◈ 473. [Side Story] Good brother (6)
Ash tried to say something more, but Fernandez manipulated a tree branch and grabbed Ash by surprise –
yuck!
thrown out of the ark.
“Wait bro… !”
Unable to form a word, Ash disappeared as if being sucked outside.
Good luck!
The passageway that had been left open in the audience room wall was quickly filled up with thorns covering it.
While Fernandez was doing this, Larc slowly crawled across the floor to the side of Fernandez’s throne.
“… Will you be okay leaving your sister-in-law and your nieces and nephews?”
Fernandez asked with his head down.
“really… Won’t you regret it?”
“A soldier’s wife and child. I always told you to be prepared in case I disappear.”
Lark laughed.
“And Ash will take good care of it. I believe so.”
“… .”
“I will be with you.”
Hesitantly, Fernandez spat out.
“I am a failed slayer, brother.”
“Is it different from me?”
Arriving at the foot of the throne, Lark breathed in and put his back on the throne.
“Both of us, under the guise of serving the Empire… You have killed countless innocent lives.”
“… .”
“To enter the infinite purgatory together in this prison called the ark… … It can be said that it is the punishment we deserve.”
After that, Lark shrugged his shoulders humorously.
“Or maybe only the soul remains and remains as the last human being in the world. Depending on your point of view, you could call it a punishment.”
“older brother… .”
“Let’s stuff it together, Fernandez.”
At Lark’s words, Fernandez muttered in a choked tone.
“It will be a long and boring trip.”
“Haha, isn’t that what it’s like to go on a trip with the brothers?” The entire
ark-
the entire ark began to be white.
The entire trunk of the black thorn tree emitted white light. Surrounded by that light, Lark nodded.
“Now, I have a lot of time… Let’s talk leisurely. Please tell me the story of you and Ash fighting in a place where I am not.”
“… I will do that, bro.”
Nodding his head, Fernandez suddenly looked at the bottom of the ark.
The city and the world he tried to protect and destroy. and.
“And the future story that will be added after that story is over… … .”
I pictured the youngest returning there.
“… I hope it will be a satisfactory ending for that child.”
Said so.
Flash-!
And the entire huge ark turned into particles of light and disappeared as if it were extinguished.
***
“Brother… !”
After being thrown out of the ark, I was helplessly thrown into the air… … I fell down and looked up at the ark.
As for the huge ark, its pitch-black hull was immediately surrounded by dazzling light and
flashed!
It turned into particles of light and disappeared.
As if it never existed in that place from the beginning. without a trace.
“… .”
For some reason, my stomach hurt.
It was not long before I blindly followed the disappearance of the ark with my eyes.
‘… what.’
Notice my current situation.
‘Wait a minute I… … What’s going down now… … ?!’
Then, terrified, I looked around. crazy?!
I’m falling from the sky to the ground I saw the strong wind brushing my ears a beat later and the rapidly approaching ground.
‘If you’re going to patronize me, I should’ve brought you a parachute, you bastard Fernandez!’
Shivering, I shook my head to land somehow.
‘Chi calm down! As for the means of flight-‘
I hurriedly searched for emergency means, from skills to property inventory.
It was then.
Whee ae ae ae-!
I heard the sound of machinery coming closer from afar, and in the blink of an eye, a huge airship stopped below me in line with my fall.
Seeing that empty appearance, I widened my eyes.
‘Alcatraz… … ?!’
It was Alcatraz, the exclusive flagship for the imperial family.
And on the deck of the airship – the emperor was remotely controlling the airship while emitting light from the back of his hand.
The emperor looked up at me calmly and slowly opened his arms. and.
Wow!
“Fuck tea.”
He hugged me as if he was catching me as I was falling lightly.
“… .”
Suddenly, like a child, I was lifted up in my arms and looked up at my father with a bewildered face. The emperor has a solemn expression as usual.
“Hmm, I think this is the first time I’ve been hugging since I was a baby… .”
He raised his arms to estimate my weight, and then the emperor raised his eyebrows.
“Has it become too heavy?”
“Then you haven’t grown up for over 20 years?!”
I gasped out in shock.
And what? Your first hug since you were a baby? So you’re saying you neglected your child all through infancy?
You should have hugged me more often! Didn’t Ash get into this shape because you neglected him? Huh?!
Whether I grind my teeth or not, the emperor lightly put me down beside me. I staggered and stood on the deck of Alcatraz. Anyway, thanks to you, I’m alive.
“… .”
The emperor gazed at the distant sky. I saw that side too.
The ark disappeared as if its existence had been a lie, and only a few particles of vanishing light were scattered in the air.
“You are gone.”
“… I mean.”
rumble… … .
The trunk of a huge thorn tree supporting the ark disintegrated like pieces of a puzzle and shattered downward.
The stems, which had been black as if absorbing light, had turned white like charcoal after combustion.
When I saw this scene, I felt it all over again.
finished.
Shutdown protocol and the last ark plan… … stopped
But even though it was an unmistakably clear victory. I didn’t feel very good about it.
Lark.
Fernandez.
Although I couldn’t accept them as real brothers in my head. Perhaps memories are engraved in this body and soul.
