The three of them eventually reached the northern part of Asteria.
Kyle slowly looked around.
Unlike the rest of Asteria, this place was completely different.
The land was covered in snow and ice, stretching as far as the eye could see.
Yuehua and Rio slowly descended toward the ground.
Kyle stepped off Yuehua's back and looked ahead.
For some reason...
The strange feeling he had sensed earlier had become much stronger.
He narrowed his eyes.
"...So it's here."
His gaze remained fixed on the frozen land before him.
Then—
A faint black mist slowly began creeping out from beneath the ice.
Kyle's expression changed.
That feeling...
He remembered it.
It was the same feeling he had experienced before.
The foreign presence.
The thing he had sealed.
"...So it was what was resisting the change."
Kyle stared at the dark energy slowly spreading across the frozen ground.
Since the time Kyle had been in Asteria, it had remained dormant, showing no movement, to the point that Kyle had even forgotten about it until today.
"Grrr."
Both dragons let out a grunt. It seemed this reeking malice was making them restless.
Kyle waved his hand, and some kind of energy spread through the area, making both dragons breathe in relief.
"Now what do we do about this?" Kyle said, looking at the spreading malice.
Both dragons followed his gaze and stared at the scene ahead of them.
"...I can't just leave it like this."
Kyle slowly raised his hand.
If he simply left it like this...
Whatever change was happening within Asteria wouldn't be able to complete.
....
Darkness.
That was all she knew.
She didn't know how long she had been there.
There was no light.
No sound.
Nothing.
She could only remain there.
Alone.
Until one day...
She heard something.
A voice.
"...Father!"
She didn't understand the word.
But she remembered the voice.
Then another voice came.
And another.
For the first time, the darkness wasn't completely silent.
She started hearing them more often.
Their conversations.
Their laughter.
Sometimes they would argue.
Sometimes they would simply talk.
She didn't understand everything they said.
But she slowly began to recognize their voices.
Especially his.
His voice was the one she heard the most.
And there was also the girl.
The girl who always called him...
"Dada."
She didn't know what a Father or Dada was.
But she knew that the girl was happy whenever she was with him.
So she started listening whenever they were together.
As time passed...
Those voices became the only thing she knew about the world outside.
She didn't know what the world looked like.
She had never seen it.
But she knew the voices.
Or at least...
She thought she did.
They were the only ones she had ever known.
.....
Then one day...
Something changed.
She could feel it.
The world outside was changing.
Something was happening.
She didn't know what it was.
But it felt different.
And for the first time...
She became afraid.
She didn't understand what was happening to her.
She only knew that she didn't want it.
So she resisted.
The more the world changed...
The more she resisted.
Until suddenly...
She felt something familiar.
A presence.
The same presence she had felt through all those voices.
It was him.
The fear inside her slowly began to disappear.
She didn't know why.
But she felt safe.
Her resistance slowly weakened.
And finally...
She stopped resisting.
The strange feeling surrounding her gradually disappeared.
And for the first time in a long while...
She wasn't afraid anymore.
.......
Kyle slowly lifted his hand from the cold surface.
He sent a small string of his energy toward the malice, hoping to calm whatever was happening.
And surprisingly...
It worked quite well.
Kyle could see that the changes within Asteria were nearing their completion.
But something felt different.
He could feel some kind of connection forming.
Yet he couldn't completely comprehend it.
Kyle also noticed that the strange malice covering the entire mountain range had begun to decrease.
"..."
Kyle remained silent for a moment.
Then suddenly...
He felt tired.
Very tired.
It was as if his entire body was telling him that if he didn't get to bed right now...
He would die.
"...I'm tired."
Kyle immediately snapped his fingers.
His figure disappeared from the frozen land.
Leaving the two dragons behind.
Both dragons stood there dumbfounded.
They looked at each other.
Then toward the place where Kyle had disappeared.
"...Grr?"
It was as if they were asking—
Why were they dragged all the way here...
Only to be left behind?
.....
Floating Island Castle.
Kyle's bed chamber.
The moment Kyle appeared inside the room...
He didn't even bother changing.
He simply walked toward the bed.
And immediately fell onto it.
Within seconds...
He was asleep.
It seemed the change was not only happening to Asteria.
.....
After what seemed like an eternity...
Kyle slowly opened his eyes.
Only to find a pair of familiar eyes staring directly at him.
For a moment...
Neither of them moved.
Then tears slowly formed in her eyes.
She immediately hugged him tightly.
"...Dada."
Kyle was slightly caught off guard.
But he quickly wrapped his arms around her.
"Hey... I'm here."
He gently patted her head, trying to calm her down.
But before he could say anything else—
BOOM!
Something crashed into both of them.
"Ugh..."
Fenn had apparently decided to join the hug as well.
Kyle looked at the giant white-furred creature now lying on top of them.
"...You too?"
Fenn simply rubbed his head against Kyle.
Kyle couldn't help but sigh.
He slowly hugged both of them.
"Alright, alright... I'm back."
.....
After calming the two down, Kyle finally learned just how long he had been asleep.
Thirteen day and night cycles.
"...Thirteen?"
Kyle stared blankly for a moment.
He hadn't expected to sleep for that long.
After getting himself together, Kyle finally left his room.
He walked toward the balcony of the floating island castle.
The moment he stepped outside...
Kyle stopped.
His eyes widened.
The sky above Asteria was no longer empty.
Various enormous creatures were flying through the sky.
Some moved alone.
Others flew together in groups.
And among them...
Two figures stood at the front.
Yuehua.
And Rio.
The two dragons were leading the creatures through the sky.
Kyle stared at the scene in silence.
A small smile slowly appeared on his face.
"...So this is what happened while I was sleeping."
He had no idea how many creatures had appeared.
But one thing was certain.
Asteria had changed.
And this was only the beginning.
Kyle looked toward the vast sky.
"...The Age of Dragons has begun."