Bom had a 1 on 1 conversation with the Dragon Lord.
Because they would be exposed if they dare tried to eavesdrop on their conversation, the vengeful spirits had to leave her brain during the interview. After the conversation, the twelve vengeful spirits poured out questions inside her head.
You’re back. How was it. Does the Dragon Lord look like he’s going to die soon?
Bom calmly replied to each of those questions.
Lastly, Lugiathan raised a different question.
– It seems each previous Dragon Lord requests for something during a coronation. My daughter, what did that old man ask of you?
In response to that question, Bom showed a strange reaction. A shadow was cast over her wasted, pale and exhausted face, seemingly as if the question was difficult to answer.
“I think the current Dragon Lord is already out of his mind.”
– What do you mean by that?
“He wanted living sacrifices for his eternal sleep.”
– Did that old man ask you for living sacrifices?
Bom mournfully nodded her head.
She then added, that the Dragon Lord who had gone out of his mind due to the long war was asking for a living dragon.
Hearing that ridiculous content, Bom felt goosebumps. If the Dragon Lord was senile, that would be a problem on its own, but on the other hand, it would be an even more dangerous request if he was sober.
Her true nature might have been exposed. Thinking that, Bom recalled the moment of her conversation.
– That can’t be… There is no way that old man would ever find out about you…
“What should we do? I asked if he could change his request to something else but he was stubborn.”
– Did he really request a living dragon as a sacrifice? Then, how about you take a black dragon?
“Mum. Are you out of your mind?”
Bom said with a stern face, questioning how she could sacrifice their own kindred.
– What? What is the problem?
“No matter how important the Grand Schema is, we cannot do that. How could you possibly think of using our comrade as a living sacrifice?”
– How insolent.
Her mother, however, replied with a strict voice.
– Do you still not understand? How much we aspire for the Grand Schema?
“Mum!”
– Be quiet! How could the life of one or two of our kindred have any value at this moment! Do you not remember the things we had to suffer in the outer dimension? Innumerable sovereigns attacked us. My friends and families had to shed blood and crumble to death!
Lugiathan sternly rebuked Bom.
– You keep your mouth shut. I will command my comrades to take a dragon touring through the outer dimension.
However, Bom shook her head. She persuaded her mother that this might be a trap if the Dragon Lord wasn’t actually senile.
“It would seem strange to find a black dragon from the outer dimension for a sacrifice in such a short period of time.”
– We cannot hunt other dragons, and cannot take our own kindred either? Then what are we supposed to…!
Her mother’s voice came to a stop, as a sigh soon left her mouth.
‘Ahh…’ What came next was something Bom hadn’t even expected.
– My dear daughter.
“Yes mum.”
– You have truly done a great job working hard for such a long time. I know clearly what you, who I have given birth to with my life and blood, have suffered through in the stead of your worthless mother.
“…”
– I love you. My dear child.
Hearing those unexpected warm words, Bom used her hands filled with wounds to cover her mouth.
“I love you too, mum…”
– So please let me ask for one favour.
“Sorry…?”
– You know, for that sacrifice.
She shouldn’t have listened to the next words.
– How about you give your friends?
.
.
.
Bom defied her mother head-on for the first time in her life.
The vengeful spirits scolded and her mother was also infuriated. They had a big and emotional fight.
At night, her unsleeping body was forced into having a dream. There, Lugiathan showed the atrocities that had happened to the black race time after time to her daughter as a nightmare.
In the end, Bom could not defeat her mother.
She could not escape her position nor get rid of the future of the black race that was resting on her shoulders.
“…I’ll do it.”
After that, Bom looked for the baby dragons with an even more absentminded look on her face.
Surprisingly, Gyeoul, Kaeul and Yeorum were all in a deep sleep. Even though waking up a sleeping dragon was a very discourteous thing to do, it was related to the coronation of a new Dragon Lord and was thus excusable.
“Hello. It’s been a very long time.”
Bom woke the baby dragons up.
“I found out how to go back to Earth.”
Forcing a bright smile and with eyes full of tears, she started lying to them.
“So can you please come to my coronation…?”
Those foolishly nice kids did not turn her down a single time in spite of the situation. All three of them said they will attend the coronation ceremony.
The next day, Bom brought all the baby dragons to the Dragon Lord.
And after coming back, she looked for the stimulant.
