As his consciousness sank into the abyss, he faintly heard someone crying out.
‘Ar?’
At that voice, sending him a faith so unwavering it was almost foolish, his fading consciousness slowly began to return.
Along with it, an old memory surfaced.
The Era of Calamity.
An era where countless orphans were born, and where such a thing was completely normal.
He had never known the happiness of an ordinary family.
It was an era where misfortune was the norm.
Peace had vanished even before he was born, and the world was filled with nothing but despair.
In that calamity, the weakest were the orphans who had nowhere to go and no one to rely on.
Days spent somehow trying to prolong his life.
A childhood where everyone he saw was miserable.
And among them, he was a child just a little more unfortunate than the rest.
“What’s wrong with him now?”
“I don’t know. He says the sky is scary.”
“Seriously, what’s so scary about it? What a coward.”
The other orphans in the alley always looked at him like he was pathetic.
It was only natural.
He was always afraid.
The gray sky was terrifying.
So he didn’t dare raise his head.
“They say the sky used to be sky-blue.”
“What’s sky-blue?”
“They say it’s a light blue color.”
“What’s that? Sounds weird!”
The orphans filled their stomachs by sharing the food they had begged for during the day.
“Hey, wolf kid, have some of this too.”
Back then, he was called the wolf kid.
He didn’t have a name.
There were no parents to give him one.
The group just called each other whatever was convenient.
Fortunately, even as a child, he had a knack for finding good people.
Among the group of orphans, there was a human girl who took care of the others.
That girl always set aside a little food for him, the one who was always trembling in fear.
Then one day, a wolf Beastkin came to the street where the orphans lived.
“Did you hear? They say he’s the Guardian of the Azure Sky, Agon-nim!”
“I’ve heard of him! He’s someone amazing, right?”
“Why would someone that amazing come to a street like this?”
“He’s going to take care of us! They said we can eat without begging anymore!”
“Really?!”
The Guardian of the Azure Sky, Agon.
To the orphans, he was no different from a savior.
They still couldn’t eat their fill, but they no longer had to starve, even without going through the hardship of begging.
The children cheered, saying this was true happiness.
And so, a great change came to the orphans’ street.
But it must have been around that time that he became even more afraid.
From the day Agon came to the orphans’ street, he would run away and hide whenever he saw him.
‘Scary! So scary!’
The wolf kid was afraid of Agon.
To the child’s eyes, Agon was simply too immense.
He had once seen people on the main road leaving on expeditions to protect the city.
He had felt fear from them too, but Agon was on a completely different level.
Because Agon was always on the orphans’ street, the wolf kid ended up starving more often.
One day, after starving to the point where his stomach no longer even growled,
Agon appeared before the wolf kid, who lay limp on the ground.
“So now you don’t even have the strength to run away anymore?”
“Hic-!”
Terrified, the wolf kid tried to crawl away.
But he couldn’t even muster that much strength.
Agon silently placed a bowl of soup and a piece of bread in front of the wolf kid.
Then he sat down a fair distance away and watched him.
Starving, the wolf kid greedily stuffed the soup and bread into his mouth.
“Cough-! Cough-!”
He choked from eating too fast.
But Agon simply closed his eyes and waited until the wolf kid finished eating.
A moment later,
the wolf kid approached Agon.
It must have been because of the food that his guard had come down.
When Agon opened his eyes with that thought in mind, an unexpected sight greeted him.
“Th-th-th-th-thank you.”
The wolf kid was still terrified.
What about me frightens this child so much?
As he wondered that, he was also impressed by the wolf kid, who, despite being so frightened, had still gathered the courage to express his thanks.
“The other children call you a coward. But unlike what I’ve heard, you seem to be a very brave child.”
“M-Me?”
Agon smiled gently at the trembling wolf child, who looked utterly confused.
“Yes, little one. What is it about me that frightens you so much?”
“A-Agon-nim... you’re too big. The other children don’t seem to notice it, but... I think you have a power that’s far too great.”
At those words, the color drained from Agon’s face.
‘He saw through my power and became afraid?’
Agon had been certain he had perfectly concealed his power.
Startled, Agon suppressed all of his Aura, even the part he was unconsciously releasing.
The wolf kid’s eyes widened.
His deathly pale face returned to normal.
Once the frightening thing was gone, the child’s expression turned bright and clear.
After that, Agon and Arron talked a great deal.
“The sky is scary... I see. So you were born with a tremendous power.”
“I was?”
The wolf kid’s eyes widened.
“Yes. The reason you’re always afraid is because your instincts know things other people do not. In a way, uncontrollable power is close to a curse. It must have been difficult for you.”
At those words, the wolf kid’s face crumpled.
“Then I hate that power! It means I’m always scared because of it!”
The wolf kid had come to hate the power he was born with.
“No, there must be a reason you were born with such a tremendous power.”
“That’s hard.”
“You’ll understand when you’re a little older. So don’t be afraid of your power. Accept it and make it yours. If you do, you may become someone who saves the world.”
Seeing through the child’s unimaginable potential, Agon smiled brightly.
“What does it mean to save the world?”
“Hmm. How can I explain it simply?”
After thinking for a moment, Agon nodded.
“Right, saving the world means bringing back the clear sky.”
“What’s a clear sky?”
“It’s a sky filled with this color.”
Woong-!
A sky-blue Aura flowed from Agon’s hand.
“A long time ago, the entire sky was this color.”
“Whoa... It’s pretty...”
His eyes were captivated by the beautiful color he had never seen before.
The wolf kid felt a deep sense of awe at that color.
And soon, he asked in an excited voice,
“What do I have to do to save the world!?”
“It’s an incredibly difficult task.”
“I’ll do it even if it’s hard! I want to see the clear sky!”
“Is that so? Then first, you have to become strong.”
“Become strong?”
“Don’t worry about that part. I’ll train you. Before that, it would be good for you to have a name.”
After thinking for a moment, Agon grinned.
“Arron would be a good one.”
“Arron?”
“Yes. In the ancient Beastkin language, ar means courage, and ron means person. Together, it means a person of courage.”
“A person of courage... I don’t think that suits me very well.”
“No. It suits you perfectly. Arron. You saw that sky-blue color, and even knowing it would be difficult, you still wanted to save the world, didn’t you?”
“Yes.”
“That right there is courage.”
“Courage...”
“Yes. So when you feel anxious or afraid, remember the sky-blue color you saw today.”
Agon stroked Arron’s white hair.
“It will surely give you courage.”
Awoooooooooo-!
The sudden sound of a [Howling] fully awakened Arron’s consciousness.
‘Ar.’
Ar’s [Howling] was giving him courage.
And in response to Ar’s [Howling], strength surged through Arron’s whole body.
Fwoosh-!
With the power of Ar’s [Howling], Arron underwent [Beast Transformation].
His fading body returned to its original form.
When he opened his eyes, he saw sky-blue hair.
And he saw the broken sword Chelsea was holding.
Brave.
The symbol of the broken Hero.
To deliver that sword, Chelsea had gathered her courage and come all the way to him.
Arron looked at Chelsea’s hair and reached for the broken sword.
Fwoosh-!
‘Dweno’s flame?’
A golden flame suddenly erupted and became Brave’s blade.
Arron smiled as he looked at Brave, which had returned to its perfect form.
Ar’s [Howling] reignited his extinguished courage.
The sky-blue hair before his eyes showed him the way.
The sword Dweno had forged pushed him forward.
A golden light flashed in Arron’s eyes.
Fwoosh-!
Brave sliced through the [Calamity Flame].
Crackle-
Having returned to the world once more, Arron smiled gently and asked Chelsea, who was in his arms,
“Are you alright?”
“Yes.”
“Thank you, Chelsea. Thanks to you, I was able to find my courage.”
“What did I even do...?”
“The color sky-blue gives me courage.”
Smiling softly, Arron carefully set Chelsea down.
Seeing Arron like that, Erebos’s face twisted.
