novelraw Chapter 268 268: Slaying The Shepherd Of Skinned Time
Chapter 268 268: Slaying The Shepherd Of Skinned Time
-----
The Shepherd of Skinned Time.
A terrifying Level 10 Grievance that stood above most others due to the uniqueness of its existence.
A powerful being not born from suffering, trauma, or a destroyed world.
The Shepherd of Time's true origins remained a mystery, but it was well known that he had never suffered throughout his life.
He was a hunter and a herder of Time itself, someone who sought the best prey, herded it, and then skinned it alive, piece by piece, savoring every moment of the feast.
A sadistic monster who had traveled across the Dimensional Labyrinth and the countless fallen worlds within it in search of the most delectable meals.
Until he found her.
Benladra.
And since then, he had done everything in his power to finally obtain her, eventually fighting her in a catastrophic battle that brought them both to the brink of destruction.
Her power proved greater than his, but he held a trump card. He reduced his existence to a small dimension and cursed her very soul by parasitizing it.
Becoming a living concept that slowly spread through her soul, the monster gradually attempted to consume her.
If it had not been for Benladra's Immortal Soul, the process would have been effective and she would have died. Instead, he was able to feed on her for years without realizing it until now.
When it was already too late for him to continue his feast, because he had taken far too long!
"Enough is enough," said the Dragon King. "You will no longer torture my daughter."
"For how long have I dreamed of this moment?" Gustaf wondered, smiling defiantly. "I will finally get to kill you... bastard...!"
"We won't let you escape. We will skin you alive!" Louis roared.
"..."
The Shepherd of Skinned Time gazed at their powers and remained calm, already thinking of ways to escape.
As a rare Time-type Grievance, the first thing he attempted was Time Manipulation.
"Time Stop."
TRUUUM!
Using the accumulated time he had stolen from butchering his foes, he stopped time all around him for a moment and rapidly tried to escape, only to be distracted by a meal he could not finish.
His greed won over. He extended his gigantic hand toward Benladra, aiming to devour her.
However...
"...?!"
Her eyes opened, glaring at him with immense power and generating such tremendous pressure that his entire being shuddered in shock.
And then, something even more shocking happened.
While Gustaf remained standing still, Louis and the Dragon King walked toward him.
And struck!
Their fists dug deep into the monster's face, shattering it into countless pieces as the Shepherd was sent flying across the sky.
Grandfather and grandson roared, flying together and battering the Grievance with hundreds of punches, kicks, and weapon strikes.
CLASH! CLASH! CLASH! CLASH! CLASH!
Time Stop came to an end, and Gustaf appeared above them, gathering all his power into a single sphere of pure concentrated gravity the size of his pinky finger.
The sphere was fired. The Shepherd of Time did not even pay attention to it because he saw Gustaf as a weakling. Instead, he focused on stopping Louis and Drake with his aura, distorting space and time and pushing them away into a pocket singularity.
BOOOM! BOOOM!
As grandson and grandfather were pushed back, the Shepherd of Skinned Time quickly sliced the empty air, creating a portal to escape into the Dimensional Labyrinth.
However, with a single thought, the Dragon King closed it. Then he caused the air around the Shepherd to combust into divine origin flames, the same ones the Fire Dragon King wielded.
At the same time as the Shepherd burned, Gustaf's attack struck his face and...
BOOOOMMMM!!!
A miniature black hole opened out of nowhere as the concentrated sphere of gravity created immense pressure and weight upon the fabric of spacetime, tearing the Shepherd of Time's head and torso apart.
"Kuaaaaaggghh?!"
Suddenly screaming in agonizing disbelief, Louis and Drake seized the opportunity to finish him off. They summoned their weapons, fused their skills, and unleashed their Authorities at once.
The Dragon King summoned a single long black-and-white katana whose aura surged with nine different serpents. They hissed ferociously as a single strike turned into nine.
Louis, on the other hand, thrust Gungnir rapidly, striking the Shepherd of Time with hundreds of blows and tearing his entire body to shreds.