She swallowed a whole pill of the stimulant that could almost kill her. Lying down on the ground, Bom wriggled her body while withstanding the pain. Her breath continued while threatening to stop time after time.
Bom spent a few days lying down on the ground with a crushed look on her face. Her vacant gaze was hard to see as that of a living being.
Even though her mother belatedly apologised to her, Bom did not reply.
She was almost like a corpse.
***
Before long, at the middle of a mountain range on the Rouin Peninsula, at the tip of Mount Cotarosus that was 98,000 metres above sea level, the coronation of the history’s youngest and the most gifted Dragon Lord was held.
Every dragon existing in the continent of Askalifa attended regardless of their race and territorial division.
It was the first coronation in 15,000 years. Some dragons would not even be able to see one in their entire life.
At the peak of the mountain covered in white snow, hundreds of dragons were gathered at one place stretching out their wings while gazing at the altar, creating a majestic scene that no great artist in existence would be able to even mimic.
Standing in front of the altar was the current Dragon Lord who was at least twice as big as other dragons.
Although he was very old and was waiting for his death everyday, he was still a Dragon Lord. The old man gazed down the mountain range with his clear eyes and announced to the dragons the start of the coronation.
After several formal procedures came the Ceremony of Oath. Heeding the incantation of the Dragon Lord, a large and glistening crystal appeared from the thin air.
[Dragon’s Origin]
That was the greatest inheritance left behind by the first dragon, ‘Ancient One’, for the dragon race.
〚The future Dragon Lord, shall step up and stand before Dragon’s Origin.〛
In response to his words, an emerald coloured dragon opened its wings apart and flew into the air, before standing in front of Dragon’s Origin.
It was then. The sky opened as a shed of light brightened the crystal. At the same time, Bom was also welcomed by the heavenly light due to standing right in front of Dragon’s Origin.
Because the Dragon Lord was standing nearby, the vengeful spirits and Lugiathan could not create any noise.
However, despite not uttering a word, they shivered from the mental pleasure enveloping their existences like a tidal wave.
Finally, after all that time, at last.
Their thousands of years of history had led them to the end of their Grand Schema. The time for the black dragons to return to Askalifa was finally just around the corner!
Lugiathan, while shuddering from the deathly pleasure filling her mind and soul, shouted out loud.
Hurry up and take out the [Demonic Sword of Grief], and stab it into [Dragon’s Origin].
And make the oath, that you wish for the black dragons to reside permanently in Askalifa!
〚Before we begin the Ceremony of Oath, there has been a request from the new Dragon Lord.〛
However, bizarre words started leaving the mouth of the previous Dragon Lord. The vengeful spirits and Lugiathan who had been feeling immense pleasure and the satiation of their thirst could not understand his words straight away.
〚It was thanks to the ones who had been together with her during her first Amusement, that the new Dragon Lord, Tue-Ru-Bomana says she was able to become one. As such, she has requested that I personally to bless her friends.〛
As he continued speaking, Lugiathan’s mind slowly returned to reality. What was that senile old man blabbering about?
Lugiathan checked Bom’s heart and her expression in a daze.
She was still expressionless.
Her emotions were also tranquil.
But when Bom’s old friends started showing themselves one by one from a distance, which was something Lugiathan definitely did not know of, she started to realise that something was going terribly wrong.
〚The future Dragon Lord, come here. It does not serve right to exclude you when blessing your friends.〛
At last, the Dragon Lord even called Bom to bless her. Their suspicions were soaring endlessly when Bom drove in the nail with a small mutter.
‘Sorry mum.’
Lugiathan and the vengeful spirits were about to faint from the shock. Her previous face that looked like a corpse was starting to be filled with life.
‘Of course our race needs to come back to life. I think the same, but now is not the time.’
‘There is still the 8th iteration. I’ll try my best for 1,000 years again later.’
‘So please forgive me just this once…’
Murmuring as such, Bom received the blessing of the Dragon Lord.
Soon, he gave the next command.
〚The future Dragon Lord shall go make the oath for the eternal stability of us dragons.〛
Standing in front of the large crystal, Bom looked back at the baby dragons.
She then gave a small grin.
.
.
.
Bom had a [Grand Schema].
That was different from the aspiration of her mother, and the project linked to the future of her race. It was her own plan that she had been carrying deep inside her heart ever since she perceived Yu Jitae’s death.
