“...” I was too shocked to even say a word. Marriage? Me? With a dragon?
“Erm… excuse me but.” I tried my best to avoid hurting Emilia’s feelings. “Let me ask you something.”
“Sure.”
“By any chance...”
“...?”
“Have you gone senile?”
“...”
“I knew it...”
“...”
“I should have known when someone like the Dragon Lord proposed an alliance between dragons and humans...”
I dared to say that Emilia had definitely gone senile.
“It seems old age affects everyone, regardless of your species.”
“...”
“Do dragons have old folks’ homes...”
“No!” Seemingly disturbed by my crude remark, Emilia shouted. “n.o.body’s senile.”
“O-Oh, is that so?”
“Of course.”
“...”
“A dragon’s mental stability is permanent. Diseases like dementia do not exist in our dictionary.”
“Then why did you spout such rubbish...”
“Rubbish?”
“W-Were you being serious?”
“You thought I was joking? Me, the Dragon Lord?”
I could not rebut her statement, but her request for me to marry her daughter still sounded absurd.
“You don’t believe me, do you?”
“Of course not.”
“But I’m being serious.”
Serious? I began to fear Emilia.
“Why…?”
“My daughter...”
“...?”
“The last dragon… she is destined to live alone as the sole survivor of the species...”
“What does that…!”
“This war.” Emilia placed emphasis in her words. “As we strive to protect Pangaea from the Agnagas, there is a very low chance of survival for us dragons.”
“...!”
“Currently… there’s only 25 dragons left, including me and my daughter. We are strong, but there’s only a few of us.”
“I see...”
“The Agnagas are stronger. To protect Pangaea in this battle… the extinction of our species seems inevitable.”
“…Is the situation that dire?”
I couldn’t believe Emilia’s words. Dragons were the strongest of all creatures, but even 25 of them couldn’t promise a victory in this war against the Agnagas?
So it’s impossible to win this battle after all.
I finally realized that the despair that I had tasted for the past two years was not unfounded. I had been fighting an unwinnable battle since the very start.
“In any case.” Emilia added. “There’s not a chance that the current you and my daughter will get married.”
“What do you mean?” I couldn’t comprehend her words. “Didn’t you just ask me to marry your daughter?”
“I did.”
“Then what nonsense are you...”
“You will die.”
“...!”
“You are strong. I know that you are the greatest amongst the human race, with power even comparable to an ancient dragon.”
“...”
“As such, you will have to join this battle to save the world, which may lead to your demise.”
“I don’t quite get you.”
“However...”
“However…?”
“Your reincarnation.”
“...!”
“I plan to leave my daughter to your reincarnation’s care.”
It gradually began to make sense.
“You… knew?”
My eyes met Emilia’s. Her dragon eyes gleamed with an immeasurable wisdom acc.u.mulated over countless number of years.
“The Wheel of Three Lives...” Emilia began to speak about my greatest secret. “It’s an ability created by Murciélago, the first Dragon Lord, to prepare against the end of the world.”
“...!”
“The dungeon that you had discovered coincidentally happened to be Murciélago’s grave.”
“I see...”
“As long as you have the Wheel of Three Lives, you are destined to become the messiah who can save the world.”
“...”
“Also...” Emilia continued her speech. “The reconstruction and revival of this world.”
“...!”
“That’s right. You are responsible for not only the world’s present, but also its future, not to forget my daughter as well.”
s.h.i.+ver…! A chill ran down my spine. I hadn’t the slightest clue about the meaning behind the Wheel of Three Lives. “Messiah,” she says. “Save the world,” she says. “Responsible for this world’s reconstruction,” she says. I didn’t know that my life had to shoulder such a huge responsibility.
“Don’t worry, leader of the human race.” Emilia spoke. “You only have to focus on the present.”
“The present...?”
“Your reincarnation can be responsible for the world’s reconstruction and my daughter.”
“...!”
“You and your reincarnation will share the same soul, but you two are distinct ident.i.ties. Your traits may be similar, but your background can be totally different.”
“Ah?” I could follow Emilia’s explanation. “So it’s none of my business?”
“That’s right.”
“Then I...”
“You just have to leave it to your reincarnation. Buck-pa.s.sing… there’s nothing more attractive than this concept for leaders like you.”
She was right. I often resisted the urge to dump all my paperwork on my underlings and just vanish.
“Reconstruction of this world? What do you mean?”
I noticed a strange a.s.sumption in Emilia’s speech.
“You make it sound like this world is eventually going to be destroyed.”
“Not totally.”
“Then?”
“It’ll be a lose-lose situation.”
“...!”
“But even that may be too idealistic.”
My heart sank.
“Even if we win this battle, we won’t be able to eradicate the Agnagas completely.”
“Why?” I inquired.
“They...”
“...”
“… Have someone who can control time and s.p.a.ce.”
“W-What…!?”
“Time Lord Milenius… as long as he exists, the Agnagas will return even if we win the battle. It will definitely happen, be it 500 or 1000 years later.”
“G.o.d d.a.m.n it…!”
Today’s victory might not promise a bright future. That meant that this devastating battle could be nothing but futile. Were my soldiers and subordinates at the frontlines dying in vain?