CRAAAASH!
As the Grievance exploded, all ten of his cores shattered and were devoured by Louis's Divine Ice, which began to cover the dying body.
"No...! Nooo!"
He roared, rapidly manipulating time and reversing it.
"TIME REVERSAL!"
TRUUUM!
Time reversed as the Shepherd of Time rapidly began to recover. Louis and Drake were forced to walk back to where they had been and rewind their actions.
Indeed, fighting against a master of time was incredibly difficult, and they finally started to understand why Benladra had lost.
However.
There was someone who was perhaps even more gifted when it came to Time Manipulation.
"Heart of Time – Time Devourer."
Using the power of the Heart of Time, Louis devoured Time itself and stopped the Shepherd of Time from manipulating it as he pleased.
"What?!"
Meeting someone capable of fighting him on equal terms left the Shepherd shaken. He stepped back in disbelief as Louis appeared behind him out of nowhere.
Dozens of sharp knives pierced his body, each one made of Time Essence, Abyssal Void Shadow, and Starlight. They exploded consecutively while Louis held two more in his arms.
"Assassination!"
Using his skills in quick succession, Louis overwhelmed the Shepherd of Time, rapidly stabbing all his vital points and destroying all ten cores once more.
"Guaaaaahhhh?! W-What is this?! How did you just disappear?! Time Reversal! Time Distortion!"
With rage, he punched Louis and used Time Reversal to stack dozens of punches by repeating the same move through Time Distortion, covering Louis with hundreds, then thousands of blows in a single split second.
BOOOM! BOOOM! BOOOM! BOOOM! BOOOM! BOOOM!
"So you possess the power to manipulate time like I do?! That means nothing if you cannot wield it properly, child!" the Shepherd roared. "Are you her son?! I shall skin you alive and turn you into my new pelt!"
"DO YOUR WORST!"
Louis roared, opening his jaws and unleashing a Time Breath by combining Eclipsing Breath and Time Heart skills, then reversing them. The Time Breath became a distorted beam that pierced and shattered through the Time the Shepherd manipulated, stopping his combo attack and carving a giant hole through his chest.
"KUAAAH?!"
The Shepherd vomited a semi-transparent slime, which Louis assumed was its blood. The Dragon King quickly caught up to them. Although not as skilled with Time Magic as Louis, he could move through it and even destroy it. He grabbed the Grievance's face and slammed it into the ground, enhancing the surface of the earth by fusing it with his own flesh and soul, making it immensely tough.
CRASH! CRASH! CRASH! CRASH!
The Shepherd of Time vomited blood as his entrails splattered everywhere, then he screamed. Louis was about to pierce his cores again, but the Shepherd reversed time, moving away and attempting to make Louis harm his own grandfather.
However, Drake smirked along with Louis. Their powers combined, space distorted, and the Shepherd of Time was pushed back to where he had been through their joint efforts.
"Y-YOU!"
But the Shepherd of Time caressed his pelts, drawing immense power from every single monster and foe he had skinned alive. He gained their strength and suddenly surged with the power of many Level 10 Grievances or Entities at once.
"DON'T UNDERESTIMATE ME...!"
With sheer power and the combination of his Authorities, the Shepherd of Time overwhelmed Louis and pushed Drake away enough for him to cut through space and attempt to escape again.
Louis and Drake gave chase, but the Shepherd of Time's Time Manipulation was far superior, leaving them behind.
"COME BACK, BASTARD!!!"
Louis was furious, tearing through time and space as his body was being torn apart. With the power of Death-Sense, he managed to reach the Shepherd and used Reality Command, forcing the portal to close. The Shepherd had anticipated that and summoned his Scythe of Time, his powerful Soul Relic, cutting through Louis and absorbing his Time Essence!
"Nnnggh?! Gaaaah?!"
"I've had enough of you, brat. I will kill you."
And then, the Shepherd of Time committed the same mistake as before. A giant made of pure compressed gravitational forces and magnetism surged forth, manipulating gravity, a force capable of distorting the flow of time itself, and slammed the Shepherd's body toward the floor.
