Meanwhile, inside that dome-shaped energy barrier.
Morpheus was on the ground, his pulse growing weaker by the minute as if counting his last breaths. A handle of a dagger could be seen sticking out from his chest.
In his eyes, the world was turning blurry and slowly losing its colors.
Only the fiery redness of the flames behind Ember remained bright, like a splash of color on a faded painting. Perhaps it was a blessing that the last sight he'd get to see before his death was Ember's flame phoenix.
'How beautiful,' he could not help but think as his heartbeats began to slow. 'She has the most beautiful wings...perhaps if there's a next life...a mere eagle like me can also...'
"M-Morph, don't die please," he heard a voice continuously say beside him like a prayer.
It was the spoiled but still adorable little fox, Isa, and she was crying and begging, looking so pitiful, his heart ached. This was someone he treated like a little sister.
At this moment, she was covered in his blood, her beautiful face white as a sheet. Her hand was placed above him, and she was casting a basic healing spell with whatever energy was left in her. Something was wrong with her energy core, but despite that, she was squeezing out her remaining divine power into his weak body, trying to protect the last of his vitality.
However, Isa was no healer in the first place, and the strength of the divine weapon could not be negated by a mere basic spell.
She was only delaying the inevitable.
"D-Don't cry," Morpheus raised his hand to wipe her tears. "I..."
Cough!
He coughed out blood and was unable to say anything.
Isa gripped Morpheus' hand and continued to force her powers into him. "No, no, you have to hold on, please! I will do something. Don't give up--"
Morpheus' dull senses caught movement at the periphery. It seemed like someone had arrived.
'In the end, he came.'
A triumphant smile lingered on Morpheus' pale face when he noticed a certain red-eyed man from outside the barrier.
Although his vision was deteriorating, there was no need to guess who it was since there was only one person with red eyes within Agartha--that arrogant Black Dragon.
'This powerful Dragon. Thala's plan could not hold him back any longer. But still was enough to keep him away from here.'
It seemed like the Dragon was trying but failing to break through the barrier. He could only imagine Draven's expression at this moment. Had he thrown away that irritating expressionless mask of his? Was he staring at him with a face full of worry? Guilt? Anger?
He wanted to mock Draven, to boast how he managed to successfully pull a scheme without him knowing and that he successfully changed his destiny.
Morpheus was able to fight against destiny--in a sense, this could be considered a miraculous achievement that not even Draven had achieved.
'You dimwit... hah, you're still so annoying...Ugh, it hurts...I wish I could punch you one last time...haah...You better make a nice grave as a sign of thanks...and don't ever make your mate cry...if you do, I'll crawl out of my grave and haunt you...'
Memories of their early camaraderie flashed before him.
Back then, he really thought he'd call Draven his brother-in-law.
It's a pity he could not see his sister one last time...
If only things were different...
"Morph! No! Don't close your eyes!" Isa screamed.
In desperation, red fox tails appeared behind her. However, instead of three, there were merely two tails and one was even starting to dissipate into pure divine power, which she planned to inject into Morpheus' body.
To think the young lady of the Divine Fox Clan would sacrifice a tail to preserve his last breath! That was worth hundreds of years of bitter cultivation! It was her own lifeforce! Not to forget once a divine fox loses their tail, that lost tail would never grow back and they could never have nine tails when all these foxes do is to dedicate their lifetime to grow those nine tails. Hardly the numbers countable on fingers could achieve it.
"Isa, what are you doing?! Stop!"
Even if she did this, he would still die! She was wasting her divine powers for nothing!
The moment he felt her lifeforce being transferred, Morpheus forcefully interrupted their connection and pushed her hand away, causing Isa to fail in sacrificing her tail.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I just don't want you to die. Please don't die, Morph!" she sobbed. "Don't die, don't leave us! It's all my fault and I need to save you."
Perhaps it was due to his anger, Morpheus was able to get back some strength in his body. He found his vision clear a bit, and he could somehow move his limbs a little.
Only then did he notice the crowd outside the barrier, and he somehow felt sentimental seeing the faces of the people he used to bicker with for years.
He noticed his nephew who he got to meet just a while back and now it was time to separate from him. He could see what Aureus was feeling at this moment, he must have felt hurt and betrayed.
'I hope you will forgive me Aureus for keeping you in the dark...for being such a disappointment as your uncle, for not being able to spend more time with you... for once again making you feel this pain...for taking your blood to fulfill my plan...the plan where you lose your only family...please forgive me...'
Morpheus saw his uncle Agraleus who looked hurt and he could not help but be thankful to him for looking after him like his own son.
Just as Morpheus was starting to feel guilt at the sight of his uncle and nephew, his attention was quickly diverted by the pitiful screams of those tortured under Ember's hands.
A suffocating power erupted from her body.
'Killing intent!'
Screech!
The fire phoenix behind Ember seemed to let out a furious silent cry before flapping its mighty wings towards the three shapeshifters.
Whoosh!
Flames devoured their bodies, turning them into blackened corpses that gradually scattered into ashes.
The strength of that attack made even Morpheus fearful. His instincts were telling him that he was in great danger, that he should stay away from that phoenix, that the master of those flames had already lost her reason. He would be set on fire the moment he approached her.
Because she was no longer Ember.
That woman was a fire itself.
There was only the raging desire to burn everything in her path.
Yet knowing he was bound to die either way, Morpheus moved. Between dying by pitifully bleeding on the ground or dying in the hands of the woman he loved, it was an easy choice to make.
With the outside world isolated from within, only he could stop Ember's rampage.
