Chapter 95
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 95
Standing before the reclaimed Blue Dragon Painted Halberd, So-ya finally succeeded in awakening the Blue Dragon.
―Hello, little bird.
A massive Dragon God with beautiful horns and blue scales manifested before her.
“Whoa…”
The Eastern Divine Beast, the Cheonghae Dragon God.
So-ya let out an involuntary gasp of admiration before the beautiful, mysterious ancient beast—the only one among the Four Divine Beasts to be graced with the title of ‘God.’
‘I think I understand why he’s called a god.’
He was truly overwhelming.
―Wood is a gathering of things, yet it is fragile. However, it is these small, delicate seeds that bring life to the entire world.
The Blue Dragon spoke to So-ya in a clear, serene voice.
―I shall give you a seed that sprouts life.
A small, blue-tinted seed descended into So-ya’s palm.
Soon, it grew immensely, sprouting leaves, blooming flowers, and bearing fruit. Then, the fruit, formed from clusters of blue light, burst open.
The shimmering light settled everywhere, causing life to pop up here and there.
Even on the spring flower branch from the White Tiger Palace that So-ya had brought to show Cheong-ha, a bright yellow blossom bloomed with a soft pop!
So-ya beamed with joy.
“Thank you, Blue Dragon!”
As the entire world sparkled brightly, So-ya returned to reality.
“Huh…? So-ya, just now, something felt…”
Beside her, Cheong-ha blinked, sensing something unusual.
So-ya suddenly thrust the spring flower branch toward her.
“Mother, this is for you.”
“Oh my.”
“Father told me. He said these were the spring flowers you used to love.”
“Sa-eon did?”
A faint blush settled on Cheong-ha’s face.
Watching her, So-ya giggled.
* * *
The border region separating the Empire and the Northern Land.
The Imperial Army, composed of talents drafted from each clan, was defending the Empire from the demonic beasts.
Among the many commanders, two young men stood out particularly.
They were Jeok San-yu of the Vermilion Bird Clan and Baek Ga-ya of the White Tiger Clan.
Both were handsome eighteen-year-olds who had completed their Second Growth.
Jeok San-yu had an impression as warm as spring sunshine, while Baek Ga-ya carried an atmosphere as cold as frost.
If one had to name the primary contributors to thinning the endless swarms of demonic beasts, it was undoubtedly those two.
Jeok San-yu, rumored to be the finest archer of the South, imbued his arrows with the Ability of Flame. Wherever his arrows passed, the demonic beasts were swept away in roaring blazes, dying in agony.
Baek Ga-ya, the cold and beautiful young lord of the West, charged directly into the fray as a White Tiger beastkin possessing the Ability of Steel, slaughtering the beasts with his iron-like body.
Everywhere he passed, corpses of demonic beasts lay scattered amidst splatters of blood.
Though the sight was gruesome, Baek Ga-ya maintained an expressionless face, never so much as blinking.
And nearby, a girl with curly blue hair was the Head of the Blue Dragon Clan, Cheong Su-a.
Every time she swung her spear, vines grew and coiled around the demonic beasts. The plant life blooming from her blue spear constricted and crushed the bodies of the struggling beasts.
As the most capable individuals had been drafted from each clan, every single one of them was a match for a hundred foes.
However, everyone knew.
The war would not end this way.
Unless the ‘Evil’ of the North was eliminated, the demonic beasts would keep coming, no matter how many they killed.
Their role in guarding the border was not to counterattack, but merely to prevent the enemy from invading the Empire.
“Truly tedious.”
Having annihilated the beasts before him in an instant, Baek Ga-ya looked indifferently at the desolate land soaked in black blood and wiped a stray droplet from his cheek with the back of his hand.
“Young Lord! Lord Ga-ya! A letter has arrived!”
Just then, a soldier delivered a message to Ga-ya.
It was from his younger brother, Ga-hyeon.
“Hmm.”
As Ga-ya tore open the envelope and read the paper inside, an interested glint appeared in his eyes.
Apparently, his cotton ball of a younger sister had recently undergone her First Growth.
It had already been three years since he heard she was adopted.
Yet, he still hadn't been able to go meet her.
All because of this damned war.
“I’m curious too. The little cotton ball.”
I wonder if she’ll turn into a grown-up cotton ball before I get to see her.
Thinking that made him feel a bit cheated.
Inside the envelope Ga-hyeon sent, there was also a letter the girl had written to him.
Though there was no time to reply in the heat of this battlefield, Ga-ya still carefully collected the letters his family sent.
As he unfolded the sheet sent by his youngest sister, something tumbled out.
It was a small handkerchief.
The child had shyly added in the letter that she had recently learned how to embroider, and that she hoped this tiger would protect him.
Ga-ya let out a short chuckle as he looked at the crooked tiger embroidered on the handkerchief.
“Her skills aren't exactly great.”
The child had ended the letter by saying it might look a bit strange since it was her first time embroidering, but she promised to do better next time.
Ga-ya carefully lifted the handkerchief.
The sensitive five senses unique to a White Tiger beastkin caught a faint scent of blood from the small cloth—a scent that should never have been there.
It was the scent of blood left behind when the clumsy child pricked her fingertip with a needle.
“Is there really such a fool who would go this far for a brother she’s never even met?”
Feeling the child’s sincerity, he couldn't help but let out another laugh.
Meanwhile, a short distance away.
Jeok San-yu, the first young lord of the Vermilion Bird Clan, was maintaining his weapon with a gloomy face.
Contrary to his radiant, spring-like appearance, a dark shadow had hung over his face for the past three years.
To be more precise, it had been there ever since he heard the news that So-ya, his young sister, had died.
The little sister he had last seen six years ago when he left for the front lines.
[Brother, you must come back healthy. Promise me, okay?]
The young sister who had tearfully hooked her tiny pinky finger around his, her pale face and lovely pink eyes shimmering like spring flowers.
‘To think she wasn't even my biological sister…’
Because he was stationed in the far North, he didn't know the full details.
He was simply heartbroken.
How shocked that young child must have been when she found out the truth.
How surprised and terrified she must have been to learn such a thing when he wasn't by her side.
And then, he was told she had met with an accident after leaving the mansion.
Upon hearing the news of the small child’s passing, Jeok San-yu had spent many nights in this cold battlefield weeping in agony.
If only he could find that small child’s body and bury her when this war finally ended and he returned home…
That was the only wish Jeok San-yu held as he waited for the end of the war.
Whoosh—
Along with the sound of a dry wind, a small piece of cloth flew toward him.
Jeok San-yu caught it instinctively.
“This is…”
It was a handkerchief with a crooked tiger embroidered on it.
Just as he was staring blankly at the clumsy embroidery…
Snatch!
A rough hand tore the handkerchief from his grasp.
Slowly looking up, Jeok San-yu found the first young lord of the White Tiger Clan looking down at him with cold eyes.
“I see you’ve developed sticky fingers now?”
Baek Ga-ya shook the handkerchief out as if something filthy had touched it.
“I’m only trying to match your foul mouth,” Jeok San-yu countered, his eyes curving into a deceptively gentle smile.