Chapter 58: Live For Me, And.....
For beings who live in eternity, a moment is fleeting.
It was only towards the end of the battle, when something akin to calm had finally settled, that she realized the adopted daughter she had raised now harbored hatred towards her birth mother for being unable to contain her emotions and fleeing.
With such power, you could have simply fled.
Yet, the battle was relentlessly brutal until the very end.
The race you sought to protect is one that doesnt need saving. They are fools, tired of living, who, by merely disappearing, believe themselves to be the rulers of this worlda foolish and arrogant race!
In the end, the so-called hero gasped for air, having exhausted most of her innate power by burning her entire physical being.
Even the remaining strength was more than enough to annihilate humans.
Even if not all were killed, crumbling their proud civilization would plunge them into despair, never to rise again.
Do you think they will be grateful to you for protecting them?
She resented her own daughter for obstructing this.
The one who caused confusion and stood in her way, sword drawn.
Those she sought to protect began to seem as despicable as her daughter.
Those selfish ones who gave you nothing but the title of a hero and eagerly await your killing me do you truly believe they are worth protecting to this extent?
She pleaded for her to step back.
In a cry filled with desperation for the first time, the hero answered.
I believe it is. Because I, raised by such a being, am the same as them.
Despite appearing to crumble at any moment, her gaze still held strength.
She did not hesitate to assert her beliefs.
I realized they have dignity, beliefs, and lives. Despite fighting due to different thoughts, humans are capable of understanding such differences.
All of that is meaningless to me.
But I thought you were no different from them.
It wasnt the last of her fighting spirit but her sympathy that halted her advance.
What do you mean?
I felt love from you, just like the people who took me in and raised me afterward
Having lived in emptiness, she tried to comprehend the clumsiness of her last whim through a human who had grown close to her.
The reason I fled back then was just because I was clumsy and immature. Even after living for ten thousand years, it was my first time raising a child.
Hatred towards the mother who abandoned her was also a first.
In the place where the last flames of her life had risen, what remained was understanding and forgiveness towards her.
As a human, I believe I understand you.
The fallen dragon merely listened to those words.
Maybe one day, you the humans youve trampled on will understand you too.
Even though her lifespan had reached its limit and she was only days away from burning her last flame.
She felt her mind engulfed by the words of the only human who could restrain that impulse and stand in her way.
Please give me a chance to prove that the beings you have so far deemed insignificant have a worth to continue existing in this world.
Perhaps these words were the key to understanding the reason for the confusion she felt.
The attacks of humans, which she could have simply ignored and avoided, annoyed her, and she ended up mercilessly crushing their resistance, continuing her march
What if, even after giving them a chance, they remain the same?
What was the true nature of these emotions that she herself couldnt understand?
Before her life ended, she might understand.
If you, trying to stop me with such a body, concede yourself that humans arent worth protecting will you then quietly accept if I continue what Im doing now?
She hoped for a response, but none came, even with time.
With her last request, the human who had burned everything died.
No matter the dragons power influencing her, her fate was predetermined by her inherent limits.
If it were you
So desperately, still
An understanding yet to be grasped, a child who stood against her.
You would have said yes.
Thus, she would have confidently responded affirmatively to the current question.
By surmising the heart of the adopted daughter she had ultimately killed, the dragon chose to continue its life by forming a contract based on such hypothetical situations.
She decided to proceed with this action, even though it was not necessary, always defining it merely as a whim.
She regretted such whimsical decisions up to this moment.
Afterward, to resist a more severe and vast disaster, they bestowed the title of Hero on those summoned from other worlds, worshipping them as saviors.
The more she witnessed how they tainted their existence and dignity, the more her disillusionment with humanity grew
But how could she directly prove that to the child who became the subject of the contract?
Hero Tachia was already dead, and her name had been completely forgotten by the populace, lost to a declining world and the passage of time.
Even those who could be called her successors were pushed aside by mass-produced heroes from other worlds, leaving no one in this world to provide that answer in her stead.
