100 – The Last Dance
“Tomorrow is my execution day.”
Serena stated matter-of-factly.
Even a princess couldn’t avoid responsibility for treason.
“I wanted to hear your voice for the last time. Yes. That’s the end. You can leave now.”
Of course, Ascal could tell that it was a lie.
Because he was now overcome with drowsiness.
“Hold on, didn’t I tell you not to come?”
Ascal ignored Serena’s words and approached the dungeon.
“I too look terrible.”
Absent luster in the hair, a face dried out without moisture.
Serena, who had been hanging her head, raised her face.
“…You look better than I thought, you liar. You lied again.”
“Lied again? …Ah.”
He remembered.
Ascal looked at Serena’s ears.
…There were no earrings on either ear.
Only one ear seemed to have been forcibly yanked and torn.
“I’m sorry. I forgot.”
“It’s good you’re honest, yeah. It’s okay now.”
The promised Jewel Repayment Festival.
The promise to return the jewelry was forgotten in the sudden attack of the dragon.
“Really, I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay, isn’t it? Now go.”
Serena refused to talk any longer.
In the end, Ascal had no choice but to turn and leave.
The next day.
The mastermind of the rebellion, the second princess of the empire,
Serena Barba was executed.
The empire was noisy for a while, but people quickly returned to their daily lives.
Beneath it all were the efforts and sacrifices of countless officials and nobles.
In particular, Ascal and Bernstein, side by side, were having a tough time as the Prime Minister and Deputy.
Within the Imperial Palace, sharing the same office.
“Enough, please kill me……”
“Is this life? Death? What defines a person?”
＜Resignation is not permitted.＞
＜”Resignation is not permitted.”＞
＜”Resignation is not permitted.”＞
＜”Resignation is not permitted.”＞
Every day, he submitted his resignation, but it was, of course, rejected.
The crown prince, no, now Emperor Kain Barba, visited the office.
“Good news.” “Once I deal with these things today, I’ll be able to sleep.”
“How many hours?”
“Three hours.”
“Oh, to think I could sleep for three hours…”
Ascal was overwhelmed.
And then he quickly realized something was wrong.
‘How did it come to this?’
It was supposed to be a promise to retire after defeating the dragon.
He had naturally become a prime minister.
-“Given the current state of affairs, we’re short-handed. Please endure until the country stabilizes.”
He was hooked by Kain’s smooth talk.
‘This is not life.’
Ascal glanced at Kain’s dirty boots.
It seemed he had been outside, with dirt and grass stuck to them.
“Did you go hunting?”
Kain smiled.
“You certainly have a way with words.”
Pierre, Kain’s horse, was ridden around by him, replacing the housebound Ascal.
It was supposed to be a promise that he’d only ride three times.
“Please, return Fer to me…”
“hahahaha, don’t you think Fer now considers me his master rather than you?”
“No… This can’t be…”
“Thanks to competent subordinates like you, I have plenty of time to enjoy hunting. Well, carry on with your work today!”
Cain left the office.
Aresk aimlessly stared out the window.
From Noble mtl dot com
He felt like jumping.
What was so different between now and his dreams where he was living while being held by Yulia?
“Still, the empire is peaceful. Ah, here’s your coffee. I put a lot of sugar in it.”
There was indeed something different.
That tyrant Yulia, with a small smile, brought coffee to both Aresk and Bernstain.
With her hair tied up.
“When could I possibly retire, Lia?”
“Hmm… considering the current volume of work, and observing the future political climate of the empire…”
Lia gave a thoughtful response.
“Apparently you could retire in about fifty years.”
“Goodbye, world.”
Right then, Aresk jumped out of the window.
Clang–!
There was no damage.
“…It doesn’t hurt.”
The body that had become a Swordmaster was unnecessarily sturdy.
The serving staff who were cleaning around spoke as they watched Ascal.
“You have leaped out again today.”
“A familiar scene…”
Ascal, who had returned to his office, waited until nightfall.
And then, he attempted to escape.
“This is the 34th time, son. Now, draw your sword.”
The one waiting was his father, Arther Devere.
