Chapter 246 - Chapter 246 (1/2)
Side Story 3
2. Reunion (2)
After entering the gap between dimensions, Jin-Woo developed a habit he never had before. And that would be jotting down things he saw and experienced on that day on a notebook.
He wasn't doing it with some lofty purpose of leaving behind the records of his bitter life-or-death struggle against the Sovereigns.
The gap between dimension was a perfectly 'empty' space, pretty similar to the land of eternal rest. Without battles against his enemies, this world of nothingness where only the eternal darkness existed would have been incredibly dreary and lonesome - he'd have difficult time trying to keep his sanity as a result.
However, his reason wasn't as simple as there being nothing to do in here.
Jin-Woo now possessed the experience of living the same timeline twice and because of that, realised something crucial – the perspective on an event would shift depending on when you were looking at it.
Meaning, after some time had passed, he might see some things he previously failed to notice.
And that was why he became rather curious as to how he'd feel after going through these records again when his memories started to fade away and grew indistinct in the distant future.
Would he become embarrassed that he left behind written records? Or would he feel regret, thinking that he could've done it better? Or, maybe even miss this war, although he felt almost completely fed up with it right now?
That was his reason for writing a diary whenever he had a chance.
Jot, jot...
Within this endlessly deep darkness, only the sounds of a pen softly scratching on the surface of a paper quietly rang out. As he continued to jot down the records of the day's events, a smirk suddenly formed on his lips.
'….Even still, I'm pretty sure I'll never miss the stuff that happened here in the future.'
Jin-Woo raised his head and caught the sight of the monster corpses too numerous to even count strewn about in the darkness.
Yet again, Jin-Woo tasted victory in the battle against the Sovereigns, and through this particular engagement, killed the 'Sovereign of Transfiguration' – the one that gave him the most headache so far.
It had already been 27 years since he entered the gap between dimensions. Finally, the closing curtains of this long, dangerous, and monotone warfare was in sight.
The only remaining enemies were the Dragon Emperor and its direct subordinates, the 'Army of Destruction'. His heart briefly beat faster from knowing that he'd go home soon.
'What a relief that the time flow in here and outside is different.'
Only around two years should have gone by on the outside.
Coming home after two years of absence, was it?
How much would Jin-Ah have changed? What about Dad? Mom? Were they holding up well? Should he have explained a bit better before coming here?
All sorts of worries briefly fleeted in and out of his head.
'No, hang on.'
Jin-Woo shook his head as if to get rid of all distracting thoughts. Now wasn't the time to focus his attention on how to decorate the last pages of his 'diary'.
With excellent timing, Bellion walked closer and bowed his head.
[My liege, the surroundings have been tidied up. There are no living enemies left.]
Jin-Woo took a look around him.
The Shadow Soldiers had finished sweeping up the battlefield and massacred all the still-breathing enemies, and now, they stood in near-infinite columns as far as his eyes could see, silently waiting for his next command.
Guooooh….
He had already given up counting the number of his current soldiers quite a while ago. With a chuckle, Jin-Woo closed the diary.
"Alright."
He stored both the notebook and the pen within the subspace and descended from the top of a hill made out of the monster corpses.
It was now the time – time to meet his greatest enemy. The one he so badly wanted to meet.
It was time to go and greet the 'one' who handed him his first defeat ever since becoming the Shadow Sovereign. The Rulers intervened and the end result was flipped on its head, but without a doubt, Jin-Woo did lose to the Dragon Emperor in that battle.
'….I won't lose again.'
A cold gleam dangerously flickered within Jin-Woo's eyes.
His heart beat only softly when he thought about going home soon, yet now his eardrums were hurting from its vigorous, thunderous pounding.
Ba-thump, ba-thump, ba-thump, ba-thump!!
What if...
Jin-Woo focused on the sounds of his beating heart, only to begin wondering if there would come a day in the distant future when he'd really start missing this war.
He then wordlessly turned in the direction where the aura of the Dragon Emperor could be felt. And, along with the soldiers that would participate in the final battle….
"Rise up."
From next to the countless dead monsters strewn about everywhere, an equal number of shadows rose up after hearing the command of the Shadow Sovereign.
Right behind Jin-Woo, his three Marshals, Bellion, Beru, and Igrit, plus many commanders, stood in an orderly fashion.
And behind them, the enormous army, more than large enough to cover an entire continent, quietly waited on standby for his next command.
'…....'
Although this world lacked the flow of air, it still felt like a wind signalling the end of the war was faintly blowing around.
Jin-Woo quietly closed his eyes and took a deep breath. And when he opened his eyes, he uttered out the words that ushered in the end of this lengthy war.
"We march forward to attack the Dragon Emperor."
***
The Dragon Emperor also felt it.
It felt that a truly gigantic horde with a scale that couldn't even be estimated heading in its direction.
Since when did it start?
When was it that the Shadow Sovereign, initially starting off with the repeated tactic of hit-and-run to shave away the massive Army of the Chaos World, began to openly hit his enemies with the full might of his army, instead?
The position of the army chasing him down had suddenly reversed and now, they were being chased down by him.
Out of all the armies that had been scattered around on their own, only the Army of Destruction remained. So, it wasn't all that difficult to guess where the attention of the Shadow Sovereign would land next.
The final, deciding battle.
Although the Dragon Emperor never imagined that the seemingly-everlasting war would end not with a grand battle against the Rulers but as a conflict between Sovereigns, it still believed that the upcoming battle would be a perfect finale nevertheless.
Indeed, didn't its blood boil from just remembering the battle against the Shadow Sovereign that took place decades ago?
'….'
The Dragon Emperor quietly stood still and glared in one particular spot. In the meantime, one of its subordinates cautiously approached it.
[Oh, my Emperor....]
The Dragon Emperor standing there with its arms crossed quickly replied.
[Yugumunt has died.]
After hearing the news of the Sovereign of Transfiguration dying, the subordinate formed a stunned expression before bowing its head again.
[That is why... perhaps it is advisable to move to somewhere more distant....]
[No.]
The Dragon Emperor bared its fangs as murderous aura rose up from its body in a red mist.
[I'm already sick and tired of running away. We shall fight the b*stard right here.]
That man had spent over twenty years to hunt and whittle down the armies of the Sovereigns. So, he'd not even give his enemies sufficient time to regroup and reform their army.
If it was impossible to escape from his siege, then the Dragon Emperor would fight back head-on and decide everything. Now that would be a choice befitting of the King of Berserk Dragons.
[Get ready for battle!]
One command from their Sovereign and the Army of Destruction got ready to fight in an instant.
Kuwaaaah-!!
The Ancient-grade Dragons, Dragonewts, and the Sky Dragons they were riding on, all raised their heads up high and roared out.
'He's coming!'