บท 702: Chapter 702
"...Born Hater."
When I called out, the real Ash smiled and called me back.
"Dawn Bringar."
"..."
I rubbed my arm as I got goosebumps for a moment, and then I murmured cautiously.
"No, something about calling each other by titles feels a bit weird."
It was like when people who knew each other online met offline for the first time and called each other by their online nicknames...
- Excuse me. Are you 'Black Prince King Supreme'?
- Ah, so you're 'MyWifeSerenade'?
Isn't this exactly how it feels? Gah!
"So what. Is there a better way to distinguish us than by middle names?"
But the real Ash seemed completely unconcerned. A natural-born fantasy man must have a different perception...
I awkwardly called his middle name again.
"Yeah, Born Hater... you've been through a lot."
"You too, Dawn Bringar."
Born Hater smiled with a face like broken pottery.
"You've done well so far, so I'm sure you'll do well in the upcoming battles too. I have only one request."
And Born Hater said this.
"Be happy."
After hesitating for a moment, I cautiously asked.
"Are you talking about Serenade?"
"You should of course make Serenade happy. That's obvious and doesn't need to be said."
I rested my chin on my hand and hummed.
"Then, other people?"
"That's your duty as a king, and what I want to ask is..."
Born Hater reached out and pressed my chest with his fingertip.
"You yourself."
"..."
Looking at me, who was dumbfounded as if I'd been hit on the back of my head, Born Hater smiled with his lips slightly bitten.
"There will be many hardships ahead. But I hope you find peace at the end of it."
"..."
"All the hatred, all the sorrow, all the wounds I was born with, I will take them with me when I disappear, so please..."
Sincerely, with blessings.
He said this.
"Be happy, me."
And then Born Hater turned around and walked toward the edge of the collapsing white space.
I urgently asked.
"Where are you going, Born Hater?"
"It's time to disappear."
His voice was calm as he walked.
"As you inherited all the legacy from Dusk Bringar, you are no longer just a secondary personality... you have become a complete soul with a spirit."
Born Hater shrugged his shoulders as if saying, 'Who would have thought that the pawn that fell to the bottom would truly return as a queen.'
"Although I'm still in pieces, you're in much better shape than me."
"..."
"So, baton touch. I've handed over the flag to you, and now it's time for me to disappear."
His entire body started to break and scatter.
"Don't worry. I've left everything you need... all the memories of strategies, combat experiences, they'll all remain within you. You'll still be able to summon doppelgangers or build walls as much as you want."
"..."
"Thanks to that, I can finally rest easy. Ha ha, really..."
His voice, turning into white powder and scattering, was relieved, and just a bit... sorrowful.
"It was a long and exhausting fight."
"..."
"Then. Goodbye. I'm going to... take a little nap now."
Staring blankly at his back as he walked away, I...
"...Born Hater!"
I rushed and grabbed his shoulder.
Just grabbing him made white ashes scatter and turn my body white. But I didn't mind at all, and I said to him, who looked back in surprise.
"Let's go together!"
"...What?"
"Until the end... let's go together."
I nodded seriously.
"Towards the true ending, no, beyond that to life... together."
"..."
Born Hater, stuttering as if he was at a loss for words, let out a hollow laugh.
"Hey, Dawn Bringar. My past is uglier than you think."
"..."
"Even in this round, I got regression amnesia, made people die who didn't have to die, and committed all sorts of heinous acts."
Born Hater tightly clenched his trembling hands.
"It's not just this round. Under the pretext of saving the world, for countless, innumerable times... I pushed countless people into the pits of hell."
"..."
"You, who will open the new era, Dawn Bringar, don't deserve such a dirty burden. Born Hater should die as Born Hater for the sake of us all."
"It's still okay."
I spoke with conviction.
"It's okay, so let's go together."
"...Will you even accept someone like me?"
Born Hater's voice trembled.
"Will you even become someone like me?"
"I was the same."
I recalled the guilt that remained at my core.
In all 742 of those games, I always threw my characters to their deaths.
For the efficient completion of the entire game, I threw countless subordinates to their deaths without a shred of remorse. I never questioned those actions.
I was a monster.
A monster obsessed with efficiency, knowing nothing but strategy, seeing people not as people, but as mere pawns.
"Your sins are my sins too."
Facing Born Hater's bewildered face, I grinned.
"And my sins are your sins too. We are the same."
"..."
"I won't arbitrarily forgive the ugliness you committed. But..."
I slowly spread my arms wide.
"We will regret it together, we will suffer together. And we will think together about how to correct those wrongs."
"..."
"So... let's go together, Born Hater."
There is no such thing as a purely beautiful life.
Everyone has an ugly side. I don't want to pretend it doesn't exist or ignore it.
I want to acknowledge my ugliness and move forward... to the next step.
So, let's go together.
My Born Hater.
"..."
From his heavily cracked face, down his shattered cheeks like an empty vase... white ash flowed and fell.
"Really..."
Then, with that broken face, he smiled brightly, unbelievably brilliantly,
and with open arms, he approached me.
"No backing out later, okay?"
I chuckled.
"That's obvious."
We hugged.
Born Hater's entire body shattered like a sandcastle, and the white ash poured over me. Eventually, all those white particles shone brilliantly and were absorbed into my soul.
Finally, Born Hater's voice echoed faintly.
"Alright, let's go. To the end of this path. Together..."
When I blinked once, he was no longer there.
But I knew.
The real and the fake, Born Hater and Dawn Bringar...
Had finally become one.
Feeling a bit awkward, I looked down at my body with a strange feeling, and I muttered.
