Chapter 30

Chapter 30

Chapter 30

Within the dreamlike visions of Dale and Ray Eurys, an entity identified as the “Black Prince” manifested, mocking its own nature.

However, this manifestation was not the work of Dale or Ray.

The true culprit responsible for sowing disorder was present: Arachne, Dale’s sister and the highest authority of the Blue Tower.

Peering from Lize’s dark reflection, the “Black Prince” offered a smile.

Dale returned the gesture with a grimace as he examined his own penumbra. At the same time, Lize took a few steps back, keeping her eyes fixed on the “Black Prince,” sharing the same fixation as Dale.

The brightest prodigy of the kingdom, an emblem of absolute severity who never tasted defeat and who erased any trace of mercy before his rivals. Those were the attributes that described Dale in the past.

“… The responsibility is mine, brother.”

Lize lowered her gaze, submerging herself in the confines of her penumbra. Yufi, not understanding the background of that exchange, tilted her face, showing bewilderment.

Only someone who possessed the domain of the Lord of Shadows had the capacity to unravel the secrets buried in the darkness. Following Dale’s legacy, Lize had also claimed for herself the dignity of the Lord of Shadows.

“Miss Yufi, would you give us a moment alone?”

“Of course, Uncle Dale.”

“We will resume this conversation later.”

“Understood!”

After Dale’s words, Yufi nodded solemnly and retreated a few steps. In this way, both siblings were left in complete privacy.

It was Dale and Lize, the legitimate continuators of the Saxon lineage.

The environment surrounding them began to dissolve, leaving them trapped in a wintry atmosphere dominated by the absolute contrast between immaculate white and deep black.

“……”

Despite everything, this space did not belong to Dale’s domain.

“Speak, Lize. What kind of action have you executed?”

Dale maintained his composure. Regardless of the magnitude of her actions, he possessed the willingness to grant her his forgiveness and understanding.

“……”

At that precise moment, the figure of the “Black Prince,” who should have remained sheltered in Lize’s dark reflection, took material form within the plane of thought.

“Lize, the guilt does not fall upon you.”

He mentioned her in such a familiar way as if it were the most normal thing in the world.

“In the confines of absolute zero, she made the determination to become the perpetual protector of the common well-being, tolerating limitless postponement and isolation. Through this act of detachment, she intended to confront the Lord of Black Gold with his own foolishness. That was Lize’s ironclad purpose.”

“You express yourself in a way that evokes her own brother.”

“Am I mistaken?”

The “Black Prince” showed no perturbation whatsoever in the face of the irony employed by Dale.

“You are fully aware that your nature is nothing more than a falsehood.”

Dale sentenced with total detachment.

“Do you have any notion of the magnitude of the isolation and the freezing rigor she endured during the winter stage of the cosmos? The suffering that Lize experienced far exceeds yours, all in order to unleash your delirium. And as far as I am concerned…”

Added the “Black Prince,” maintaining an icy tone.

“I obtained life from that suffering.”

“What are you saying…?”

“In the midst of the infinite desert and desolation, under a cold so extreme capable of paralyzing heartbeats, my task consisted of preventing her spirit from breaking.”

“Brother, I….”

Lize made an attempt to intervene, but the words drowned in her throat. Even sketching a gesture of grace was unreachable for her.

“Her yearning could be considered a chimera. Strictly speaking, my reality is merely a deception. However, it is irrefutable that I am present in this place.”

Declared the “Black Prince.”

“Because the Empress of Black Gold, whose sovereignty encompasses both the authentic and the illusory, required my presence.”

“……”

“And at the moment you came to meet her upon concluding her stage of isolation, my reason for being vanished.”

Stated the “Black Prince” with a hint of disappointment.

“I would never obtain the condition of being real. Even if I represented a falsehood with greater conviction than certainty itself.”