"WHAAAT?!"
CRAAASH!
The Shepherd of Time vomited as his entire body was crushed. Louis saw his father overflowing with newfound power, bleeding from his nose and eyes while pushing his brain to its absolute limits.
It turned out that Gustaf's powers were actually the greatest counter to the Shepherd of Time due to the simple fact that gravity affected time better than space.
Unleashing his full power, Gustaf's Spiritualization was so incredibly dense it felt like a moving and breathing black hole, creating such immense gravitational forces that even Time weakened and bent before its will.
However, it also placed a heavy burden on him, one that the Dragon King easily solved by waving his hand and blessing him with Divine Power.
FLASH!
"Ah?!"
Gustaf gasped as his power surged. His vitality increased a thousandfold and his entire body could now endure much longer without strain.
"F-Father-in-law?!"
"Just take the blessing, fool! And keep that bastard pinned down!"
"On it!"
Gustaf nodded. His Esper Powers could now increase almost limitlessly now that his body had grown so strong thanks to the Divine Blessing. Gustaf had already stopped being an ordinary human and had evolved into what was known in Yggdrasil as a "Divine Human"!
Naturally, his Esper Psionic Authority manifested even more strongly. It had already been god-like before, but now it began to manifest as something beyond god-like, something cosmic.
"HOW CAN... A MERE ESPER... PUSH ME THIS FAR?! JUST WHO... WHO ARE YOU?!"
The Shepherd of Time was not simply letting him do as he pleased. He fought back with everything he had, roaring furiously as his Time Essence flowed wildly and clashed against Gustaf's crushing gravity.
Both forces manifested visibly: one in dark purple and black, the other in white and gray. Gravity against Time had never been witnessed before as proper, visible elements, but in a clash between beings that governed them with mastery, it was possible to see them as clearly as any other element in the world.
"I am the husband of the woman you kept unconscious all this time, the man who has worked relentlessly to save her!" Gustaf roared. "And I will not let you lay a hand on her anymore, nor let you escape, Shepherd of Time! YOU WILL PAY!"
RUMBLE!
"Huh?!"
The Shepherd of Time's star-like eyes widened and his mouth opened in disbelief. He saw the Dragon King and his grandson charging their power and powering up to their absolute limits, making the entirety of Yggdrasil tremble.
Then that power was redirected to their weapons as the Dragon King taught Louis a new move with a smile on his face.
"If we have to kill a bastard like him, Louis, we must completely erase him from reality! I will show you now the move that saved this world once!"
"...!" Louis's eyes widened as he witnessed an incredible and masterful manipulation of raw Fantasium like nothing he had ever seen before.
"Follow me. Let's do this as one!"
"Fine!"
Louis and the Dragon King charged toward the Shepherd of Time, moving through space and time at light speed. They reached him in a split second.
Combining everything they had and more into a single point, Drake guided Louis into reaching even further beyond by piercing the fabric of existence and using that pierced piece as a weapon.
"Ultimate... Pinnacle!!!"
RUMBLE!
Space, Time, and Reality trembled and were pierced. A huge hole through all things emerged. The Shepherd of Time was completely swallowed by this attack, disintegrating from existence.
"W-WHAT IS THIS?! W-WHAT IS... THISSSSSS?! HOW CAN YOU... ERASE... ME...?"
BOOOOMMMM!!!
Reality was pierced, and from beyond, Louis saw an endless expanse of Dimensions merged together into a never-ending sea of colors and things he could hardly comprehend.
The laws of physics and logic themselves, beyond this Reality, likely did not even work the same way they did here.
"Surprised? That leads to another place, one very, very far away from here..." said Drake. "One you should probably never go to, unless you have a death wish."
Drake closed the wound in Reality with a swift wave of his hand, and finally...
At long last.
The battle was over.
"Haaa..."
"Ugh..."
Louis and Gustaf dropped to the floor, completely exhausted, while Drake smiled and crossed his arms. He quickly noticed a glowing Treasure Chest that had appeared, made of white and silver cosmic mithril.