Those two people who will never be able to meet again in the future are my brothers who have been together for a long time… … .
“As I said before, the spirit world is not the afterlife.”
The emperor suddenly opened his mouth.
“To a space that exists somewhere in the gap between life and death… It is a place for transcendental deities. To set up a refuge in such a place… … .”
The head of the Absolute shook left and right.
“To make an ark and a prison with Everblack, which is rooted in the spirit world, to confine the soul and escape forever.”
“Do you think that is foolish?”
“No, I thought the idea itself was plausible. Theoretically, even if the world perishes, the ark will be able to perpetuate… … but.”
but?
As I looked up, the emperor smiled bitterly.
“… I just thought it would be very boring if life continued like that forever.”
After slowly taking his eyes off the tracks of his two departed sons, the emperor looked back at me.
“Thank you Ash. For doing what I have to do.”
“It was nothing. It was an honor for me to serve as His Majesty’s acting representative.”
I bowed lightly to answer the emperor’s congratulations, and the emperor brushed back his disheveled hair with a dry hand.
“Before I am a father, I am an emperor. I am in no position to let Fernandez, who rebelled against me, live.”
“… .”
“however… Although I am an emperor, I am also a father.”
His fists were clenched.
“To strike my son with my own hands is harsh even to me.”
“… .”
“This is how Avalanche and Amber Keeper lost… .”
The emperor closed his golden eyes tightly and chewed it slowly.
“I am the most guilty… .”
Silence swirls in the empty air.
The emperor, who stood silently for a moment, called me slowly.
“ash.”
“yes.”
“Now you are my only son left.”
“… .”
“Please don’t die easily.”
“Even Obama.”
The emperor’s eyes widened at my sudden words. I smiled.
“Because you are the only father I have left.”
“… haha.”
The emperor gave an absurd smile and shook his head.
“You really don’t lose a word.”
“Isn’t this the father’s son?”
“That’s right, you prodigal son.”
Right after that, the emperor spread his arms forward.
“Come on, announce victory to the earth!”
His loud lion’s roar resonated throughout the ecliptic.
“We all survived!”
***
Upon returning to the ground, there was no fuss. In particular, all the soldiers who followed Fernandez were in confusion.
How many troops would truly follow the order to die together?
That’s why Fernandez was brainwashing all of his troops with powerful mind control magic and illusions.
In the way that this ‘last ark’ plan to massacre citizens and die together is natural, right, and just.
That is why the troops under Fernandez obediently followed this nonsense.
However, Fernandez has left the present world and left for the spirit world.
Immediately, all the brainwashing and restraints Fernandez had put on were removed, and the troops under Fernandez regained their sanity.
And only then did I realize.
what they were doing
Under the emperor’s command, the forces of the World Defense Front became the main force and subdued them.
Not daring to resist further in front of the emperor, they surrendered meekly.
And it wasn’t just Fernandez’s army that was in disarray.
The citizens of the imperial capital were also subjected to brainwashing and mind-control illusions, if not as much as the military.
Some people were brought back to their senses by the emperor’s cry before, but most of them were still in a hazy state as if they were in a dream.
Because these disappeared all at once.
All the citizens who realized what had happened in the meantime were shocked and poured out into the streets. It wasn’t even that the whole imperial city was in an uproar.
And in all corners of this tumultuous ecliptic… … Many people were relieved.
“honey! Ah honey!”
“Are you all right, mother?!”
“Jake! Are you hurt anywhere?”
“It’s okay, Susan. The nightmare is over. are you okay… .”
Calling each other by name, rejoicing that they did not die and survived this chaos… … embraced each other
All over the city, people hugged each other and checked each other’s body temperature to see if they were alive. I stared blankly at it.
“majesty!”
then someone called me I looked back over there.
“Are you all right, Your Highness?!”
The one running towards me from the port side… … It was a serenade.
“serenade?”
I blinked in surprise.
“How is this… I told you to stay safe with the Mermaid King.”
“Your Highness has jumped into such a big crisis, how can I stay still?”
It was the mermaids who let my party members infiltrate the harbor through the inland sea, and Serenade was also in the sea with them.
Even though I was told to go out to the open sea safely in case I was swept away… … This reckless woman seemed to have followed me all the way into the city.
“I’m glad it worked out. The girl believed that His Highness would do it.”
With trembling hands tightly gripping my sleeves, Serenade said so with a slightly teary face.
“… .”
Looking at her blankly, I suddenly spat out.
“serenade.”
“Your Highness.”
“I have a request… .”
“Please speak.”
“Can you hug me just once?”
At my sudden request, Serenade blinked a few times and said,
“Of course, willingly.”
He opened his arms wide in front of me.
I slowly approached Serenade and gently embraced her.
The nape of Serenade’s neck smelled soft and refreshing.
For some reason, I felt a little relieved. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.
Serenade patted my back with a careful hand and whispered affectionately.
“It’s okay, it’s okay. You did a really good job… .”
***
On this day, I saved New Terra, the ecliptic.
lost both brothers.
It was the winter of the second year since I started playing this game.
