Chapter 288

“Come on, let’s go, so we can save my daughter and save the world at the same time.”

With those words, the Savior strode briskly into Dainhar. His stride was impressive, never hesitating. Ronan, stunned, followed behind him.

“Oh, let’s go there together.”

“I don’t intend to waste any time, so hurry up. Hey, where’s the way to the bridge?”

“Ha, bridge? What’s that?”

The sudden question puzzled Dreaming Thunder. The Savior slowly explained about a place called the Bridge.

“It’s a big, flat space. It’s all white, and there’s machinery and–oh, yeah. There’s this big crystal.”

The Savior spread his arms and drew a circle. Suddenly, a place flashed through Ronan and Thunder’s minds. Unless their memories were distorted, they had been there before. Thunder snapped his fingers at the guess.

“Aha, you mean the Heart of the Ruins, I know it’s there!”

It was here that Ronan had once fought a duel with Teranil, the leader of Nebula Clasier. The shockwaves, the sparks ripping through the ground and leaping up, the blood of the slaughtered natives still fresh in his mind. The Savior stammered.

“The heart–yes. You’re not wrong, can you take me there?”

“Ha, but it’s a sacred place. We can’t go in unless we’re of the tribe—.”

Dreamy thunder tugged at his tail. He glanced anxiously at Ronan. He was asking if the Savior was trustworthy.

It was a holy place, after all. And a shitty way to get there. Ronan nodded, considering.

“You can trust him, I assure you.”

“Great, then. I’ll take you there!”

Thunder’s face brightened at Ronan’s assurance. His trust in Ronan was evident in the fact that he never asked why they were heading to the Holy Land. Thunder strode out, pretending to lead the way.

Ronan and the Savior followed the thunder into Dainhar. With rocky mountains, sand, and metallic outcroppings on all sides, Ronan had to look up to the sky to get some relief.

The night air was still cold. The night sky was unusually beautiful for a desert devoid of artificial light. Ronan walked along, watching the nebula blaze with color.

“Where are you going at this hour, thunder.”

“Huh?”

Suddenly, a familiar voice came from up ahead. All three men turned simultaneously. There stood a gaunt, hulking native man. His thunderous eyes widened.

“Ouch, brother?!”

“You are—.”

Ronan was surprised, too. Like thunder, it was an angry gust of wind, a native of Dainhar who had bonded with him. His eyes locked with Ronan’s, and he greeted him first.

“Ronan. It’s been a while.”

“Sure.”

A colorful hat was placed on the head of the raging gust. As expected, he was the new chieftain. He stormed over and clasped hands with Ronan.

“I was a little worried because I hadn’t heard from you in three years. I’m glad to see he’s healthy.”

“Not as much as you.”

Ronan’s tongue dropped when he saw the gust’s body. It was not human, but a statue carved from obsidian. He had sensed Ronan and the Savior’s presence the moment they entered Dainhar. After greeting them, the gust opened its mouth.

“I’ve heard the story. You’re going to the heart of Dainhar, aren’t you?”

“Oops. Right.”

“Then let me guide you. Thunder is too immature to go alone.”

The angry gust, like his brother, did not ask Ronan why he was heading to the Holy Land; his bones were imprinted with the grace of Ronan and Schlieffen’s past. The dreaming thunder beside him leapt out of place.

“Brother, what do you mean, I can do it right!”

“So did you break a limb on that last trip? If it wasn’t for me, you’d be crippled.”

“Ugh, that’s—.”

“Come on, let’s both go.”

The native brothers were in the midst of a frenzy. Suddenly, the Savior tapped them both on the shoulder. He turned to Ronan and spoke.

“If he passes out, I’ll need someone to carry him or wake him up. He’s a big guy, and Raging Gust, you’re the chief, right?”

“Stunned? Moved? Yep, for now. I am the chief.”

“Then you should come with me more, I’ll tell you the details when we get there, but let’s get going.”

The Savior then tugged on the wrist of a raging gust of wind, a gust with more than one head, but it was helplessly dragged to the Savior and led the way.

“Huh.”

Ronan laughed in disbelief. Shamelessness was a marvelous thing at that level. Suddenly, Thunder, who had been staring at Ronan and the Savior alternately, clapped his hands.

“Oh, look, he looks just like Ronan. Except for the hair color!”

“Because he’s my father.”

“Father? Did Ronan have a father?! Does he have a mother?”

The dreamy thunder asked, eyes wide. If I were a woman, I’d be less surprised than that. Ronan asked, his eyes widening.

“Yum. What do you mean, my coronary has been eaten like an orphan?”

“Hwa, don’t be angry. Ronan is so strong, I honestly thought you were a monster. I’m glad you’re human like the rest of us.”

“Just kidding, but I don’t have either.”

Dreaming Thunder said, embarrassed. It was a joke, of course, and Ronan reassured him with a moderate chuckle. It did bother me a bit, though, that he was human, like us.

“I wonder if I’m human.

Ronan’s lips twisted as he remembered the moment he drank the giant’s blood, and it occurred to him that perhaps, like the Savior or Abel, he would live for all eternity. He snorted in self-reflective distress.

“Mmm–I don’t like that one.”

“Oh, he’s angry again.”

Thunder clenched his shoulders. There were more natives they wanted to greet, but given the circumstances, they decided to save that for later.

“Be careful. If you drown in red water, you won’t find any bones.”

“That’s what we call lava. It’s this boulder.”

The four scaled cliffs, crossed rivers of lava on rickety bridges, and finally reached the long, long hallway that led to the heart. The Savior, staring down the dark hallway, clapped his hands.

“Yeah. Now I remember, the bridge was just past here.”

“You’re quick on the uptake.”

