Free Web NovelChapter 33: As the Dusk kisses the land
It is said that when a very powerful flame is maintained for a very, very long time, a salamander is born from it.
No one knows the truth, and those who do, are bound by a sacred oath to keep the origin of these legendary creatures to themselves.
Just witnessing the birth of such a being is considered nature’s greatest honor. And, Sam has had that honor several times throughout his life.
Still, a Salamander to a Sungrade like him was a household name so common he had heard it his entire life in the past.
And yet, there were only a few special occasions when he actually saw one, the master of fire and the being that carried the eternal flames.
-Oooooooooooooooong!
It is said that all Salamanders are inherently different.
The moment they are born, the world pauses and nature, much like the rest of the legendary beasts of this world, sings hymns for their arrival into the world.
The salamander that his father, the Lord of Sungrade, had bonded with was also unique.
Green were the flames born from its venomous body and pure was the fire that burnt so wide it created a pond of blaze in its mere presence.
He had never seen Her in his previous life directly, so this was the first time he was seeing the creature that countless battlefields had feared in the past and much later after the fall of the Sungrade house.
Her body was like a crystal made from countless years of tempering into the heat... it was obsidian by appearance, and yet green by its sheen.
Her body burnt so fiercely that if someone wasn’t resilient to this heat, they would be burnt by its sheer touch.
Eon was her name. And a thousand years had she roamed this world before stumbling into the Sun Sanctuary, the last residence of the Salamanders.
It is said that she lived within the first cradle of Sungrade for nearly a century, and when Agnus of Sungrade, Son of Aurelious, the Previous master of Sungrade and guardian of the Eastern Wards of the empire, was an adult of twenty years, he was called to the sanctuary by the Guardians.
There, he was chosen by her, and was granted a new path, a new affinity, and a new destiny.
He fought countless battles after that. Fought for the empire, for the Sungrade name, for the people that looked up to him, and lived to serve the crown and his family.
He was going to celebrate his 60th birthnight on the same day his youngest daughter was born in a few months. He was old already, and to take after him, he had birthed several children.
And one of those children, standing in the blazing green flames, unaffected by them even without his protection, was looking at him right now.
{ "Kekekeke!" }
The demon that stood before him smirking had almost taken away from him the boy he had promised to protect.
The child had already endured unjust opposition his entire life for having a disease. As a father, he did not know how to protect him or look after him better than he already have... but, it seems like his niglet had flowered into something unfathomable this time.
’He has grown up so well, Asia...’
He loved his mother and he killed her with his own hands. And he had not forgiven himself for that his entire life.
She had saved him countless times in the past. And her good son was no different from her, thinking about the others all the time, a selfless fool of an optimist.
’Haaa.’
The demon standing before him was so powerful the boy would have never defeated him with even an army of thousand powerful tamers.
The boy already seemed to know that somehow, and yet, he marched in here with a young mystique and a being that he, as patriarch, still could not understand the presence of.
"You have lived enough, demon." He glanced at the white bird that stood beside his son, the bird that undoubtedly carried the purest flames inside of it.
It had never happened before in the Sungrade history, but, it is also said that a Phoenix chooses one who bears a fate that defies the world.
He did not know what kind of burden had befallen his son. But after seeing that creature of legend by his side, as a father, he knew one certain thing...
"It is time for you to go."
A great battle began between the Sungrade Patriarch and the Lord of the demonic beasts born only at dawn.
It was a young thing, and yet, the Assimilator was forced to enhance his flames consciously.
The demon manoeuvred through the fire, used the terrains to his advantage, called the other demonic beasts in the vicinity to use them as cannon fodders, but the opponent did not fall.
"..."
Speechless as he was, witnessing the battle between an assimilator that was using at least a third of his power to protect the surroundings and their alive bodies, reminded him of the great battles he had fought alongside his companions.
The journeys that took him to many places in the past, the people that he met, the things he had done to get where he did... the students he had taught and the heroes he had raised.
He grew older and survived countless battles not because he was smart.
As a powerless individual without any beasts by his side, he had to rely on other people, items, and workarounds that gave birth to his ingenuity.
He knew many things now that he did not in the past, and yet, as he watched the green flames consume the demon that never lost his smirk vanish slowly, he could not let go of the resentment he still held towards the man controlling this fire.
As great a lord he may be, he was no good father to him.
But that would not be the only reason he would leave this family.
’This is just the start...’
As the sun sat on the horizon far beyond the Sungrade sky, the people on the wall breathed a sigh of relief.
{ "Ghahahaha..." }
The demonic lord vanished.
The demons that accompanied him were all dead.
All the ones who were freed from his control at his death had fled already. But they will be dealt with shortly.
For now, the war that would have stretched for days on the Sungrade borders had come to a conclusion.
The dangerous humans had won once again.
For now... things are over.
"Haaaaa."
So, Prism, the one who played a very crucial role in this entire war, fell to the ground, his entire body devoid of energy, his lungs on the verge of collapse, and his mind nearly shattered.
Holding the demonic lord was no easy task and he ended up using more of his powers than he would have even in worst case scenarios... but he did not die.
And since his father was here now, he didn’t have to worry about anything anymore.
-Thud.
He fell to the ground.
And, closed his eyes with an eternally peaceful smile on his happy face.
At last, one tragedy was prevented...
