137 When Dawn Breaks (1/2)
THE SUPREME and the Black Serpent, despite their reincarnation, remain geniuses in their field, Forrester pondered to himself while looking outside the window of his room.
Since it was already evening, the sky was as dark as his father's soul. Anyway, he was alone in the room because the duke and duchess were having dinner with Lord Prescott who also asked Sentinel to join them.
Anyway…
They really managed to summon their previous weapons in less than twenty four hours.
”Mastering” a technique for the Supreme and the Black Serpent meant summoning the previous weapons that they had in the past.
To be honest, he was shocked that the Supreme's weapon changed in this era. But maybe it didn't matter as long as Lady Nystrom had a weapon that she could use to utilize her Mana. He had to acknowledge the duchess for accomplishing her task without breaking her heart's barrier.
They really did a good job.
He wanted to celebrate but there was an ominous feeling in the air.
Something big is about to happen.
His thoughts were cut-off when he heard a knock on the door. A few moments later, the door opened and Sentinel entered his room with a tray.
”The duke and the duchess asked me to bring you food, Your Holiness,” Sentinel said, then he put the tray down on the night table. Then, he looked at him as if he was trying to read his mind. ”Can you feel it, too?”
”Yes,” Forrester said, then he let out a deep sigh. ”Another Beast God is about to awaken, it seems.”
***
”FATHER, is it really okay if I burn down the tree that you cherish?” Tilly asked her father worriedly. They just finished dinner and now, they were having tea in the balcony with Kiho. Sentinel already bid them good night because she and her husband discreetly asked him to bring dinner to the saint. ”That Fire Tree has been mother's ”shelter” all these years.”
”Your mother left a message for you in that tree,” Lord Prescott said, then he sipped his tea before he continued. ”I don't mind if you burn it down.”
”I'm sorry, Father.”
”We will plant a new tree after this, Father,” Kiho promised. They already talked about that matter a while ago. ”We know that it wouldn't be the same but we still want Mother's resting place to have a Fire Tree as its ”guardian.””
”That's fine with me,” her father said while looking at her and her husband. ”Kiho, Tilly, you're now the Duke and Duchess of Oakes. Everything in our dukedom belongs to you and thus, you don't need to ask for my permission.”
”That's not true, Father,” she said while shaking her head. ”Even if we're now the Duke and Duchess of Oakes, you're still the true ruler of this land. You're the one who made our territory as prosperous as it is today, Father.”
Lord Prescott didn't smile but his eyes glowed happily. ”It's my duty as your father to guide you, silly kids.”
Tilly and Kiho turned to each other and smiled.
They probably had the same thoughts right now.
We will always be children in Father's eyes.
***
”TILLY, are you sure you're okay?”
Tilly smiled and nodded at Kiho's question. ”I'm fine, Kiho. I want to read Mother's message as soon as possible.”
She understood why her husband was worried.
It was already past midnight and yet, they were still outside. After their tea time with Lord Prescott, they just rested for a bit before she decided to burn the Fire Tree down.
And so, she went back to the garden with Kiho, Sentinel, and Saint Forrester.
Her father decided to stay in the mansion to ”have a drink” with her mother. Lord Prescott would definitely drink by himself and reminisce his memories with Lady Marianne Prescott.
”Lady Nystrom, are you ready?” Saint Forrester asked. ”Just do what I told you to do before: focus your Mana in the iron crab mallet. Think of your weapon as an extension of your body.”
She nodded at the instruction. ”I understand, Your Holiness. But how am I supposed to summon my weapon?” she asked, then she looked at the red feather tattoo around her wrist.
”If you summon your weapon with sincerity, it will answer your call,” Sentinel said. ”That was what the Supreme told me before.”
”Alright,” she said, then she took a deep breath. ”I'll try it.”
She closed her eyes and from the bottom of her heart, she summoned her new weapon.
My dear iron crab mallet, she said in her mind. Come to Mama.
She almost laughed at her stupid joke.
But it worked!
A few seconds later, she felt the warm iron crab mallet in her hand. When she opened her eyes, she smiled when she saw her tiny weapon again.
Small but terrific.
”Good job, honey,” Kiho said proudly, then he kissed her forehead. ”Good luck. I'm just behind you, okay?”
”Okay, hon,” she said. ”Thank you.”
After that, Kiho, Sentinel, and Saint Forrester move backwards until they were standing behind her.
I can do this.
Back in her second life, she was a pro at ”whack-a-mole” arcade game. Hitting a tree with a mallet was nothing to her.
She gripped the iron crab mallet tight with both hands. Then, just like what the saint said, she focused the flow her Mana from her body to the weapon while thinking that it was an extension of her body.
A few moments later, the iron crab mallet began to heat up until it was engulfed in red flame. As soon as the weapon produced fire, she hit the trunk hard and fast as if she was hitting a mole in the arcade center.
Whew.
The part of the trunk that she hit cracked and caught the fire from her iron crab mallet.
She thought her little flame wouldn't do anything to the huge tree. But much to her shock, the red flame suddenly grew bigger until it swallowed the Fire Tree completely. Not only that. She also noticed that the tree was burning down faster than it was supposed to be.
A Fire Mage's flame is indeed special.
”You're amazing, honey,” Kiho said when he stood beside her, then he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer to him.
”Thank you, hon,” she said, then she snaked an arm around his waist.
She noticed that Sentinel and Saint Forrester stood on her other side. Just like her and Kiho, the two were also keenly watching the big fire in front of them.
When the Fire Tree was almost reduced to half of its original size, she noticed that the black smoke coming from the flame started to form into letters– words– until they were cohesive enough to be understood.
”I can't read it,” Kiho said that shocked her so she turned to him. Her husband turned to her at the same with furrowed brows. ”Can you?”
She nodded her head. ”I can.”
”I can't read it as well,” Saint Forrester said, causing them to turn to His Holiness. ”I'm fluent in different languages. But this is the first time I've seen that one.”
”I can understand it a bit,” Sentinel said, then the spirit guardian turned to her. ”Lady Nystrom, the message is written in ancient language that only the Fire Mage clan can understand. Unfortunately, I am not that fluent in that language.”
”Don't worry, Sentinel. I can read it just fine,” she consoled the spirit guardian, then she looked at up the message formed by the black smoke. She read it out loud for everyone. ”'My precious ball of sunshine, I'm probably long gone once this message reaches you. I have so many things that I want to say but our time is limited. Allow me to go straight to the point, sweetheart. Go and find the island that worships the sun. You'll find the Great Fire Tree and the allies that you need there. And most specially, they're waiting for you– the Keepers of the Supreme.”
Sentinel and Saint Forrester both gasped aloud.
She was bothered by the two men's reaction, but she continued reading what was left of the message.
”I left a piece of my soul to one of your Keepers, my little Tilly,” she continued, her voice now cracking as it finally sank in that it was really her mother's message for her. ”See you later, my baby girl. I love you so much.”
Okay, that got her crying really hard.
She didn't have memories of her mother but that didn't meant she wouldn't yearn for her.
I love you, too, Mommy.
Tilly turned around to bury her face against Kiho's chest as she sobbed uncontrollably.