Under the silver moonlight slipping through the clouds, the air shifted cautiously under the awe of the great dragon, and the fallen leaves scattered across the ground, mingling with the scent of blood that filled the place.
The cloaked man lifted the hood from his head, revealing golden eyes that gleamed under the moonlight.
Kyle began to tremble, sweat pouring from every part of his body, fear etched across his face, his voice trembling:
"What are you doing here… Father?"
Elina's eyes glowed with radiant blue, anger burning in her tone:
"Don't tell me… you're behind all this…
Your Majesty, the Emperor?!"
The Emperor smiled with malice and cunning at Elina, answering her not with words but with wicked expressions. He turned away, avoiding her gaze, and looked at Kyle—broken and lost in his thoughts—with disgust.
"You fool…
You thought I raised you until this moment 'out of love'…
Fool…
You are nothing but a vessel to summon the dragon."
Kyle froze in shock. Who could have thought that the caring father he knew was, in truth, a deceitful wretch?
His heartbeat raced wildly, breaths struggling to leave his chest.
Memories of his childhood haunted him like a specter trying to comfort him, where a warm hand would always wipe away his tears in times of pain, those sweet words that felt like solace.
"This pain… how dare he hurt my beloved child?"
Those memories kept flooding back, trying to restore his composure.
"No… this can't be…
Was I living in illusions… Everything… a lie?!"
Kyle seemed lost in his thoughts, struggling to find his voice.
In a trembling and anxious tone, blood nearly seeping from his lips:
"Your Majesty… No… Father…
You must be joking…
Answer me… Father."
The Emperor glared at broken Kyle with a look full of hatred and disgust, as if staring at a mere animal, erasing any memory of the kind father he once was.
In a voice colder than ice itself:
"Disgusting."
Elina rushed to Kyle, who collapsed on the ground, her expression anxious yet puzzled.
She assumed the Emperor had a major role in what was happening now, but nothing seemed as important to her as Kyle's well-being.
"Kyle… hold on."
She supported him to stand again, freezing the wounds to stop the bleeding, as blood dripped from his lips and his right arm.
He took a deep breath to regain his composure, wiped the blood from his face, running his hand through his hair to tidy it, wearing a smile that masked the pain and betrayal inside.
"I must regain my composure… I cannot show weakness in front of her."
"You fool… How could I appear like this in front of my precious flower?"
He patted Elina's head to comfort her; she knew he was only pretending.
"Come on, wipe that pessimism off your face."
She turned her gaze to the side shyly, replying only with a gentle smile.
"Your Majesty, Dragon… I am Leonhart Oristial…
I apologize from the depths of my heart for waking you from your deep slumber…"
The dragon glared at Leonhart with intense anger, sensing a dark energy emanating from him, unlike the inherited power of Lucian.
The air froze under the dragon's pressure.
"Who are you?"
"What do you mean, dragon…?
As I said, I am Leonhart…"
He did not finish.
"This is not the power of Lucian's grandson."
"Haa… Seems I cannot deceive the great dragon…
Very well… very well.
Let me introduce myself again."
Everyone felt suffocated as the atmosphere suddenly turned ominous around Leonhart. A powerful dark aura appeared, his eyes turning black, blood streaming from them.
"I am Servaion the Fallen… Shadow Demon."
"Shadow Demon?!"
"It seems… I was erased from history… so that even children would not hear of me."
The winds began to rage, moving at a frenzied speed from the dragon's exhalation.
Kyle and Elina gripped the ground to avoid being swept away, while Conrad hung on the cliff.
"Servaion, how dare you return?"
The ground cracked under the dragon's aura, but it did not affect the demon at all, as he began to glide, indifferent to the scattered debris, seemingly avoiding it as easily as drinking water.
"What a warm welcome… Nirvan.
But if you do not calm your rage now, you will kill those two children…"
The dragon turned to Elina and Kyle, seeing them barely alive, coughing up blood from the immense pressure.
"You are so weak that even such a simple pressure affects you both…"
Each of them stared at the dragon in disbelief—how could he call this simple, when they barely kept breathing?
But Elina's mind was elsewhere, trying to sort her thoughts.
"King of Dragons, Nirvan… And now… demon?
What is this insane mix… How did the Emperor even become a demon?"
