Chapter 620: There’s No Evil Dragon Anymore, Old Man

[Dehya looked at everything before her and seemed to mutter to herself: "How did he do it? Limping, evading the guards, sneaking in here to set the fire."]

["You said—if he was so agile, even with the fire, he should have been able to escape smoothly, right?"]

Though she always called her old man childish, at this moment Dehya couldn't help but harbor a "childish" thought.

The fire was too big—Kusayla was already mobility-impaired; how could he possibly escape?

Dehya knew it was impossible, yet she still couldn't help indulging in childish fantasy.

Searching through the ruins, in the end they only found Kusayla's cane.

Dehya's posture was upright, but when stroking the cane, a slight tremble escaped.

There seemed to be something hidden inside the cane—pulling it out, it was Dehya's childhood toy sword; the blade part was somewhat charred black.

This was actually a bit strange, because it was an unopened toy sword—there should have been no reason to draw it.

But the scorch marks on the blade now proved that the sword was unsheathed during the fire—that is to say—

After everything settled, Kusayla drew this sword; he used fairy tale as blade, cleaving open the cage; the sword's edge pointed not at flesh, but at shackles.

Kusayla held the sword high, solemnly speaking his final words—

In the illustration, it was Kusayla—he was engulfed by the flames yet smiling; the searing pain couldn't bend his spine; amid the blaze, the man raised the toy sword high, like a hero in a fairy tale.

Another illustration was Dehya—her expression revealed sadness, eyes full of reluctance; she raised the toy sword high in the ruins, yet as the one saved.

Both were saying the same words:

["'I hereby... declare victory...'"]

At this moment, father and daughter's images overlapped—in the past, Dehya was unwilling to say this final victory declaration, because she thought it childish.

The story childish, the father even more childish—clearly this kind of fairy tale, yet he acted it so devotedly.

The former Dehya sneered at this childishness; only now did she understand—so-called fairy tales are merely the last glimmer of starlight desperately clutched by the despairing.

Now Dehya witnessed her father's "devotion"—he turned the fairy tale into reality.

The daughter's toy sword had no edge, yet it could still slay the "evil dragon."

So now Dehya's voice was gentle and trembling—she stroked the toy sword in her hand and said:

["'There's no evil dragon anymore, old man...'"]

At this moment, everyone's sadness surged to their hearts—no matter what, they couldn't hold it back.

Limping to set the fire, raising a toy sword shouting victory—this was a childish story.

But there was just such a man who turned the story into reality; the childish story became a heroic epic.

Dehya's story was just a very simple story—Kusayla couldn't even be considered a perfect good person—but it was exactly this kind of story that made everyone's emotions uncontainable.

This was the heaviest emotion—it was simple, unadorned, yet like a bulldozer relentlessly flattening everyone's psychological defenses.

The previous Cyno story was about father and son; this time Dehya's story was father and daughter.

Their identities were completely opposite—one a Matra, one a mercenary.

But their identities were the same—great fathers.

The daughter's toy sword, the son's experiment notebook—in fathers' eyes, both were so precious.

Now the readers understood why Lucian released these two stories together—this was simply resonance damage.

No matter which one read first then the other—this was mutual "whetting" assistance.

Readers wiped tears—really couldn't withstand this kind of family affection knife.

Readers said: we've always been unable to handle family affection knives, lifespan knives, friendship knives, fairy tale knives, hot-blooded knives, BE knives, and happy ending knives.

What they didn't expect even more was that the story had a follow-up—here was already emotional climax, yet unexpectedly there was another explosive tail kill afterward.

After resolving the "Remnants of the God King" issue, everyone returned to the rainforest—"Remnants of the God King" was arrested by the "Corps of Thirty," while "Dakan al-Ahmar"'s people chose to turn themselves in.

The outcome of "Remnants of the God King" was within expectations—what surprised everyone was "Dakan al-Ahmar"'s surrender.

Everything Kusayla did was to ensure his daughter would never touch this darkness, while also rescuing the "trapped" mercenaries.

"Dakan al-Ahmar"'s people were rescued, but they didn't choose freedom—instead, they chose atonement.

Perhaps they had long wanted to do this, but under "Remnants of the God King"'s oppression, they lost the courage to escape or surrender.

Kusayla's sacrifice not only saved them but also gave them courage.

Just like they themselves said: "Isn't it like this in stories? The protagonist's spirit infects the saved; more and more people stand up."

This standing up was not only in resistance but also in bearing.

When these mercenaries surrendered, they probably still thought: "Gotta stand straight—can't lose face for the leader."

In the story, another saved person, Dehya, was sitting in the tavern with low spirits.

Her low mood was inevitable—Dehya had always thought her current life path had nothing to do with her father, that she forged it herself.

But now the truth was—all her paths from birth to now were well protected by her father.

What made Dehya even more distressed was that the father who protected her was gone—she didn't even have a chance to see him one last time.

The book wrote that Paimon saw Dehya's sadness and proactively ordered a lot, a lot of good food.

One must know Paimon is usually very reluctant to spend money on food for others—at this time willing to buy good eats for Dehya shows how much she likes Dehya in her heart.

[Dehya thanked: "Thank you, truthfully—this isn't like me at all. Along the way, my mood has been very complicated; I don't know what to say."]

["My chest is filled with all sorts of intense emotions—stronger than any previous adventure."]

["But when things come to an end, they all disappear; I also feel emptier than ever."]

This kind of emotion Yae Miko understood—back when she read her own story, it was this feeling.

Chest filled with various emotions yet not knowing what to say—after everything ends, feeling empty.

The root cause is "loss"—because truly bidding farewell to an important person.

Words not said in time during the last parting—this parting, still not said out loud, because... from the heart hoping to meet again.

The current Dehya really wanted to tell her old man: "I'm living very happily now, really."

So... your efforts weren't in vain, old man.

===✧✦✧===

Character Voice Lines · Navia: About Kusayla

"What a great person—reminds me of my own father, haha... I didn't cry."