Perugius' POV
"I didn't think you had a son... you bastarsd brat."
The boy collapsed suddenly. It was to be expected; his body had just suffered a mana overload because the magic circle sealing his other half had been shattered.
"Sylvaril, take him to the guest room," I ordered dryly.
Without hesitation, she stepped forward, picked up the boy with care, and disappeared down the marble hallways. I ascended the steps of my throne slowly and slumped into it, feeling the cold metal beneath my hands.
I closed my eyes.
"I always knew you had a gift for magic circles, Uther... You truly surprised me with this one. You were the best in theory, but your combat skills were mediocre for someone of our lineage. That is why I sent you back to those inferior beings; I wanted the human world to force you to improve, for the necessity of survival to make you a worthy warrior. However, inexplicably... you vanished."
"It seems you found something else down there"
I sighed, feeling a bitter weight in my chest. Based on what I saw in that seal, you didn't just hide your presence; you suppressed everything related to the Dragon Race in your own body and that of your offspring. Even longevity.
"If you stripped away our nature to live as one of them, then you must be dead by now..."
"A stupid sacrifice," I whispered. "You chose to die as a human just for a bit of their warmth."
Arthur's POV
My eyes snapped open.
The first thing I registered was the ceiling: an immense mosaic of marble and gold that seemed miles away, so detailed it was overwhelming. It took me a few seconds to understand what I was looking at, until the cold memory of the man on the throne hit my mind.
I remembered where I was.
I sat up abruptly on the edge of a bed that was larger than normal. Looking around, I saw a room filled with ancient luxuries beyond my comprehension. That was when I saw her. In a shadowy corner, there she was.
"It seems you are finally awake..." Sylvaril said in that flat voice.
I stood up quickly, but the movement was too sudden. I expected the usual weight of my body, but instead, I felt light.
"What happened to me?" I asked, looking at my hands. My voice sounded clearer, firmer. "That man... Perugius... What did he do to me?"
Sylvaril took a step forward, her mask hiding any trace of expression. Her mere presence made my skin crawl.
"Lord Perugius has done nothing to you that was not already within you," she replied coldly. "He only broke a seal you had inside."
"A seal?" I repeated under my breath.
I stood there thinking for a few seconds. "Could that be why I felt so strange these last few months?"
"Now that you have awakened, let us not keep Lord Perugius waiting any longer," Sylvaril stated, turning around. "Follow me."
She began to walk away with an elegant, silent stride.
"Ah, yes! I'm coming..." I replied, hurrying to follow her.
However, as I passed in front of a large gold-framed mirror, I stopped dead in my tracks. I froze at the sight of my reflection. My skin was now a bit paler, but what surprised me most were my eyes. They were no longer the same; now they glowed with an intense golden color, with pupils that seemed sharper. My gaze was the spitting image of that man sitting on the throne.
I approached the glass, touching my face, unable to recognize the boy staring back at me.
"What is the matter? Follow me," Sylvaril's impatient voice snapped me out of my daze.
"I'm sorry... it's just..." I stammered, quickly turning to catch up with her.
We walked through endless corridors. The Chaos Breaker was a marvel of architecture. My senses were so sharpened that I could feel the vibration of mana in the walls, and the echo of my own footsteps felt deafening.
Finally, the great doors of the throne room swung wide open. There he was, sitting in the same imposing posture, looking at me with furrowed eyes.
"He is here, Lord Perugius," Sylvaril announced, bowing.
Perugius looked me up and down. His golden eyes, identical to mine, seemed to shine with a mixture of contempt and a curiosity he couldn't hide.
"It seems your body has already assimilated the power," he said, his voice echoing through the hall. "I suppose you have many questions, Arthur... or should I say, grandson?"
I froze in the middle of the hall. The man's words hit my ears with physical force.
"Grandson?" A chill ran down my spine while my new golden eyes, now so similar to his, widened in disbelief.
My lips parted, but no sound came out.
"Grandson...?"
"You seem surprised. Did your parents tell you nothing?" Perugius asked.
"So this must be the past of this body. I don't know the father, but as for the mother, I only remember she was blonde..."
"Well... I only know that an old man adopted me," I finally replied.
Perugius let out a short sigh, loaded with a disdain that didn't seem directed at me, but at the past.
"I see... My assumptions were correct. By carving that circle into him, the seal blocked everything related to the Dragon Race. But a seal of that level consumes vitality. His life must have been significantly shortened to keep you hidden."
"But that no longer matters," he decreed, raising a hand. "Show me what you are capable of... Arumanfi."
the one beside him stepped forward. Without a word, he took a sword and threw it toward me.
I caught it by reflex.
Arumanfi unsheathed his own and adopted a firm, flawless stance.
"So... this isn't an emotional reunion between grandfather and grandson," I thought with irony.
I took a deep breath and took my position.
The Style of the Emperor of the Dawn.
I felt Perugius's gaze lock onto me. He raised an eyebrow slightly, as if wondering what kind of sword style that was.
