Book 6 Chapter 18

Chapter 142

That was the first time I met Yeriserika (Yeriserika; Piercing Gaze), one of the Three Dragon Gods, guardian of the World Tree, the Water Dragon. To be precise, it was an illusion.

Yeriserika’s true body had to guard the World Tree, so it couldn’t move, or so I was told.

Though an illusion, Yeriserika’s eyes, with their deep yet gentle tone and sincere compassion, exuded an atmosphere of wisdom that was impossibly unapproachable.

No one had commanded it, but when I came to my senses, not only I but everyone else was kneeling and worshiping the Dragon God.

"Rise, returning one. It is I, Yeriserika, who should enumerate your deeds and express gratitude."

Upon hearing those words, I dared not unbend my knees, overwhelmed by an inexpressible awe.

"What was Alaquish’s end like?"

At that moment, the image of Alaquish turning away after entrusting Akhi to me came to mind, and my eyes welled up with tears.

"Like a descendant of the Fire Dragon… she sealed the abyss until the very end, with greatness and nobility, and then departed."

The White Dragons each let out cries of lament, and an echo of poignant sorrow filled the swamp.

Akiraea, who had awoken then, reached out to Yeriserika as if intrigued, and Yeriserika's gaze was so sorrowful that a ripple of sadness spread through my own heart.

"Come closer, child of Alaquish. You truly resemble your mother; how lovely you are."

To my great surprise… Akhi, for the first time, willingly left my arms and began to crawl towards Yeriserika.

No, just as I thought she would, she suddenly turned around again, came back to me, and tugged at my pant leg, whining and demanding to be held.

What astonished the White Dragons more than me was that, regardless of their legions, all dragonkin served the Dragon God as a parent, so Akhi’s choice must have been perplexing.

"Indeed, you wish to live a life befitting the name Akiraea (Akiraea; Freedom) already. Have it your way."

But Yeriserika smiled brightly, as if she had known this outcome.

Then a miracle occurred… clear water filled the swamp, which had been reeking of decay, and fresh greenery sprouted everywhere.

While all mortals stared blankly, Yeriserika began to clarify the situation in a solemn tone.

"I, Yeriserika, will take the beastfolk. Humanity does not yet have the courage to communicate with the beastfolk, and I have foreseen a future where blood will overflow across the land if the beastfolk are forcibly united with humanity."

Yeriserika’s judgment was absolute. Just as no one dared defy the emperor, no one dared to rebel against the judgment of a god.

Yeriserika guarded the World Tree and dreamed a 'pure white dream'. In that dream, she could observe fragments of the past and glimpses of the future.

Overseeing the current temporal constraints was originally the duty and power of the Mad Dragon Haraderi alone, but since the Mad Dragon was now sick and dying, a void had appeared in the realm of observation.

Then, suddenly, the Archmage Sagan spoke.

"I humbly speak, but if the Water Dragon God says so now, then the beastfolk must truly be innocent…"

If so, what did my brother die for? His head was cut off for treason… It was then that I was about to say that.

"Do not worry; your kin are safe."

Sagan blinked his eyes, as if his very thoughts were being read. Rain was equally surprised.

'Kyran…?'

'He's not dead…?'

It was an incredible story, but unlike humans, gods do not lie.

According to Yeriserika's explanation, a wyvern from the White Dragon Legion had arrived at <Snowy Fort> just before the execution and resolved the situation.

Yeriserika stated that she had realized the gravity of the situation north of the barrier the moment Alaquish's presence vanished, and immediately afterward, she had seen the future south of the barrier through the pure white dream and intervened in the situation.

"…?!"

It must have been around that time.

Suddenly, the flow of time became sluggish and slow, and all my senses felt unreal, like a dream… then, a bizarre lake suddenly unfolded before my eyes.

It was a clear, pure white lake, so transparent that its depths could be seen, and there were hundreds of me reflected on its surface, as if looking into countless mirrors simultaneously.

And at the center of that lake, the Goddess of the Azure Star, her sleeves elegantly fluttering, greeted me.

"I have invited you to my dream, Yeriserika's dream, to share an important story. For an era has come where the Eye of the Abyss could be anywhere."

Her noble hair, pure eyes, graceful dragon horns, and elegant silk robes were all of the cold, clear color of the sea. She appeared to be in her mid-60s in human years.

"Are you Lady Yeriserika?"

"Indeed, then who else would I be?"

Yeriserika approached with a gait of perfect grace and authority, reminiscent of Shar'kas, then surveyed me up and down and smiled kindly.

"Indeed, the texture of your soul is truly similar. I somewhat understand what that person saw in you to choose you."

"Similar to whom?"

"Regrettably, your intellect seems inferior to that person's."

Then, the mirrors filling the lake surface showed my faces each reacting differently. Someone blinked, someone tilted their head, and someone else questioned it.

What is that?

But the 'real me', instead of exchanging meaningless questions and answers, wanted to ask something I hadn’t dared to ask earlier due to my confusion.

"Where are you taking the beastfolk?"

"It seems what you should be asking and worrying about is not the beastfolk, but your own future."

"Pardon?"

"Do you know the current state of the continent, and why that person had to send you beyond the barrier?"

"Honestly… I don't really know."

I answered briefly, but I felt my gaze flickering unsteadily. What was it? Again, countless versions of me were showing various reactions.

"In this pure white dream, all human forms are revealed. Everything in this lake is you. It is you who made different choices in your life."

"…?"

"To tell you one truth, only one future for you is visible. To be precise, the future where you arrive at the South Pole with Akiraea."

