Book 12 Chapter 18

Side Story Part 2 Episode 11

The Child Who Weaves Hearts (11)

Since Akirea and Fride brought their in-laws midway, they wanted to start the first birthday party immediately and go home, but their parents were firm.

"Shouldn't the whole family be together? Everyone will be here soon."

The Ludwig family, from ancient times, was a clan of strong-willed women! If those two women arrived at the same time, it might become unbearable.

"Brother!"

"Hey, Rain!"

Soon, it was his younger sister Seri and aunt Elin who burst through the mansion door as if to smash it!

Seri seemed to have received every negative influence from Elin Ludwig.

By arbitrarily tailoring the family's ceremonial robe in a tough way, she completely disregarded etiquette and formality.

Rain had a fit.

"Hey you, what kind of outfit is that! I don't care about Auntie, but I'll die before I see my sister running around looking like that."

"Brother, I'm disappointed! That's a sexist remark, you know?"

"What kind of sexist remark is this! If you were a man and walked around like that, I would have just beaten you so you couldn't go anywhere for months! You should be glad you're a woman, if anything."

"Hey! How dare a nephew like you disparage my aesthetic sense? I'll contribute an article to the newspaper!"

"Go ahead! I'm Yonghyeon, you know? I'm currently considered the most influential figure in this world, aren't I? If you want the newspaper company to vanish without a trace overnight, tell them to publish the article. I won't stop you."

"Crazy, that's an abuse of power, you know? To think my nephew grew up to be such trash, what in the world did my sister and brother-in-law do!"

"Who else would our Rain have looked up to during his most important school years, Elin?"

Since it was such a childish fight, Miria covered Nen's ears (though it probably wouldn't help), and Fride distracted Mir.

"Mir, how's your dragon language training going? Is it difficult?"

To Fride's playful question, Mir tilted her head.

"Not difficult. If given enough time to learn, anything can be quickly mastered."

Fride smiled with extreme affection and pinched Mir's cheeks this way and that.

Perhaps because of Tureina's soul fragment, Mirngardia followed Fride well, and Fride also loved Mir the most among the Three Divine Dragons.

That love, perhaps, was a favoritism stemming from guilt for not being able to guide her disciple down the right path.

"Should we have bickered like that too?"

Millea asked her sister.

Although the berserk power of the Demon Slayer from before remained like a tattoo on her body, her physical condition was completely normal.

Miria shook her head with a sigh.

"Why? We're normal people."

"That's true."

The sisters' mother put a forefinger to her lips.

"It seems that all of your in-laws are a bit eccentric, but you shouldn't say that. We are descendants of the great Demon Slayer Cassel Rinkan."

The sisters narrowed their eyes simultaneously.

"Mom, you're the one saying it most openly right now…?"

* * *

Bran, the youngest sibling, seemed to be a little late due to a special task force mission.

In the meantime, Rain decided to check Akki and Mir's growth.

Under a blue sky with white clouds drifting by, and tulips swaying freshly in the field, Rain warmed up.

"Alright, let's see how much you've grown. Both of you come at me at the same time."

Just in case, he deployed five layers of barriers to minimize damage to the surroundings.

'Anyway, I'm not going to be serious against babies, so this much should be enough.'

Nen stood in the middle with the most excited expression.

He was worried that not being able to participate in this game would cause him to release the darkness of his heart due to the resulting inferiority complex…

But Fride had perfectly coaxed Nen.

"Nen is the referee! Only people with excellent mindset and justice can be referees!"

"Nen is the most just!"

"Yes! So Nen will be the one who fairly reveals who won. Can you do it?"

"I can do it! Nen will be the referee!"

Nen nodded enthusiastically.

He also looked at Akki and Mir, who were warming up, with an impatient gaze.

Rain crossed his hands and formed a mudra.

"Secret Art, Elemental Deployment."

The splendid compass of elements unfolded behind his back.

Rain perfectly mimicked this technique, which he had almost fallen in love with during his fight with his arch-nemesis Zernix, and elevated it to a higher level.

Zernix's compass had the four main elements as its core and four minor elements attached secondarily, but Rain's compass had the light (光) attribute in the large central circle.

This was the attribute of creation that could be controlled because he had realized the truth and ascended to the realm of the Seven Stars.

"Alright, let's begin."

Akki's form disappeared from sight, leaving a subtle afterimage like the wavering of a flame. At the same time, a direct strike rushed in from behind.

'A footwork that has reached the ultimate realm, excellent…!'

But it's still not enough to hide his presence.

"!"

Akki's punch pierced the earth (大地). More precisely, the ground Rain was standing on suddenly surged up.

However!

That ground melted into soft mud, then reformed into dozens of blades that charged at Rain.

'Earth spirit… instantaneous control by dragon language? Good, Mir!'

Rain felt cold sweat trickling around his mouth. At the same time, the splendid compass that had been spread out behind his back began to rotate.

'Attribute selection.'

The spheres of attributes gathered at the center of the spiral and merged.

Fire (火).

Water (水).

Fierce flames instantly vaporized the water, generating a massive amount of steam, blocking vision in an instant.

"Zap!"

But even that ploy, a punch of flames broke through with sheer honest power.

Those flames pierced through the steam curtain and absorbed the magical flames, advancing towards a vital spot.

Rain laughed joyfully.

Simultaneously, the elemental compass converged into the light (光) at its center.

Instantly, a staff of light descended.

The moment he grasped the shaft with both hands, the sense of close combat etched into his body from the hero's guidance manifested.

It was precisely that movement, famous under the name of Osarius-style staff art.