—How did you return? Is this miracle the result of your stubborn obsession with protecting the worthless title of Hero?
Arron answered Erebos’s anger-laced words.
“I have no lingering attachment to the title of Hero. I believe I returned because I stepped into the realm of the gods.”
—Such absurd nonsense.
“Such absurd nonsense.”
Erebos’s eyes twitched when Arron spoke the exact same words he had been thinking at the very same moment.
—You... Don’t tell me you can see the future...
“Yes. I can see it clearly.”
—You...
“So now I understand. The future can be changed as much as one desires.”
Though only for a brief instant, his eyes had opened, allowing him to see a clear future beyond fragmented glimpses.
Only for a very brief moment, he had succeeded in stepping into the realm of the gods.
And because of that, he had managed to obtain a tiny fragment of Divine Power.
“It’s only a tiny sliver... but it’s enough to finish you.”
Flash-!
Arron’s sword swung at an invisible speed.
Kwaaack-!
Erebos’s body split in half from head to toe.
—A mere ghost of the past that died long ago!
Erebos’s enraged voice rang out.
Arron smiled as he looked at Erebos.
“We’re in the same position. Let’s not cling to this world.”
—Grwoaaaaaaaaaar!
Erebos’s roar, thick with rage, echoed out.
Watching him, Arron swung his sword.
A golden flash burst out, and Erebos’s body shattered into tens of thousands of pieces.
Puhwak-!
“Amazing...!”
Chelsea’s eyes widened at that very moment.
Flash-!
Light burst from Leo’s staff, and a pure white radiance surged up along Arron’s sword.
Arron’s eyes widened when he saw Leo cast magic onto his sword.
Leo made a throat-slitting gesture toward Arron.
Understanding what he meant, Arron gripped the sword with both hands and raised it high.
And just before he swung it down, he turned back, as if he had only just remembered something, and said,
“Chelsea.”
“Yes!”
“Want me to tell you a secret?”
“A secret?”
“Yeah. The truth is, Leo is...”
Arron whispered so quietly it was barely audible.
“The Hero of Beginning.”
(T/N : OMFG!!!!! MY EYES WENT WIDE TOOOOOOOOO. She now knoowwwwwwsssss!)
Chelsea’s eyes flew wide open.
“Kyle has carried too many burdens. He’ll never try to share them. So please. As his dongsaeng ( younger sister), be a source of strength for Kyle... for Leo. Create a place where Leo can smile comfortably.”
‘Find what you want to do.’
Before heading into the final battle, those were the words Kyle had given him, not as a friend, but as a hyung.
‘After coming to this world, I thought I wanted to become a true Hero... but that’s not what I want.’
He had never been interested in something like that in the first place.
‘What I want is only one thing. I want my family to be able to smile in a peaceful world, surrounded by good people. That is the wish I have for myself.’
It was a wish Leo would surely have gotten angry at if he heard it.
He would have scolded him, saying it was still an altruistic wish in the end.
But Arron liked it.
Just thinking about it made him happy.
So he decided to keep that truth buried in his heart.
Thud- Thud-
Holding the sword imbued with pure white power, Arron walked toward Erebos, who had begun burning once more.
“This is the end.”
Shing-!
Arron adjusted his grip on the sword, his expression fierce.
“Disappear, Primordial Evil.”
Flash-!
Kuuuuooooooooooooo!
The fragments of Erebos, cut apart by the pure white light and golden Aura, screamed in agony.
Kwaaaaaaaah! Fwoosh-!
Engulfed by the pure white light, Erebos vanished without leaving a trace.
The blood-red sky began to fade.
The murderous monsters wrapped in Black Flame burned away and soon died out.
Erebos had vanished without a trace.
The only proof that the Primordial Evil had ever existed were the scars left behind on the fierce battlefield.
As everyone stood there in silence, dawn began to break.
Watching that scene, Arron shouted,
“We are victorious!”
“Waaaaaaaaaaaaah!”
(T/N : The parallels are just toooo goooood. )
***
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