He grabbed it and gave it to Louis. "Here is your reward, grandson."
"Huh?" Louis was completely confused. "What is this? An item?!"
Louis knew that inside dungeons, monsters had a chance of dropping items. When Grievances died, they could sometimes drop a fragment of themselves, but never something quite like this.
"Yggdrasil works differently than other places," said Drake. "This world is governed by Andromeda's Evolved System. When you defeat something, there is a chance you may obtain a reward alongside experience and so on. You enjoy that in your world, right? Well, it is even more present here."
"..." Louis gasped, realizing how advanced and incredible Yggdrasil was compared to the other worlds. "I see..."
Without hesitation, he opened the treasure chest while still caught in the excitement and adrenaline. What was revealed inside was a beautiful white scythe, the weapon the Shepherd of Time had wielded. It came accompanied by three Elixirs, Gold Coins, and a ring decorated with an hourglass-shaped jewel.
"The Primordial Time Scythe!" Louis said in disbelief. "This is a Cosmic Soul Relic forged out of pure Time Essence... tempered for millions of years?! I thought it was destroyed."
"Maybe it was, but the System can create anything," Drake smiled. "As long as there is causality and energy, it can recreate it as well. The original was a part of that bastard, so it had to be destroyed or it would have attempted to possess you. This one is a genuine relic. Refine it and take it for yourself. It will amplify your Time Essence Manipulation and Time Magic Power by at least a thousandfold!"
"A-Amazing. Thank you so much, grandfather!" Louis was grateful enough to bow to him, but Drake stopped him.
"Don't bow. Check the other items!" Drake said. He was also kind of childish, fascinated by the dropped items, leaving Gustaf and the hundreds of other people witnessing this speechless.
"These coins, are they just ordinary or... wait," Louis saw the coins turn into data and fuse with him. He realized they were "System Points".
[You have received 100000 System Coins.]
[The Andromeda System has directly transferred them into 100,000,000 System Points.]
"System Points?! What is that?" Louis asked.
"They are a digital currency in this world," said Drake. "A hundred million is a lot! You are rich. You can use it to purchase things from other people or to upgrade anything in your Status. From stats, skills, classes, abilities, anything you can see in your status can be upgraded using them."
"I see..." Louis nodded. "So there was such a system."
The prince moved on to see the ring, which he learned was named [The Shepherd of Time's Ring], a Cosmic Relic that multiplied his Time Essence by five hundred times and increased its natural regeneration, while also giving various other bonuses to all his stats, the same as the scythe.
"An incredible ring," Drake nodded. "That will do well in your hands and... what are those Elixirs? I have never seen them before."
"Eh?" Louis took them, realizing what they were. "Time Elixir, Space Elixir, Gravity Elixir...?"
Louis learned that by drinking them, they would power up the elemental affinity of these elements by at least three to five ranks total.
Louis decided to drink them all except Gravity, which he gifted to his father. Gustaf drank it without hesitation, feeling rejuvenated and stronger than ever before.
These elixirs did not just enhance elemental affinity but also permanently increased stats.
[You have consumed the [Time Elixir]!]
[Your Time Affinity Rank has increased from EX Rank to EX-3 Rank!]
[Your Time Essence has increased by +50,000,000!]
[All of your other Stats have increased by +25,000,000!]
[You have consumed the [Space Elixir]!]
[Your Space Affinity Rank has increased from E Rank to SSS Rank!]
[Your Time Essence has evolved to Spacetime Essence.]
[Your Spacetime Essence has increased by +50,000,000!]
[All of your other Stats have increased by +25,000,000!]
Louis felt overflowing with power. He stood up and quickly remembered his mother.
"Right, what about Mom? Is she alright?" he asked.
"We have to go see her!" Gustaf said.
And when they turned toward her direction, it felt as if time itself had stopped.
The sky became blue. The sun shone brightly overhead.
The wastelands and the destruction were all... already undone.
Frostbane was completely repaired, shining brightly and beautifully.
