Three days later, after preparing their supplies, Ard, Eva, and the others were ready to leave. They waited in front of the gate to Bromir and Lugerna’s house, standing before the Kingdom of Grimgrath’s zeppelin. Elr intended to escort them as far as the entrance of the ancient ruins to the west—a place the townspeople considered sacred and haunted, said to be the resting place of restless spirits from ancient tis that occasionally disturbed the city.
Luca stood at the front with Ard and Eva, while Bromir, Lugerna, and their three children embraced Gigi for a final goodbye. After letting go of the hug,
"Papa... Mama... big brothers...big sister... I’m going," Gigi said, clutching the straps of her bag.
"Yeah, stay healthy, and don’t forget us," said Erdin and Ardin, her twin older brothers, as they patted Gigi’s head.
"I won’t, brothers," Gigi replied cheerfully.
Lisya, Bromir and Lugerna’s daughter, hugged Gigi once more and cried, though she smiled at her sister without saying a word and gave a nod. Gigi hugged Lisya back, while Bromir placed his arm around Lugerna’s shoulder, standing behind them. This ti, they only smiled and no tears fell from their eyes; instead, both their faces looked proud to see their daughter heading off to make her mark on the surface.
"Rember what Mama told you last night, Gigi," Lugerna said.
"I will, Mama. I’ll always rember," Gigi replied.
"Go on. Your mother and I are so proud of you," Bromir said, stroking Gigi’s head with a smile.
"Yes. Thank you, Papa... Mama... I’m leaving now, and one day, I promise I’ll co back," Gigi said, smiling as her eyes began to well up with tears.
Then Gigi turned around, grabbed Luca’s hand, and hopped onto the ship. Ard, Eva, and the others said their goodbyes to Bromir, Lugerna, and their children, then began boarding the deck one by one. The zeppelin started to lift off; Bromir, Lugerna, and the kids had to hold their hair back against the wind kicked up by the propellers, but they kept waving their hands.
Gigi stood at the edge of the deck, waving her small hand enthusiastically to return her family’s farewell. Then, the ship began to move westward, leaving the Steelhold family behind as they watched the vessel from below, standing at their front gate with smiles and tears streaming down their faces—including Bromir. Afterward, Luca approached Gigi, who was sitting silently, leaning against the deck. Luca looked at Gigi’s face.
"Wait... are you crying?" Luca asked.
"What of it... it’s strange that I’m crying," Gigi answered snappishly, tears streaming down her face.
"Of course it’s strange. We aren’t beings like them, so why do you have feelings like theirs?" Luca replied while observing Gigi.
"You hatched and were raised by a fisherman’s family on the western continent yourself, 5,000 years ago—so shut up," Gigi said, crying and sharp-tongued.
"Wait... how... how do you know that?" Luca asked, confused.
"Bedryt told that Lucathan survived. He whispered to while I was inside the egg," Gigi answered.
"Oh... so that’s how it is," Luca replied, leaning against the deck wall right next to Gigi.
Luca eventually fell silent, simply sitting beside Gigi, who sat clutching her knees with tears streaming down her face. anwhile, Ard, Eva, Alicia, Milia, Beatrice, Adeline, Rosalind, Pyria, Mirea, Claudia, Geoffrey, Thorena, Grethia, Irina, Ainsley, and Irwin watched the two from a distance, observing the two strange young girls who looked so different from the others as they sat before them.
"If you think about it... it’s pretty strange... a dragon nearly the size of a continent is sitting right there, looking just like an ordinary child," Mirea murmured, watching them.
"Yeah... that’s true. Even though I’ve seen Luca’s true form and watched her transform into the Luca she is now, I still can’t believe it. It’s hard to wrap my head around it all," Pyria replied.
"Hmm... so it wasn’t just Gigi being raised by Bromir and Lugerna’s family. Luca was like that too once. No wonder when Eva and I t Luca 3,000 years ago, she was so different from Qoaldriog and Zorax," Ard said.
"Oh really? What was Luca like back then?" Alicia asked.
