Chapter 44: Ch 44: Echoes Of The Past

[ System Announcement: The Threat Has Been Neutralized ]

[ Enforcing the World Barrier… ]

With a disgruntled roar from the Red Emperor, the world slowly returned to peace.

The few minutes the battle lasted had brought the world into chaos.

But at last, the System Administration had forcefully expelled it.

“So you really can do anything…” Hamuna muttered softly. “I suppose that is why this world can still have hope to rise.”

Her colossal body shrank rapidly until only a woman riddled with holes remained. From each wound, green blood poured out.

She was like a wounded warrior.

She looked toward the healed sky, where chaos had reigned moments ago.

“It seems my time has also come, my love,” she whispered to no one.

“But I can’t die yet. Not until I find you, even if it means searching through the Infernal Hells or the Radiant Heavens.”

She paused, then smiled faintly.

“Or maybe that boy will find you before I do.”

Her smile turned radiant. And with that, she vanished from existence.

No—she did not vanish. She simply awaited rebirth anew.

****

“Bella, do you want to come to my house so we can play my new VRMMO game?”

“Really, Arlan? A new game?” Her eyes had sparkled. “Sure… I’m free. Papa and Mama went on a date.”

They were seven. Maybe eight. Too young to understand the world, but old enough to remember feelings.

Arlan’s room was small, filled with old books, game discs, and a second-hand VR pod his father had saved months to buy.

Sunlight poured in through the half-open window, dust particles shone like tiny stars.

Bella sat on the bed, swinging her legs back and forth, watching Arlan fumble nervously with the headset.

“You’re slow,” she teased.

“I’m not!” he protested, cheeks red. “It’s just… it’s new.”

She laughed. Not mocking. Warm. The kind of laugh that made everything feel lighter.

They played until noon. Then afternoon. Then evening.

When the game made them dizzy, they lay on the floor staring at the ceiling.

“Arlan,” Bella said suddenly, rolling onto her side. “If we were grown-ups, what would you want to be?”

He thought hard. “Maybe… a game developer. Or an explorer.”

She smiled. “Then I’ll be your wife.”

His heart nearly stopped.

“W-what?”

She sat up proudly, hands on her hips. “Wives stay with their husbands, right? So I won’t leave you.”

He didn’t understand marriage. But he understood her.

“O-okay,” he said, nodding too fast. “Then I’ll… I’ll protect you.”

They spent the rest of the day pretending.

They cooked imaginary meals in the toy kitchen.

They argued over nothing, then apologized awkwardly.

They laughed until their stomachs hurt.

At sunset, they sat on the balcony, sharing a single popsicle.

Bella leaned closer. “Arlan.”

“Yes?”

She hesitated, then pressed her lips to his cheek.

It was clumsy. Soft. Innocent.

His face turned crimson. “What was that?”

“That’s what married people do,” she said seriously.

He swallowed a mouthful of saliva, then leaned forward and kissed her back.

But on the lips.

Just for a second. Bot of them froze.

Then laughed nervously, too embarrassed to look at each other.

It was the happiest day of his childhood.

The next morning, Bella didn’t smile.

They sat on the same balcony, but the air felt heavy.

She said quietly,

“Arlan… Papa said we’re moving tomorrow.”

His world shook.

“Moving…? To where?”

“A new country,” she whispered. “For his business.”

His chest hurt in a way he didn’t understand.

“Oh,” he said.

She clenched her fists. “I don’t want to go, Arlam.”

He tried to smile. “It’s okay. You’ll come back right?”

She shook her head. “Papa said it’ll take years.”

Silence.

Then she hugged him tightly, burying her face in his chest.

“Don’t forget me,” she cried.

“I won’t,” he whispered, tears falling without him realizing it. “I promise.”

She pulled back, wiped her eyes, and smiled bravely.

“Then… when we grow up, find me.”

“I will. No matter where you are.”

She kissed him one last time.

Then she left.

The same dream played in both Bella’s and Aegis’ minds, almost at the exact same moment.

Bella awoke first, startled by the urgent voice of her friend.

“Bella! Wake up!” Carla called, shaking her shoulders. “You were crying.”

Bella gasped, sitting upright. Her cheeks were wet. Her heart felt unbearably tight, as if something precious had just slipped through her fingers.

“…Arlan,” she whispered without realizing it.

Carla froze. “What did you say?”

Bella pressed a hand to her chest, her breathing uneven. The dream was already fading, but the pain remained, sharp and vivid.

“It’s nothing,” she said softly. “Just… a bad dream.”

But deep inside, she knew it wasn’t just a dream.

—

At the same time, far away—

“Papa! Wake up!”

“Wake up!”

The voices were urgent, overlapping.

Arlan’s eyes snapped open.

No.

Aegis’ eyes snapped open.

Above him stretched an endless sky, vast and clear. Below him floated an island of ocean and light, waves moving gently as if nothing terrible had ever happened.

The Aquabyss Domain.

Billy and Milly hovered anxiously above him, their crimson wings fluttering as they screeched worriedly.

“Your eminence!”

He slowly sat up.

For a brief moment, he didn’t know where he was.

The laughter.

The balcony.

The childish promise.

The goodbye that broke a boy’s heart.

His hand clenched unconsciously.

“That dream again,” he murmured.

But this time, something felt different.

It felt too real.

Too synchronized.

Aegis lifted his gaze to the horizon, eyes dark and unfocused.

“Did you feel it too…?” he whispered to the wind, not knowing who he was asking.

The sea did not answer.

But somewhere, on another floating island wrapped in ice and snow, Bella pressed her palm against her chest at the exact same time.

Two hearts, separated by worlds.

Yet still echoing the same past.

“Sniff… Papa… Will Sister Naida never come back?”

Diva’s small shoulders trembled as she cried her heart put, clutching the hem of Aegis’ clothes.

Aegis did not answer immediately.

Behind Diva, Eterna and Flama also knelt down at the same time, lowering their heads deeply.

“Please forgive us for our incompetence,” Eterna said, her frame shaking. “We were there… yet we couldn’t do anything.”

Flama clenched her fists so hard her nails dug into her palms. Flames flickered uncontrollably around her feet, showing her emotions like a open book.

“We’re useless,” she whispered bitterly. “If we were stronger, if we were just a little stronger… Sister Naida wouldn’t have—”

“Enough.”

Aegis’ rebuttal stopped them instantly.

He slowly knelt down and pulled Diva into his arms. The little phoenix buried her face against his chest, sobbing freely.

“This was not your failure. Nor was it mine alone.”

His eyes were dark for a second.

Eterna looked up, her eyes red. “But Papa, we watched her go. We watched her fight alone.”

Aegis closed his eyes.

The image of Naida’s back, glowing gold as she flew forward without hesitation, burned into his mind like a eternal mark.

“She chose that path,” he said at last. “Not because she was weak. But because she was strong enough to protect what mattered to her.”

He opened his eyes, and for the first time since the battle, the phoenix sisters saw something terrifying.

Not rage. Not despair.

Quiet Darkness.

Aegis continued to speak while being oblivious to his change:

“Naida was never someone you needed to save. She saved us. And because of that, her sacrifice will not end as a memory.”

He gently placed a hand on each of their heads.

“You three are alive because she believed in you. So don’t insult her courage by calling yourselves incompetent.”

Hearing him, Diva’s cries gradually softened.

“Papa… will Sister Naida be lonely?”

His hand paused for a fraction of a second.

Then he shook his head.

“No. As long as I exist, she will never be alone. I will find her, whether she is in heaven or hell.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep