Chapter 177: The Arrival

- Central Abelis, Church Ritual Site – Rose's POV –

But it didn’t. The expected ending never came as the roar of fire and superheated air rushed around Mary and I. Opening the eyes that I’d closed instinctively, I was faced with the pained face of the Old Man as he shielded us from the torrent of raging fire, his body acting as a barrier between us and certain death.

[O-Old man?!?] - Rose

[I-I won’t let you die again. Not again. Not when I’ve just found you.] - Gilgamesh

[O-Old man, you’re-] - Rose

[My my my! So, there’s a being other than a dragon that can withstand divine fire? Perhaps your species isn’t as worthless as I believed. Still though...] - Voice from the Void

Halting his fiery breath when he realized we were unharmed there seemed to be even a modicum of respect in his eyes as he looked down on the panting immortal, his back nearly burned to the bone even from my perspective. Unfortunately, though, that moment of respect passed quickly as his eyes became disinterested once again, a black-scaled fist blasting the still recovering Old Man away effortlessly as I lay there, once more unprotected in the face of the might of this unnamed massive black dragon.

[Now. With that fool out of the picture who can possibly save you, dear niece? Die lamenting your weakness pup!] - Voice from the Void

[Over my dead body, Eldest!] - Robert de la Amchier

Once more opening his mouth to deliver certain death as I struggled to get Mary and myself out of our bindings, using magic to try to burn through the ropes as I hissed in pain from the flames scorching my back. Unfortunately, I was too late, as the flames once more sprang from his mouth to end us both.

Only for a red scaled hand to violently pull the much larger dragon’s head back, releasing his black flames into the sky as they violently blew away all of the clouds in sight. Even without having seen Papa’s dragon form I recognized him immediately, his deep voice bringing a wave of relief as I finally succeeded in freeing myself from my binds and began working on doing the same for the shivering Mary.

Now that Papa was here, I was safe, I told myself, carefully working Mary out of her bindings.

[Rose, my baby girl, you need to get out of here now! I won’t last long against the Eldest and your grandparents aren’t close enough to help!] - Robert de la Amchier

Contrary to my expectations, however, the edge of panic in Papa’s voice told me that it was much more dangerous than even I had expected, the rumbling laughter emanating from the much larger black dragon making my face go pale as I froze in place, unwilling to just leave my precious family member behind.

[So... the Youngest has finally become an adult? It seems you have inherited father’s arrogance, if not the power to back it up. Did you genuinely believe that I would allow any of you to escape with your lives? After all, I worked so hard to break through the damnable barrier that old fool placed on this world! KNEEL!] - Voice from the Void

[Argh! R-Rose...! I’m so sorry...!] - Robert de la Amchier

Pressed to the ground once more by the same feeling as before I tried, in vain, to protect both Mary and Papa from the quickly approaching death, my body futilely draped over theirs in an attempt to stave off their death even a second more as we waited for oblivion.

- Central Abelis, Church Ritual Site – Rose's POV –

Only for it to never come as the massive dragon froze suddenly, his long neck turning to look into the distance at a rapidly growing black spot in the sky. With a murmur of, “So, you’ve come,” the dragon turned away from us, seemingly forgetting our existence as the pressure on my soul ceased in an instant leaving us gasping for air as I attempted to comfort the nearly comatose Mary.

[B-Baby girl? Are you okay?] - Robert de la Amchier

Seemingly recovering far faster than Mary and me, Papa knelt next to the two of us, concern on his face but, for some reason, he seemed calm otherwise.

[P-Papa?!? Wh-Who was that?!? What’s going on?!?] - Rose

[My eldest brother, I don’t know what’s going on or why he’s trying to kill us but it’s over now. More importantly, isn’t this young woman...?] - Robert de la Amchier

[My sister! She’s my sister from my previous life. Papa, meet Mary. Mary, meet Papa.] - Rose

[Papa?] - Mary

[O-Oh right! I apologize for the late introduction; I’m Rose’s father in this life. More importantly though, we should get as far from this place as possible, if you wish to come, I’d be happy to shelter you as well, but we need to leave now no matter what.] - Robert de la Amchier

Realizing that Papa was correct as I looked towards the still nearby monstrosity I nearly nodded before noticing the still smoking body of the Old Man in the distance, pulling Mary with me as I rushed to his side.

[Wait one moment! We need to take the Old Man with us if we’re going to run! He’s the only reason I lived long enough for you to save me!] - Rose

[Take him with- baby girl I think he’s...] - Robert de la Amchier

[He’ll live! I’ll explain later but for now we need to get him away from here!] - Rose

[Got it. I’ll carry him, you stay behind me. While most of the Church forces have already retreated, we might still run into stragglers!] - Robert de la Amchier

[Okay. Lead the way, Papa!] - Rose

Seeing that he was right about the lack of Church soldiers I nodded with a serious expression, dragging a dazed Mary behind me as we made our way away from the massive black dragon, Gilgamesh draped across Papa’s back.

