Chapter 53

A pain so immense had never been felt before. The waters sway, seemingly in sync with what is in his eyes. His chest tightens, as if someone were squeezing it personally. As his tears mix with the raindrops, suddenly, a great void appears in his chest.

In the skies, lightning races fervently, breaking through the clouds and illuminating the ground. In the waters, his tears fall, and on the bridge, Ethan watched the body swaying below.

The earthquakes did not affect him, and the lightning did not come near the place where he stood. As the flood continued, no water accumulated on the section of the bridge beneath his feet.

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"Ethan..."

A distant voice calls to him.

"Ethan, come on, the creature is coming back!"

With a shake of his shoulders, Ethan opened his tear-filled eyes. With raised eyebrows and wide eyes, Riley looked at him, and the hands on his shoulders trembled.

"You..."

Tears... the first time this has happened since his arrival in this world. What to say? What should be said? In such a desperate situation, what should Riley say to a friend, one who had been with him at his lowest...? Just like Aiden that day, now... he too doesn't know...

A roar echoes in the distance and, as the kingdom trembled, Ethan stood up quickly. Drying his tears, his sword came to his hand.

Black wings emerge on his back, and as he began his ascent to the sky, something grabbed one of his legs.

"Wait!" Silvia exclaimed, placing a hand on her chest. "...Please... don't let him get hurt..."

His eyes followed her line of sight and, looking at those present in the sky, it became evident to Ethan who she was talking about... The one whose eyes often glanced in their direction.

Normally, his response would be immediate. But looking around... is he really capable of doing such a thing...? After failing to protect them... is he truly able to prevent someone from getting hurt...?

Silence was the answer to such a request.

"What are you doing..?"

"I'm going with you, isn't it obvious?!" her red eyes shone behind her tears and, with the appearance of black wings, Scarlet stood beside him.

"No... Stay here and help the people..."

"But..."

"Scarlet... please."

Her heart tightened and, with the disappearance of the wings, her fist opened. During all this time that she had been bothering him day after day, Ethan had never looked at her this way, with such... sad eyes... It wasn't an order or a simple request, those eyes... made it seem as if he were begging her...

Alongside Riley, Ethan flew quickly towards the creature. A new roar resounded and, with the spread of icy light from its huge mouth, something truly disastrous was about to happen.

The being capable of freezing the entire world... the roar capable of toppling entire kingdoms. With the creation of the snow hurricane, part of the black forest was covered in ice and, with no hope remaining, everyone in the kingdom felt their strength extinguish and fell to their knees. At this moment, prayers in the name of Bedivere were made all around.

Raising his hands, a barrier of flames was created. The environment cooling and his flames freezing, but struggling to keep the white flames standing, Riley did not yield.

Two new layers of flames were created, but even when Clovis and Ethan joined him, the weight on their backs did not diminish at all.

The flames did not last long and soon had to be replaced by new ones, because no matter how powerful they were, what was being frozen was the very mana used to create them.

"Aiden..." Clovis murmured, his body constantly pushed by a powerful invisible force. "If you want to help... no one here will complain..."

The mana shaped and, enveloping the already created flames, an unparalleled layer of aura emerged as a grand shield protecting the entire kingdom.

"Oh, sure. With you saying it like that... it almost makes it seem like shaping the ambient mana into aura is something easy to do..."

Joining his hands, a tremendous effort seemed to be made as Aiden began to stretch his arms forward. At this moment, the aura extended like a blade, piercing through the freezing breath.

The simple movement of opening his arms had never been so difficult. Dividing the hurricane on his own, Aiden separated the creature's attack by opening the aura blade in its center, creating a path to the dragon.

"Damn... Now!"

His sword glowed and, when lifted, the blade extended beyond the clouds. Carlos took a deep breath. The veins in his body bulging and, with one eye closed, the weight of the mana contained in the sword crushing him.

"Aaaaaahh!"

The blade made of condensed mana fell, slicing the air as it passed. The flames were ignored and the freezing breath was easily cut in half. With the touch of its tip on the ground, the generated cut extended to the beginning of the Frozen Peaks.

A roar echoed and, without one of its wings, the creature fell towards the frozen part of the black forest.

Blue blood dripping, its body staggering and, after some effort, the creature rose again. However, although they couldn't say why, it became more than evident that something was certainly different.

"This is..." Aiden murmured.

"Yes..." Riley continued. "For some reason, its eyes have changed..."

From cold and lifeless eyes to a bright blue pair. Its heavy breath fell upon the ground, freezing even more the place where it touched. Raising its head, the creature looked at those who had managed to stop it. However, clearly one in particular caught its attention. The one with such an unusual look... so memorable...

"You..."

Their bodies trembled and their hands nearly gave way. All eyes widened when the voice reached their ears... "The dragon... is talking..?"

"Those repugnant purple eyes... who are you... the one who is similar to me?"

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Well, I apologize for the last two days that should have had chapters and also for posting at the wrong time today. My headache has been bothering me so much that it became difficult to write in the past few days.

And to keep the habit, thanks to those who are reading or have read up to here.