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Even though what I was seeing was likely just an illusion reflecting a memory of the past, the appearance of the man was shocking in many ways.
Not because he was walking through the air.
Even if he hadn't appeared midair, the strange aura radiating from him was enough to distort the atmosphere around him.
'...I see.'
I understood instantly.
That man was none other than my ancestor, known as the Great Spirit.
Grrroooooo...
Everything collapsed and was being destroyed.
And yet, why?
Even as destruction approached, he strolled through the air with absolute serenity.
"Why is it... so sad..."
The man murmured quietly.
He was grieving.
As if he pitied all the ether that was writhing in pain.
[I want... to go back...]
[To our... home... again...]
[I...]
Step by step.
With each step he took, the raging ether that had been bursting out in all directions calmed.
As if his very footsteps were a requiem for the wandering souls of this world.
'Unbelievable...'
For ether that violent to be soothed just by his presence... It was hard to believe, even witnessing it firsthand.
If Esther or Isabel had been here, they might have collapsed in shock.
'A miracle...'
Yes. If miracles existed, this must surely be one.
And yet, even this miraculous feat couldn't easily quell the massive ether storm engulfing the skies above Noah and Ark.
[Hurts. Hurts. Hurts. Hurts. Hurts. Hurts. Hurts. Hurts. Hurts. Hurts. Hurts. Hurts. Hurts. Hurts. Hurts. Hurts. Hurts. Hurts. Hurts───!]
[I, mom, it's dark, I want, to go, go home, want to, it's cold, hurts, scary...]
[Let me go. Let me go. Let me go. Let me go. Let me go. Let me go. Let me go. Let me go. Let me go. Let me go. Let me go. Let me go. Let me go. Let me go. Let me go. Let me go.]
What he had calmed was only a fraction of the ether that had gone berserk.
The world was still rapidly heading toward annihilation.
[Grooooooo───!]
The roar of a being that filled all with fear thundered like a storm.
Classless dragon-class, Ankelenth.
The living destruction began to unleash death upon Ark.
-KAAAK!──
-KYAOOOO──!
-KYEEEEEHH!
As if responding in kind, the horde of beasts outside Ark let out savage cries and scaled the walls, pounding at the gates.
On top of that, volcanic bombs and ash rained down from above, covering the skies over Ark.
'Can this situation... really be changed?'
Even knowing how things ended, the thought that surfaced in my mind at this moment was doubt.
Inevitable destruction.
If such a thing existed, it would look like this—despair manifesting in the skies above Ark.
Molten lava flowed and volcanic ash poured down.
A colossal, berserk ether wave.
Beyond-Grade Dragon, Ankelenth.
A horde of beasts storming in from all directions.
Any one of these would be enough to signal Ark's end—and they were all happening at the same time, in the same place.
Ark poured all its firepower into fighting back against the impending doom, but against this level of despair, humanity's power looked pitifully weak.
Had the final bastion of humanity, Ark, ever looked so small?
At least from what I know, this was a first.
I had witnessed countless ends of Ark until now—but this despair was far more overwhelming than any of them.
"...Oh, sorrowful ones."
And still, the man did not stop, walking through the raging ether waves.
Each step he took visibly calmed the berserk ether—but even so, the ether swirling around Mount Noah continued to ravenously absorb its surroundings and expand.
Even a miracle such as this was far too weak in the face of the despair unfolding now.
BOOM!
BOOM BOOM!───
Ark's firepower continued to pour toward the beast horde and Ankelenth without pause.
The bombardment against the beast horde was fairly effective, but it didn't even touch Ankelenth.
[Grrrrr...]
As if punishing these insolent humans, Ankelenth's breath swept over Ark like a divine wrath.
BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM───!
Ark's proud barrier shattered easily, and its once-brilliant civilization was engulfed in flames in an instant.
Just one breath.
Yet that alone carved an irreversible scar across the entire Ark.
'That location...'
And then I noticed—something about the path of Ankelenth's breath across Ark looked familiar.
The great aqueduct running through Ark.
The spot where Ankelenth's breath passed was precisely where the aqueduct would later be constructed.
'...Unbelievable.'
It struck me anew.
I was standing in the very heart of a historical moment.
The skies above Ark were burning.
Countless must have died—an unimaginable catastrophe—yet Ark's counterattack had not stopped, though it was clearly diminishing.
Ark had reached its limit.
The end of Ark, of humanity, was drawing near.
And even in that moment...
When the word "annihilation" didn't feel distant anymore...
The man still hadn't stopped.
As if the impending destruction had nothing to do with him.
'What is he doing?'
For some reason, the man was walking toward Noah's crater.
And when he finally reached the crater—
KUGUGUGUGUGU!───
An anomaly occurred.
[That's enough...]
Noah, which had been relentlessly spewing volcanic ash, bombs, and lava, began to calm rapidly.
The reason was simple.
The rampaging ether, which had until now fueled the volcanic eruption, was now starting to suppress it.