"She used to co up and play with us. Back then, her body was almost entirely covered in scales like a fish, and she was much smaller than when we t her at the strait while crossing north from the central continent," Eva answered.
"Oh... is that so... it really is hard to believe," Alicia said.
Then Elr approached them, accompanied by the ship’s captain, to speak with Ard and Eva. Elr handed them an object that looked like a flare gun, but it was much larger and seed designed to fire more than just light—it looked like it produced sound as well.
"What is this, Elr?" Ard asked, looking at the flare gun in his hand.
"Use this to call us. We usually use these to shake the kingdoms of Grimgrath and Tartagia to stop a war. I don’t know if this can be used on the surface or not, but if it works, it ans you’re calling the dwarven and giant armies to ascend and help you," Elr answered, glancing at Grethia, who responded with a nod.
"Hmm... I see," Eva murmured, looking at the flare gun in Ard’s hand.
"Alright, we’ll give it a try later," Ard replied, placing the flare gun into his dinsional storage.
"When you reach the ruins, please be careful. That place is a nest for evil spirits from ancient tis, and they are incredibly difficult to fight," Elr warned.
"Have you ever been there?" Ard asked.
"No, I’ve heard about it from the townspeople over the last two days. Almost all of them say the sa thing. When I checked their records, it was clearly described because so of the residents took photos of those ruins so that no one would go near them," Elr answered.
"Hmm... it really is just like Earth... too bad I didn’t see the photos yesterday," Ard murmured.
"Huh... Earth?" Elr asked.
"Ah... sorry, don’t worry about it," Ard replied.
"The ship’s captain says he can’t enter the forest area in front of the ruins; you’ll have to travel on foot to get inside," Elr said, turning to look at the captain beside him, who nodded.
"Alright, that’s not a problem," Eva replied confidently.
"The fact that you’re willing to escort us this far already makes us happy," Ard added, reaching out his hand.
"Of course I’m escorting you. Even though I can’t join you, my wife and my sister are going with you. I pray for your success, and don’t forget, we dwarves and giants are with you and ready to help whenever you need," Elr replied, shaking Ard’s hand with a wide smile.
"Yeah, I won’t forget. Thanks, Elr," Ard replied, smiling as he shook Elr’s hand.
The ship continued heading west, and before long, they could see a green horizon ahead of them. But when Ard and Eva saw the forest, they imdiately ran to the front of the ship because there were many ancient buildings that seed to have been swallowed by the thick jungle within. Ard took a pair of binoculars from one of the crew mbers and looked ahead; his face instantly turned serious. He then handed the binoculars to Eva, and as she looked at the ruins inside the forest, her expression changed as well. Eva then turned to Ard.
"Hmm... so that’s how it is. So the ruins of that shaless kingdom are the source of the rising restless spirits from 3,000 years ago," Eva said with a fierce look on her face.
"Yeah, I still rember the palace at the very back. It’s perfectly clear we recognize the ruins of what seems to be the capital of that kingdom... the kingdom that beheaded you and turned into Azroth... the Kingdom of Chronius, the kingdom I sank into the sea 3,000 years ago," Ard replied, his face grim.
They kept their eyes fixed ahead; as the ship drew closer to the forest stretching across the horizon, with its many ancient buildings swallowed within, a chilling and oppressive aura beca overwhelmingly thick. Ard and Eva could see and feel the lingering resentnt, anger, hatred, despair, and sorrow of the people from that corrupt and brutal kingdom called Chronius—the ones Ard had slaughtered back when he was Azroth. He and his army had shown no rcy, even sinking the ruins into the ocean, and now those souls had beco the wicked, restless spirits disturbing the peace of Le Rein Infernal. Ard turned to look at Eva, who also turned to look at him.
"It seems we have to finish the job I started 3,000 years ago. Will you help ?" Ard asked.
"With pleasure. Let’s finish off that damn kingdom once and for all, down to its very roots," Eva answered.
Without another mont’s delay, the two of them pulled Exgrandal and Exelion from their dinsional storage. They stood there in silence, holding hands, their eyes locked on the ruins being devoured by the jungle as the airship surged closer.
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