Despite this, thanks to said condition, Lize managed to tolerate the winter period of the cosmos. Even if Dale had consented to Lize’s detachment, she would have had the strength to endure it.

Her protector, the “Black Prince,” remained by her side to guard her.

In her role as Queen of Shadows, she possessed the faculty to adopt any form, also holding the dignity of being the Empress of Gold and Lies.

The Empress of Black Gold. The mechanism of redemption that opulence and penumbra yearned for in the midst of their isolation.

“Is that why you acted with the purpose of usurping my position and claiming the domain of certainty?”

“By no means, brother!”

Exclaimed Lize, abruptly breaking her silence, vehemently advocating for the other fraternal figure.

“Lize….”

Dale gritted his teeth. Nothing had taken a different turn.

“The God of Insignificance.”

Questioned the “Black Prince” at that point.

“What sensations does one experience who leaves behind his human condition to rise as a deity? In what place was left the ‘Black Prince’ of past eras, the one who challenged the eternal Federico and preferred to preserve his humanity until the end?”

“……”

The commitment acquired before Shub came to his mind. That previous version of himself, resolved not to abandon the human essence until the end: the “Black Prince.”

Nevertheless, he fixed his gaze on the entity that stood before him.

“The panorama you contemplate, the individuals that surround you, do they correspond to the perspective of a human being observing his peers?”

“What is your mission?”

“While our sister shed tears helpless in the midst of the freezing rigor, what was the action of the one who proclaimed himself a deity?”

“……”

“Every event was executed for your benefit.”

Mocked the “Black Prince.”

“Does the conviction of being a deity persist in you? Perhaps the elements surrounding you seem trivial and devoid of value to you?”

Dale remained silent, devoid of a reply.

“I do not know.”

Stated the “Black Prince.”

“For the well-being of my esteemed sister, I wish to mitigate the torment she suffered. I yearn to offer her my protection to free her from further afflictions, and I possess the determination to give everything in order to protect those I cherish.”

“It is also my desire…”

“Is it truly?”

Dale sought to formulate an answer, but the “Black Prince” interrupted with a mocking tone.

“Do you possess the courage to sustain that your intentions hold greater authenticity than mine, while you remain in the service of the ruler of the Ninth Empire, meditating on the insignificance of your surroundings and lamenting like a stray infant?”

After uttering these words, the “Black Prince” attacked with momentum. His mantle of darkness unfolded emulating the edge of a weapon, at the same time as an icy gust emanated from his limb.

It bore no relation to the ancestral penumbra nor to the cold of the final cataclysm.

It was simply the “Black Prince” whose capabilities were entirely familiar to him.

“Gatling Style, 20 mm.”

Even the verbal formula of the fulminating attack he invoked corresponded to an elemental incantation, executed with pure desperation.

A combat impregnated with a harsh reality.

The “Black Prince,” without a hint of doubt, measured his strength against the God of Insignificance.

Any effort proved futile.

Or at least, that was the apparent logic.

Regardless of the amount of freezing gusts or projectiles of penumbra that descended in a throng, they proved incapable of impacting Dale. The same fate befell the blades forged of darkness.

Nevertheless, faced with a challenge posed with such a level of dedication, he found himself unable to articulate a single word.

He directed his eyes toward Lize.

He managed to discern the secret hidden at the bottom of her penumbra. Evoking the image of a little girl terrified upon the discovery of a fault, his sister shed tears.

Inside her own darkness.

No matter how skillfully she structured intrigues and plans, her affection for Dale remained intact. Because of this, the figure that rose before him took on a painfully authentic meaning.

Thud!

At that precise instant, the dark blade belonging to the “Black Prince” pierced Dale’s physiognomy.

“I thank you for the knowledge provided…”

The penumbra weapon tore through Dale’s pectoral area, emerging from the dorsal region. A thick and dark fluid, similar to the nocturnal penumbra, began to slide along the edge.

“I give you my thanks.”

