CH 156

Once Cecile was gone, a translucent figure slowly emerged amidst the stillness. It was the dragon lord, the most powerful chief of her kind—her gigantic, golden dragon form threatening to fill the entire space. A swish of her tail caused a pile of books nearby to collapse in a heap. If Cecile had still been present, she would’ve been crushed to death in an instant.

“What meaning is there when I’m only a ghost?” she snorted to herself. “A ‘Cecile’ that can’t even find her way home when she has the scepter… Just how much power did the Archwitch seal?”

The ‘Cecile’ this time around seemed to possess no special abilities. The dragon lord thought back to the countless ones she’d encountered so far: the archmage, the great sage, the wisest and most virtuous monarch in history, the humble farmer, the one that died young in an accident… She remembered each one with clarity, as forgetfulness was not granted to her kind. They all now reside in the books she laid atop; the books were all records of worlds, and at the same time, the records of ‘Cecile.’

While she reminisced on the past Ceciles with closed eyes, a drop of water fell on her face with a plop. Soon more drops followed the first, until they fell like rain from the ceiling. Soon, the water began to pool on the floor.

“What now? Why? What is it?” the dragon lord remarked with annoyance, as she splashed her tail about.

The water seemed to ripple in response to the dragon lord’s snappy tone, which only caused the dragon lord to thrash her tail, sending water and books flying into the walls with an earth-shattering boom.

“This much should be allowed since it’s the last time. ‘Cecile’ will fail again anyway. Whatever. What’s the point of fighting you at this point? I’m sick of everything. What was the point of trying until my kin went extinct? Nothing will change in the end.”The water calmed at her grumblings, and the dragon lord glared at the still water for good measure before lying flat on her back again. She was truly fed up with everything. Cecile and Estian were fated to die, the world would once again fall apart, and the dragons would erase the crumbling world. Now even those dragons were dead too, save for one: her child, Girgantia. But he would not need to erase a world, since there were no more worlds to write.

As she lounged on the wet books, the dragon lord thought back to the last Cecile to cross her path. There was nothing special about her, and yet… there was something likeable about how Cecile never shrunk away. If she were to pick a strong point aside from that…

“She was pretty,” the dragon lord mused. If Cecile had still been present, she would’ve enthusiastically thanked the dragon lord for the compliment, since her beauty was her only merit.

Still lost in thought, the dragon lord’s body faded and grew even more translucent. Clicking her tongue in annoyance, she sensed that her soul would soon completely dissipate. If she hadn’t interfered, perhaps she could’ve watched until Girgantia died, no, until this world ended.

“No wonder they say that with age, the meddler within you tends to stick their nose into other people’s business,” she scowled.

Despite her apathy, the dragon lord had failed to give up that blasted thing called hope. She sent Cecile to Estian’s side at the expense of her lingering powers, despite knowing that it would not work out well.

“I’ll be going first,” she said to the rising water, which rippled violently as if in protest. The dragon lord raised her middle claw to it and continued, “Since this is the last time, we may as well part ways cleanly. There’s only one thing that still concerns me—my corpse still remains in the Dark Mountain Range… Forget it. It’s meaningless when the Cecile of this world will die soon.”

The dragon lord thought of Estian—this world would end too, now that he’d regained his monstrous form. She hoped the annihilation of this world would go out in grand style.

“Anyway, I’ll be heading off first, so you keep at it until the end, Archwitch… you are  Cecile’s mother after all.”

The dragon lord waved one of her forefeet, and with those last words she disappeared. As if someone had shed a tear, the water rippled quietly.

* * *

“Ahhhhhhhh! Somebody, save me!” Cecile screamed. She was in a never-ending free fall, and the heart-dropping sensation was making her lose her mind, as the wind mercilessly whipped against her face. Of course, her shouts went unanswered.

With great difficulty, she reached up to grab and tug at her earring, ignoring the stinging sensation. She slammed the earring against the scepter she was clutching, and with a swoosh, the blue phoenix appeared. “Save me, please! Save! Me! For crying out loud!” Cecile shrieked.

The blue phoenix flapped its wings in confusion as it struggled to find its bearings, before rushing to catch Cecile by the scruff of her neck. Even so, the ground was fast approaching. Cecile shut her eyes tightly thinking that she was going to crash, but the blue phoenix’s valiant efforts managed to halt her descent in mid-air. The blue phoenix was panting heavily, as it gently lowered Cecile to the ground.

Letting out a shaky breath, Cecile muttered, “Hah… Hah… I thought I was going to die. This place is…”