Yval's appearance shocked the crowd—particularly those from the older generation.
Alrock, notwithstanding, Horus himself was on the verge of crapping himself. It was common knowledge that Dragons had gone extinct aeons ago, yet… there was a dominant one perfectly fine in front of them.
The feeling of inferiority and being utterly dominated reigned within their minds, particularly since their bloodline was originally from a Golden Dragon Sovereign. And Yval wasn't just a Golden Dragon Sovereign; she was the Progenitor of all Golden Dragons. Essentially, every mber of the Solaris House had to bow their heads in reverence to Yval, and it wasn't even a fair fight.
"T-The last Dragon?"
Even the mighty Pinnacle Knight with Eight Suns condensed at this point felt a cold chill up his neck.
"Yes, and she was the one who started the Golden Dragon bloodline. She's our ancestor."
"Oh my god!"
At that mont, Horus dropped to his knees, his face flushing with a mix of excitent and fear, oblivious to the chain reaction his actions had set off. Carn, the one most deeply connected to the Solaris Bloodline, also blushed, feeling it surge through her veins as if her blood were racing toward Yval, seeking to return to its origin. Leon and Ellahan followed suit, not due to their bloodlines, but because of the mighty na 'Dragon.'
Dragons were beings of myth, and no one had ever seen one in person. And since they'd disappeared during the Great Dragon War, everyone had believed they'd gone extinct.
"L-Lord? S-Sovereign?"
"Child of Solaris… Yue… Why did you summon this one here?"
Alrock showed an unusual side of himself as he stamred while addressing the ethereal young woman. But before he could further make a fool of himself, Yval ignored him entirely and turned her attention elsewhere.
"Sister Yval! Long ti no see!"
Yue flung herself into the Golden Dragon Sovereign's arms and nuzzled her nose into the woman's defined collarbones. In response, Yval gently embraced Yue with a warm smile and stroked her white hair like an elder sister would.
In a sense, the two won did look like sisters. Yval had morphed her human image from Yue's facial structure and rged her features with her own. The beauties seed like two peas in a pod, with a warm embrace and otherworldly good looks.
However, the spectators couldn't fathom watching such a scene. A Golden Dragon Progenitor, essentially a God by modern standards, was now happily nurturing a relationship with a human girl. This made Alrock question his sense of reality.
"There, there… Did Amon bully you while this one wasn't around?"
"Nope! He's treating well!"
"Is that so? So, have you mated yet?"
"A-Ahem, Lord Yval."`
Amon intervened before the Dragon Progenitor could damage the Solaris mbers' sanity even more. He didn't understand why the Dragon was so obsessed with them mating, but it would always lead to an embarrassing conversation between all parties. So, he quickly attempted to move the conversation along.
"Child of Solaris, I asked you to drop the honorifics and speak freely."
"Y-Yes!"
Amon was no different from Alrock and the rest. Even though he had interacted with the Dragon multiple tis, it didn't change the fact that he was standing in front of a legendary creature that had the power to turn continents into oceans.
"Y-Yval… The Demon Cult has begun its assault. The Prophet has shown himself."
"The Prophet, huh? So that brat can't hold himself back anymore?"
The Golden Dragon Progenitor frowned and scratched her chin. From the outside, she looked no different than a young beauty contemplating life. But her distinct Aura sent shivers down everyone's spine. They watched in earnest as the woman finally looked up at Amon.
"They were here, weren't they? This one can sense a deep dissonance in nature."
"Yes, the Prophet and three Apostles. They left via a dinsional rift, but they had been here for a long ti."
"How long was it since they'd left?"
"Probably an hour?"
"You did well, Child of Solaris. I will handle it from here."
Yval's golden eyes shimred with a chilling intensity so overwhelming that everyone present instinctively recoiled in fear. She had been tracking the Demon Cult and the Prophet's movents for so ti, even traveling on foot across the land in search of their trail. However, the Prophet proved far too clever and cautious, making it nearly impossible to trace him back to the Demon Cult's headquarters.
But now, with the small clue left behind by the Prophet, Yval could attempt to pinpoint his exact location. And if she could find the Demon Cult's headquarters, the one place that eluded her on this planet…
In a flash of golden light, the Dragon Progenitor disappeared just as quickly as she was summoned.
Everyone remained silent as if they couldn't fathom what storm had just hit them. Like a poorly-oiled robot, Alrock turned to Amon with a desolate smile and said:
"Young'un, you… how did you et that Dragon?"
"Yue's precognition helped."
That wasn't a lie. Yue found out about Yval and brought him to the Necropolis of the Gods eight years ago. Also…
"With the Golden Dragon Progenitor's help, I was blessed with abundant Solar mana. Essentially, my body had transford into a level equal to that of the Solaris Founder."
Equal was an understatent.
After Yval's second blessing, Amon's affinity with Solar Mana rose pbeyond that of an average Golden Dragon. In fact, in the long history of Hyades, it could even be said that his Solar mana affinity was second only to Yval herself.
But that statent was enough to completely transform the mbers of the Solaris House's understanding of reality.
"During the tis when I eloped, I would train under Lord Yval as well. So, my strength stems from her guidance."
"That's enough, young'un. You're going to make my head explode!"
