Became a tyrant of defense games - Episode 688
◈ 688. [STAGE 40] Ice Fortress
24time ago.
Immediately after the decisive battle between Nameless, Dusk Bringer, and Ash against Night Bringer..
“Haha, haha, haha!”
Nameless let out a rough breath..
He fired all the light remaining in his soul at the Night Bringer. It was a blow that struck her with all her might, but the Nightbringer managed to avoid it by twisting his body..
The mere swipe inflicted a large wound on the Night Bringer's chest, but ultimately missed..
The missed blow was shot in vain into the air, touched the curtain of darkness in the sky, and then disappeared..
The moment the sword missed, Nameless realized that he no longer had any means to confront the Night Bringer..
So, while Night Bringer was suffering from a chest wound, he quickly left the place, taking Dusk Bringer and Ash with him..
“Haha, haha, whoa……!”
Fortunately, the Night Bringer did not pursue him, probably because the wound on his chest was severe..
Only after running away into the darkness of the southern forest did Unmyung breathe a sigh of relief..
“unknown, sister…….”
“dusk!”
When the Dusk Bringer in his arms let out a moan, Nameless, startled, looked at her..
After the dragon blood rampage ended, Dusk Bringer, who had returned to his human form, was trembling in pain..
Since the final stage of the dragon blood runaway, 'Myth Reproduction', has been used, the body will gradually collapse..
He even received an unknown blow while holding onto the Night Bringer and creating an opening..
Dusk Bringer's small body bore clear scars from the strike of light..
If I hadn't been engraved with the curse of immortality, I would have collapsed and died a long time ago. The body collapsed in real time and was restored through a curse..
Dusk Bringer looked to the side with a face covered in cold sweat..
“I'm okay... … Rather, Ash…….”
Ash, who was lying next to him, was also not in good condition..
He was hit hard by the Night Bringer's attacks, and his ego began to collapse..
Even now, he was lying unconscious. It won't last long like this.
And, anonymous too.
“Ugh……?!”
Unknown suddenly discovered a long dark chain wrapped around his ankles..
The chain is far south... … It stretched out endlessly from the black lake and bound ignorance..
Clap, clap, clap.-
It was even attracting more and more obscurity..
“Pfft……!”
Only then did Moomyeong realize why the Night Bringer did not pursue them..
All three… … It will pass out soon anyway.
If you just left it alone, it would die on its own or become a worse bug, so there would be no need to go through the trouble of getting rid of it..
“For now, just Ash.”
Dusk Bringer dragged his body to Ash's side with trembling hands on the floor..
“Even just this child... … I have to survive.”
“But how?”
Nameless has already received an explanation from Ash in the village below..
Ash's soul is broken. In the meantime, a surrogate personality was put on top of that soul..
However, the surrogate personality has been destroyed, and there is no way to restore it. And Ash's soul is collapsing again..
“……There's a way to turn it back.”
Dusk Bringer chewed his pale lips and stretched out his hand..
“The day Ash came to ask me how to become a dragon, he told me just in case something like this happened..”
“what?”
“It's in here.”
What Dusk Bringer picked up... … At Ash's waist was a ceremonial longsword that could be converted into a flagpole..
It was [Light and Shadow], a Nightmare Slayer made from the twin magical cores of the midnight sun..
“Ash preserved his personality in this..”
“……!”
Just as Byakuya clones itself and continues to create new doppelgängers, this equipment has the ability to duplicate the owner's traits and apply them twice..
And, in order to achieve this replication performance,.
[[Light and Shadow] replicates the personality of its owner and carries it inside the equipment itself..
Like a shadow created by light... … The equipment itself is a doppelganger..
Unknown’s mouth opened slightly after hearing the explanation. Dusk Bringer nodded his head..
“The Ash we knew, those memories... … It remains in here.”
“Can that memory be called Ash??”
As the unknown muttered incoherently, the answer came from somewhere else..
“In theory, yes... … Ugh!”
The real Ash, who had fallen, was breathing hard and getting up..
Ash put a cigarette in his mouth with trembling hands, but as if he didn't have the will to light it, the corners of his mouth trembled and he smiled weakly..
“In the first place, the guy you know is a person who copied me from an alien world and put it on me..”
“…….”
“If only I could imbue myself with the personality preserved within the Nightmare Slayer... … The principle itself is the same. That guy can come back. Ha, by the way, I dug a hole to escape like this.…….”
The real Ash, who was laughing as if it was absurd, brushed back his bloody bangs..
“But how do I get into that device, take that personality out, and put it on me??”
“that…….”
“Now I don't have the mental strength left to carry out such a difficult task. Ader, that damn thing… … I don't think it would help even if it existed, but I can't see it..”
Dusk Bringer swallowed his words and exhaled..