While the fluid continued its descent, Dale embraced in his arms, with total serenity, that vestige of a fictitious yesterday.

For the first time, an element managed to preserve its relevance against the God of Insignificance. A dispute that did not dilute into insignificance.

A supreme value immune to any substitution.

Before the magnitude of said value, it was the figure of the “God of Insignificance” that ended up succumbing.

Just as Shub had stated at the time, those divine entities lacked the faculty to impose themselves upon mortals. In the same way that the endeavor of slaying dragons belonged exclusively to human beings, it was the latter who possessed the potential to extinguish deities.

In this manner, a solitary individual, the “Black Prince,” put an end to the existence of the God of Insignificance.

“And refrain from granting me your mercy.”

Holding the “Black Prince” in his lap, Dale uttered his words.

Bang!

The detonation tore the air once more. The malleable penumbra capable of adopting any configuration emitted the characteristic sound of a piercing blade causing an incision.

Despite this, the “Black Prince” manifested no alteration whatsoever. He limited himself to exhibiting a faint smile, denoting that the outcome was a foreseen fact from the beginning.

“… I lack the will to understand your reasons or grant you my forgiveness.”

The “Black Prince” sketched a slight gesture of grace while a crimson fluid sprouted from the corners of his mouth, showing an extremely intense hue.

“Limit yourself to fulfilling the established pact… that commitment sealed with Shub.”

A mortal devoid of divine lineage finished off the God of Insignificance. Nevertheless, this event did not bring about Dale’s disappearance.

“To preserve the human essence until the end of days, renouncing the divine condition.”

“I pledge it under my own honor and appealing to the identity of the Black Prince.”

The deity ceased its functions, giving way to the birth of a human being.

“It is enough.”

The “Black Prince” made a head movement tinged with disappointment. His physical structure began to weaken until completely dissolving into the void.

The human individual looked up.

In the midst of that wintry atmosphere characterized by the absolute contrast between immaculate white and deep black, Lize remained motionless.

Strips of dark fabric covered the extent of the surroundings he managed to perceive.

“Lize.”

Dale fixed his eyes on her.

“Is there a possibility that you might grant me your mercy?”

“There is no fault whatsoever that requires mercy on my part, brother.”

Lize showed a subtle smile that, nevertheless, carried a nuance of melancholy.

“The absolute responsibility falls upon me.”

“The responsibility is shared by both of us.”

Dale made a head movement of denial. That determined the end of the exchange.

A period of time having passed.

“My congratulations, Your Excellency! It is a boy!”

The exclamation of the head midwife crossed the room, causing Dale, who was waiting submerged in a deep state of expectation, to finally look up.

No longer under the investiture of the God of Insignificance, but stripped of divinity, experiencing the shudder typical of a mortal before the phenomenon of conception.

“Dale…”

Charlotte sketched a subtle expression of joy as she grasped Dale’s fingers, guarding the tender creature resting sheltered under the folds of a fabric.

A physiognomy that would hardly fit within the conventional parameters of the species, but which bore marked similarities to Charlotte’s features.

Nevertheless, the infant emitting its first wails between the couple possessed an unquestionably human nature.

That resounding reality generated an extremely profound emotional impact.

“Our offspring,” Charlotte expressed, manifesting joy. For a person who had to endure a great amount of vicissitudes, this process would not have to represent a torment. However, the commitment entailed by motherhood, giving shelter to a new existence, was far from being a minor issue.

Dale shared an identical perspective.

In that room, there were no entities of a higher order nor weapons of mythical origin. Only two mortal individuals were present, and between them, a new existence had initiated its course.

A being that manifested its vitality through crying.

Shortly after, the members of the previous generation entered the chamber.

“You have completed the work with great skill, my dear,” stated Elena, provoking Charlotte’s joyful reaction. For his part, father Alan contemplated the newborn showing a deep sense of pride.

The characteristic environment of a conventional family nucleus could be appreciated.