To cut off her questions, a golden aura surrounded her, erasing every trace of exhaustion, her wounds vanished as if they never existed. The same happened to Kyle, though the aura healed his physical wounds, not the ones in his soul, shattered by unexpected betrayal.
"This is part of my power… The pressure will not affect you now."
"Who would have thought I'd live to see Nirvan aid humans…
And not just any humans, but the descendants of Lucian… Truly, the irony of fate."
"Who allowed you to open your mouth, you wretch?"
Red, bloody arrows shot from the dragon's wings, aiming at Servaion at the speed of light, but only scratched his right arm.
"You've truly lost your edge… Nirvan—"
He didn't finish before shards of ice rained from all directions. He turned to see someone gathering power to freeze every particle of water in the air.
He didn't move, only raising a hand, letting the black shadows devour all the shards.
Yet this did not deter their determination, as Kyle hurled flaming meteors, attempting to strike him.
"You!
What did you do to my father?"
The black shadows intercepted Kyle's meteors. Servaion smiled maliciously.
"Your father?…
So you are the son of this body's owner…
Well, that fool was blinded by love…
To the point that he sold his soul to a demon to save his wife…"
"Save his wife?!
Don't joke with me… Mother collapsed shortly after my mother."
"Very well… allow me to tell a story that may be long—"
He didn't finish before red arrows shot toward him from the raging dragon.
As he dodged, silver chains rose from the ground, binding his limbs.
"What a reunion…"
"Reunion?… Don't joke with me… Servaion."
"May I ask… what is this situation?
And what happened to my father?"
Silence fell for a moment, as it seemed the newcomer did not tolerate jest.
"Very well… I believe it's time for you to know the true founding story."
"The true founding story?"
Elina looked at the dragon with astonishment but did not voice her thoughts, unwilling to interrupt.
"This was a thousand years ago…
Humans and dragons coexisted peacefully, but…
Demons were their primary enemies…"
He did not continue until Kyle, hesitating slightly, interrupted:
"And what are these demons?"
"Let me answer myself…
We are the product of humans' negative emotions… and our powers vary according to the magnitude of their grudges…"
"The magnitude of sin?"
The chains around Servaion tightened.
The dragon glared at Servaion angrily.
"I don't recall allowing you to speak."
Then he turned to Elina, answering her unspoken question:
"The stronger a person's grudge, the stronger the demon…
They are classified according to grudges. For example, if someone hates another for killing his wife… a high-ranking demon forms.
If a child is angry at an adult for harming him… a low-ranking demon forms.
And as the demon's strength increases, so does its greed."
Silence engulfed the place, the winds ceasing, as if the world had been waiting for this moment for decades.
"It seems the time has come to reveal the true founding legend…
There is no more time."
Kyle turned to see the dragon's tail slowly disappearing.
"The demons… sought the power of dragons…
They tried every way, even turning some humans to their side…
After many humans made contracts with the demons, the fires of war and destruction ravaged this empire.
Thus, Lucian, who had contracted with me and his companions, decided to strike a deal with the Demon King…
So the demons disappeared from the empire in exchange for their souls…
I tried to stop them, but they valued peace over their own lives…
Thus, we erased all traces of demons, so humans would not interact with them again, and we falsified the current founding legend…"
"If… everything is a lie…
You're joking with me now… huh?"
Elina began shouting at the dragon, tears of rage streaming from her eyes.
"Then why… why did my brother and father have to die… answer me!"
Kyle approached Elina to calm her, but she slapped his hand away forcefully, sparks flying from her eyes.
"Don't come near me…
It seems even your father had a hand in this…"
Kyle's eyes began to tremble from the shock. Though he knew she didn't mean it, it was unlike her to say such things; he didn't know what had happened with his father.
Elina, realizing her words had hurt him unintentionally, calmed slightly and called out in a shaky voice:
"Kyle… I didn't mean it…"
He interrupted, gripping his hand firmly, his voice broken:
"I know… no need to apologize… and your words… were not wrong."
"I don't know what curse you speak of…
And I had nothing to do with your father or brother's deaths…
The demon may be involved in this."
She turned angrily to the demon.
He met her bloodthirsty gaze with a wicked smile:
"Very well… very well. Should I tell you?"