Chapter 157: A New Objective (1)

The moment Louis emerged from his prolonged slumber.

Druruk.

Another time axis unfolded in this world.

Fuuruk.

In a world advancing towards destruction, darkness took root and flames engulfed the earth. Amidst the barren land, a man lay collapsed.

People called him Elvis Estephan, a man who had lost everything.

“Ha…” Elvis uttered a small sigh as he gazed up at the black sky, mumbling to himself.

“This is where we stand…”

Thirty years ago, the sudden assault of the Mad Dragon had swept away his family and clan. In the Winter Continent, where he had fled for refuge, he met others who shared his fate.

Those who had lost everything to the Mad Dragon. Elvis had set goals and fought alongside them. Comrades who had joined hands to slay the dragon and set things right. Sword Saint, the Sword Star, who had charged through the world with a single blade. Lavina, the Queen of Beasts. Abel, known as the Lady of the Castle for her outstanding healing skills. Je, the Heavenly Archer, who had charted new frontiers in archery. And Elvis himself, the Wise One.

Each and every one of them was a genius, worthy of being called a Hero. Yet even when these extraordinary beings had come together, they couldn’t handle a single lunatic dragon. Not only that, but at the end of the long battle, all had died except for Elvis.

“Ugh!”

Crawling on the ground, Elvis summoned all his remaining strength to prop himself up.

It’s not over yet.

Elvis clenched his teeth and pulled something out from his breast pocket. It was a palm-sized hourglass filled with red sand. Despite the fierce fighting around him, this curious object maintained its spherical shape.

A relic of the ancient gods…

This was the last remaining fragment of divinity in the world, an artifact that could reverse time itself. It was also the reason why his companions had sacrificed themselves to protect him until the very end.

Elvis… I know you will change the future.

You’re the only one who can do it.

When you go back to the past, please lead us well!

We believe in you.

His comrades had perished to give him this chance.

There was no time to waste lying there.

Right, let’s go…

For his comrades who had believed in him and entrusted their will to him, he had to keep moving without rest.

Click.

The moment Elvis turned the hourglass, red sand trickled down to the bottom. Having completely emptied it, he slowly walked away from the world engulfed in flames.

Then something strange happened.

Fwip, fwip, fwip.

With each step, his body began disintegrating into red sand and scattering. Despite this dreadful situation of his body vanishing, Elvis smiled. Looking at the burning earth, he vowed:

“Although we fail now… there is no second failure.”

With this short vow, Elvis’s physical body completely disappeared.

And then.

Click.

The timeline of the world Elvis had belonged to began to rewind, granting the user of the hourglass a second chance.

So, at some point in the future…

In the past that was the future, and the future that was the past,

Elvis would have achieved everything he vowed to accomplish:

The restoration of his family and his revenge.

Peace throughout the continent as well.

He and his comrades were destined to slay the Mad Dragon, earning them the glorious title of Dragon Slayer.

But…

On the timeline of Elvis, before the original story began—it was the future.

On the timeline of Louis, before the original story began—it was the past.

As soon as Elvis turned the hourglass, the two parallel dimensions of time, which had been flowing separately, started converging towards the point where the original story began—now and present.

.setTimeixin- setTimeixin-

The two axes rapidly approached each other.

Klank.

The previously disparate time lines entwined.

Shhhk.

The two temporal entities began to revert back to a single, seamless timeline as if they had never been apart.

As a result of this, all of Elvis’s past experiences and every situation he knew changed immediately.

It was all due to the seeds Louis had sown across the continent over the years.

Meanwhile, completely unaware of these changes, Elvis…

”…I’m back.”

He opened his eyes in this ‘new present’.

Louis had safely completed his second sleep and emerged even stronger. For a while, he basked in the praise of those around him—though truth be told, it wasn’t much of a crowd.

And as is only proper when offering congratulations, there were gifts to accompany the sentiments.

“Once again, congratulations, Lord Louis!” exclaimed Fin.

“Thank you!” Louis replied with a smile.

She blushed as she fastened a floral bracelet made of braided flowers around his wrist.

He blinked, puzzled. “What’s this?”

“It’s a bracelet woven from Aronichia flowers, which bloom only once every two hundred years, intertwined with an elf’s hair! It won’t break easily, and as long as you wear it, it will emit a subtle, perpetual fragrance!”

Louis glanced back and forth between the golden, flower-adorned wristband adorning his arm and the girl who had given it to him.

This little mischief maker…

Fin’s once-long wavy blonde hair had been cut short. Louis didn’t even need to ask what the bracelet was made of. He knew.

With a smile, Louis gently stroked Fin’s newly styled hair on top of her head.

“Thank you! I’ll wear it every day!”

“Yes! Hehe!” Fin grinned, her cheeks tinged with a delightful blush.

Then, a voice chimed from the side.

“Ooh, let’s open ours now! It’s a memorial gift to celebrate your ascension to a dragon!”

“Hurry up!”

Valentina and Genelocer wore very excited faces. Was it a mistake that they seemed happier than the one receiving the gift?

Louis scratched his cheek, looking at the present bundle his parents had prepared for him.

…Can I even call this a gift bundle?

The massive gift box easily surpassed 10 meters in length, width, and height. The ribbon wrapped around it was so large that it resembled a carpet used in award ceremonies.

Louis approached the box with a smirk.

Well, the bigger the present, the better.

He had lived as a dragon for nearly five centuries. Although he had spent 111 of those years asleep, he had still experienced close to 400 years as a dragon. Over time, Louis had developed the demeanor of a proper dragon.