The next moment, the fire phoenix behind Ember grew bigger and more ferocious, and the temperature of the flames around her rose along with her killing intent.
Killing those three shapeshifters didn't satisfy her anger--it only fueled her desire to burn the world and let all living beings know of her rage.
It pained Morpheus to see her like this.
'I need to stop her. I need to.'
He closed his eyes briefly and tried to gather whatever strength left in him. He wanted to pull out the dagger from his chest, but it was impossible to remove it unless its purpose had been achieved--meaning, he had to die first for it to be removed.
His body was breaking down, and only through sheer willpower was he making his body move.
"Morph, you are hurt. Stay still. Why are you standing--"
Morpheus staggered to his feet. He had no energy left to spare for anything else. His consciousness was starting to grow blurry as well, but he steeled himself. One last mission before his death.
'To stop Ember...'
'Stop Ember...'
'Stop her...'
His large gray wings spread behind him. Compared to their original beautiful feathers, they looked rather dirty and lackluster, with some feathers broken and falling off. It could be seen from their state that their owner's power could no longer sustain their form.
Morpheus then let out a grunt as he caused his core to explode, sacrificing his bloodline in order to gather enough divinity in his broken body.
Whoosh!
The strands of his hair turned to gold, and his gray wings became majestic and beautiful once more, its color a shiny golden color comparable to the morning sun. Divine power pulsed through as he squeezed out the potential of his bloodline.
Morpheus was back to his peak form, the strongest Divine Eagle and the most respected among the warriors of Agartha, even if it would only last for a few moments.
This golden battle form was the image of Morpheus admired by all warriors in their hearts but they didn't know they were going to see it for the last time.
"Commander...he is alive..."
"I knew it! How can a mere dagger hurt our Commander. Back in the days, he even survived being hit by ten arrows!"
"Indeed! He can stop the human now!"
"It's not easy to disable the Commander. He is so powerful, he can still fight even if injured."
Those with less perception started to cheer, but Draven along with the powerful council members had grim expressions on their faces. Those from the Divine Eagle race started to tear up as they knew what harm Morpheus had caused to himself.
"M-Morph..." Agraleus had no words to say as his eyes reddened. Being a divine beast himself, he was aware of what his nephew had done. After this, even if his nephew survived by miracle, he would be crippled.
'U-Uncle?' Aureus got another shock and ended up taking a step back in disbelief. He felt like he was lost somewhere and was just seeing things. He didn't want to see it, he was not ready for this, not ready to lose his uncle.
Draven felt like he was trapped in a nightmare, forced to watch a tragedy unfold without being able to do anything. It was even ironic because his surroundings were filled with people ignorantly cheering, unaware of the truth.
After this...he could not imagine what would happen after this.
Inside the barrier, Morpheus in his glorious golden form shook off Isa and flew towards Ember.
"Ember! Can you hear me? It's me, Morph! Your friend, Morph! Wake up! You have to stop--"
The woman wrapped in flames did not respond. She looked like she could not see or hear anyone.
However, the flames around her continued to deepen in color, their temperature rising to the point the rocks under her were starting to melt, and the fire phoenix behind her continued to condense an attack...
...as if...
...as if it was preparing to burn him to death.
"Ember!"
Morpheus knew who was her next target. The one closest to her.
It was him.
"Ember,! Wake up! You have to stop. This is not you!"
But the enraged divine being in front of him could not hear him. The phoenix behind her let out a soundless screech, causing an invisible force to hit his gut. This caused him to fly out like a meteor outwards, and he coughed out blood as he slammed against the solid barrier.
The divine energy around him fluctuated, fading a bit, and when he raised his head, he found Ember changing her target.
Because he received that attack, Morpheus was no longer the one nearest to her. It was the trembling- Divine Fox, Isa.
'I cannot let her take another life.'
Morpheus understood communication would not work on the current Ember. With a determined gaze, he lunged towards her.
She was wrapped in flames, but he didn't care. He was dying anyway.
What he could not tolerate was her having blood on her hands. She had already killed three people. He had to stop her from committing more kills. Once she regained her consciousness and learned she had murdered people in cold blood...
"Ember! Please stop--"
Morpheus ignored the pain of fire burning against his skin. Even with his divinity surrounding his body, his feathers were starting to be scorched. Still, he extended his arms and wrapped Ember in a tight embrace.
"Come back to me, Ember...I know you can hear me..."
It was as if the raging flames froze for a second.
"P-Please stop... Your fire is hurting your best friend..."
Though he was in his most powerful divine form, his defenses were nothing compared to the rampaging of a deity's power. This was even restrained by the laws of the mortal world. If she was truly to use her hellfire in its complete form, forget about the palace, at least half of Agartha would have been reduced to ashes already.
"Little female...I'm dying but...at least..."
Tears fell on the bare skin of her shoulder, and the next moment, the fire phoenix collapsed to nothingness.
Morpheus tightened his hold around her, but his senses had long lost their functions. He did not notice the fire had disappeared because his skin had already lost its ability to feel. He did not notice the situation changing because his eyes could no longer see. His nose could no longer smell his scorched body or her sweet scent, and his ears could no longer hear the sound of someone weeping from a distance.
'...this kind of...death...satisfied...'
His heart had already stopped beating, and his body was starting to grow cold. Even willpower could not defy death.
At this point, it was Ember keeping them afloat, holding onto his body that was slowly turning gray and lifeless.
'..beautiful ...to die...protecting you...the one I...'
The rest of his words would remain unsaid forever.
Divine Eagle Morpheus had died.
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