Alrock covered his forehead while nursing the throbbing headache erging from his temples. Everything from the Demon Cult to the existence of the first Golden Dragon… It was too much for his old body to handle. But there was one thing he was confident about…
"You've been fighting the good fight behind the scenes, right?"
"... We've been trying."
"And why didn't you co to us?"
"It was hard to believe that you would accept our truth."
It would be hard to believe that Alrock, the Solaris Lord and a grandmaster who was decades old, would trust the words of two children, particularly since they were ten when they began plotting their moves.
"How embarrassing… While the young'uns were working hard, I was sleeping at the wheel."
The Solaris Lord snorted to himself with a self-deprecating smile. He clicked his tongue and turned his head back to Alverton. Thinking about the mountain of bureaucratic and political issues flying his way did make his head throb, but compared to what Amon and Yue had endured, it was nothing.
"It's ti I lived up to the title of the Solaris Lord."
❖❖❖
A few hours after the destruction of the Foolish Lich's lair…
The Sun sunk beneath the horizon as day bled into night. A whiff of warmth was not provided to the cold and desolate slums where the untouchables road. And yet, the evening was about to get even colder.
Amon solemnly walked through the narrow pathways, Leon and Yue trailing close behind. Initially, they were asked to head towards the city centre to assist in the investigation of the Demon Cult and the Foolish Lich. But Leon dragged the couple to where it all began, for they had unfinished business.
In the deepest region of the slums, a run-down building stood in tatters, making it difficult for anyone to believe it was the headquarters of the Alverton Resistance. Usually quiet, there was a lot of movent as Solaris Knights assisted the Resistance, moving the evidence to a safe and secure location before anyone could burn the slums down.
It was a noisy evening as the slums were brought to life, but at the centre of it all was a young girl whose eyes were void of life.
Sitting on a swing alone, she rocked herself with a teary-eyed woman watching by in desolation. The girl's powder blue eyes were now hollow and scarred, leaving no trace of her forr vitality.
Kaya and Mirka were forced to evacuate after the Apostles showed up. As ti went by, they could only sit back in the slums, fearfully waiting to hear the fates of those within the Foolish Lich's lair. And when Vekka finally returned with the rest of the Solaris Knights, they knew the worst had happened.
Mirka was the first to notice Amon and the rest approaching. Her reddened eyes regained so semblance of life as she said:
"My Lords, you've returned safely."
"..."
Amon didn't answer the woman. Instead, he gave a gentle nod before looking at the mourning Kaya. Her head was declined, making it hard to read her expression. But Amon could tell that she wasn't in the right state of mind. Only Leon, the empath, moved over and knelt before the young girl.
"Kaya, are you okay?"
"My sister… she's not coming back, is she?" the girl whispered, her voice barely more than a breath.
Leon swallowed hard. He had faced monsters and battled steel against steel, but—this mont was more brutal than anything he had endured.
"No," he said softly, his voice breaking. "I'm sorry, it was too late when we went. She—" He stopped himself. Words felt useless, empty. What comfort could he offer when there was none to give?
Leon couldn't tell her the brutal reality that they weren't even able to identify her corpse. Among the thousands of undead, and lord knows how many more were sacrificed for the Lich's experints… one of them was Kaya's sister.
He couldn't even tell Kaya that her sister left peacefully—for that would be a lie.
Leon shook and glanced back at Amon, the only person who could comfort Kaya.
But he simply stared at her hollow eyes.
Amon had seen eyes like those before. Among the nurous prisoners he took when he was Number 23 were the children he had been with during his years as an experintal lab rat and, finally, people who had lost the war.
They all had one thing in common.
"Do you know what your problem is?"
"..."
Kaya finally tilted her head up to look at Amon, who was glancing down with impassionate eyes.
"You're weak."
Those words stunned the surroundings, particularly Leon, who thought Amon would be a bastion of hope for the grieving girl. Only Yue knew Amon inside out and could break a wry smile.
"T-That! I know that! I was weak! That's why my sister died!"
"No, that's not the reason why she's dead. The reason why she's dead is because the world is unfair. People stronger than you dictate what happens. The Warden took your sister because they were stronger. The Governor took your sister because he was stronger. The Lich took your sister because it was stronger. People stronger than you have taken what you loved most. That's all it is."
"T-Then!"
"Grow strong then."
Amon declared the thoughts that lay deep in his heart.
All this ti, he had been chasing strength. Not because he yearned to beco the most powerful entity in the world but because that was all he knew. From his days as an experintal subject, he had been chasing power. Even after his transmigration, all he had been doing was accumulating strength.
Why?
Because he didn't want anyone to dictate his life for him.
"Beco strong. Strong so that no one can dictate your life. Write your own destiny. That way, you will never feel this sadness again."
"I-I…"
"Don't give up here. Grow strong enough to pay your grievances back a thousandfold. Grow strong enough so that no one can take anything away from you ever again. Grow… and you will never feel this way again."
"..."
Kaya sat frozen for a mont, her tiny shoulders rising and falling with uneven breaths. Then, as if sothing inside her shattered, a strangled sob tore from her throat. Lunging forward, she embraced Amon's legs as if they were her pillars of strength. Tightening her grasp like never before, she burst into tears while the sounds of tal reigned over her head.
As the sobs faded away, the only thing that remained in the young girl's mind was the one word Amon had imparted to her. The covenant that would follow her for the rest of her life.
Grow.
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