What could that mean…? Then, suddenly, countless 'me's, faint as a nightmare yet vivid as reality, began to vanish.

Only the real me remained…

I looked around the lake in bewilderment, and with an eerie realization, my hands and feet went cold involuntarily.

"Is there… only one possibility for me to reach the South Pole?"

I asked cautiously, feeling an ominous premonition, and Yeriserika nodded elegantly.

"Lami Orbaddan, the shadows of the abyss are rampant across the continent… In my perception, it is right for me, Yeriserika, to take Akiraea and send her to the South Pole with the legion, but that person does not wish for it."

"That person… do you mean Lady Kalenden, by any chance? Why ever not? If we go with the legion, it would be instantaneous."

"Who knows the will of the gods? The gods bestow trials upon those they love. Darung on Durka, only the gods know the path of man, and it seems that person intends to temper you on that path. To use you as pure gold."

I was momentarily speechless.

Tempering, what does that mean, how would I be tempered? When there’s only one path to success?

I dared to guess that if I made even one mistake among many choices, big or small, everything would fail.

"I cannot go on that dangerous path with Akhi. If it were just me, perhaps, but the child Alaquish entrusted to me, believing in me… isn't there another way?"

To my plea, Yeriserika quietly shook her head.

"That person believes in you. Neither you, nor even I, Yeriserika, can change that person's will. That person favors you so much that they even revealed their sick body before the ancient gods for your sake."

"…!"

"You must make a choice, you who bore the name Rin (Spring Breeze). To complete the race of life according to that person's will, or to lay everything down and live a meaningless life."

Yeriserika’s words echoed heavily in my chest. A race of life according to Kalenden's will – it was so vague I couldn't even grasp what it meant.

"Do you wish to see the truth (眞理)?"

At that moment, the worries swirling in my mind suddenly vanished, and I felt my hands and feet tremble subtly.

"Do you wish to reforge the chain of destiny that was broken in your past life?"

Overwhelmed by that concise yet profound question that followed, I couldn't even breathe.

Past life destiny?

Chain of destiny?

What exactly did that mean, questions surged so much that my breath grew ragged. Just as I opened my mouth to ask.

"Then go south with Alaquish's doppelganger. On your way, first find the small ghost."

"By 'small ghost', you mean?"

"You will soon know. That person has prepared everything on that arduous and difficult path… only for you."

Truth, past life destiny… those words created a powerful ripple in a series of emotions deeply sealed within my heart.

Actually, I didn't understand.

Actually, I couldn't accept it.

The reason why I had to walk that dangerous path with Akhi… my mortal perception couldn't grasp it, but if the Creator of Truth truly said that truth lay at the end of that path.

"I will go."

I had already died once, and Alaquish had told Akhi to show her your dream.

Not only Kalenden but also Alaquish wanted me, not anyone else, to take Akhi… so now I could only follow their will.

No, though it might seem like I was saying it reluctantly, this was my will and my choice. I yearned to know more earnestly. What is truth, and what is the chain of destiny?

"From the moment you enter the continent, the Abyss (深淵) will relentlessly seek you out, so do not delay even a moment; leave only a brief farewell to your kin and depart immediately for the south."

Yeriserika looked up at the distant empty space for a moment, and a sadly regretful smile formed on her face.

"And this, too, is that person's will."

Then, suddenly, the pure white that dominated this illusory lake converged within Yeriserika's arms, forming an adorable shape.

It was a sleeping baby.

Younger than Akhi, perhaps?

The color of its hair and eyebrows was a pure white that nothing on earth could imitate. A cruel purity like a winter lake… and a transcendent presence.

"MirünGadia, my fifth child, Yeriserika, whose name means 'wisdom'."

Did she hesitate for a moment? Did she not want to part with it from her arms…?

Yeriserika gazed lovingly at that pure white manifestation for a long time, gently stroking its hair, then suddenly placed it in my arms.

I was considerably flustered by the sudden action. What is this, now? Why?

"Draku or Durben. The Age of Dragons is ending. When all dragons disappear, the Abyss will become rampant, and this child is the one I prepared for that final age."

"…!"

"It means you are the last dragonkin who must endure the final age… that age of nightmare, along with Alaquish's child."

I couldn't answer.

Since I couldn't even understand what this meant in the first place, I merely gaped, looking back and forth between the baby and Yeriserika.

Yeriserika smiled lightly, and her body began to disperse into azure feathers of light.

"By that person's will, I entrust her to you. I hope you will teach that child this dazzling world created by the gods, and how to love that world. Just as you have learned."

Just as dreams and illusions seemed to intertwine chaotically again, the hazy sensation vanished in an instant, and reality unfolded before my eyes once more.

However, the weight pressing down gently yet firmly on both my hands remained, and when I carefully lowered my head, there was a dragon egg…

It was an egg with five jade-green stripes on its pure white surface, and a mysterious pulsation could be felt within it.

"Oh, come on…"

Suddenly, I had two children. A red child behind me, and a white child in front… was this responsibility without pleasure?

It was a joke I couldn't even laugh at. These children were the dragons who would live through the final age, and I was entrusted with both of them?

I don't know what Kalenden's intentions are, but if she trusts me that much… yes, let's give it a try.

"South, huh…"

I raised my head and looked at the other side of the swamp.

The endless horizon was soaking into deep darkness, and the secretly blowing wind was cold, like a shaking blade cutting across the skin.

That was the moment when Act 1 of my hundred-year journey ended, and Act 2 truly began.