Chapter 81 — The Dragon's Forgotten Tale

Narrator

Five years ago...

The night was quiet.

The forest outside the small shelter had fallen asleep beneath a silver moon.

Leaves moved gently in the cold breeze.

A small fire burned near the entrance.

And beside it...

a five-year-old V sat quietly, wrapped in a warm blanket.

Liza sat beside him.

Her enormous dragon form rested peacefully beneath the moonlight, but her eyes carried a softness that only V ever saw.

V looked up at her.

"Mom."

Liza lowered her head.

"Hm?"

"Tell me a story."

Liza smiled.

"Again?"

V nodded.

"Yes."

"You have already heard all the stories I know."

V thought for a moment.

Then he frowned.

"Then tell me something different."

Liza raised an eyebrow.

"Different?"

V nodded.

"I don't want another normal story."

He looked at the fire.

"I want one that is... different."

Liza stared at him for a moment.

Then a soft laugh escaped her.

"Alright."

She shifted slightly closer to him.

"Then I'll tell you a story."

V looked up.

"Which one?"

Liza's expression became quieter.

"One my father told me..."

She looked toward the moonlit sky.

"...when I was a child."

V's eyes widened slightly.

"Your father?"

"Yes."

V immediately became interested.

"What was he like?"

Liza smiled faintly.

"That's a story for another day."

V puffed his cheeks.

"But you said you'd tell me a story."

"I said I'd tell you one."

She gently touched his head with one claw.

"So listen carefully."

V settled beneath the blanket.

"Okay."

Liza looked toward the dancing flames.

"The story begins..."

"...before this world had a name."

And her voice slowly carried V into a story...

older than kingdoms,

older than dragons,

and older than the memories of almost every living creature.

"In the beginning..."

"There was nothing."

"No forests."

"No oceans."

"No mountains."

"No kingdoms."

"No people."

"Not even the stars."

"There was only darkness."

"And within that darkness..."

"stood the Creator."

"Bramhosh."

V whispered,

"The Creator..."

Liza nodded.

"Bramhosh looked upon the empty existence..."

"and decided to create a world."

"But creating an entire world was not a simple task."

"So Bramhosh created two Cosmic Beings."

V tilted his head.

"Two?"

"Yes."

"The first was created to help Bramhosh build the world."

"The second was created to remain beside Bramhosh..."

"...to serve him."

V thought about that.

"Why did he need two?"

Liza smiled.

"Because even a creator may need someone beside him."

V nodded as if that answer made perfect sense.

Liza continued.

"The first Cosmic Being worked beside Bramhosh."

"Day after day."

"Night after night."

"He helped shape mountains."

"Raise oceans."

"Create forests."

"Give the sky its stars."

"And slowly..."

"the world began to exist."

"But something unexpected happened."

V looked curious.

"What?"

"The Cosmic Being began to love the world he was helping create."

V blinked.

"Love?"

"Not at first."

"At first, he was simply curious."

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"He wanted to understand every part of the world."

"So he worked harder."

"Every day."

"Every night."

"He learned about the rivers."

"The mountains."

"The creatures."

"The changing sky."

"The warmth of sunlight."

"The darkness of night."

"And as the years passed..."

"his curiosity became something deeper."

"He wanted to see the world himself."

V frowned.

"But he helped make it."

"Yes."

"So why couldn't he go?"

Liza's expression became slightly more serious.

"Because there were rules."

V became quiet.

"The world was created by Bramhosh."

"And the Cosmic Being had a duty."

"He was not meant to interfere with the world."

V looked down.

"But he only wanted to see it."

"Yes."

Liza smiled faintly.

"And sometimes..."

"wanting something innocent can still lead someone across a forbidden line."

Years passed.

The Cosmic Being waited.

Until one night...

Bramhosh fell asleep.

The Cosmic Being quietly entered the world.

At first...

he only watched.

He walked through villages.

He watched people laugh.

He watched families eat together.

He watched children run through fields.

He saw people cry.

He saw people celebrate.

He saw kindness.

He saw cruelty.

He saw happiness.

He saw sadness.

And he realized something.

The world was not what he had imagined.

It was better.

And worse.

It was beautiful...

because it was imperfect.

One day...

he met a girl.

Her name was Misty.

She was human.

And unlike the Cosmic Being...

she knew nothing about the world beyond her small village.

But Misty knew something he didn't.

She knew how people lived.

She knew why they laughed.

Why they cried.

Why they forgave.

Why they fought.

So they began talking.

Every day.

The Cosmic Being asked questions.

Misty answered.

Then Misty asked questions.

And the Cosmic Being discovered that...

he didn't know the world he had helped create as well as he thought.

V quietly asked,

"Did Misty know he was a Cosmic Being?"

Liza smiled.

"No."

"Then what did she think he was?"