Ronan smirked. At least it was the same place. There were no traps or other hazards here, so he could walk comfortably. Crouching down, Ronan glared at his savior.

“Okay, get up there. Hurry up.”

Of course, there was no time to relax. The Savior casually threw himself onto his son’s back. At the same time, Ronan’s form shot forward. A bang echoed off the ground, followed by the panicked cries of the native brothers.

“Ro, Ronan, I’m coming with you!”

“Wait!”

The gap was closing fast, and Ronan kept going whether he wanted to or not. The problem was that the pathway itself was very long, and even as he picked up his pace, he couldn’t see the end.

The darkness and silence encouraged conversation, but the father and son were not talking. Only the regular sound of footsteps echoed around the room.

A question suddenly flashed through Ronan’s mind. It was a question he’d intended to ask the Savior, a question he’d planned to ask later, when he had more time. The thunder reminded him of the question he had asked earlier.

“Why am I doing this.

Ronan waggled his eyebrows. He didn’t know why, but he had a feeling that if he didn’t ask now, he’d never get the chance. After a moment of silence, Ronan spoke.

“Hey.”

“Why?”

“What was your— mom like?”

“Oh. You’re just now asking about that. You’ve been wondering, haven’t you?”

The Savior smiled. He’d been expecting it, judging by the way he’d been waiting. Ronan felt his face heat up unnecessarily.

“Damn, wouldn’t you be curious, you’re the one who gave birth to me.”

“I know you’re wondering, of course you are, and if you ask me what she was like—well. She was a woman like the sun, your mother.”

The Savior spoke. Ronan listened in silence, though he felt a little sick to his stomach.

“Kasha was a maiden who lived in Nimburton all her life. She had the most beautiful hair, black as the universe. It’s a shame Iril didn’t get to keep it, but I’m so glad you inherited it.”

With that, the Savior began to play with Ronan’s hair. The colors resembling the night sky were unmistakably his wife’s. Ronan frowned.

“Can you please not touch it?”

“It’s not like it’s worn out or anything. Anyway, Kasha was a really nice girl. She wasn’t perfect, but that’s what made her all the more endearing. She was the kind of person who could genuinely be nice to others.”

The Savior’s tone had brightened, and I wondered how he’d managed to hold back on this topic for so long. He rattled off his wife’s virtues without catching his breath.

“She made a great potato stew, she was strong for a girl, she might make mistakes, but she never gave up, but there was one thing that really made me fall for her. Do you know what it is?”

“A face, right?”

“You know your stuff.”

Ronan answered without any hesitation, remembering his mother’s face from his past travels in the mindscape.

She looked just like her sister, only with different hair and eye color. The Savior nodded solemnly.

“Yes. Kasha was more beautiful than anyone. I’ve seen a lot of women in my immeasurable time, but none of them compare, and my vow to leave no blood behind, no matter what, turned into a shit-eating fascination with one look from her eyes.”

“—Good for you for being honest.”

The Savior said he had never intended to date a woman or have children. If his terrifying powers were to become hereditary, something terrible could happen.

In fact, it was his deteriorating version, Abel, who was seeded or cloned by Nebula Clazier’s special organization, the Leucophos.

But Kasha was too beautiful for rational thought, and he was intoxicated by the first heterosexual love of his long life.

It was only the power of love that had kept Abel’s wounds from festering over the years. After a few more words, the Savior closed his eyes wearily.

“Alas, I can still recall that enchanted night so clearly, and it was exactly ten months after that that Iril was born, and your mother tugged at my wrist, saying the starry river was beautiful, and—.”

“Fuck, if I get any further out of there, I’m just going to throw it away.”

Ronan cut the Savior off at the pass; he didn’t want to know that kind of information. At this rate, she was going to tell him all about her sister and the moment she came into the world. After a moment of silence, Ronan smirked.

“Well, thanks anyway.”

“Hmm?”

“Anyway, she was an incredibly nice person, and I was kind of curious because I don’t remember ever really seeing her face.”

Ronan said. In fact, he had no memory of his mother at all. Every year, he and his sister would place flowers on her grave in a sunny spot in Nimburton.

If I hadn’t traveled through the mind world in Sechrit’s chamber in the past, I would have never known his face. The Savior twirled a lock of his hair around his index finger.

“—One of the sins of my life is that I failed to honor your mother’s deathbed. I never felt more cursed than when I cursed you and Iril and then left for the Sea of Wraiths.”

“I can’t help it, I have to live now.”

“I’m glad you say that, and I’m glad I left you behind, for while Iriel had something to call a memory, Ronan did nothing for you.”

His voice was muffled. I could hear the regret in the pitch of his voice. He continued.

“That’s why I gave Iril the needle with my blood on it. I asked her to give it to you on your birthday, the year of your coming of age. I thought it might help you, but—.”

“Big?”

“Actually, I just wanted to see my son all grown up. Selfish property.”

The Savior laughed self-deprecatingly. Ronan said nothing. It was a shame, he thought, but he could do it.

It suddenly occurred to him that his early departure in his previous life had indeed caused a lot of trouble. If only he’d held out until adulthood, he might have found a way to crush the giants for the rest of his days, though that was all moot now.

“They say that blood can only be washed with blood, and I believe there are wounds that only love can heal. Kasha and your brother have helped me forget the despair of being betrayed by Abel, a feeling that never seemed to be erased.”

“That’s good to know.”

“Thank you from the bottom of my heart. It’s about time I said it.”

That was the Savior’s last word. There was no more conversation.

“—That’s true.”

Ronan paused, not deliberately silent, but unable to think of a response.

After exactly three more leaps, he rounded the corner. Suddenly, his vision brightened and a familiar space opened up in front of him.

“Well, we’re here.”