'...Unbelievable.'
A miracle.
Once again, a phenomenon that could only be described that way had occurred.
All because of a single man—who would later be known as the Great Spirit.
Of course, even then, Ark still faced countless problems.
Even if the volcanic eruption had been subdued, the sky wasn't filled with just ash.
[Groooooooo!]
Ankelenth's roar echoed again.
I didn't know much about Ark in this era—but at the very least, I could guess what the people inside must have felt.
Despair.
They must have been overwhelmed with it.
Ankelenth inhaled deeply.
And I knew all too well what that meant.
Because it was the same breath that had just reshaped Ark's entire landscape.
'That's... dangerous.'
Just one breath had left a scar so great it would remain for generations.
If another breath like that swept through Ark now, this might be the end of its history.
Even though this was surely just a scene from history—one whose outcome I already knew—I couldn't help the dread creeping in.
That was how cruel the reality Ark faced had become.
And then—
While I was feeling that dread.
When everything seemed as if it would end—
"...Even an inescapable inevitability—can be called fate, I suppose."
Before I knew it, the man watching over everything from Noah's crater with sorrowful eyes began to move once more.
He reached toward the sky.
And from that very spot, another miracle began to unfold.
[Resentful...]
[Resentful?]
[Resentful. Resentful. Resentful. Resentful. Resentful. Resentful. Resentful. Resentful. Resentful. Resentful. Resentful. Resentful. Resentful. Resentful. Resentful. Resentful. Resentful. Resentful. Resentful.]
What the man did was clear.
He intentionally drove the already rampaging ether wave into even greater chaos.
At a glance, it looked like madness.
What meaning could such an act possibly have?
But the answer soon became clear.
[Come... here...]
[Let's go together. Let's go together. Let's go together. Let's go together. Let's go together. Let's go together. Let's go together. Let's go together. Let's go together. Let's go together. Let's go together.]
The rampaging ether wave latched onto Ankelenth.
And like a massive net, it began to drag the dragon down into Mount Noah's crater.
[Let's... go...]
[Come here. Come here. Come here. Come here. Come here. Come here. Come here. Come here. Come here. Come here. Come here. Come here. Come here. Come here. Come here. Come here. Come here. Come here. Come here.]
[Keh. Kekeh. Kekekekeh. Keh. Kekeh. Kekekekeh. Keh. Kekeh. Kekekekeh. Keh. Kekeh. Kekekekeh. Keh. Kekeh. Keh.]
Dragged down like a drowning ghost, Ankelenth let out a ferocious roar.
[Groooooooo!]
Ankelenth struggled desperately to break free of the ether net, but the collective ether, now raging wildly, held power that would later be known as the Great Will.
Even the apex of life couldn't compete against a force wielding godlike power.
[Let's go... together...]
The massive ether wave tried to pull Ankelenth into the crater—but Ankelenth wasn't going down easily.
Though not able to escape the ether net, the dragon dug its claws into the crater's edge and resisted with all its might.
'...It's resisting that?'
Even though it was rampaging uncontrollably, that was an ether force powerful enough to later be called the Great Will.
It wasn't something a living creature should be able to fight against.
And yet Ankelenth, against all odds, was enduring at the edge of the crater.
-KYAAAOOOOOO!
With Ankelenth's roar, the crater shook, and the barely subdued volcanic ash and bombs burst forth again.
BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM──!
CRRRUMBLE!
Thunder roared in the sky, and lightning struck violently through the ash cloud.
Outside the crater, the battle between Ark and the beast horde raged on, and the raining lava bombs once again turned the world into hell.
'This can't go on.'
Surely, Ankelenth couldn't hold out against that overwhelming force forever—but the problem was, Ark didn't have much time left either.
I looked at the man.
Even he—who had until now remained eerily composed—was showing signs of strain, beads of sweat forming on his forehead, proving he was neither god nor demon, but a man.
'Is this the limit?'
The fragile hope that had begun to bud was again being overshadowed by the shadow of despair.
[Groooooooo!]
Ankelenth's struggles shook the crater once more.
At that moment—
SSSHHRRAAAACK!───
A blue light shot from somewhere and surged toward Ankelenth.
BOOOOM!
With an explosive impact, like a bombing run, Ankelenth reeled violently and lost its balance.
It had barely managed to hold on—but the sudden strike threw it off completely.
[Grooooooo!]
Ankelenth desperately dug its forelimbs into the crater's edge, trying to regain footing—but it wasn't enough.
The earlier surprise attack had done serious damage.
'That was...'
Then I saw it.
A blue light embedded in Ankelenth's back, gleaming.
It was a greatsword.
A blue greatsword.
'No way.'
I knew that sword.
No—I couldn't not know it.
'The Moonlight Sword.'
The weapon of the great Kalakin, who would later be known as the Dragon Hunter.
A weapon made solely for Kalakin—and that only Kalakin could wield.
For some reason, it had now appeared in this era.
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