"...I've literally become Ash."
And in the next moment, I returned to the real world from the mental realm.
I realized that I was standing on the corpse of the Black Dragon, and that I still held the flag of light in my hand.
The warm sunlight was falling on my head.
Finally, the darkness had lifted, and the whole world, having regained its colors, was emitting countless hues like a prism.
"..."
In this world, though hideously destroyed, more beautiful than any landscape I had ever seen.
"Your Highness-!"
People were running towards me.
Heroes were pouring out of La Mancha, which had made an emergency landing on the other side of the field, and people were running from the collapsed walls of Crossroad to the end of this field.
Everyone was crying. While weeping and sobbing, they were running with open arms as if to embrace me.
The snow that had been pouring from the sky stopped, melted under the sunlight, and scattered brilliantly in the air.
Under those beams of light, I smiled.
It was the most devastating defeat, yet the most exhilarating victory ever.
***
[STAGE 40 – CLEAR!]
[STAGE MVP – Ash (EX)]
[Level-Up Characters]
- Ash (EX) and 168 others <Expand List>
[Deceased Characters]
- Dusk Bringar (SSR)
- Nobody (SR)
- 188 others <Expand List>
[Injured Characters]
- Evangeline (SSR) and 254 others <Expand List>
[Deceased and Injured Captured Monsters]
- Scalian (SSR) <Captured Monster>: Deceased
- 30 others <Expand List>
[Items Acquired]
- Lake Kingdom Royal Scepter (EX): 1
- Black Dragon Heart (EX): 1
- Black Dragon Magic Core (SSR): 8
- Others: <Calculating>
[Stage Clear Rewards have been given. Please check your inventory.]
- EX Grade Reward Box: 1
- SSR Grade Reward Box: 8
>> Get Ready For The Next STAGE
>> [Next STAGE: Lake Kingdom]
***
Violet slowly opened her trembling eyes.
"...Huh?"
South field of Crossroad.
Lying sprawled on the dirt ground, Violet slowly wriggled her fingers and toes.
She was intact.
"Huh? Huh?!"
Violet hurriedly raised her hand and checked her body. Sure enough, she was completely uninjured.
"Huh... What is this?"
Violet, confused, realized that bright sunlight was touching her face. Shocked, she sprung up like a spring.
The sky was clear. The world was bright.
Morning had returned.
Night Bringer had fallen. The World Guardian Front had protected the world once again.
"Ha ha, ha ha ha..."
Violet let out a laugh mixed with joy and confusion in a silly voice.
So, how was she still alive?
She had been thrown into the air, and Night Bringer's dragon-like roar had been right in front of her.
How could she still be alive, her limbs intact...?
"Huh?"
The answer was right beside her.
Violet noticed the dragon lying next to her and shouted urgently.
"Parekian?!"
The Black Dragon's Claw, Parekian, was torn to shreds and dying.
Only then did Violet remember why she was unharmed. She recalled the last moment before losing consciousness.
Parekian had caught her falling through the air, taken the dragon roar for her, and then crashed to the ground.
As a result, Violet was safe, but Parekian had sustained fatal injuries.
"Why... for someone like me..."
Violet knew. If Parekian had abandoned her, he would have been safe.
Parekian's mission was only to take Violet to Night Bringer's head. If he had used his speed to escape at that moment, he could have gotten away safely.
But Parekian had thrown himself to save Violet. And now he was dying.
"...Are you okay, Violet?"
Then, from Parekian's shattered chest, his usual mechanical voice flowed out faintly.
"I can no longer detect magic... I can't check your condition. Are you hurt?"
"I'm fine, you idiot lizard!"
Violet crawled on her knees to Parekian's side, tears streaming down her face.
"Why... why did you save me? If you hadn't saved me, you would be alive..."
"...You showed me."
Parekian's answer was unexpected.
"That night, you showed me... the stars."
"What...?"
"It wasn't just the stars. You showed me this world... So, it was worth risking my life for you."
Violet shook her head in disbelief.
"Everything I showed you was an illusion, you fool!"
"..."
"It was just a lie that seemed real..."
"It doesn't matter."
Was it her imagination?
Violet felt like Parekian's mechanical voice had a slight smile.
"Because I loved that lie."
"Parekian..."
"My life was always in total darkness. I had no eyes, no ears, no nose, no mouth. I spent endless time in a darkness where nothing was visible."
Violet placed her hand on Parekian's unmoving body.
With a faint mechanical hum, Parekian's blue magic gathered where her hand touched. It felt like they were holding hands, Violet thought.
"But you were the first to bring light to my world. In my world, which was entirely black, you brought color."
"..."
"Like holding a palette full of paint, you came into my heart and painted my world with countless colors."
Parekian's mechanical voice grew fainter, and at the same time, it contained a faint warmth.
"The starry sky that night was the most beautiful scene I had ever seen in my life."
"..."
"So... I have enough reasons to die for you."
Wiping her tear-streaked face with her sleeve, Violet slowly moved her hand to Parekian's shattered head.
And she showed him one last illusion... the view of this world bathed in brilliant sunlight.
"Ah..."
Like paint spreading on a white canvas.
Various emotions blossomed in Parekian's fading, empty voice.
"Look, Violet. The night is lifting from the sky."
With a voice that seemed satisfied, happy... Parekian softly whispered.
"It's as beautiful as you, a lovely lavender hue..."
Then, the blue light slowly faded from the dragon's body.
Violet gently embraced Parekian's lifeless body. She cried loudly, holding him for a long time.
Until the completely brightened sunlight drove away even the dawn, turning into a dazzling noon. Continuously.
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