Everyone who had survived or been revived was given new clothes and looked refreshed, crying as they knelt with joy.
Vegetation grew everywhere. A beautiful grassland opened before Louis, his father, and his grandfather.
Beautiful forests emerged, accompanied by rivers and mountains, and...
There was such a nice breeze.
A nostalgic breeze accompanied by a flower field, petals drifting in the sky, bees flying around and hopping from flower to flower.
The planet Earth's suffering stopped entirely as the Dimensional Labyrinth's expansion came to a complete halt, stopping right before touching the tip of South America.
A powerful divine force surged, creating walls capable of stopping the Dimensional Labyrinth's expansion itself. Who would have thought such a thing was possible?
With pale blue skin, long silvery-white hair, gentle yellow eyes, and golden horns that marked her as nobility among nobility within dragons.
The strongest dragon, only below her own father. Famously known as the Holy Dragon Mother, the Guardian Goddess of Earth who had been in a long slumber for over ten years.
Wearing a simple white dress and standing barefoot in the middle of a beautiful grassland leading to a forest, surrounded by small dragon spirits flying everywhere curiously, born the moment she awakened.
"Hello, Louis... have you missed your mama?"
Her voice reached straight into Louis's heart as countless memories flooded his mind, all of the time he had spent with his mother despite the circumstances.
How long had they struggled without her? How long had it taken for him to finally see her awake?
Over five hundred years...
"M-Mother..."
As Louis saw her, he lost the strength in his legs and fell to his knees before her radiance.
Noticing how he was acting, she slowly walked toward him, reducing her size to her limit but still standing tall at four meters, double Louis's size in his human form.
"Was it harsh? Were you having troubles? Come here... my dear son."
She hugged Louis tenderly as he continued crying in her arms, tears streaming down his face while he felt her warmth and her scent, which was like that of lilies.
"I missed you... It took so long... five... five hundred years... I..."
"F-Five hundred years?" Benladra gasped as she hugged her son, kissing him all over his face. "R-Really? Just what happened? W-Was I asleep for that long? I'm so sorry!!!"
"No, it was only... about ten years..." another voice echoed from her left side. Gustaf did not fall to his knees like everyone else. He smiled happily while crying and took off his glasses. "Hello... Benladra..."
"G-Gustaf..." Benladra's eyes widened, tears streaming down her face. "Dear...! Come here already! W-What are you doing all the way over there?"
Gustaf slowly walked toward her as Benladra pulled her husband and her son into a tight hug with her large arms and hands. Both of them closed their eyes while crying against her chest, hugging her neck as Benladra whispered to them quietly. "You have done well... everything is going to be okay now... thank you... thank you for helping me... I never lost hope that you would find a way... I love you... I love you, my son, and I love you too, dear. I'm so happy to see you two again!"
"Mom...!" Louis stopped caring about what others might think of him. He cried and hugged her tightly, letting go of all his sorrow and frustration for the time she had been absent. "I missed you so much, like you wouldn't believe...! I... Am I dreaming? Is this really real?"
"It is..." Benladra smiled kindly, giving him a big kiss on his forehead. "I love you so, so, so, so much! And you've grown to be... to be such a handsome young lad! I-I am so sorry I couldn't be there to see you grow... I... Waaahhhh! Sniffle... I'm sorry...!" Despite being a respected, beloved, and feared goddess, Benladra also wept like a child.
"Heh, what a bunch of crybabies... Ah, is it raining?" the Dragon King wondered, clearing the tears falling from his eyes as he observed everything in silence.
By Drake's side, a beautiful giantess with pale white skin, long silver hair, and gleaming blue-silver eyes appeared, twice his human size and reaching a height superior even to Benladra in her smallest form. She gleamed brightly with white and blue light, digital energy constantly pouring from her.
"Dear, is it done?" she asked with a kind smile, placing her hand over his shoulder.
"Yeah, it is," Drake nodded. "Or well... Spiritias and Zipangu are still in trouble, right? And the Dimensional Labyrinth is expanding on them as well. We're only delaying the inevitable..."
