilliantly, forcefully ripping apart the artificial night created by the hands of the Outer Gods.
“This is…!”
As I looked up to observe, the sun was rising at the end of that endless land stretching out on the opposite side of the coast. And following the movement of that sun, all the hands of the Outer Gods burst into flames.
It reminded me of the time long ago when I first drifted into this spirit realm. That sun I witnessed then was rising again.
Squinting at the dazzling radiance, I raised my hand to shield my eyes from the light.
‘Huh?’
Is it an illusion?
With the blazing sun at its back, something’s shadow was shimmering like a heat haze.
I focused my gaze to see the approaching shadow more clearly.
It was…
Four enormous dragons flying towards us with the sunrise at their backs.
“…No way.”
Suddenly.
The last words of Dusk Bringar, who had passed on the flame in my heart to me, echoed in my mind.
— According to the legend my mother told me, the red dragons who have lived out their lifespans gather at the shore at the end of the world… and wait together for the world’s last sunrise.
— So, this isn’t goodbye… We’ll be able to meet again on that final morning.
The shore at the end of the world.
The last sunrise on that shore.
Recalling that unbelievable legend, I swallowed hard. The Emperor chuckled softly.
“Well, well, she truly is a great person of persistence.”
“…”
“It seems she’s been waiting all this time at the boundary between this world and the afterlife… just to meet you.”
Illuminating the world brightly, four Red Dragons descended one by one onto my sky fortress.
An unbelievably large dragon — radiating an aura as grand as the sun itself — the first Dusk Bringar.
With a flash of red light, the next moment she transformed into a woman with long, flowing red hair. Following her, the other three dragons also changed into human form one after another.
A woman with pale skin and short red hair. The first Dawn Bringar.
A woman with dark skin and multiple braids cascading down. Day Bringar.
And…
“…”
Like the night waves dancing on the legendary sea
With flowing black hair to her ears.
The one who passed on her blood and will to me,
The 2nd Dusk Bringar.
The Duchess.
“Didn’t I promise you?”
I stood there dumbfounded, unable to believe it, and Dusk Bringar, who was quietly observing me, smiled showing her pointed teeth.
“That it wasn’t goodbye. That we would be able to meet again on the last morning.”
“Duchess…!”
When I called out, Dusk Bringar frowned with a dissatisfied expression, then.
“Hmm… Instead of ‘Duchess’, couldn’t you call me by the title you used at the very end?”
She asked hesitantly.
I carefully took her hand and corrected my address.
“…Mother.”
“Huhuhuh.”
Dusk Bringar blushed and seemed flustered.
“My, what a ticklish and embarrassing yet pleasant sound that is…”
Then the Emperor, who was watching, made a comment.
“It seems I hear the sound of family trees getting tangled again…”
“Quiet, Traha. The Bringar Duchy is connected not by blood, but by will. Ash is my descendant, connected by my heart.”
And then.
The woman with long, flowing red hair — the first Dusk Bringar — approached me with audible footsteps.
I tensed up a bit and stood stiffly as I looked at her. The first Dusk Bringar stood in front of me and made a “Hmm-” sound as she examined me.
“Yes. I’ve heard a lot about you. You are the 2nd Dawn Bringar.”
“I greet you, ancestor.”
“The only male among my descendants. How fascinating. Well, in our family connected by will, what does gender matter?”
The first Dusk Bringar lowered her eyes and nodded towards the 2nd Dusk Bringar.
“By the way, to think you would rebel against the Outer Gods… Indeed, you have a boldness worthy of my descendants’ constant pride.”
“A-Ancestor! There’s no need to mention that!”
“Isn’t that just saying you chose your son well? There’s nothing to be embarrassed about.”
She smiled wryly at the 2nd Dusk Bringar who was jumping up and down.
Then the first Dusk Bringar opened her golden dragon eyes wide and gazed at me intently.
“You who bear the fifth name of the Bringar family. You who have decided to abandon the dragon blood on your own.”
“…”
“I understand your intention, but it’s difficult for me to fully support your choice to willingly give up my blood. After all, I am the last dragon, and I passed on that bloodline to humans in order to preserve it.”
When the spirit realm closes, all magic, mysteries, and powers in this world will disappear.
The dragon blood is no exception. The Bringar Duchy will lose all its special dragon qualities and become an ordinary human family.
“Descendant. Would you explain your intentions to me?”
I answered immediately.
“The most important thing you left behind, ancestor, is not the dragon’s heart, the dragon’s blood, or even the name Bringar.”
I placed my hand on my chest.
“What’s important is this will, this heart that has been passed down from you to me.”
The justice that the people of the Bringar Duchy have held for generations, the courage to not hate.
Isn’t it enough to inherit just that? Even if everything else becomes diluted.
“…It’s such a perfect answer that it’s astounding.”
The first Dusk Bringar shook her head.
“But, yes. Even in the distant past, and perhaps even now, there were few who sincerely gave such an obvious and old-fashioned answer. Everyone tended to be consumed by the external power rather than the will inscribed within. But you are not like that.”
“…”
“2nd Dawn Bringar. My son who has inherited not only my bloodline but also my heart.”
The first Dusk Bringar, and then the first Dawn Bringar and Day Bringar smiled together.
It was a benevolent smile like sunlight.
“We will lend you our strength.”
I silently knelt on one knee and bowed my head to express my gratitude.
“…That man, Night Bringar, argued that if we were to be toyed with by the Outer Gods, we should destroy this world itself. On the other hand, I believed that even if it was a fate of being toyed with, the will of living beings itself was important.”
The first Dusk Bringar quietly looked into my chest.
“You, who have inherited both bloodlines, have presented a new path that surpasses both that man’s and my conclusions.”
“I only pray that this path is the right one.”
“Even if it strays a little, what does it matter?”
The first Dusk Bringar covered her mouth and chuckled.
“You can just find your direction again on the path that follows.”
“…”
“Go the path you believe in. Your mothers will help you.”
Then the first Dusk Bringar commanded.
“Now, my daughters! The last day we have been waiting for in this eternal moment, in the gap between life and death, has dawned.”
The three women transformed back into dragon form one by one.
“Let’s spend this day from this final dawn to dusk without regrets!”
The first Dusk Bringar spread her two enormous wings and soared up, followed by the first Dawn Bringar and Day Bringar.
“Ash.”
Lastly, Dusk Bringar, preparing to transform, smiled brightly.
“Meeting you and being connected to you was the best thing I’ve done in my entire life.”
“…”
“I’m proud of you.”
For this moment.
In front of my heart’s mother who had endured in this harsh spirit realm without rest even at the end of her life, waiting without promise, I could only well up with tears.
Then Dusk Bringar reached out her small hand to gently pat my head, and
“When my son says he’ll take a difficult path, of course his mom should help!”
She smiled brightly, then transformed into the form of a graceful and beautiful red dragon.
The four red dragons, soaring up in a group like fireworks, charged towards the Outer Gods one after another.
Under the final flames they ignited, the whole sky brightened.
–TL Notes–
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