“I’m sorry for the offense to the great being.”
Yustelein looked down at the bowing Aria with a curious gaze.
It was fascinating. Just moments ago, the foolish beast, consumed by bloodlust and incapable of reasoning, now held a perfectly refined sense of self.
[Honestly, I didn’t expect her to overcome it.]
Yustelein rarely offered genuine praise to the spirit of darkness.
The reason he had rejected Aria’s plausible request to lend a bit of strength to restore the balance of the world that he had shattered two thousand years ago was not merely out of dislike.
He indeed had personal aversions to giving the blood of the great elder dragon to a being of the surface. There was also truth in the fact that dragon’s blood was too excessive for a surface being.
However, the most important reason, which he did not explain to Aria, stemmed from a certainty: a vampire that has tasted his blood could never retain their sanity.
[A progenitor of any kind usually possesses such striking traits.]
The essence of a vampire is deprivation. How could a being that absorbs the power and life force of others maintain their reason after tasting the most delectable blood in the world?
Had Aria lost her reason and attacked, Yustelein would have had to deal with her, and in that case, the scales of balance in the world would not be restored but further tilted.
With his goal of order and balance, Yustelein refrains from moving toward a predicted ending that would disrupt that balance. Thus, until he gazed into Aria’s soul, he had no intention of sharing blood with her.
But Aria overcame it. She severed the primal instinct of bloodlust, her identity, solely by her own will.
[For I forgive you, raise your head.]
“Not ‘you’, but ‘you’. It was perhaps surprising that Aria looked up with a puzzled expression, realizing at least a minimum of respect was shown in how she was addressed, not as a degraded being, but as an equal.
Yet from Yustelein’s perspective, this was a sufficiently gracious gesture.
[In the age of myth, during the tumultuous time before the birth of humankind, there were a rare few lives that reached their limits.]
Not limits in metaphorical or abstract senses, but the potential peaks inherent to lifeforms.
Some called it talent, while others referred to it as destiny—walls that only a select few among the chosen ones could reach after a lifetime of dedicated effort.
But, from the moment of birth, there were some beings allowed to stand upon the peaks beyond what ordinary people could even dream of.
Ancient races. The progenitors of each race molded as completed beings from the start.
Yustelein, the first dragonkin and the first life, along with Neherja, the first giant, represented the pinnacle that a single race could attain in the masterwork of providence.
But that was where it ended. Even during the age of myth, where numerous geniuses challenged their limits and numerous ancient races gazed beyond, no one transcended the fate granted to them.
Thus it was providence, and thus it was destiny.
[Lives on the surface seem to refer to me, and more recently to the light spirit, as transcendors, but that is a misunderstanding.]
Transcendor was not merely a term that existed to venerate the strong. From the mythic age onwards, it pointed to just one thing.
[Those who have transcended the destinies set by the Lord.]
In step with the great being’s wish for his creations to exceed his expectations.
[Those who sought to walk upon the realm beyond destiny and defy the world’s providence.]
Daring to tread upon realms that even the progenitors of each race and all those who reached their limits could not achieve.
[Thus, at last, one who has left their footprints in the pure white fields that no one has ever reached.]
A being paving the unexplored territories solely with the conviction and will of a single soul.
[In those days, we called them transcendors.]
The realm of potentiality that even the beings of myth could not firmly believe in.
Yustelein never imagined that a mere earthly creature would venture into that place.
He shifted his perspective upon gazing into Aria’s soul, thinking that perhaps a soul that endured a brief yet desperate life might demonstrate more patience than expected to suppress impulse, but he never anticipated she would sever the limits and destinies of the vampire race.
[But you, the fourth spirit of darkness, Aria Scarlet, have transcended your limits and elevated your soul’s status.]
Was it a coincidence or a necessity that a progenitor of a race, born imperfectly yet embodying the nature of “growth without limit through bloodsucking,” reached that realm?
But such thoughts were of little importance to Yustelein.
What mattered was the simple fact that the silent Lord had finally seen the seed of potential he so longed for sprout upon the surface.
[You are indeed the very first transcendor since creation, how could I not pay my respects?]
In terms of sheer strength, Yustelein was still more powerful. However, while it is natural for there to be a sea where a sea should be, putting a sea into a single glass would be considered a miracle.
Thus, the first life offered praise to the transcendor who wrought miracles by their will.
“I….”
Aria’s lips trembled.
Moments later, her gaze turned toward the cliff’s edge. Below, there was nothing but clouds in every direction, but her focus remained fixed, and Yustelein did not miss it.
[Yes, it would do no good to take up more time. So let me ask one last time. Are you prepared to make a choice?]
“Yes.”
An answer without hesitation. With a natural yet resolute gaze, Yustelein felt quite satisfied.