Finally, as if he had made up his mind, he placed his hand on his chest with a determined expression..
“I will pass on my heart and blood to you..”
“…….”
“At the moment of succession, the previous successor and the next successor are connected in the spiritual world. When the two mental worlds are connected, if you place this Nightmare Slayer as a magical bridge... … I could do the personality search instead..”
The real Ash, who had been quietly listening, spat out his cigarette on the floor and smiled helplessly..
“Hey, Archduke. Why did he not succeed you, but instead stole the black dragon's blood and forcibly gained the black dragon's power? … You know?”
“…….”
“It was to save you..”
Duke Bringer's dragon blood is inherited..
The moment the heart, blood, power, and rights are passed on to the next generation, the previous Duke Bringer dies. he has no choice but to die.
That day, Ash, who had heard about the law of dragon blood succession from Dusk Bringer, gave up on inheriting the blood of the red dragon..
Instead, a strategy was established to steal and use the blood of the black dragon..
Ash said, ‘Wouldn’t we be stronger if we had two dragons on our side? So, let’s go like this,’ she smiled carefreely, but… … Dusk Bringer knew it well..
For that child, there was no option from the beginning to sacrifice Dusk Bringer..
So you chose this difficult path, and that's why you ended up in this messed up situation..
“……In order to inherit the Bringer duchy, one condition is necessary..”
Dusk Bringer took a deep breath and.
He spoke the same words he had heard from his predecessor, Duke Bringer..
“A strong mind that will not give up on living as a human being.”
“…….”
“While I have lived for a little over one hundred and twenty years... … I've never seen anyone fit this condition better than Ash..”
Nameless, who was listening to the story, also nodded silently..
The reason why Nameless gave Ash the Dragon Heart of the Black Dragon Corps without hesitation was also similar..
Dragon Heart can raise the status of the person who consumes it, but it also corrupts it. It is common for people to be consumed by the karma tied to their blood and become the living dead..
However, Ash had incredibly strong mental strength..
That's why he believed in it and administered it, and was able to maintain himself even after taking the dragon heart of the black dragon army..
Dusk Bringer raised his voice..
“So, as Duke Bringer, I want to make that child my successor. No, he can't be that kid..”
“…….”
In the end, it was just a declaration of suicide with different expressions..
Dusk Bringer's face had the nobility of a queen in charge of a country. So the real Ash decided to stop arguing..
Because we knew each other well due to our long-term relationship over the past numerous episodes..
The fact that no one can stop the Dragon Lady's already determined decision..
“…… The inside of this equipment is probably purgatory. Since it is a storage facility for confining cloned personalities, it is probably a closed world completely separated from the outside world in time and space..”
The real Ash pulled out his ceremonial long sword and put it into its scabbard..
The Nightmare Slayer turned into a flagpole and scattered a disturbing and strange light..
“Moreover, it is equipment made from the magical core of the midnight sun. No one knows what kind of nightmare is unfolding inside.”
“…….”
“Even if you connect safely, you don't know where the cloned personality is stored. I need to search... … It will be very difficult for you, who are not your own person and are a complete stranger, so you will have no clue. Maybe I'll have to wander around here for a very long time.”
“Does not matter.”
Dusk Bringer took a deep breath and declared:.
“If I could get that child back.”
That warmth... … If we could meet again.
If only I could return it to this world.
“He's so loved, that guy.”
Smirking, the real Ash picked up the flagpole and touched one end to his heart. Dusk Bringer raised the other end of his flagpole to his chest..
“……Dusk's younger brother.”
Next to Dusk Bringer, Nameless hesitated, not knowing what to say..
Dusk Bringer looked at the nameless person and,
“unknown sister.”
“huh?”
“Thank you.”
Dusk Bringer covered her mouth and giggled like a teenage girl..
“It's been a long time since I called someone sister..”
“…….”
“it was fun. While I was with my sister, really.”
Anonymous’s mouth, which had been dazed for a moment, slowly brightened.,
“……Me too, Dusk.”
As if there was no darkness around... … she smiled dazzlingly.
“It was the first time in my life that I called someone my younger brother. I was happy while I was with you.”
After exchanging smiles with each other.
Dusk Bringer looked at the real Ash..
“Okay, let's get started..”
“……Since I don't have the presence of mind to say anything, I'll just say one simple thing. grandee.”
“tell me.”
Dusk Bringer glanced at the person in front of him, who was also Ash, but was completely unfamiliar to him..
Then the real Ash slightly lowered his head.,
“I hope you have a nice trip.”
said so.
Dusk Bringer looked surprised for a moment, then,
“……Please, you too.”
I bowed my head in silence and responded..
They both took a breath at the same time..
And the next moment, Ash and Dusk Bringer gritted their teeth and took a step forward.-
Puuk-!
