Chapter 350
“…”
Ray gazed into Luna’s silver eyes.
It was far more difficult for Ray to face Luna now than it had been to face Lea.
Even so, Ray could not avoid the passionate gaze of Luna and once again extended the Dragonheart he held in his hand.
“Can you confirm if this is the Dragonheart of the royal family?”
“…”
Luna let out a hollow laugh.
It was hard to resist the impulse to snatch the Dragonheart from Ray and shatter it immediately.
On top of that, a variety of conflicting emotions threatened to overwhelm her reason at any moment.
Luna clenched and unclenched her fists several times where she stood.
After forcibly swallowing the emotions she couldn’t express…
Luna finally snatched the Dragonheart from Ray’s grasp.
“…”
Luna had prior experience with the remnants of the broken Dragonheart of the royal family being transplanted into Lea.
Therefore, identifying whether the object in her hand was indeed the royal Dragonheart wasn’t difficult.
The item Ray handed over was undoubtedly the genuine Dragonheart of the royal family.
It was a fragment of the Dragonheart from the ancestral dragon who founded the Empire.
However, holding the Dragonheart gave her a distinct sense of unease.
Upon focusing her mind briefly, Luna detected the presence of magical runes inscribed within the Dragonheart.
These were powered by the dragon blood flowing inside the Dragonheart.
It didn’t take long for Luna to understand the purpose of these runes.
“…”
The Dragonheart bore runes related to A-Space. More specifically, an “A-Space Storage” rune.
This A-Space Storage rune was designed to activate automatically after a certain period or when moved beyond a specific range.
If someone were to leave the Imperial Capital with this or simply left it untouched for another hour, the rune would activate automatically.
Once activated, the Dragonheart would vanish into A-Space, and without the coordinates and key prepared by the mage who inscribed the runes, even Luna wouldn’t be able to retrieve it.
Attempting to forcefully prevent the Dragonheart from entering A-Space might result in the dragon blood inside exploding in the worst-case scenario.
“…”
There was a way to resolve this issue.
Transplanting the Dragonheart into Lea right now would suffice.
Transplanting the Dragonheart into the heart of a member of the royal family was both a fulfillment of the contract with the ancestral dragon of the Empire and a ritual based on its power.
Once the ritual was completed, any runes inscribed by humans onto the Dragonheart would instantly disappear.
“…”
Luna explained this fact to Ray while suppressing all her turbulent emotions.
Only after hearing Luna’s explanation did Ray seem to understand why the Empire had handed over the royal Dragonheart.
“To confess and prove my sins in front of everyone… To reduce the burden of killing me…”
This was Ray’s only chance to transplant the royal Dragonheart into Lea.
And if the Dragonheart were transplanted into Lea, a surge of dragon energy would rise from the eastern tower of the Imperial Capital.
Everyone witnessing the dragon energy ascending high into the sky would realize what sin Ray had committed.
“…”
Confronted with such decisive and symbolic evidence, who would dare utter nonsense like “the Emperor framed the hero out of jealousy”?
In the end, the Empire had given Ray the Dragonheart to smoothly control internal backlash during the process of eliminating him.
“It’s not easy until the very end…”
Murmuring this, Ray’s voice remained calm.
Ray did not harbor resentment towards Ernst for handing over the Dragonheart.
Ernst must have believed that Ray wouldn’t make the wrong choice. And Ray understood that.
However… Ray had someone he needed to protect. Someone Ernst didn’t know about.
“…”
Since reincarnating into this world,
there was only hatred at first.
Bella saved Ray when he was submerged in a swamp of hatred.
Thanks to Bella, Ray opened his heart for the first time and came to love the people living in this world, developing a kind of attachment even to this wretched place.
But the reason Ray developed an attachment to this world was because it was where his precious people lived.
A world where their lives weren’t permitted was worthless to Ray.
So… Ray could always return to the beginning.
To the point where he harbored nothing but hatred for the world.
Only after reaching that starting point again…
could Ray confront the last option available to him.
Now, he could choose it.
“…Luna, can Valerius’ Dragonheart, which was meant for my heart, replicate the original artifact’s function to protect the body?”
“…Ray, answer me first. What exactly do you intend to do?”
Ray paused in silence for a moment before slowly speaking.
“…Let’s go to the South.”
“To the South?”
“Yeah, the South… I think going there will work.”
“Will we all go together?”
“…Yeah, let’s go together.”
It was all a lie.
Both the suggestion to head to the South and the idea of going together were lies.
Luna wasn’t deceived by Ray, and Ray knew that Luna had seen through his deception.
Still, Ray continued to spout brazen lies.
“Together… let’s go to the South. Let’s start anew. There’ll be plenty of things to worry about from others, but together… let’s try. We can do it.”
There was an unmistakable quiver in Ray’s voice, betraying his suppressed emotion.
The tremor in his voice revealed what Ray had resolved to do.
As Luna looked at Ray’s utterly disheveled appearance, she managed to move her lips.