- Central Abelis, Church Ritual Site – Dragon Lord Mortem Restisis' POV –

I had finally made it to Miscalis. Going as slowly as I could so I didn’t accidentally rip the planet apart by mistake had taken a lot more effort than I’d remembered and, a few times, I’d messed up on holding back and destroyed a few mountains and perhaps drained a small ocean or two, but I considered it an overall success to only be left with that level of destruction. If I didn’t care about the safety of this planet, I could have gotten to my newly discovered granddaughter in less than a second but, this world was where my beloved youngest son lived as well as the place where I’d met his mother, even if she’d left me after discovering how many other wives I had I still had fond memories of this backwards world.

Near the end of my journey, however, I had to speed up a bit as I sensed danger to Rose and my Youngest through Love, he was unable to send me specifics for some reason but something major was happening that was beyond even his intervention, so I decided to be a little reckless.

- Central Abelis, Church Ritual Site – Dragon Lord Mortem Restisis' POV –

Reaching a massive plain seconds later I finally saw what Love had been warning me about. My oldest, fully grown and radiating even more power than I’d expect of a dragon of even his age, was waiting for me. Briefly noting that Rose and my Youngest were far away from here I felt confidence fill me as I circled what was a battlefield only moments before. I could see the wreckage of several explosions that felt familiar to me but didn’t dwell on them long as I could see my Oldest starting to get impatient.

[Vetust. You’ve grown since we last saw each other... 20,000 years ago? What brings you here? I’m sure it wasn’t to bully your younger brother and his daughter.] - Dragon Lord Mortem Restisis

Putting on a hard edge to my voice as I landed in front of my oldest child, I contemplated the strange feeling radiating off the younger dragon. It stunk of my hated enemies, but I was willing to overlook even this for my family, so I withheld judgment for now. And, putting on the effect of a filial son, my eldest bowed lightly to me before speaking.

[Of course not, father. I was simply educating my youngest brother of his place in the pecking order. Nothing to get worked up about.] - Vetust

[I... see. And that bloodthirst I sensed earlier was in no way yours, right?] - Dragon Lord Mortem Restisis

[Bloodthirst?!? No! No, of course I would never dream of-] - Vetust

He was lying. I’d known that from the moment I came to this place. But I never imagined that he’d be so bold as to do so directly to my face like this and, as I dodged to the side, letting a dark beam of energy vaporize where I’d been standing only moments before I was once more shocked at the brazenness of this foolish child of mine to try and attack me in such an obvious manner. The reason was immaterial, and, while I wouldn’t kill him, I’d beat him within an inch of his life for disappointing me so.

[Ahahaha! So even YOU have to dodge this power father! I knew I was right to choose your weakness for these... trash, as a moment to strike! Eh?] - Vetust

[So, you were planning to use this new power to what? Usurp me? Did you truly think the power of those weak gods would be enough foolish son of mine?] - Dragon Lord Mortem Restisis

Dodging to the side once more as that strange energy passed through where I was standing, I decided to be a bit rough instead of letting those dangerous attacks come at me unmolested.

Grabbing my foolish son by the throat as he once more attempted to unleash a beam of darkness at me I forcibly interrupted the gathering power in his body as I slammed him into the ground, my foot on his head.

[G-Get your foot off me old fool! Your age is long over! It’s now the time of- Gah!] - Vetust

[So, you didn’t learn your lesson yet I- Huh?] - Dragon Lord Mortem Restisis

Pressing down on my foolish son’s head even harder as he attempted to gather that strange energy once again, I jumped back instinctively as the place I’d been standing vanished in a pillar of darkness, a familiar yet strange ability that I wasn’t able to place as the one wielding it staggered to his feet, his battered snout quickly healing as he tried to calm himself in the face of my rising rage as I realized finally what the darkness was.

[VOID?!? YOU HAVE BEEN MESSING AROUND WITH VOID ENERGY?!? YOU FOOL! DO YOU NOT REALIZE WHAT THAT ENERGY WILL DO TO YOU?!?] - Dragon Lord Mortem Restisis

[Haha... Hahahahaha! HAHAHAHA! So, it’s true?!? I didn’t really believe him when he told me that this energy would help me kill you, but your reaction tells me everything!] - Vetust

Void! That damnable fool of a son was infected with void! No wonder he was much stronger than he should have been! With that power behind him almost nothing would have a chance against a dragon in my lineage! But, based on the look on his face he can’t have known what this power would do to him if he used it for a long period of time. Which meant that he’d been tricked into using it. The question was...

[Who told you about this void energy?] - Dragon Lord Mortem Restisis

[Oh, wouldn’t you like to know foolish father? Perhaps I’ll tell you before I kill you!] - Vetust

Bracing myself for a much tougher fight than I’d originally planned for I smiled inwardly as I began planning how I’d punish this foolish son of mine for his stupidity after hitting some sense back into him.