The flagpole pierced the hearts of two people at the same time..
***
Dusk Bringer slowly opened his amber eyes..
Whioooooo…….
It was a white, frozen world with swirling snow and winds..
All you can see is snow and ice, and mountains of frost and hail that stick to the sky..
A world on a glacier filled with biting cold under a dark, pitch-black sky..
Nightmare Slayer [Light and Shadow] A kingdom of nightmares built inside.
“somewhere in this world…….”
Her long hair blew carelessly in the frosty wind..
Clenching his molars that were shaking from the cold, Dusk Bringer stepped forward, clutching his instantly freezing shoulders with his fingers..
“if you are.”
Every time my bare feet touched the ice, I felt a burning sensation, as if I had been burned. But Dusk Bringer didn't stop his steps..
Dusk Bringer declared, spitting out whitish, frozen breath..
“wait. Because I'll have to find it.”
Thus, Dusk Bringer began wandering in this frozen nightmare cut off from the real world in time and space..
The world trapped in endless winter was endlessly wide. Maybe it was expanding forever..
But Dusk Bringer did not give up. She traversed and crossed this frozen world, wandering endlessly..
Climbed every mountain, crossed every desert. Searched down every valley, dug into every cave.
years.
decades.
hundreds of years.
maybe thousands of years…….
Dusk Bringer wandered endlessly..
To find that child's bonfire shaking somewhere in this frozen world..
Any cold, any pain, any loneliness was weak compared to her will to protect that child's warmth..
Dusk Bringer walked continuously without giving up even for a moment..
At the end of such long agony,…….
***
“……ah.”
Finally.
Dusk Bringer was found.
“That thing……?”
On the white frozen sea.
A fortress was built made of solid ice..
Dusk Bringer had a hunch that this was the place he had been looking for. Dusk Bringer staggered towards the ice fortress..
I profit-
thud…….
Let's push open the huge ice gate and enter the fortress..
Inside the fortress, I saw a huge tomb-mound covered in white snow..
《…….》
And there is a shadow sitting on top of the mound..
He wears a robe with wide sleeves and an official cap decorated with small beads, and his face is covered with a large amulet attached to the cap..
It was a shadow that looked just like the magic emperor Byakuya..
The shadow clicked its tongue and glared at Dusk Bringer..
《I finally reached it. sick of it.》
Dusk Bringer moved the corner of his frozen mouth and let out a hoarse voice through his dry throat..
“I see, Nightmare Slayer… … Is he the owner of the nightmare that resides within him?.”
《…….》
“White night, it's you.”
Without bothering to answer, the shadow of the midnight sun tapped the snow-covered mound with its fingertips..
《The personality sleeping here is mine..》
“…….”
《After I ate this person and took away the body of its owner. Because we will be reborn as a new midnight sun again. So don't disturb me, half dragon..》
“It's you who's really sick of me, undead.…….”
After barely clenching a fist with his fine, stiff fingers, Dusk Bringer slowly prepared for battle..
“Get out of the way. Because she's too beautiful for something ugly like you to touch.”
Then the shadow of the midnight sun laughed out loud..
《Aren't you as ugly as me, half-dragon??》
“……You are right. I am also just as ugly.”
Dusk Bringer laughed bitterly..
“However, no matter how rotten and moth-eaten the body is... … Couldn’t it be the firewood that started the child’s bonfire??”
The shadow of the midnight sun no longer continued the conversation..
Instead, he spread his arms wide and aimed his Dusk Bringer at this ice fortress he ruled - and at this entire frozen world..
The entire fortress shook, its outer walls of ice rose into the sky, and spears of ice and awls of frost rained down like a blizzard from all lands and all heavens..
In the middle of the rushing winter, Dusk Bringer kicked the ground without retreating..
and…….
***
…….
…….
……A hazy warmth.
It wraps around my frozen body..
A small, faint, but unmistakable fever is caressing my forehead..
I slowly opened my eyes.
I saw a cloudy sky with falling snowflakes..
I realized that my body was lying in a transparent ice coffin..
That the coffin was buried in a white grave, and that the lid of the coffin was wide open..
Someone dug up the grave with their bare, blood-covered hands, broke the coffin, and took out me who was sleeping inside... … Even hugging you.
“wait for a sec.”
Like caressing a camellia flower found on a snowy mountain.
Someone traced my face with a careful hand and whispered in a tearful voice..
“Just a moment... … Let me hold you like this…….”
“…….”
I slowly stretched out my arms and hugged her frozen body..
The white frost on Dusk Bringer's closed eyelashes melted and flowed down as transparent water droplets..
After miraculously breaking free from the ice-covered nightmare, we held each other for a long time..
It was winter.
It was warm.
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