“Until the very end… Until the very end, must you deceive me like this? Aren’t you sorry? Was I… Was I such an insignificant person to you…?”
“…”
Ray couldn’t easily respond to Luna’s plea.
Luna had devoted so much to Ray, yet in the end, the one Ray prioritized was not Luna but Bella.
While enduring the rising pain in his chest, Ray confessed his selfish and cruel truth to Luna.
“I need to protect Bella.”
“RAY!!!!!”
Tszu-tzuk!
A magic circle unfolded above Luna’s grip.
The massive mana-filled magic circle targeted Bella and Lea upstairs.
With luminous silver eyes, Luna glared at Ray.
She glared at Ray, who had sacrificed his life to save the world for the sake of his people and now, even facing death, couldn’t find rest, gasping for breath.
The smile filled with happiness that Ray had finally attained at the end of his life was no longer visible on his lips.
Luna wanted to bring that smile back to Ray but realized it was now an impossible dream.
“…”
Ultimately, Luna failed to activate the magic circle she had deployed and let her arm drop.
“If this is how it’s going to be…”
Sitting down beside Ray, Luna shed tears.
“If this is how it’s going to be… Why did you save me that day? If you were just going to torment me like this… Why didn’t you just leave me alone… Why did you save me…?”
“…”
Ray embraced Luna, knowing he didn’t deserve to, as she sobbed uncontrollably.
He had wronged Luna too many times.
He had once thought he would have the chance to atone for those wrongs.
He had once deluded himself into thinking their farewell would be sad but beautiful.
“…”
This wasn’t the farewell Ray had hoped for.
Still, Ray couldn’t prioritize Luna until the very end.
As they sat together shedding endless tears, Ray blankly stared out the window.
Heading to the South was a lie.
Going together was also a lie.
But the promise to protect them was the truth.
Even if it meant abandoning everything he had achieved, he would ensure they had a place to stand.
*
Ray returned to the mansion.
Everyone except Jimmy, Bella, and Lea, whom Ray had called earlier, gathered in one place and looked at Ray.
Ray met each of their gazes one by one.
After staring for a long time at Karen and Alesya’s swollen bellies, he awkwardly smiled.
“Hmm…”
Ray hesitated momentarily as he scratched the back of his neck before speaking.
“There’s something important I need to tell everyone…”
*
Luna ascended to the second floor.
Opening the door on the second floor, she saw Lea’s back trembling and clinging tightly to Bella.
Terrified Lea clutched Bella even tighter upon hearing the door open.
Seeing this, Luna muttered.
“I should’ve killed you back then…”
An opportunity she missed.
She hadn’t been able to kill Lea, nor break Ray’s stubbornness. The consequences were coming back to haunt her now.
“You’re… a terrible monster. You’ve consumed Ray and dragged us all into despair.”
She wanted to tear Lea apart right then and there.
Without hiding her hostility, Luna levitated the royal Dragonheart she had received from Ray.
*
Dragon Ascension Ritual.
A venerable ceremony that began alongside the founding of the Empire.
Ordinary people knew nothing about the true nature of the Dragon Ascension Ritual.
However, high-ranking nobles with significant influence in the Empire generally had a rough understanding of the circumstances surrounding the ritual.
When a member of the royal family reaches their seventh birthday, they undergo the procedure of having the royal Dragonheart transplanted into their heart.
The inevitable occurrence during this process is the Dragon Ascension.
The Dragon Ascension, resonating with the contract made with the Empire’s ancestral dragon, is distinctly different from flames conjured by magic.
Although one could mimic the Dragon Ascension with magic to create a similar phenomenon, replicating its essence was impossible.
Though the function of the eastern tower, where the Dragon Ascension Ritual had been conducted since ancient times, was currently active, there was no immediate plan to conduct the ritual.
Nevertheless, changes began occurring in the eastern tower.
Kooong—
A small tremor shook the ground.
Simultaneously, Dragonhearts located throughout the Imperial Capital emitted light, igniting flames around the eastern tower.
The concentrated flames within the eastern tower grew larger and soon spread toward the blue sky.
Warm flames created by the power of the renewed contract with the ancestral dragon, celebrating the re-establishment of the contract since the founding of the Empire, soared high into the sky.
From his silent watch of the eastern tower in the Imperial Capital, Ernst threw aside the large table within reach and stood up.
Chaeeng!!
The waves of power emanating from the enraged Swordmaster of the Empire caused cracks to spread everywhere.
The Empire’s Swordmaster lost his composure, clenched his trembling fists, and distorted his face like a demon.
“Ray…!! How dare you…!!!”
Ernst wasn’t the only one unable to control his emotions upon seeing the Dragon Ascension.
Everyone near the Imperial Capital was looking up at the soaring Dragon Ascension.
Unable to bear the sorrowful silence, Royal Guard Takaus covered his eyes.
Covering his eyes, Takaus moved his lips slightly, took a deep breath, and drew his sword.
“It’s the emperor’s decree.”
The waiting imperial army focused on Takaus’ voice.
“Eliminate… the traitor of the empire.”
The First Vow (10)