It was only decades later that she realized this, leading her to refine the soul extracted from that corpse into a weapon.
The weapon born at the end was intended to awaken its own consciousness and gradually develop traits and values similar to that child, waiting for it.
This awakening was to enable it to seek out the potential in humanity that she had begun to hope for, on its own.
Clatter! Bang!
However, before such a time could come, the weapon created for this purpose had become uncontrollable, consumed with rampaging beyond her control.
The weapon was rampaging without a wielder.
Unable to disperse or control its power, it acted on instinct, undermining its own existence.
If left unchecked, the weapon would destroy itself.
Stop.
But how could she stop it?
The vessel containing her power was already pushed to a precarious level, and using her power now to stop it could cause the vessel to collapse.
Please, listen to me. You are
Its annoying, irritating.
Everything that tainted her mood, mixed up her heart since she had forcibly extended this life.
Youre just a tool created for the contract.
What could it be?
Ever since that person died, this uncomfortable feeling has persisted.
Even though she created a clone to understand the standard.
Why did her heart ache so much just from the cries of a being similar to that person?
-Dada
What about that man anyway?
Just by imprinting a name, why does such power cause so much trouble, rampaging and complicating things for her?
-Daddy~~!!!
When that sudden behavior finally stopped, and the moment it flew out of the collapsed workshop into the alleyway, she caught sight of someone who just happened to approach.
Ah.
Her dulled heart began to beat more clearly.
I found it.
It was none other than the replica of the hero.
Realizing that the being who could give the same answer as that child, the one she had chosen to be with, had appeared before her.
T-Tacchia, this situation is
You, make a contract with me.
She was tired of dragging out time.
Whatever the reason, it was fine.
If shed choose this man to replace the living corpse that could hardly stand, then observing from now on would be enough.
Ill give you that weapon.
Wasnt it that man who quickly awakened the long-suppressed consciousness?
If it was in the hands of such a man, swinging and handling it, its growth would accelerate, and eventually, it would fulfill the conditions she desired.
You wanted that weapon, right? Ill give it to you. Just take it.
No longer feeling self-destructive about being controlled by a body forced to recover.
Finally, the moment to be freed from this filthy feeling arrived.
Yes, Ill accept it.
To such a hasty proposition, the other party responded after a moment of silence.
Accepting without having heard the conditions
There must be a reason, but she also deemed that inconsequential.
Because thats what humans are.
Not caring what value this weapon had or for what reason it came into his hands.
Even if the person receiving this weapon died, leading to the extinction of humanity, as long as it wasnt the end shed face, it didnt matter to them.
What do you expect from me, Tacchia?
To the question chosen by the byproduct of the being she wished to protect, the declining dragon answered.
Nothing much. Just do whatever you can with that weapon.
Thats all?
Yes, thats everything.
One step closer to fulfilling that condition, one step closer to achieving more than before.
The declining being, feeling that only one step remained, expressed her earnest wish.
Please, for my sake.
For my sake.
Live with that weapon.
Struggle and then die.
Do your best until you can, with all your might.
Do your utmost to appease the heart of that replica.
Thats all I need.
If that child were still alive, she would surely come to the same conclusion as that weapon.
If she realized there was no hope in that desperate struggle and end, then she could also let go of these emotions and rampage.
Just do that and take the weapon.
Hiding such intentions.
The being who prolonged life on a whim, as defined by herself, poured out desperation towards the hope that had come at this moment.
Regardless of the reason or the goal.
Desperately struggling to prove the value inherent in being human, and then, hoping for death in the end.
Yes.
And this man would surely not understand such sentiments.
Even though he definitely should.
I will accept it. As per your wish.
The face confronting her now clearly revealed the emotions he felt towards her.
Unaware that the fate of humanitys existence or extinction hung on him at this moment.
Showing only kindness towards her, who was feeling triumphant in this moment.
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