Chapter 78: Chapter 78 – The Battle against Destiny (5)

The man’s voice broke through the stillness once more—soft, raw.

“We walked a road stained in blood and shadows… and yet, you stood beside me. Even when the world called you a beast. Even when the heavens declared you unholy.”

The dragon’s eye opened, faintly glowing. Pain shimmered within, but also something deeper—loyalty, trust, love.

“They called you a monster,” he said bitterly, “not because you were one… but because you were born on the wrong side of the line.”

The dragon gave a slow, tired huff of breath, embers drifting from its nostrils.

“You served the Devil Emperor once,” the man continued. “You tore through kingdoms. Burned cities. You were feared… hated. And yet…”

His voice cracked, and he squeezed his eyes shut, as if the memory itself burned too much to bear.

Luca in his thoughts , Devil Emperor, wasn’t this around 7000 years ago?

“…Yet you saved me. You turned on your own kind, bore their hatred and betrayal—for me. And I—I took your loyalty, your pain, your scars… and made you fight in a war that was never yours to begin with.”

Luca’s eyes widened, heart twisting.

The dragon served the Devil Emperor? But… he changed sides?

“You were never just a weapon,” the man murmured. “You were… my friend.”

The dragon gave a rumble. One of defiance. One of sorrow.

Then the man pulled back, eyes shaking with what he was about to do. His hand lifted, trembling, fingers curling into a fist.

“I didn’t want it to come to this,” he said, his voice now edged with grief. “But I can’t lose you again. Not like this.”

A pause.

Then, slowly, he stood.

He raised his right hand.

And spoke words that trembled the very world.

“By the pact of soul and blood… by the covenant written in flame…

I, your master, your friend…

invoke the Soul Order.

As your bound, your bond, your brother—I command you.

Sleep, Veynar.

Return to the void.

Until the stars burn new names, and this war is no more…

This is my absolute command.”

The words struck like a divine hammer.

The dragon’s eyes widened. Its body trembled—not from pain, but from something deeper. Soul-bound magic rippled across its form like chains made of light.

It let out a low, mournful roar that shook the mountains.

“No…” the man whispered, stepping forward as the light engulfed the beast. “Don’t fight it… I know you hate this. But I— I can’t lose you again.”

“I know what you want,” the man whispered, falling to his knees before the beast, forehead resting against the dragon’s scaled jaw. “I know you’d die for me… but I want you to live.”

Silence. Heavy and unbearable.

And then—the dragon closed its eyes.

Not in defiance.

In acceptance.

Tears slipped down the man’s face.

“We’ve lost too much,” he whispered. “You… You deserve peace.”

A footstep.

Then another.

From behind the man, a soft, silken voice spoke, smooth as dusk and layered with quiet command. “There’s no more time.”

Luca turned. A woman approached—tall, her long violet hair flowing behind her like a cascade of twilight. A black veil obscured her face, but even so, there was an eerie, familiar grace to her. Something divine. Or perhaps… cursed.

The man stood slowly, wiping his tears but not hiding them. He didn’t turn to face her.

“…I know.”

Her gaze flickered to the dragon once, then back to the man. “It’s time, Raymond.”

The name Raymond echoed in Luca’s mind as his vision blurred again.

His grip tightened around his twin sabers, the aura already gathering—he was ready to unleash Moonslayer the very instant he returned. He wouldn’t let anything happen to Aurelia. Not again. Even if it meant his mana circuits shattered beyond repair, he’d fight until the end.

But the battlefield never came.

Luca’s eyes snapped open.

Instead… warm water flowed gently around him.

He blinked, stunned.

A sea?

The world shimmered in gold, every drop of the flowing water glowing as if infused with starlight. There was endless water with nothing else around, and the sky stretched on like a dream. It was serene. Unnatural.

Luca floated in the middle of the glowing sea, stunned, his heart pounding in his chest.

“Huh…? Did I die… the moment I came back to the present? Or is this another vision?” he muttered, eyes scanning the horizon.

Then, a heavy voice echoed across the river—deep, ancient, and curious.

“Hmm… What are you? How can you be in here?”

Luca flinched.

He turned sharply, sabers raised, searching for the source.

Who is it?

After a second of hesitation, he replied, “Isn’t this… Beastridge Mountains?”

A low chuckle rumbled around him.

“Indeed, it is the Beastridge Realm. But this… this is our domain, No outsider has ever set foot here.”

Luca’s eyes narrowed. “Beastridge Realm…?”

The voice exhaled like a slow breeze.