"Hm..." the goddess nodded, sighing as she kissed his cheek. "Benladann and the rest are awaiting you in the castle. Why don't you bring the family there?"
"We will. Just wait a little more," said the King as the goddess nodded and disappeared. "Alright! It's a nice moment and all, but we have to go. Hey Benladra, been a while, dear."
"D-Daddy?!" Benladra gasped as she saw her father appear so casually. "Y-You were here?!"
"Don't you realize where Earth is right now?" Drake laughed.
"Eh? Ah!!!" Benladra cried, realizing that Earth was now floating above the skies of Yggdrasil. "Oh my gosh... Is this going to be okay? Will Earth persist?"
"We'll see," said Drake. "The best thing we could do is to evacuate everyone from this planet first... then we deal with the Dimensional Labyrinth clinging to it, which is now attempting to expand voraciously into Yggdrasil."
"I guess that is a fine idea but... daddy, aren't you already just giving up on Earth? Even if it is so small compared to the other three Fantasy Worlds, it is where you came from, my soul too! Mom's soul! You cannot just give up on it, you know?" Benladra reprimanded her own father, leaving Louis and Gustaf speechless. "You're being irresponsible again!"
"W-What?! Hey, stop saying that about your father! I work hard every day!" Drake said while groaning. "Geez, this is the first time we meet in thousands of years and you're starting again, Benladra... do you even love me anymore? I... Do you hate me now...?"
"Eh?!" Benladra gasped, covering her mouth as she realized her father had misunderstood her conduct, making him believe she hated him. "I-I don't hate you... why would I ever hate you?" She walked toward her father and hugged him. He was actually smaller than her in his current form, so she lifted him up with her arms for a hug. "I'm sorry... I guess I do owe you an apology for what I did... I was the reckless one after all."
"You sure were! Don't you know how worried you've made your mother?! She sometimes would cry at night asking where her daughter is!" said the Dragon King. "You should come visit your family at least once every ten years...! Or a hundred years at the bare minimum!"
"...That's still a lot of time, huh?" Mirai wondered behind them, having caught up with Louis alongside Zorba.
"I suppose dragons have a different perception of time..." Zorba muttered.
"Ugh..." Louis facepalmed, feeling embarrassed that his mother and his grandfather were having a whole drama here. "Ahem! Can't we solve this privately? Maybe in the castle?! The entire population of Frostbane is watching us right now!" He pointed at all the people scattered across the grasslands. There were thousands.
"A-Ah... Hahaha..." Benladra laughed nervously. "Y-You're right, my lovely son...! Ahem! Um, thank you so much everyone for holding on for so long! I promise I will not leave your side anymore."
"Queen Benladra..."
"It's really her!"
"The world suddenly healed out of nowhere, did you notice?!"
"Her very presence is magical. It is mystical!"
"She healed the world, and us as well...!"
"Frostbane looks like it was never destroyed..."
"Holy Mother! You're back!"
"Your highness the queen!"
"All hail the queen!"
"Queen Benladra! We love you!"
"We're so happy to see you again!"
"We never lost hope! We never did!"
"Your husband and your son took good care of us..."
Benladra smiled, feeling relieved they were fine, although they had endured a great deal of pain and suffering as well.
Many of the agents and servants of the castle ran toward her and her family, including some familiar faces that loved her and had been awaiting her return.
"Queen Benladra! Your highness!" Catrise ran to greet her. "I am so happy to see you awaken once more! That has been the longest decade in my life!" She started crying and knelt before Benladra, but Benladra quickly lifted her up and hugged her, kissing her face with her giant lips. "Uwaah?! Y-Your highness?!"
"Heheh, Catrise! I missed you so much, my dear!" Benladra said. "Is everyone in the church doing fine?"
"T-There's barely any people in the church after everything that has happened, but a few have remained," sighed Catrise.
"Your highness, long time no see," said Robert between manly tears. "I have been expecting you this whole time... I am so happy to be able to see you awake once more. Nearing the end of my lifespan, I am truly fortunate."