A Dragon Lord’s [Oath] was the only normal way for an existence to use the power of a transcendent authority.
It returned every 15,000 years, and was the reason why dragons were able to survive as a prospering species until now, and was powerful enough to force the expelled black dragons to forever reside in Askalifa.
In order to use that unprecedented power for her own plan, Bom had been running around like crazy for a thousand years, which wasn’t short even for dragons.
She had to thoroughly pretend like she was doing things the black dragons wanted to deceive her mother and the vengeful spirits.
It wasn’t easy. Her body had been completely crushed and her mind was also half-crumbled. Her life had been put to risk dozens of times, and she even had to stop herself several times from wishing for death.
Bom had to endure through all that. She withstood the crumbling of her body and the breakdown of her mind.
Whenever she was about to truly fall from exhaustion, Bom reminded herself of her objective by looking at the constellations of the night sky. Doing that, she was able to strengthen her mind and remain standing.
Bom had a dream.
Living a life together with Yu Jitae in the distant future again.
That was Bom’s [Grand Schema].
Born as a mutant, she was able to lie without being caught out by anyone.
Her saying that she would try her best for the Grand Schema of raising their race back up was a lie. What Bom wanted was Yu Jitae from the very start.
Her saying that the Dragon Lord had been seeking for a sacrifice was a lie. What Bom wanted was a re-encounter with the baby dragons.
Her taking the baby dragons over to the Dragon Lord was a lie.
When her mother and the vengeful spirits cut off their connection from her, thinking that she was going to the Dragon Lord, Bom embraced the baby dragons and poured out her honest tears that she had been hiding for a thousand years.
She then shared everything that happened with the baby dragons.
It all began from the first event.
An accidental landing on Earth from the distortion in Providence.
Yu Jitae being broken from the repetitive regressions, and his grudge against dragons.
The deceit he had been concealing against them, as well as the shocking event that had happened to herself.
But Yu Jitae who started to dream of hope and atonement while living a daily life with them, and him dying due to the aftermath of killing ‘Yu Jitae of the 6th iteration’ at the start of that atonement.
And lastly–
“Guys. I found the method to go back…”
After hearing all that, the baby dragons hugged each other and it became an ocean of tears.
Bom had only shared a portion of the things Yu Jitae wanted to atone for. Those were already shocking enough but none of the kids blamed him for what he did,
For the happiness they had received from him was already far greater than that.
As the tears settled back down, Bom reiterated the reason she gathered them.
“Let’s, go back…”
To our happiest days.
.
.
.
Standing in front of [Dragon’s Origin], Bom thought to herself.
He said his time of suffering summed up to around a thousand years. Coincidentally, she also had to spend a similar amount of time in despair and frustration.
It was unclear whether his view on time as a human was exactly the same as her perception on time as a dragon. However, her thousand years at the war allowed Bom to understand him a little bit better.
What came as solace when she was about to crumble and falter from despair was the time she had spent with Yu Jitae. Her unforgetting memories endlessly revived her happiest moments, and how he had strenuously tried to save her.
However, the old Yu Jitae wouldn’t have had a place like that to lean on.
How lonely would it have been.
How exhausting would his life have been…
“—”
Therefore, in the process of making the oath at [Dragon’s Origin] while sacrificing the [Demonic Sword of Grief], Bom decided to take out a small fragment of her soul.
The main body of her soul that contained ‘the personality and memory’ would be sent back to the timeline where Yu Jitae existed with the baby dragons,
And the ‘small fragment’ will be sent to the young Yu Jitae, who was alone from birth and lonely with no-one to rely on.
It would become the friend of his lonely self; and a teacher for the young and immature Yu Jitae. A lover that would give him a warm hug during his fatigue, and a family he could rely and rest on.
And as a symbol of her desire and wish for his freedom, she shaped it into the form of a ‘white bird’.
At last, as she neared the end of her Grand Schema,
Bom stood in front of [Dragon’s Origin] and gazed into the sky.
“I hereby vow, that we may go back to the happiest days we had spent with our precious one…”
She threw her arms wide open. Her eyes full of life were facing the sky as she whispered a prayer.
“And become happy together.”
In that instant, light flooded out of Dragon’s Origin and enveloped the baby dragons.