“Yes. No one can enter here. No one can leave. But you… Heh, there’s something strange about you.I can feel a familiar power from you.”

Luca’s mind whirled.

What the hell is going on…?

The voice continued, more curious this time.

“Are you from the outside world? Can you take me with you?”

That made Luca freeze.

“My parents told me we can never leave… that no one can ever come here. But you did. You walked in… so maybe… maybe you can walk out with me too?”

Luca took a step back in the water, uncertain.

“…Wait. Who are you? I can’t even see you. Where are you?”

A soft laugh echoed around the golden river.

“Hehe… then look.”

Suddenly, the surface of the river began to tremble.

Waves formed—slowly at first, then violently—rising all around Luca like the heartbeat of the realm itself. He braced himself, startled, panic creeping in.

And then—boom.

One by one, enormous beasts began leaping out of the golden waters.

Dozens of them.

A stampede of living myths. Some even bigger than the colossal dragon out there.

And in that impossible, breathtaking moment, the voice echoed once more, full of excitement.

“Welcome… to the Time Sea.”

****

From the moment I received that divine revelation, something inside me felt… off.

An unease I couldn’t put into words—tight around my chest, with only one thought.

How could I change it?

Even the Celestial Swan reprimanded me for letting doubt fester in my heart.

Still, I tried. When the signs were shown, I did what I thought was right. I gathered Aiden, Lilliane, Selena, Kyle, and Luca—those whose fates were intertwined with the future. I believed they were the keys to salvation, the ones who were chosen by legendary weapons.

Even during the War Council, I agreed with Luca’s unconventional plan—an all-out attack using the divine power of the High Priests. I hoped… no, I prayed that this deviation would be enough. That by changing even a piece of the tapestry, we could escape that horrific ending I saw.

And when the barrage of mages and priests struck the beast, when the dragon collapsed, I truly believed—we did it.

We changed the future.

We cheated destiny.

But then… that sound.

That bloodcurdling, soul-tearing roar.

I stared blankly as the dragon rose again, more violent than ever before—its eyes bloodshot, its movements frenzied. There was no pattern, no strategy. Just chaos. Just rage.

It tore through the ranks like they were nothing.

I saw limbs fly. I saw people crushed. I saw knights limp, crawl, scream.

And I could do nothing.

I just stood there, trembling, as a whisper left my lips.

“Is… my divine revelation… becoming reality?”

Was this punishment?

For thinking I could change the Goddess’s will?

What was I thinking? That we mortals could play with fate? That we could rewrite what She had already decided?

No… I was a fool.

A blind, arrogant fool.

Everything is under Her gaze.

What She writes cannot be undone.

There’s no such thing as defying fate.

Unless… unless…

Unless there’s an anomaly.

A miracle.

A ripple in the still waters of time.

Something—someone—that doesn’t belong.

“Please… Goddess… I beg you…”

My knees shook.

My lips quivered.

“Let there be… an anomaly.”

Let there be a miracle.

And then—

“Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu—”

A roar deep, soulful ,but sweet, pure, and vast—like the ocean singing.

As I looked up, my breath caught in my throat.

A colossal figure parted the dark heavens. At first, I couldn’t tell—was it a bird? A fish? No… it was something beyond both.

Its body shimmered like crystal glass, translucent and endless, painted in flowing shades of sapphire and streaked with golden runes that pulsed like the heartbeat of the cosmos. It had no limbs—only that enormous, limbless body curved like a celestial river—and wings so vast they eclipsed the sky itself, ethereal and rippling like veils of starlight.

Its massive head pierced the black clouds…, eyes deeper than the sea, and when it let out a low hum, the sound wasn’t heard—it was felt. In the soul.

Then–

I saw it with my own eyes.

The dragon froze mid-roar, its claws suspended in air, its flame locked in a glass of halted motion. Everything was still.

Like time has stopped just for the dragon.

And in that stillness…

He stood.

A lone man beneath the divine beast.

Purple hair flowing with the wind, twin sabers glowing faintly in his hands—white and black, like moonlight and shadow. His back was to us, but I knew that figure. I could never mistake it.

Tears welled up in my eyes as I dropped to my knees, unable to comprehend what I was witnessing. My hands trembled. My faith, my fear, everything collapsed into a single whisper escaping my lips.

“An anomaly… a miracle…”

The beast above him turned slightly, revealing its full grandeur—its form becoming clearer, more divine. I knew the name even before I remembered it from the scriptures.

“A… a Kunpeng…”

“The forbidden beast of the Time Sea—a creature that swims through the currents of time and soars across timelines.”

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