"Just another person."

V nodded.

"That's better."

Liza looked at him for a moment.

"Why?"

"Because then she talked to him normally."

Liza laughed softly.

"Perhaps."

Their meetings continued.

One day became many.

Many became years.

And somewhere between those conversations...

friendship became affection.

Affection became love.

And love became something neither of them expected.

The Cosmic Being fell in love with Misty.

V's eyes widened slightly.

"Did he tell her?"

Liza smiled.

"Eventually."

"Was he nervous?"

"Very."

V giggled.

Liza continued.

"Then one day..."

"Misty asked him a question."

"What?"

Liza looked toward the fire.

"She asked him to marry her."

V immediately smiled.

"Did he say yes?"

Liza laughed.

"He tried not to."

"Why?"

"Because he knew he was breaking a rule."

"So he made excuses."

V frowned.

"That's bad."

"It was."

"Then why didn't he leave?"

Liza's eyes softened.

"Because sometimes..."

"the heart doesn't listen to rules."

V became quiet.

"And eventually..."

"he couldn't run from the truth anymore."

"He accepted."

"The two married."

But secrets rarely remain hidden forever.

The second Cosmic Being discovered what had happened.

The one who had always remained beside Bramhosh.

The one who had never left his side.

The one who had followed every command.

He immediately went to Bramhosh.

And told him everything.

When Bramhosh learned that his first Cosmic Being had entered the world...

and married a human...

he became furious.

"You broke my rule."

"You entered the world without permission."

"And you bound yourself to a human."

The Cosmic Being remained silent.

Then Bramhosh spoke the punishment.

"From this day onward..."

"You will return to that world."

"You will be hated."

"You will suffer."

"You will die..."

"and be born again."

"You will die again..."

"and be born again."

"Whether you are guilty or innocent..."

"the world will call you evil."

"And from this day onward..."

"You will be known as a Demon."

V's expression changed.

"A Demon?"

Liza nodded.

"Yes."

"But..."

Liza paused.

"There was someone who disagreed."

The second Cosmic Being stepped forward.

He looked at Bramhosh.

"Father..."

V looked up.

"Father?"

Liza smiled.

"They had spent countless Cosmic years together."

"To him..."

"Bramhosh was not simply a creator."

"He was family."

"So he said..."

'This is not right.'

'We have served you.'

'We have helped you.'

'We are like your sons.'

'How can you punish him forever for loving someone?'

Bramhosh listened.

He did not answer immediately.

For a long time...

he remained silent.

Then his anger faded.

Not completely.

But enough.

And instead of removing the punishment...

he changed its meaning.

"The path you chose cannot be erased."

"But it does not have to end in darkness."

"I will send you into that world first..."

"as a dragon."

"And when you die for the first time..."

"you will be known as the Demon King."

"The King of dark powers."

V's eyes widened.

"The Demon King?"

Liza nodded.

"But that name will not decide who you become."

"Your journey will."

"Your story will begin in darkness."

"But slowly..."

"you will learn what it means to do the right thing."

"You will make mistakes."

"You will lose."

"You will suffer."

"But you will also learn."

"The world I imagined from above..."

"you could not build from above."

"So..."

"you will build it from below."

V stared at the fire.

For a moment, he said nothing.

Then he asked quietly,

"Was Bramhosh still angry?"

Liza looked at him.

"Perhaps."

"But..."

"he was also a father."

"And sometimes..."

"a father's anger can exist beside a father's love."

Bramhosh then gave the first Cosmic Being a blessing.

"Your birth will begin with sorrow."

"But sorrow will not be your entire life."

"After it..."

"you will slowly find happiness."

"You chose a human."

"So I will give you another gift."

"You will meet many different people."

"You will travel through different places."

"You will learn different kinds of things."

"And whenever you begin walking toward the wrong path..."

"someone will appear."

"Someone will reach for you."

"Someone will remind you..."

"that you are not alone."

The Cosmic Being said nothing.

But for the first time...

his punishment no longer sounded like an ending.

It sounded like a journey.

Bramhosh then looked at the second Cosmic Being.

"From today onward..."

"you will take his place."

"And remember."

"Do not make the same mistake."

"You are forbidden from interfering with that world."

The second Cosmic Being bowed.

"I understand."

Bramhosh turned away.

And began creating another world.

Leaving behind...

the world where the story had already begun.

Liza stopped.

The fire crackled softly.

V stared at her.

"Mom..."

"Hm?"

"Was that dragon happy?"

Liza looked at him.

A small smile appeared.

"That..."

"is the part of the story nobody knows."

V thought for a moment.

"Then maybe..."

"he should be happy."

Liza gently touched his head with one claw.

"Perhaps he will be."

V smiled.

Then slowly leaned against her.

The forest remained quiet.