Arumanfi lunged. He was fast, much faster than I expected, but even so... I saw him clearly. Too clearly. My senses, now sharper, caught every shift in his posture and every tension in his muscles. I parried his first attack without difficulty; the clash of metal rang loudly through the throne room.
He didn't stop. He launched another attack, and then another. Each strike was heavier and faster than the last. Arumanfi increased the intensity with every thrust, trying to find a crack in my defense, but I responded.
Parry after parry, I simply felt that my level was already at the peak of the Emperor Rank.
"It's time to end this," I muttered.
He launched a final slash at the extreme speed that characterizes his title as "Arumanfi the Bright," but I didn't back down. I intercepted him head-on, imbuing my touki—now much denser and more powerful—directly into the blade of my sword.
A golden light exploded from the weapon. With a swift, precise movement, I cut through his sword blade and stopped dead. The edge of my sword rested firmly against his neck.
Silence reigned in the hall once more. Arumanfi stood petrified, unable to react to the speed with which I had closed the distance.
Perugius leaned forward from his throne, his golden eyes shining with a different light. The contempt was gone, replaced by cold satisfaction.
"Emperador Rank..." Perugius said, breaking the silence. "My, you have vastly surpassed what he could ever reach."
Arumanfi slowly lowered his broken sword and stepped back, bowing his head.
"I accept defeat, Lord Perugius."
I withdrew my weapon and exhaled calmly.
"Arthur," Perugius said, rising from the throne. "I will not call you grandson just yet. A dragon is not defined only by his blood, but by his will."
He descended the steps, and each footfall made the floor vibrate beneath my feet. He stopped right in front of me.
"You know, I want to see if you can truly become much stronger than you are now... Sylvaril."
At his gesture, she approached and handed me an ancient scroll, sealed with an emblem I didn't immediately recognize.
"This is a teleportation magic circle," Perugius explained as he turned back toward his throne. "Use it to come here at any time. I can have my spirits teach you more things and give you advice... if you prove you are worth the effort."
He sat down again, resting his chin on his hand with a bored expression.
"Just do not bother me for senseless things," he concluded coldly.
"Thank you... grandfather," I said, though I knew he didn't care for the title.
Sylvaril led me to the center of the hall, where a circle of light began to glow beneath my feet. In a blink, I vanished from the place.
I appeared in front of the mansion.
"What a way to say goodbye..." I muttered.
Then I saw her.
Roxy was sitting on one of the steps of the entrance, her hat tilted slightly forward and her head down. Her hands were clenched in her lap, nervously fidgeting with her fingers.
I walked toward her carefully, but she must have felt my presence anyway, because she snapped her head up. Her eyes widened when she saw me.
"Arthur!" She stood up immediately. "Where were you? You disappeared so suddenly and... I..."
She stopped mid-sentence. Her voice trembled, and she looked down, pressing her lips together.
"I thought... that something bad had happened to you."
I didn't know what to say right away. All of this—the dragon lineage, Perugius, the fight—it was very difficult to explain.
"I'm sorry," I said finally, lowering my voice a bit. "Some... things happened. It wasn't something I could control."
Roxy looked at me in silence for a few seconds. Her blue eyes were hidden by her hair as she lowered her head; she took a step forward and, without warning, hugged me tightly.
I froze at first. I didn't expect that from her.
"Don't you ever disappear like that again..." she whispered against my chest, her voice barely audible.
I felt a strange knot form in my throat. My body, now stronger and more resilient, capable of rivaling a spirit of Perugius, didn't know how to react to something as simple as that hug. Hesitantly, I raised my hand and finally rested it on her head, gently stroking her hair.
"I'm sorry, Roxy. I won't do it again," I said softly.
It seemed a very long conversation with everyone was waiting for me. Looking up, I saw Lilia, Zenith, and Paul at the entrance of the mansion. They were watching me with their arms linked, each with a different expression.
"See? I told you nothing happened to him, Zenith," Paul blurted out, trying to sound casual though the relief in his shoulders was obvious.
Zenith looked at him with narrowed eyes and gave him a firm elbow to the ribs. "But you were the most worried of all, Paul. You couldn't even sit down," she teased.
Lilia, maintaining her usual composure, couldn't help but let out a small laugh, covering her mouth with her hand at the interaction. Beside her, Sylphie did the same while carefully holding little Lucy in her arms, looking at me with deep curiosity.
"Man! Where in the world were you?!" I heard a familiar voice.
Turning around, I saw Rudeus catching his breath with his hands on his knees. Beside him were Aisha and Norn, looking at me with shock when they saw my eyes.
Rudeus looked up, and as our gazes met, his eyes widened. He stood speechless for a second. He, who always had an answer for everything, seemed to be analyzing the radical change in my golden eyes and my overall appearance.
"Arthur..." he finally managed to say, his tone much more serious. "You look... different. Where the hell were you?"
To be continued....