Arther, who had become a Swordmaster after a struggle with a dragon, now felt overwhelmed in face of opposition, different from his past self.
“Please, fight me one on one.”
“Why should I?”
Moreover, it wasn’t a one-on-one fight.
From the side, the elite forces of the imperial special operations appeared.
“Let’s go, guys! Capture the Grand Sage!”
“Wooooooo!”
Life is sh*tty.
The sky, the wind is fresh.
Ascal, who had reclaimed Fer from Cain, was flying in the sky.
If he didn’t relieve stress in this way, he felt like he would go insane.
‘The Sacred Tree is even visible from here now…’
The Sacred Tree, which had grown incredibly fast at one point, had become one of the symbols of the empire.
Ascal had decided to fly towards the sacred tree today.
From below, the Evaluation building was visible.
Numerous memories surfaced.
Those were good times, at the Evaluation.
“Let’s fly a bit higher, Fer.”
Ascal flew up until leaves from the sacred tree were visible.
With all this walking, various thoughts came to mind.
For instance, what if he had returned the earrings to Serena before going to the dragon?
‘It’s past now. It’s not like I can go back.’
-I’ll make it happen.
“?”
That’s when lightning struck.
Ascal and Fer were shaking as if they had been struck by lightning.
‘Just, just hang on.’
Startled Fer began to fly at an unnaturally high speed, radiating all over.
“Hold, hold on!”
The speed was abnormal.
It kept accelerating.
“At this rate, we’ll surpass the speed of light!”
The golden pegasus surpassed the speed of light.
Ascal passed out.
Ascal woke up.
For a while, Ascal who could not compose himself, dismounted from Fer and looked around.
It was the familiar streets of the capital of the empire.
And strangely, the streets were bustling with people.
“It’s all about the chicken skewers at the mythology festival! Everyone, buy one! If you buy two now, you get one for free!”
“Sulhwaje.”
“Have we really gone back in time?”
Ascal gazed up at the sky.
The dragon has yet to appear.
“If that’s the case, I can now go to Serena.”
It was still broad daylight.
Once again, Ascal hurriedly flew to the abandoned building where the Lunar Extreme was, on the back of Fehr.
And then he descended swiftly.
There lay Serena, as expected.
“Princess Serena.”
Serena turned around.
“…Darling, did you really come?”
What he had only imagined was happening in reality.
Now, all he needed to do was return the earring to Serena.
But then.
Ascal’s face hardened as he rummaged through his pocket.
‘No way the earring would still be here…’
There’s no choice.
Ascal bowed his head.
“I am sorry. I have lost the earring. But I will purchase a similar one for you.”
“You lost it? Can’t be helped. I’m still grateful that you came.”
Serena smiled brightly.
“And come with me to Windmoor Plains.”
Ascal explained to Serena about the dragon.
“Of course, darling.”
Ascal surreptitiously clenched his hand.
‘Great, everything’s sorted out now.’
Ascal returned to the future on the back of Fehr.
The empire was in flames.
“No, why. Again. Again. Why.”
He needed to understand what was going on.
As Ascal entered the royal palace on Fer, he was shocked to see the figure sitting on the throne.
Crowned, was Yulia Barba.
She was toying with a chess piece using her fingers.
“Li-Lia.”
“I wondered where you had gone, you were here, Ascal. Weren’t you looking for me?”
He had to run away.
He had to run away.
He had to run away.
“Where are you running to!”
Ascal narrowly managed to escape.
‘Let’s go back to the old tactics.’
Without giving Serena the earring, they went together to Windmoon Plains only for Yulia to become a tyrant.
‘This time, let’s bring an expensive earring.’
Only in the shops where the nobles visit, Ascal picked out the most expensive earrings and brought them to Serena.
“…I’m pleased, darling.”
Then, after going back to Windmoon Plains, he returned to the future.
‘This time it’s perfect.’
The empire was in flames again.
“Wow, this is really hard. Who is it this time?”
Ascal, who had ridden Fer, entered the royal palace.
The one sitting on the throne.
“Crown Prince, why?”
Cain Barva.
He was the Crown Prince.