"Robert! Thank you for taking care of my son and everything so far!" said Benladra between tears. "I am truly fortunate to have you with me!"
"I am so happy you have returned, your highness!"
"It's really her! Ah, your highness...!"
Fernand and Elises dropped to the floor and bowed, crying in joy and happiness that not only was Frostbane restored but their queen had finally awakened once more.
"Oh, it's you two! I remember you as well!" Benladra said. "Have you taken good care of my boy? Thank you so much for working so hard! Back then you two were just squires... hehe, all of you sure grow fast!"
"Little Benladra! I am so happy you're awake again! Oh my god, that took a while!" laughed Tisha, walking toward her with her wife and her daughter.
"It truly took a while," sighed Pekorine, smiling with a kind expression. "I-I... I am so happy to see you once more, Benladra."
"Oh my gosh! Tisha?! Pekorine?!" Benladra gasped. "And... Who is this?! Wait, is this your baby?! Anastasia?!"
"I-It's an honor, your highness...!" muttered Anastasia shyly, overwhelmed by the gentle giantess.
"Wooow! She's sooooo cuteeeee!" Benladra said happily, petting her little head. "She has all of your most beautiful traits! What a wonderful little girl she is! I bet she has a bright future ahead!"
"Uwaah?!" Anastasia cried in disbelief as Benladra lifted her up like a doll and kissed her face as well. "Y-Your highness?!" She was shocked at how affectionate the queen was.
A group of agents walked into the scene. Helena was the first to step forward. Realizing what had happened, she smiled at Benladra and then at Drake. "It's been some time, you two..."
"Helenaaaaaa!" Benladra cried.
"I was wondering where you were!" Drake said.
Both greeted her happily. She was, after all, Drake's niece in his past life when the Dragon King was a human from Earth.
And both had not seen her in a long time, especially Drake, who had not seen her for fifty thousand years in Yggdrasil since she last returned to Earth after Ragnarok.
"H-Hahahah, wait, enough. You're going to embarrass me!" said Helena, laughing as she was hugged by Benladra and then petted by Drake.
In the distance, the other agents smiled, feeling relieved that things had turned out well in the end, even though the peril of all the worlds and the threat of the Dimensional Labyrinth was only being delayed, not eliminated.
"Stella, are you feeling better now?" Althea wondered, her pink hair waving in the wind as she gazed at her sister with her gold and green eyes.
"I-I'm fine..." Stella sighed, her long blonde hair waving in the wind. Her eyes were now blue once more. "I'm sorry for what happened... I... I really lost control, and in the end we got eaten by that thing... thank god we landed on Yggdrasil."
"Yeah, Prince Louis saved us all by bringing the entire planet to Yggdrasil. It seems the Dimensional Labyrinth's expansion has been halted as well," Althea smiled.
"That's a relief, but... is dad okay? And our moms? And what about big bro?" wondered Stella. "I heard that there's something similar happening in Spiritias?"
"Dad's strong! Our moms too," smiled Althea. "They can handle it until we return. The Dragon King owes father a lot, so I am sure he will help as much as possible."
"I hope so~" sighed Stella, yawning. "Ugh... Stone, I'm sorry."
Stone was holding her gently, caressing her hand. "There's nothing to be sorry about. It was something you couldn't control, Stella... Let's take it easy for now, shall we?"
Stella nodded, smiling at Stone. Their eyes met as they shared a gentle kiss, leaving Althea slightly alone and... heartbroken. She also had a crush on Stone, but it seemed her sister had won him over. She was not jealous though. At least she was happy they were happy together.
"Ah, youth. Truly a thing of beauty, isn't it?" Radiohead appeared by her side, laughing and making static noise while patting her shoulder. "Don't worry dear, there's plenty of fish out there! Cheer up, right Saint?"
"Hehehe... I had a lot of fun..." the Shackled Saint kept laughing creepily. "Oeh? Ah... the queen's back... awesome! She's strong. She beat me down to a pulp back then, hahaha!"
-----