"So... the seal I set in place back then is the very foundation of Sky City?"
The ancestral spirit, temporarily inhabiting Noah's body, spoke with faint surprise, her voice a blend of ancient wisdom and youthful timbre.
"It seems this Simon fellow is quite capable. I've been to Sky City many times in this spirit form and never realized my own prison-lock lay hidden beneath its streets."
Leon nodded, leaning against the chamber wall. "The Tower Master said he has reinforced the seal multiple times over the years, layering his own magic atop yours. If you were to visit now, you'd definitely sense the presence of the Ultimate Fear pressing against its cage."
The spirit sighed, a sound that seemed to carry the weight of millennia, and let go of the matter.
"Using the positive emotions of Sky City's residents to counteract the negative energy fueling the Ultimate Fear... a desperate, brilliant gamble. Without Simon's vigilance, we'd all have been doomed by now."
Leon refrained from judging the Tower Master's deceptive methods, simply remarking in a neutral tone,
"As the Tower Master himself said, he entrusted everything to fate, letting events unfold naturally. Building Sky City atop your seal was never an accident. It was always destined to be a key part of this final battle."
Leon paused, his tone tinged with quiet reflection.
"Fate" and "destiny" were words he'd once scoffed at, concepts for poets and philosophers.
The passionate, headstrong youth he had been had believed solely in controlling his own destiny, blazing a trail through any hardship with sheer willpower and his sword. Back then, the end was always clear—a tangible goal waiting to be reached through force and determination.
But now, standing at the precipice with the specter of the Ultimate Fear looming closer, the outcome seemed veiled in an impenetrable mist of uncertainty.
Victory?
Defeat?
Or a pyrrhic victory that would cost them everything?
Leon couldn't say for sure.
But he knew, with every fiber of his being, that he could still fight with all his might to tip the scales toward a brighter future—for Sky City, for the Tower Master's millennia of sacrifice, and for the family he loved more than life itself.
When clarity eluded him, "fate" had become a comforting excuse—a fragile, necessary hope to hold on to in the face of the unimaginable.
"Giving up before the battle even begins is not an option," Leon thought resolutely, the thought a solid anchor in the swirling doubts.
"What's your plan now that we only have a month left?" the ancestral spirit asked, pulling him from his thoughts.
The spirit brushed imaginary dust off the table, her gaze falling to Noah's hands—young, strong hands that bore a subtle resemblance to her own from millennia ago.
"First, we gather enough allies to form a perimeter, a bulwark against the chaos that will be unleashed," she said simply.
"You mean to use the corruption of Constantine's black dragon scale as a beacon? To draw out Shadow's forces?" Leon deduced.
The spirit nodded. "The enemy will undoubtedly attempt every trick to unleash the Ultimate Fear the moment the seal breaks, especially if they can turn our strongest assets, like Constantine, into their weapons."
"And where will you find these allies?" the spirit pressed.
Leon paused only briefly, his mind already cataloging their resources. "Isabella and her Red Dragons for sheer power. Claudia and the Sea Dragons for their ancient knowledge and control over the battlefield. Odin and his Thunder Dragons for their unmatched offensive might... and others. Morgan, the Wind Dragon King. We'll need all the help we can get. I will speak to them myself."
The ancestral spirit's expression turned solemn, her eyes holding a gravity that silenced the room.
"But no matter how many allies you gather, Leon, remember this—when the final hour comes, it will fall on you, and you alone, to face the heart of the Ultimate Fear. This is the Thunder Child's burden, his destiny. No one else can bear it. No one else can stand in that core and survive."
Leon's gaze fell to his own palm, the hand that wielded lightning. Slowly, he clenched his fist, feeling the power thrum within him, a power that now felt both immense and terrifyingly insufficient.
"I understand. No matter the cost, I will face the shadows and the Ultimate Fear. I will end this."
The ancestral spirit studied Leon for a long moment, reading the resolve and the hidden fear in his eyes, before turning toward the balcony. She looked out at the snowy courtyard of the Silver Dragon Palace, where the younger Melkvey children played carefree games, their laughter floating up on the cold air.
In a quiet corner stood Noah's body, her host's expression unreadable as she stared at the endless snowfall, a silent sentinel to the coming storm.
"The Ultimate Fear will be stronger than it was in my time," the spirit murmured, her voice barely a whisper. "I can no longer stop it. The burden now lies with you, my descendants. I can only apologize for the world I have left you..."
Her voice carried the weight of centuries of regret, tinged with an aching, profound powerlessness.
"War, turmoil, the schism of the dragons, and even the acceleration of the Ultimate Fear's release... all of it stems, in some way, from the decisions I made, the battles I failed to win," she confessed silently, a pain she had carried for eons.
Yet, despite her remorse, she then made a surprising, uncharacteristic request to Leon.
"Which is why I must ask you... allow us to help you in this fight."
Leon blinked, genuinely taken aback by her plea. This was not the solitary, commanding Primordial Dragon King he had come to know.
"The final fight is yours to lead, but let us stand beside you in the battles that lead to it. If we fall short by even the smallest margin, if a single key point is overrun, all our efforts will be for nothing. I cannot allow that. We cannot allow that."
Leon's brows furrowed. "That's not like you, Noah. You've always insisted on taking everything upon yourself, even when it meant forcing others to follow your lead without question."
The ancestral spirit chuckled softly, a rare, warm sound, and her eyes softened as she looked at him.
"These past years observing you, living with this family, have taught me something important," she admitted.
Leon's curiosity was piqued. "And what's that?"
"That some sacrifices are necessary for the greater good... but the sacrifice of bonds, the sacrifice of shared strength, should never be made. It is a false economy that weakens the whole."
With those words, she gently turned Noah's body to face him fully, and then, in a gesture of pure humility, she crouched down to meet his gaze at his level.
She reached out, brushing back a strand of Noah's silver hair and straightening her posture with a maternal care, her expression filled with a rare, genuine warmth.
"I never understood the true depth of bonds until I saw how you fought to protect Helena, all those years ago. You weren't just driven by duty or friendship—it was your heart, your very soul, guiding you."
"But even if you had succeeded at the cost of your own life, the price would have left Helena shattered, her spirit broken forever. Such solitary sacrifices, while noble, only lead to greater, cascading pain for those left behind. They create voids where strength should be."
The ancestral spirit's voice softened further, becoming almost gentle.
"Bonds aren't chains, Leon. They're the ties that connect us, that make us stronger than the sum of our parts. Respecting those bonds, trusting in them, is the only way we will all endure the trials ahead."
Leon listened intently, moved by the raw honesty and hard-won wisdom in her words.
The spirit finally gestured subtly towards Noah's own consciousness, sharing this moment. "So, I ask this of you, Leon, not as a command from an ancient king, but as a request from a part of this family. Let us fight by your side. Respect our choice to stand with you."
Leon, after a moment of profound silence, knelt before her, bringing himself to her eye level, looking her directly in the eyes.
"You're right," he said, his voice thick with emotion. "I've tried so hard to shield my family from the worst of the danger, to carry every burden myself. But you've all grown so strong. Especially you, Noah. If I forbade you, you'd only sneak off anyway, wouldn't you?"
A rare, genuine laugh escaped Noah's lips, a sound that was entirely her own, yet harmonized with the spirit within. "You know us too well."
Leon extended his fist toward her, a glimmer of proud, fierce love in his eyes.
"For once, let's stop trying to carry the world alone. Let's face this together."
Noah hesitated for only a second, her own resolve hardening, then raised her fist to meet his in a solid, determined bump.
"Together, Dad," she said, her voice clear and steady, the spirit and the girl speaking as one. "This time... we face it together."