“Come in, my minister. It was just getting boring.”
“What is the meaning of all this? Why is the empire burning while you’re emperor?”
Cain flicked his ears and chuckled.
“Oh, that. I set it on fire.”
“Excuse me?”
“I was bored.”
How did the sane crown prince – well, he was never quite sane to begin with, but how did he become like this?
This was beyond a tyrant – it was a violent tyrant.
What kind of bloodline was this imperial family?
Ascal gave up trying to understand.
And rode on Feur to return to the past.
“Let’s not catch the dragon.”
“Didn’t you say now is the chance?”
“I think the dragon, once burnt, will not attack the empire again.”
Ascal convinced his party.
Everyone was skeptical but once Ascal insisted, they accepted.
He explained the situation to Serena once more, and returned to the future.
‘Will it really be okay this time? Surely the dragon isn’t the emperor now?’
The empire was not on fire.
Instead, strange gears were revolving around the buildings.
And giant golems were roaming the streets.
“What is this now.”
Ascal rushed into the royal palace. The one sitting on the throne was…
“Quickly now, my dear friend. I, Emperor Bernstein, have been waiting for you.”
“What the hell…”
Bernstein’s mustache glittered.
Swearing, Ascal hurriedly rode Pher and returned to the past.
He tried giving Serena a bouquet of flowers instead of earrings.
Suddenly, the empire transformed into a republic.
He tried just giving up and staying home.
Suddenly, the Allied Nations invaded, and a world war broke out.
He consulted with Yulia.
When she suggested that it might be best for him to become a tyrant, he immediately ran away.
He retried dozens, hundreds of times, but the future kept changing in strange ways.
The golden shine of Pher seemed to be fading more and more.
Ascal intuitively felt that he didn’t have many opportunities left.
‘Should everything go back to the way it was originally?’
No.
By this point, he had become obstinate.
Upon returning to the past again, Ascal decided to try a slightly different method this time.
“So, that’s why it happened, Serena. I’m tired of using formal language now. What should I do?”
“…What a strange turn of events.”
Serena put her hands on her hips, as if in disbelief.
Then, after some thought, she said,
“You haven’t tried one thing yet, have you? Try giving me an earring.”
“No matter where I look, I can’t see where it went.”
Indeed.
Every attempt to find Serena’s single earring had proved futile.
“It’s right here, isn’t it?”
Serena tapped her earring gently with her finger.
“……”
Pulling one earring off, Serena offered it to Ascal.
“Here, take it.”
“Are you sure about this?”
“Yes. But I have a request.”
“Let me hear it.”
Putting her hands together, Serena shared her request.
“Tell the Serena who gives you this earring that you love her. Then, she would become the happiest Serena in the world.”
“What if… what if it’s a lie?”
“That’s okay. Because I believe in myself.”
Serena smiled brightly.
“I’ll definitely make you fall for me. To the extent that you won’t ever be able to escape. Brace yourself!”
With that said, Serena bade Ascal goodbye.
And so, Ascal held one earring, and began his journey back for the first time.
His hair has grown longer, his beard has grown, and his clothes have been soiled with sweat, but he has no moment to care for such details.
The time was night.
‘I cannot even return in the daytime now.’
It could be his last chance.
He was running out of time.
Ascal hurriedly made his way towards where Serena was.
A dark building.
From a distance, he could see Serena.
Bathed in moonlight, she appeared to be smoking.
Weirdly enough, he didn’t feel sleepy now.
“The smoke has thickened.”
Serena turns towards me.
Surprised.
Askel goes to Serena, holding an earring.
And then.
+
He was faced with a dragon.
Now, he couldn’t go back to the future.
He had to face the result of his last choice.
The Lightvein suddenly lit up.
“We calculate the user’s achievements. Your current rank is the overwhelmingly first among the continent’s humanoids. Also, in The Greatest Of All Time ranking, you hold first place. Would you like to promote?”
– I, the dragon of the beginning, Karnax, surrender.
But why?
Update!!!
Bro what is this clifhanger
NO!!! WHY!!! THERE ARE ONLY THREE CHAPTERS LEFT!!