"Does this skill dispel if you leave Dareu?"
"No, it can be maintained as long as I will it."
Liera asked, curious about the faint membrane surrounding this world, and Yu IlHan answered honestly. Liera became speechless.
"That's OP!"
"But the activation is quite hard."
"Even so..." She sighed, "I shouldn't have asked."
The war was over, and the skill that prevented any outsiders from entering had also been activated. Although many horrifying monsters would be born in this world, now that it was a higher world, the current elves and wolfkin would be able to manage them on their own.
"Master."
Ericia carefully approached Yu IlHan and Liera.
"The battlefield has been cleaned up; the harvest of the materials... as well as recovering the corpses.'
"Thanks, Ericia. Are we clear about the number of casualties yet?"
"Suitable measures have been carried out. We're all waiting for the master's next orders."
Yu IlHan patted Ericia's head, who was lowering her head slightly. Looking at her twitching ears, he spoke with a small smile.
"Then let us have the funeral then."
A grand funeral for Phiria, whose death notified him of the occurrences in Dareu, as well as all the other elves and wolfkin who died throughout the war, as well as Lecidna, Yumir's mother, was carried out. Yu IlHan, his subordinates, the elves and wolfkin, and Yumir's Dragon's army all gathered in one place.
"Though, to be exact, Lecidna was completely fooled by the Garden of Sunset..."
[Mom.]
When Lecidna's body, within Yu IlHan's inventory, appeared in the outside world, the setting sun coloured her golden scales red. Yumir looked at that with clear eyes, as if he felt no sadness, before approaching her body and lightly embracing her, still in dragon form.
[I'm going to live on strong with dad. So mom, don't worry about us and be born strong next time, and live a long life.]
"A dragon is a dragon, all right."
While Yu IlHan was speechless at Yumir's words, the children in the Dragon's army grew sad for some reason as they watched Yumir embrace Lecidna's body.
"Is that hero's mom?"
"I feel strange. I'm not hurt, but I'm crying."
"I hope that this helped the hero to become happier."
"I'm going to make the hero happy."
To the children who took the fact that killing was a necessity for survival for granted, commemorating the dead was an awkward thing for them. However, Yu IlHan still wished they would understand that death was sad.
To them, Yumir was their everything, so they would probably understand something after seeing him send his mother away. Although it would be bad if they hesitated to fight their enemies, they could at least avoid being affected by their allies' deaths.
"Everyone has worked hard. The blood you have shed has all become seeds to regain Dareu."
"And with our tears, may elves prosper once more..."
"Kitera..."
The elves who finally regained Dareu after a long time also commemorated their comrades-in-arms and cried. Although they could not regain the remains of Phiria, the other 3 elves could finally let her go with peace in their hearts.
"Phiria..."
"I'll protect His Majesty to your share as well. Although we're still the ones being protected right now, I'll definitely become strong enough!"
"Thanks, Phiria. I will never forget you."
Meanwhile, the atmosphere was slightly different on the wolfkin's side. They, who were assured that the Moon Wolf Ericia had chosen in this war was a great man indeed, rejoiced that they had gained a grand victory in this sacred war, and also thought that their comrades who died died glorious deaths. They could send the dead off with joy.
"After Kiroa had lost its future, what remained for us was also regress and death. However, we have met Lord Yu IlHan and finally gained a future. Look at us now! We may be fewer in number, but we have become incomparably stronger than before, and we shall become even stronger in the future!"
"Uooooooh!"
"Remember the ones that died in this holy war! We! Have to become stronger, enough to cover their share, or more!"
"We shall follow you for all of eternity, Lady Ericia!"
"Lord Yu IlHan!"
Everyone commemorated the dead in their own ways. Yu IlHan silently watched until he judged they were done with it, then held up his hand. At the same time, all of the remains were covered in warm, orange flames.
"So, beautiful."
"Yu IlHan... Truly an ability that's been blessed by the goddess of fire. To think there's a fire that provokes emotions just by looking at it."
"It's as if the flames are dancing in unison."