Above them...

the moon moved between the clouds.

Liza looked toward the sky.

For reasons V did not understand...

there was something strangely sad in her eyes.

But she said nothing.

She simply remained beside him.

Present day.

The wheels of the carriage rolled over the ancient road.

The trees of Death Forest were slowly becoming thinner.

Sunlight returned between the branches.

The oppressive darkness of the forest began to fade.

The royal procession was finally approaching the edge.

V sat quietly inside the carriage.

Tiami rested beside him.

She looked smaller than the ancient dragon the Earth Dragon had bowed to.

But V knew better.

He remembered the moment.

The ancient eyes.

The lowered head.

The respect.

He glanced at Tiami.

She looked back.

V quietly communicated through their Soul Bond.

"You scared that dragon."

Tiami's tiny eyes narrowed.

"I did not."

V smiled.

"You definitely did."

Tiami looked away.

V chuckled softly.

The communication was invisible to everyone else.

To them...

it was natural.

Years of memories.

Years of understanding.

And a bond that had survived even death.

Outside the carriage...

Brald rode near the Queen.

His expression remained serious.

The death of the chief security minister still weighed on the procession.

The note had raised more questions than answers.

The masked man's identity remained unknown.

The poison needle remained unexplained.

And the strange coordination between the monsters...

could not be dismissed as coincidence.

Brald looked toward the forest behind them.

The trees stood silently.

As if nothing had happened.

But he knew better.

Death Forest had witnessed the truth.

It simply refused to speak.

A soldier rode nearby.

"Commander..."

Brald looked toward him.

"Yes?"

"Are we finally leaving the forest?"

Brald looked ahead.

"The worst of it is behind us."

The soldier sighed in relief.

Another soldier quietly said,

"I never want to see another dragon again."

A third soldier looked at the enormous trees behind them.

"Agreed."

Brald almost smiled.

Almost.

Then his eyes moved toward V.

The boy was staring ahead.

Beyond the forest.

Something new was waiting there.

V suddenly leaned forward.

His eyes widened.

For the first time...

he saw it.

A distant city.

Massive walls.

Towering structures.

Banners moving in the wind.

The Kingdom of Spades.

V's expression immediately changed.

His eyes became bright.

He had heard about the kingdom.

But hearing about something...

and seeing it for the first time...

were completely different.

V almost stood inside the carriage.

"That's..."

His excitement was obvious.

The princess, sitting nearby, looked at him.

She raised an eyebrow.

"What are you doing?"

V pointed toward the distant kingdom.

"Look!"

The princess glanced at the city.

Then back at him.

"Why are you jumping around like a child?"

V looked genuinely confused.

"But..."

He pointed again.

"It's the Kingdom of Spades."

The princess crossed her arms.

"So?"

V stared at her.

Then calmly answered,

"I am a child."

A brief silence.

The princess blinked.

V continued.

"And if you are an adult..."

He looked at her.

"Then I'm an adult too."

The princess's expression froze.

"What?"

V nodded seriously.

"That's what you said."

"I did not say that!"

"You said I was a child."

"Because you were jumping around!"

"I am still a child."

V looked at the kingdom again.

"So I'm allowed to be excited."

The princess stared at him.

Then looked away.

"You are strange."

V smiled.

"Thank you."

"That wasn't a compliment."

"I'll take it anyway."

The princess sighed.

Then noticed something.

"You were asleep earlier."

V looked at her.

"Yes."

"Then why did you wake up now?"

V looked toward the Kingdom of Spades.

"I felt something."

The princess frowned.

"What?"

V didn't answer immediately.

His eyes remained on the distant kingdom.

Then he smiled.

"Something new."

The princess shook her head.

"You really are strange."

V leaned back.

"So you've said."

Behind them...

the forest disappeared slowly into the distance.

The same forest where an Earth Dragon had bowed.

The same forest where a masked man had completed an assassination.

The same forest where V had protected someone who refused to admit she needed protection.

And the same forest where the first step of something much larger had quietly been taken.

Brald looked ahead.

The road stretched toward the Kingdom of Spades.

He tightened his grip on the reins.

"Every road teaches something."

The Queen looked toward him.

Brald continued,

"Some teach us where to go."

His eyes moved briefly toward the forest behind them.

"Others teach us what we must never become."

The carriage continued forward.

V sat beside Tiami.

Tiami looked toward him.

V smiled.

The distant kingdom grew larger.

And for the first time...

V was about to enter a land he had only heard about in stories.

But somewhere deep inside him...

the old story Liza had once told him remained.

A story about a god.

A story about a dragon.

A story about punishment.

A story about love.

And a journey...

that had only just begun.

Narrator

Some stories are remembered because they were beautiful.

Others...

because they were true.

And sometimes, a child hears a story long before he understands...

that one day...

he may become part of it.