[Then leave.]
“Thank you.”
Aria bowed her head once more. A brief, straightforward yet sincere gesture.
In an instant, Aria’s body, which had been stained with dried blood and dirt, radiated a red aura, transforming her into a pristine and immaculate form without a single wound.
Had she used her regenerative abilities to entirely reconstruct herself, including the dirt? She was even donned in a bright red dress that looked like it had been woven from blood, instead of the torn remnants left by the battle.
Prepared at last, Aria threw herself toward the sky without hesitation. The height of the sanctuary, which she had crawled up with sheer tenacity, was no longer an obstacle for her.
*
“Persistent little pests.”
Luminous marveled genuinely, surveying his surroundings.
Humans, vampires, beastmen, elves, dwarfs, and even dragonkin. Even Luminous, who had lived for two thousand years, had never seen an alliance of all humanoid races.
Although the fact that this unprecedented force had organized to oppose him was somewhat amusing, even Luminous felt taken aback by the intensity of their resistance.
“I can’t help but lament their foolishness.”
Luminous spoke mockingly to the faces he had seen so often they had become tiresome.
The blue-haired vampire, the black-haired dragonkin, the platinum-haired elf, and the core factions that followed the Vampire Queen.
What Luminous witnessed after a long recovery period were the remnants of the Scarlet Alliance Kingdom completely surrounding Lusher.
“Do they still not realize it’s a futile struggle?”
Those who seemed to genuinely believe there was a chance for victory had blatantly clung to Luminous’s ankles all this time.
The elite of each race, with the closest aides to the queen having been filtered and indulged in holding back Luminous while the rest spread out to catch the faithful following.
While Luminous had retreated without hesitation every time he genuinely exerted himself, they returned to obstruct him whenever he gained momentum, causing even a being as powerful as Luminous to slow down more than he wished.
But that was where it ended. They could annoy him to some extent, but they lacked the strength to flip the scales of victory and defeat, let alone obstruct him until the end.
The results of this conflict were evident.
“Do you see? Just one day.”
Luminous spread his arms wide as if relishing the battlefield reduced to ruins.
A battlefield reduced to ashes. Corpses scattered everywhere. And far too many wounded to count.
Despite avoiding a full-frontal assault and diligently hitting and retreating, this was the end result. Not a single one of those labeled as the queen’s closest aides was left standing, and Luminous intended to finish them off today completely.
“Humans, dragonkin, and even the beastmen of the Suwong Kingdom. I’d love to applaud their efforts, but with the forces they have gathered, the time they’ve managed to steal from me is merely a day.”
Luminous truly found it unfathomable.
If they had fled, wouldn’t they have lived a little longer?
Of course, as he intended to wield dominion over all humanoids on the Terra continent, it was easier for him that the ones he thought would be the most troublesome didn’t run away and gathered like this, but still, he could not comprehend the mindset of these insignificant beings engaging in meaningless struggles, aware they stood no chance.
“You’ll never know. Each minute we earn, each hour, each day will lead to a miracle.”
Eleonora Drake retorted scornfully. Luminous chuckled incredulously.
“That’s true. I’ve watched the human race for a long time, but the delusions of losers are truly difficult to empathize with.”
Now was the time to end everything.
They had irritated him in numerous ways, but every last one of those who had once been the queen’s closest aides was significantly injured, and Luminous was confident that this time, without fail, none would escape.
Luminous raised his sword. If he could cleanly eliminate just those present, there would be no one left to grasp at his ankles on this land.
Brilliant light gathered on the blade.
At the moment of the strike that would cleave heaven and earth, Luminous noticed Plona Moonlight suddenly looking up at the sky.
“…How.”
Breaking the strange silence that settled over the battlefield, Luminous mumbled.
The strike that ought to have severed all in attendance had not cut a thing. His gaze, filled with horror and disbelief, turned toward the tip of the luminous sword in his hand.
“…Master.”
“Aria! It’s Aria, right?!”
“Sister!!!!”
“The, the queen has returned!!!!”
Luminous’s sword was caught. And the woman who had seized the strike capable of felling an entire mountain was someone who should not have been here.
The brief stay he had ridiculed—a mere day for respite.
After persuading the Greysia Empire, summoning the Suwong Kingdom, and even managing to bring forth some of the dragonkin residing in the Dragon’s Gorge, he finally managed to create that precious day.
And it had changed the fate of the humanoids.
“How could you be!!!!”
No hint of her presence; he hadn’t registered it until she was right before him.
It was impossible. The fact that she was alive, and even if she had survived that day, that she could become strong enough to stand against him was inconceivable.
“Be quiet.”
The returning queen swept her extended right arm horizontally. The dawn sky was sliced in half.
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