What they said was true. All the flames above the corpses were controlled by Eternal Flame and danced to help them rest in peace. Yu IlHan simply smiled, feeling he could sense its emotions. He was just happy.
However, the funeral that seemed to end like that left them a surprise gift.
"Dad." Yumir, now in human form, tugged at Yu IlHan's sleeves as he spoke.
"Yeah?"
"Something's there where Mom died."
"What do you mean something's th.... Hm?"
As he didn't want to touch Lecidna's remains, he should have put more thought into the temperature of the fire in order to incinerate everything, but this…
Yu IlHan was confused and followed Yumir. When he got there, the place where Lecidna's remains were burning was replaced by an oval object. Yu IlHan's forehead immediately broke into a cold sweat at the sight.
"... I have a slight trauma with objects of such shape."
"It's not an egg, Dad. That's a magic a dragon uses to protect an item safely. Those are Mom's scales."
"They definitely are scales, alright."
She should have collected the sturdiest of her scales and enhanced them with magic before storing them within her body to do this. Yu IlHan admitted after looking at the scale capsule glowing red from the fire.
"Well then."
Yu IlHan approached it and touched it. At that moment, one of the scales protruded upwards and stabbed at Yu IlHan's finger. Although it didn't hurt, he stopped touching it because he felt that any more would cause a bigger reaction.
"There's a defence mechanism... Mir, can you try touching it?"
"Yeah."
Yumir put his hands on top of the scale capsule. At that moment, the scales mysteriously collapsed with a sound, revealing their contents. It was set to disarm against those of the same blood.
And the contents were –
"A letter and an unknown piece of metal. And also."
The scales that had protected the contents had merged into a single giant piece of scale. When he knocked on it, it was so hard that it made Yu IlHan wonder if that really belonged to a lower existence. The magical power flowing within was also extraordinary, and it felt as if Lecidna herself were compressed into that one giant scale.
"Looks like the letter is for me."
"Can you read it?"
"Yeah, I learnt from the elves."
Yumir read the letter with glistening eyes. While reading the letter, he gave Yu IlHan the pieces of metal that accompanied it.
"Apparently, it's an artifact that allows you to contact the members of the Garden of Sunset."
"So she tried to drag even you to the Garden of Sunset. Sheesh, she was completely hopeless... hmmm?"
The piece of metal was definitely a transceiver. Although it was designed in a complex structure, any dragon could interpret and activate it, since they could wield mana proficiently.
The problem was not that. This transceiver generated a certain type of signal to send to the members of the Garden of Sunset residing in another world, and the second function would be activated once it received a reply – the function to create a gate that connects the two worlds.
This artifact allows people to move worlds! If the Heaven's Army had such an artifact, Yu IlHan wouldn't have had to spend a thousand years in solitude! – thought Yu IlHan, when he realized that this artifact bent around the laws of the Akashic Records itself.
There's no way the Heaven's Army could acknowledge such an existence. No, perhaps they didn't even know of it.
"Looks like we can destroy a lot of the bases of the Garden of Sunset with this."
"Are we going to destroy them right away?" Yumir asked with shining eyes. Fighting numerous higher existences made him incomparably stronger than he had been when he first arrived in Dareu.
Although it was too bad for Lecidna, Yumir was a guy who liked a battle, whether it was against the Garden of Sunset or the Destruction Demon Army. However, Yu IlHan didn't want to have any more battles for the time being, so he shook his head.
"No, I want to finish up what happened in Dareu at this point. If I asked everyone for compensation, the battle would become endless, and I also wouldn't be able to endure for so long. Let's save this for later."
Of course, if the other side picked a fight with him first, he would not let them go either. Yu IlHan put the artifact into his inventory and then looked at the scale.
"And so... Mir. What should I make you with this?"
"I'd like a necklace. A locket. I'm going to put the letter in there."
"Okay, I'll make you a locket."
"Heheh."
Yu IlHan thought that Yumir had no affection for her when he saw that he sent her off so easily, and from the fact that he hadn't talked much about his mother until now, but it seemed that he was wrong. Yu IlHan gave Yumir a tight hug, who put Lecidna's letter in his bosom before turning around. He was planning to make a pretty locket that could remind Yumir of Lecidna. Of course, he would also make it very functional.
