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Nobody expected this at all...
It's hard to imagine that, from the fading corpse of the Void Prince, a silhouette of a familiar person would appear.
Actually, if it wasn't for his presence feeling extremely familiar, nobody would've recognized him at all. His form was barely visible and seemed like it would fade if the wind blew just a little harder next time. His entire body was stained in darkness, one that cannot be mistaken for anything else aside from the void. But his eyes, that same predatory yet wise pair of eyes, remained brilliant and sharp, but these eyes also express the deep-seated exhaustion he feels.
"Oh...oh, my child...hold on, let me..." Chancellor Igor panicked and scrambled forward, instantly shrinking into his humanoid size; his mind was firing off in all cylinders, thinking of a way to help his miserable disciple but not being able to come up with anything.
The rest of the chancellors were shocked. They didn't expect this development at all.
Everybody thought that when the Young Dragon Patriarch sacrificed himself to save his comrades, that was the end of it. They never thought they'd see him again, certainly not in this state.
"Stop. It's alright, Master. It's already too late for me." The bright and sonorous voice of the young patriarch froze the old dragon on the spot.
"I'm glad that I've been able to last this long, even in form. I've already delayed my actual death for longer than necessary. Please, just listen to me; I have a few things to tell you all, and I don't have much time left."
The old dragon grunted in unwillingness. He gritted his teeth, clenched his jaws, and tightened his claws. However, he respected his fallen heir's wishes and did nothing. He remained silent to listen, just like the others did.
A sad smile appeared on the young patriarch's blurry face. He then looked at Cedric and said:
"Thank you." His words were heartfelt and genuine. "I thought I'd never get this chance, but you came and led everybody to do the one thing that we've been dreaming of since the Ancient Era."
"However, this isn't the end..." His voice turned solemn.
"I know you've sealed the main consciousness of the void; good job with that, by the way. Though, I'm afraid that you'd have to solve it as soon as possible."
Cedric frowned, not liking where this is going. He asked, "What do you mean?"
The young dragon patriarch took a deep breath and told everything he discovered.
"When the main consciousness of the void plucked me out of my flesh with the plan of using me to be the main source of intelligence and potential for the Void Prince, it tried to erase my identity completely and use me as a template of sorts for the growth scale of its most precious creation."
"Taking advantage of this chance, since you know, I'm already at the point of no return, I sealed off as much of my origin as I could and minimized its presence to the point where it wouldn't be seen as a threat. It was a gamble that I never expected to win."
"Additionally, I also probed the memories of the main consciousness of the void. It was a risky venture, very dangerous too, but I did it anyway."
"I wasn't expecting much at first. After all, even though it's an entity older than the Primordial Chaos itself, its memories should just be a whole lot of nothing."
"To my surprise, it's not. The main consciousness of the void wasn't a natural-born entity. Its conception was planned. Somebody created it, and it was left here for a reason."
Boom!
An explosion went off in Cedric's mind. Suddenly, he found it a bit difficult to breathe. The others weren't doing any better, but for the sake of hearing the young patriarch out, they remained silent.
"There is..." The young patriarch trailed off, "...the void...it's a prison for us."
"There is a larger, vaster, and more primal universe out there. I saw it through its senses. It's preventing us from leaving this godforsaken place."
"That world, that universe, it's...it's endless..."
"There are others out there, like us...but they're not locked away. They roam free; they could travel that vast and limitless expanse of the universe unfettered."
"It's unfair."
"But according to history..." the Holy Spirit Chancellor tried to reason out.
"That history is incomplete." The young patriarch shook his head. "The truth is, this isn't the first time that the Primordial Chaos was born."
"The Primordial Chaos' appearance didn't just happen once. It's happened multiple times. It's been born and destroyed by the void numerous times already. If things remain as they are, this vicious cycle will just keep repeating itself."
"The main consciousness of the Void has a master." He stressed, "It answers to someone."
He looked again at Cedric and said, "What you did was something that never happened before. Sealing it off and preventing it from interfering? It's phenomenal work; I wholeheartedly support it. But you can't stall too long after that; you have to do something about it soon because if you don't, I'm afraid that it will start calling out to its master, and if that entity discovers that something went wrong, it's over for all of us."
Cedric took a deep breath and asked, "You got anything I can work with? Any clue or weaknesses I can maybe exploit?"
"Enslave it, don't kill it." The Young Dragon Patriarch concluded. "You can't kill it, because while it serves as a prison for all of us, it's also guarding us from the foreign influence of the world outside. It's keeping us intact and preserving our identities."
"Instead of killing or destroying it completely, use it as a shroud instead to make plans. Its creator doesn't look for it unless it sends a message first. Take advantage of that."
"It'd be difficult to confront it on its own domain, but with that much Chaos Energy in you, I can't truly kill you. The worst part is that you have to engage it in a battle of attrition."
"Once you try to enslave it, it will begin enslaving you back." Sёarch* The NovelZone.fun* website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.
"Take advantage of the fact that it doesn't know you at all. Once you start, go all out; don't give it any room to breathe or relax, and don't let it send a message to its creator."
"Once you enslaved it, the rest is up to you. You managed so far; I'm confident that you can do so again."
Cedric took a deep breath. Well, it could be worse, and it wasn't much, but at the very least, he had something to work with.
"Thanks. I'll try my best," Cedric replied.
And as if on cue, the young patriarch's shadow began flickering. A sign that he truly can't hold on anymore.
"Child, I..."
"I know, Master." The young patriarch smiled gently at the old dragon. "I get it. I don't regret anything. Not a single thing. It's a pity that I won't be able to see the future anymore, but I've already left a mark in history, and that's more than enough for me."
Tears poured down on the old dragon's face. He felt endless bitterness and loss once more. This time, he's helpless not because he was weak but because he had to respect this child's wishes.
The fading silhouette of the young dragon patriarch hovered closer to him. His thick scales prevented him from feeling anything, but his heart knew that the child hugged him for the final time in his life, still wearing that comforted and relieved smile on his face.
"Thanks for the memories, Dad. Take care of yourself."
"Oh..."
A bitter and heartrending wail was torn out of the old dragon. He tried to clutch the remaining specks of his child, but it was too late; he had already disappeared completely. He couldn't feel it anymore.
The old dragon sobbed, his shoulders shaking as he buried his face in his claws. He couldn't believe that he'd have to mourn the death of his beloved disciple.
Cedric bit his lips but remained a stable presence beside him. He said,
"I've had my suspicions before, because I found it weird how the Void Prince never pressed his advantage when he clearly had the chance and instead chose to 'educate' his minions, mimicking our civilization."
"Now, I understand. It was him who did that. He took control of the Void Prince's subconscious mind, slowing him down as much as he could to give us a chance while also not exposing himself to the main consciousness of the void."
"He's been helping us all along while enduring the void eroding his soul."
"He's a strong one. Very admirable. Alas..."
Cedric didn't need to say more. Igor also understood what he's trying to say.
Saving the young patriatch had become impossible the moment he was plucked out of his flesh by the main consciousness of the void. Even if they had somehow learned this earlier, there was nothing they could've done.
The war was won by the children of the Primordial Chaos; however, wars always have casualties. This one hurts, a lot...but it did leave them an important message.
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