Chapter 89
[You’ve got quite the mental fortitude. A fair number of the little ones who came to see me fainted on the spot.]
Krrrung.
The red dragon let out a hearty laugh, clearly pleased.
[You’re here to prove your worth, I presume.]
Felix barely managed to open his mouth.
“I also… have another request.”
The red dragon flapped its wings and asked,
[A request? What kind of request?]
“I need an herb called God’s Footsteps.”
The moment Felix finished speaking, a cold silence swept over the ruins.
After a moment, the dragon spoke again.
[So it’s the same request once more.]
“What?”
[You have the qualifications—take as much as you want.]
Felix furrowed his brow.
There was something oddly meaningful in the dragon’s words.
‘It feels like this isn’t our first meeting…’
Felix had heard such cryptic tones before.
Eila, too, often spoke as if she knew everything whenever she looked at him.
The divine beast didn’t even ask what Felix needed the herb for.
It simply moved one of its massive forepaws and pushed aside the altar.
The dragon’s enormous claws slowly shifted the lid of the altar.
A soft glow rose from the hollow inside.
Leaves shaped like petals fluttered as if welcoming him.
Shrouded in golden shimmer, they even looked holy.
Just as Eila had instructed, Felix carefully extracted the God’s Footsteps.
‘The Duke said I could take it all, but since it’s a rare treasure, I’ll only take what’s necessary.’
Felix took only two roots—one for him and one for Eila.
He then shielded them with mana and tucked them into his coat.
His task was done—he could now return.
But Felix felt a strange unease under the dragon’s piercing gaze.
“Is there anything else you wish to say?”
Krrrung.
The red dragon didn’t respond for a long while.
[…How strange. You’re using formal speech with me.]
Felix’s face stiffened.
‘What the hell is he talking about?’
Was the dragon suggesting they’d met before?
That didn’t make sense. But divine beasts couldn’t lie.
‘Or did it meet someone who looked like me once?’
As if reading Felix’s thoughts, the red dragon chuckled.
Krrung. Krrrung.
[You’re quite naive right now. The one I met was completely consumed by darkness. He was hopeless, gloomy, drenched in defeat and rage.]
Felix frowned.
He didn’t like how the dragon was painting such a bleak image of him—even if it wasn’t him.
[That’s how he was… but now, you seem rather happy.]
“What exactly are you talking about? This is the first time we’ve met.”
[I met you once, when you were older than you are now. But that encounter has been erased, so it’s natural you don’t remember.]
“What do you mean by that?”
[Well, since it’s been a while, I should give you a gift. I liked the offerings too. That Duke of Agenta is quite generous.]
The dragon slowly leaned in toward him.
As their eyes met, a light shimmered in the dragon’s golden pupils.
In that instant—
Felix felt his whole body twist with pain.
His vision flipped upside down.
A dreadful sensation gripped him, as though his body were shrinking, and the ruins around him distorted.
The forest of darkness blurred past his sight, and then his body was sucked into a stream of intense light.
Eventually, everything went black.
“Damn dragon…”
The “gift” was the most disorienting nausea Felix had ever experienced—and he promptly lost consciousness.
A flashing white light.
Felix slowly came to his senses.
Yet something felt off—his body and mind didn’t feel like his own.
‘Why am I so angry?’
His heart thumped furiously in his chest.
He struggled to calm the explosive fury, forcing himself to look around.
‘Where am I?’
As he opened his eyes slightly, he saw a crowd of people surrounding him.
They appeared to be gathered in the middle of a plaza, perhaps for some ceremony.
Knights in silver armor were keeping the crowd at bay, and the main road was completely cleared.
Then, Felix followed the cheering gazes of the crowd.
There, a man and woman were riding horses, parading together affectionately.
It was Darian, whom Felix had met recently… and beside him was Freya, the young lady of Count Arma’s family.
A crown rested on Darian’s head—a crown Felix had never seen before.
‘Darian became emperor… then this place must be—’
As Felix stared at them in confusion, his hand curled into a tight fist, without his command.
Then, a voice laced with rage escaped his lips.
“—That smug bastard.”
Something was wrong.
It was definitely his voice, but it sounded much harsher and more aggressive than usual.
Worse, watching Darian and Freya laugh together stirred inexplicable fury within him.
He even imagined violently tearing Darian apart and decapitating him—thoughts he’d never had before.
“You let Eila die, and now you dare…”
Eila… died?
Felix felt his heart plummet at the words that had come from his own mouth.
Apparently, this version of Felix—this place—was a future where things had happened he had no memory of.
‘Is this… the future after Eila died?’
The thought startled him, but he was soon certain of it.
This future Felix was furious—not just that Eila was gone, but that Darian lived happily while she didn’t.
‘What the hell happened in the future?’
An ominous chill ran down his spine.
Soon, this “other Felix” looked around.
He saw other royals watching the coronation—former emperor and empress, Adolf and Christina all looked annoyed.
But Peony was nowhere to be found.
‘…Why? Why isn’t Peony here?’
He didn’t know the reason, but it filled him with dread.
In this “future,” neither Peony nor Eila existed.
It was as if something tragic had happened—something he had no memory of.
‘Was that the dragon’s reason for sending me here? A warning?’
The realization made his head spin.
Then, the other Felix’s mouth moved again—on its own.
“…Darian Celestia, and Rosia Blanche. You will both pay for your sins, soon.”
It was too cold and low a voice to believe it came from his own lips.
Red Dragon, Fire Dragon Debens.
The reason he showed Felix these past memories was simple whim.
Debens gazed at Felix with amused interest. The boy looked much more naive than the first time they’d met.
He remembered that earlier encounter vividly.
Back then, Felix wasn’t as powerful as now, but his aura had been sharper—more unstable.
People who lost everything often became desperate.
Maybe that’s why Felix back then had grown so strong so quickly, fueled purely by rage.
But over his long life, Debens had learned one thing.
Humans, oddly enough, become stronger not when they have nothing—but when they have something to protect.
With a purpose, even this Felix might become someone who would stop at nothing to achieve his goal.
And so, perhaps this Felix—present Felix—might grow even stronger than the one who came here before.