“That won’t do. “
It was a difficult truth to swallow. I refused to let any sacrifice go to waste. Millions of people have been killed. I had to win this battle on their behalf, and also prevent this d.a.m.n Milenius from turning the table.
“That’s why I wish to make a proposal.”
“What proposal?”
“An arrangement for the future generation.”
“...!”
“Time Lord Milenius is undoubtedly going to try to exert its evil influence on this continent again. That’s why we have to start preparing from now. We have to devise plans to protect this world’s future – to not let our victory go to waste.”
I agreed wholeheartedly to her idea.
“Count me in.”
As the leader of the human race, I could not afford to reject Emilia’s proposition.
“Good.” Emilia seemed satisfied by my decision. “Then let’s begin immediately. Time’s not on our side. We have to move quickly. Not only do we have to win the war, but we also have to carry on with the project.”
“Project?”
“I’m referring to the plan for the future generation.”
“So fast? What’s the solution...”
“I’m the Dragon Lord, remember?”
“You already have a plan in mind?”
“Yes.” Emilia nodded. “It’s called ‘Project Erinyes.’”
“...!”
“This is the project that will be responsible for this world’s future.”
At that moment, I could not fully understand what the [Project Erinyes] was about. However, I instinctively knew that only this could save the world from the Agnagas...
3 years pa.s.sed since that eventful day. While battling against the Agnagas, I roamed around the whole continent to carry out Project Erinyes. My role was to empower my reincarnation with great strength to protect the world from the second coming of the Agnagas.
I left no stones unturned. Through Agrippa, the Archwitch, I learned more about my reincarnation and prepared countless obstacles and challenges on his path to stimulate his growth. In addition, I did not forget to pa.s.s on the lovers whom I failed to take responsibility for.
He was going to be tremendously misfortunate with women, but I didn’t care… as long as it wasn’t me. So what if my reincarnation is nagged to death by his many ‘wives’ or dies from too much s.e.xual intercourse? That was none of my business.
To be honest...
Eat this, you b.a.s.t.a.r.d.
I also wanted my reincarnation to suffer tremendously like I had with women.
However, this didn’t seem enough. The main theme of System Erinyes entailed summoning 300 lords and 297,700 warriors from a different world who can rescue and reconstruct this world. My reincarnation would be one of the 300 lords.
He will go on a rampage.
I believed that my reincarnation, who would have been living an ordinary life previously, would gain strength exponentially and eventually go insane.
“Your Imperial Majesty… your reincarnation… will be consumed by his overwhelming power… become a notorious tyrant… and eventually meet his demise...”
Agrippa agreed with me.
“No choice then.”
As a result, I added in the Wheel of Return to [Project Erinyes], disguised as an ability called [Soul Backup]. This would allow my reincarnation to live a second life. After an initial round of failure, my reincarnation would hopefully realize his mistakes, develop into a true sovereign and claim victory over the Agnagas...
Another year pa.s.sed by as I prepared everything.
“It’s complete.”
When the war between the alliance (led by me and Emilia) and the Agnagas was coming to an end, Emilia finally succeeded in completing [Project Erinyes].
“With this, our plan is finished.”
“Good work.”
“Yes, it was not easy...”
Emilia’s face was full of fine wrinkles.
This was surprising. A polymorphed ancient dragon – the Dragon Lord, in fact – had new wrinkles on her face. It was an indication of the effort she had put in to finish [Project Erinyes]...
“Now...” Emilia spoke. “We’re only left with the selection process.”
“Right.”
“You can take care of the human candidates. I can take care of the remaining species.”
“Will do.”
The selection process aimed to choose living organisms that would be part of the system. [System Erinyes] was akin to Noah’s Ark. Knowledge, intelligence and all living organisms except for dragons were to be stored in Erinyes. In the distant future, this would allow the 300 Lords from the other world called Earth to reconstruct this world.
“Ah, and also.”
Moreover...
“Let’s incorporate a ranking system.”
“A ranking system?”
“Is there a hard and fast rule that my reincarnation must be the one to save the world?”
I despised the stubborn way of thinking that ‘it has to be me’. The messiah didn’t have to be me. Right, anyone would do. As long as the new hero can protect this world from the second coming of the Agnagas and make our sacrifices worthwhile, n.o.body would care who he or she was.
“Let’s make the 300 Lords compete against each other. The strongest individual who rises to the imperial throne shall save and reconstruct the world. It doesn’t have to be my reincarnation.”
“Julius…!”
“Let’s do it.”
I refused to compromise.
“… Alright then.”
Emilia could not persuade me otherwise and incorporated the ranking system into Erinyes in the end.
***
What the f.u.c.k…!?
Kang Chul-In, who stood in the Emperor of Blood and Iron’s shoes, could finally realize the truth about the mechanism behind the ‘Great Summoning’!
At that moment, the Emperor of Blood and Iron spoke to Kang Chul-In.
...!
Accept what?
...!
Information superiority…!
The Emperor of Blood and Iron added.
With that,
...!
All the data from the Emperor of Blood and Iron’s life experience flowed into Kang Chul-In’s mind.