Chapter 563: Let the War Begin
New Fish-Man Island was very quiet at night.
It couldn't really be helped. The new island was nothing like the original Fish-Man Island had been. There were no sprawling city districts here, only rows of simple houses. The residents who had relocated here had no lively nightlife to speak of, so when darkness fell, most of them simply wound down their day, went home for dinner, and prepared for bed.
For most of New Fish-Man Island's residents, today had been an entirely ordinary day.
And yet, high above the island — tens of thousands of feet up in the night sky — two figures floated in silence.
Under a brilliant full moon, Brett had shifted into his dragon-human form and released his flame clouds, lifting himself and Shirahoshi up into the open sky above.
"You don't see me like this very often, do you, Shirahoshi?"
Brett lay back lazily on the clouds, looking up at the moon hanging overhead.
When he had actually set foot on the moon earlier, all he had felt was that the place had not a single trace of beauty — just barren emptiness. But looking up at it from the Blue Sea, what he saw was something genuinely moving.
Shirahoshi sat beside him, her long tail swaying gently. In the pale moonlight, her already fair skin seemed almost translucent, as though it had become clear. Brett glanced sideways at her and found himself thinking she looked less like a person and more like a white jade sculpture carved by the finest craftsman who ever lived.
Compared to her, Brett in his current form was all teeth and horns and rough edges.
There was no avoiding it. Without shifting into dragon-human form, he couldn't release the clouds. And he certainly wasn't going to float in the sky for hours using Moonwalk while carrying her in his arms — that would just look ridiculous.
"It feels quite nice, actually."
Shirahoshi looked down at Brett with a slight tilt of her head. She was tall enough that she could look down at him comfortably even with him lying back.
"You look rather cool like this."
"Is that so?"
Brett smiled quietly. Shirahoshi was never going to find fault with him, that much was certain.
He turned his gaze back toward the moon above. "We went up there earlier, you know."
"Then — is Princess Kaguya really living on the moon?"
Shirahoshi asked with genuine curiosity.
"Not even close. No Kaguya, no rabbit pounding rice cakes, no moon goddess either."
Brett shook his head with a smile. "Just a stretch of barren ground."
"Completely different from what it looks like from down here."
"What a shame." Shirahoshi sounded mildly disappointed. "When I was small, I used to imagine what a beautiful place it must be."
"Reality has a way of doing that," Brett said, hands folded behind his head. "If you're disappointed, then after the war is over, we can travel further out. Into space."
"Space?"
Shirahoshi met his eyes.
"The vast, boundless universe." Brett gazed up at the sprawl of stars above them. "There must be sights out there far more beautiful than anything on the Blue Sea."
"Is that so? That does sound worth looking forward to."
Shirahoshi's lips curved upward slightly. Then, softly, "So, Brett — the war is truly about to begin, isn't it?"
Brett nodded. "All the preparations are done. There is nothing left that can stop us from moving against the World Government."
"I see."
Shirahoshi reached out and gently touched his forehead. She had noticed that the line between his brows hadn't fully eased.
She didn't say anything about it. She simply rested her hand there, fingers light against his face.
"We're about to go and truly change this world."
Brett let Shirahoshi's hand cover his eyes and closed them. "I still remember your prophecy. I have no doubt we'll win this war in the end."
"But."
His voice dropped. "How much will we lose along the way? And after we win — will this world actually become something better?"
Brett had seen too many stories of the boy who slays the dragon only to become one himself.
Before now, he had never wavered on this point. He had always believed that change itself was good, that nothing could possibly be worse than the world the World Government had built. But now that the moment had actually arrived, now that they were a single step away from that change, something uncertain had crept into him.
He had never wanted to carry the weight of the whole world. From beginning to end, his goal had only ever been to see his own people live freely on the sea. But whatever he wanted to believe, the undeniable truth was that the fate of every person in the world was now resting on this coming war — the war that Brett was leading.
It was hard to keep pretending the rest of the world had nothing to do with him.
"It will become better."
Shirahoshi's answer was calm, but her tone had no give in it at all.
"Is that a prophecy?"
Brett smiled a little.
The future wasn't unknowable — not with Shirahoshi here. Even the fog that covered what was to come would part for her.
"No. It isn't a prophecy."
Shirahoshi shook her head gently, then said in a soft voice, "Because it's you, Brett. Even without any prophecy, I know — you will build the most beautiful age there has ever been."
Brett said nothing.
He simply reached up and held her hand.
The unease in his chest went quiet.
Of course. What was there left to hesitate over?
Whatever came of it — good or bad — he would give everything he had.
"Shirahoshi."
Brett moved her hand away from his face so he could look up and meet her eyes directly.
"After the war is over, we should get married."
His voice was completely calm. There was no particular weight to the words, no trembling or ceremony — he said it the same way he might mention what he had eaten for breakfast.
"Yes."
Shirahoshi nodded, equally without surprise or agitation.
"Good."
Brett gave a small nod and said nothing more.
There was no question this was the sort of thing people called raising a flag before a final battle.
But it didn't matter. Brett felt there was no more fitting moment than this.
Before the last battle, take care of the last thing left undone. That was his thinking.
All the preparations were complete. There was only one thing remaining.
Imu.
Are you ready?
The final battle — the one that will decide who this world belongs to — is coming for you now.
And this time, it is nothing like eight hundred years ago.