His right foot, stepping out as if dancing, shifted his center of gravity with that foot while simultaneously deflecting the danger he faced.

"Haha! Too bad, Akki!"

If Akki had been serious, the match would have been decided soon after close combat began, but this was not a fight where they were serious with each other in the first place.

It was then, as punch and staff freely clashed and moved back and forth, scattering countless sparks.

Rain narrowed his eyes at a strange sensation.

"Hmm?"

There were beings of nature lined up around Mir.

They were high-ranking spirits of each element, and Hagnis, whom Fride often handled, was also visible.

Hagnis was a spirit that even most great witches wouldn't dare to control more than two of, and its nature was said to be noble like fire, choosing only a noble master.

'Seeing as it chose Fride, that's definitely not it. Does it just follow heavy smokers well?'

Anyway, seeing Mir summoning two of each of those spirits, he found it incredibly cute.

High-ranking spirits perform divine feats, mimicking their master's incantations.

If all those individuals were precisely controlled, it would be no different from using multiple incantations.

'A four-attribute combination…!'

The earth (地) rumbled, and water (水) seeped into the cracks, making it sink heavily.

Simultaneously, a wind (風) that blew like a storm completely unbalanced Rain's center of gravity.

Followed by fire (火). It wasn't just simple flames, but rather something created by interpreting the Brand of Heavenly Fire Wave used by Akirea.

'Oh, the Brand of Heavenly Fire Wave is…!'

It enhances its power with chain explosions, and the most important thing for using that brand was a direct hit. Because a brand had to be etched.

'But that, remotely…!'

Before the full combination could be unleashed, Rain threw down his staff and raised both hands, signaling surrender.

"Stop! I lost. I guess I can't mess with you two anymore. Just for today, I'll respectfully call both of you Lord True Dragon."

Being able to confirm Mir's explosive growth was enough. He was satisfied with this.

To fully confirm Akki's growth, he would have had to get serious, even bringing out the 'Asura Lost Soul Mirror,' which could have caused injury to either side.

And Akki had already proven to surpass a normal True Dragon from the moment he settled the score with Baekdoryeong Shar'kas.

"Peep peep peep pee-pee-peep!"

However, Nen blew the whistle enthusiastically and crossed his hands to form an X.

"Daddy didn't lose! Daddy won by decision!"

"Eh? Why?"

"Because Nen likes Daddy more!"

A momentary silence swept across the field.

"Ahaha…!"

The owner of the laughter that broke the silence was Rain.

With a broad smile stretching from ear to ear, he rushed to Nen and lifted him high.

"So, in the referee's eyes, I won, right?"

"Yes! Daddy won!"

"The referee says I won? No one has any complaints, right?"

Puhaha… Akki was also holding his stomach and bursting into laughter.

However, Mir, while showing a slight look of displeasure, maintained her characteristic poker face and said:

"Rationality of win\/loss judgment is lacking. I think it is incorrect."

Rain's elemental compass once again pointed to light (光).

What that power created was a card of light.

Rain placed the card in Nen's hand, then had him point it towards Mir.

"Nen! Tell Mir it's a yellow card. How dare she talk back to a referee like the heavens, you mustn't forgive her."

"Mir, yellow card! Talking back to justice is evil (惡)!"

"I am not evil, I merely wish for a fair evaluation, but if that is evil, then I resolve to become absolute evil right here and now."

Then, this time, Akki concentrated flames into the shape of a card.

Freely manipulating the forms of attributes was a technique only possible for those proficient in that attribute, and Rain felt inexplicably prouder of Akki.

Akki placed that fire card in Nen's other hand.

Nen held out the card to Mir and shouted:

"You'll become evil! Mir, red card! You have to reflect all day today! Read the scripture on justice! Know that it's a very scary book because Nen found it too hard to read and ran away every day!"

Mir's eyes blinked blankly, then she slowly began to emit a quiet laugh.

"Heut, heuhu, heuhuhut…"

Mir's laughter was truly quiet.

It was as if a forest rustled in the breeze, holding the resonance of nature.

Therefore, perhaps it possessed a power of tranquility that calmed the hearts of those who heard it.

However, such laughter from Mir was truly rare.

Therefore, whenever it appeared like this, the entire family became happier than she herself was.

If observed closely, Mir's laughter often emerged when Nen was by her side.

It made one wonder if Nen's straightforward and forced emotions, which completely ignored Mir's innate rationality, were creating a synergistic effect.

'Ah, it was truly a good decision to come back to my hometown and meet everyone like this…'

The laughter of Akki, Nen, and Mir.

In the midst of the trembling created by the world's most precious treasures.

Rain looked up at the sky, closed his eyes, and prayed.

'Lord Kalenden, thank you so much. For bestowing not just one, but three such noble gifts upon my life…'

In ancient times, when the world was still submerged in the abyss and the dawn had not yet broken, light arrived, and they were called the <Ones Who Came>.

One of those lights was Kalenden, who would be called the 'Black Sun,' and it is said that he created the Dragon Race to oppose the abyss.

The progenitors of that Dragon Race were the beings known as the Three Divine Dragons of this era.

It is said that when those noble beings were young dragons, they often evoked such laughter among the <Ones Who Came>.

After ending such a childhood, the Three Divine Dragons were reborn as beings who protected the peace of the world that the <Ones Who Came> had left after the end of the war.

These children, too, would become like that.

In the world after Yonghyeon's departure, they would be reborn as beings who protected peace, love, benevolence, and philanthropy, illuminating even the lowest places equally.