In any case, the funeral was over with this. Since they had sent off all they had to send, it was now time for the living to return to everyday life.
"Your Majesty, will you be going right away?"
While Yu IlHan was preparing to activate the two fortresses, Mirfa asked in a panicked voice. He could not ignore the earnest gaze that wished him to stay with them more, and replied with a bitter smile.
"I'm sorry. But I can't take you all to Earth… I'll come back when I need your power again, so please fight on until then. I'll look forward to you all becoming stronger."
"But..."
"Mirfa, don't worry. I'll protect His Majesty."
Jirl replied to Mirfa with a confident smile, who could not let go of her regrets. Mirey, Jirl, and Paté had all finished preparing to leave and were behind Yu IlHan.
"Jirl, you idiot. That's not what she means."
"I also want to serve you by your side...."
The feelings the elves had towards Yu IlHan were absolute. He found this very awkward, but they were all adorable as well. Yu IlHan lightly stroked Mirfa's hair and consoled her.
"I'll come around to play even if I don't need your help. Right now, coming over to this world is nothing difficult for me."
"...Yes, Your Majesty! We will wait for your return!"
Finally, Mirfa's expression returned to a smile. Mirfa nodded several times with a bright red face. That was also the moment an alarm went off in Liera's heart as she watched.
To be honest, more than half of the elven females had feelings for Yu IlHan, so there was no room for Liera to relax at all! She only wanted to leave Dareu as soon as possible.
"We shall await the princess's return."
"We shall definitely become stronger!"
"Yes, proceed forward. I will also become stronger under master."
The leader of the wolfkin, the Moon Wolf Ericia, as well as the captain wolf Flemir, also went with Yu IlHan. As a considerable number of wolves had risen to 4th class in this war, they would be able to hold out on their own.
"So we actually won."
"It feels like the final act of a book. I think it will be perfect if there's the word [-fin-] on the bottom right of the screen."
"There are so many of those moments that it's nothing new anymore."
"Fufu, that's why I like him."
"Yes, yes. I know very well."
Everyone got on the Flying Fortress. Since the Guardian fortress was built for the elves and wolfkin, it would be unmanned when they were not there and would serve only to protect the Flying fortress.
Yu IlHan immediately activated the Warp skill against the two fortresses and their occupants. As there were several members, it should usually take a long time, but with the power of Dimensional Traveller, a few minutes would be enough.
But when he was about to start the Warp skill, Na YuNa grabbed his sleeve and glistened her eyes.
"Mr. IlHan. I want to see MiRae now~."
"That's quite early you're saying that. However, I also want to see MiRae. And father too.... And my other family members as well." (Kang HaJin)
"Oh, I'm planning to go find my father and mother first. After that is Miss MiRae. ... After that, let's visit where Sir Kang HaJin and Miss YuNa want to go." Yu IlHan said.
"F, father and motherrrr!?" Na YuNa shouted in shock and started combing her hair. Liera and Erta were also nervous. As it was so obvious what they were thinking, Yu IlHan gave each girl a smack on the forehead.
"It's not like all the other worlds are as messed up as Dareu is, so we're going to take it slow from here. It will take time for Earth to leap into a higher world anyway. ... And we also need some rest too."
"And you need to make equipment with your profits."
"I said don't read my mind."
Yu IlHan seemed about to smack Liera on the forehead again, but suddenly changed his mind and put his hand around her waist. At that moment, Na YuNa and Erta were stunned stiff as if they were inflicted with paralysis magic.
"Then let's go rest."
"...Okay."
Liera's reply became so obedient, like a different person altogether. Looking at her back as she followed Yu IlHan, Na YuNa and Erta grit their teeth, their gazes meeting before they each extended a hand and gave a stiff handshake.
"We simply cannot give up."
"How could we? I gave up my angelhood for this."
And the two's voices perfectly synced.
""Let us do well from now on.""
"What the hell? These women are scary..."
Only Kang HaJin, who felt the women's obsession, shivered in fear.