With great anticipation, he pulled on the enormous ribbon.

Swish.

The ribbon slipped smoothly off and fell to the ground, revealing the gift within the cube-shaped box. Louis’s jaw dropped at the sight of it.

The eyes in his head began to twitch uncontrollably.

Louis couldn’t believe what he was staring at and blinked several times to make sure he wasn’t hallucinating. His eyes were filled with a metal statue that was over thirty feet tall. He recognized the shape.

A muffled sound escaped from his lips.

“…Toto?”

As Louis stood there in a daze, a voice came from beside him.

“Well? What do you think?”

It was Genelocer, who had helped design the statue.

“I made this hoping our son would like his father’s T-Pose.”

A long silence followed.

“I originally wanted to make a giant doll just for you, but your mom didn’t want it, didn’t want anything to do with it…”

Louis was rendered speechless by Genelocer’s confident tone. He stared blankly at the enormous snow horse statue before walking towards it as if in a trance. His slender fingers caressed its surface, reveling in its silver-like brilliance.

Wait… could it be?

The material of the snow horse statue wasn’t iron or silver. Realizing this instantly, Louis turned around and asked:

“This… is made entirely of platinum?”

“As expected of my son! You possess the ability to discern the value of objects at a glance!”

“…And it’s all solid platinum?”

“Of course! Do you think we’d use mere plating for a gift celebrating such a momentous occasion in your life?”

Louis’s eyes sparkled at his father’s confident words.

This whole thing is platinum?! Even though it’s ten meters tall?

In this world, platinum was rarer and more expensive than gold. Its value fluctuated, sometimes five times that of ordinary gold, but at other times, ten times. To create a statue entirely out of platinum!

And those blood-red eyes set within the statue were far from ordinary.

Those are royal rubies!

A ruby discovered only once in centuries—a true “ruby among rubies.” And not just any royal ruby, but one as large as a human head!

A single royal ruby that size could probably buy a small castle, no problem.

This priceless gem was casually embedded in a chunky rabbit sculpture.

How much would that thing be worth?!

Tons of platinum, ten meters tall, with a royal ruby on top. Louis grinned widely; it was an even more extravagant gift than he’d imagined for celebrating the holy dragon.

The Toto Platinum Award was an inspired compromise between Genelocer’s desire to give a rabbit doll and Louis’s preference for something more substantial.

Louis eagerly ran towards his mother, his heart brimming with joy as he exclaimed:

“Mom, I love you!”

“Heh-heh.”

Valentina affectionately patted her son, who had wrapped his arms around her.

Witnessing this scene, Genelocer muttered in confusion:

“Uh, Mom? But I’m the one who prepared it?”

“Thank you, Father,” Louis responded.

“But… why are you calling me Father?”

Louis didn’t miss the words spoken earlier by Genelocer:

I can’t believe I nearly ended up with a measly rabbit doll – the only memorable gift I’d ever receive if it wasn’t for your mom!

As such, Louis’s admiration and love for his mother, who indulged his whims so thoroughly, blossomed with each passing moment.

Valentina, holding her overjoyed son, gazed at her husband with eyes that seemed to say, This is the difference between you and me! while Louis looked on with an expression of mock indignation.

The scene after Louis’s second-tier sleep device was one of great domestic harmony.

Just then, Valentina disentangled herself from Louis to retrieve a box from her pocket dimension.

Louis cocked his head curiously. “What’s this…?”

“It’s from our neighbor, Aunt Hailin. She asked us to deliver it.”

When Valentina referred to their “neighbor,” she meant the twins next door. The one she called “Hailin” was their mother.

Louis thought back to Hailin as he asked, “The auntie?”

“Hm. You remember how our son helped out when the twins were still young, right? He had quite a hard time.”

“That’s right!”

“And this is to thank him and congratulation on his coming of age. It’s from Hailin.”

“Oh, I see!” Louis nodded.

That’s our Ha-joomma!

Louis had previously met Hailin, Valentina’s mother, as mentioned earlier. He found her to be a very courteous dragon, completely different from her twin daughters. At the time, he had been highly disappointed in the twins.

Those twins should have taken after their mother, not their father!

But he still held that opinion.

Well, never mind that.

Louis smiled brightly and tore into Hailin’s present. The box, about 20 inches wide, was neatly packed with dozens of types of plant roots, fruits, and round tablets.

A refreshing attribute power emanated from within.

Louis’s eyes widened. ”…Are these medicinal herbs?”

“Yes. Didn’t the twins consume a lot of medicinal herbs? So I guess Aunt Highrin is trying to repay us by gathering more, even if it’s late.”

“Wow…”

Louis was amazed.

A true owner of the holy dragon’s bloodline, indeed!

He had never seen such a virtuous dragon before!

Louis looked affectionately at the box full of medicinal herbs.

Heh-heh, they’re all rare medicinal herbs!

Although his body no longer needed medicinal herbs, Louis still continued to gather them. In his youth, when he had been lacking in medicinal herbs from the start, he had to share them with his twin, only to suddenly become the breadwinner for his young sibling. He had to search for medicinal herbs to feed her share, even as he struggled to find them for himself.

Upon returning home, Louis had developed a habit of consuming anything advertised as “good for the body” in hopes of improving his stunted growth. Over time, this behavior had transformed into a full-blown obsession with elixirs.

Louis beamed brightly and nodded. “I’ll… I mean, we’ll make sure to thank Mrs. Sellner for her kindness…”

“That’s very thoughtful,” Valentina replied, returning the smile and nodding herself.

As the gift-giving ceremony drew to a close, a robust voice boomed through the air, catching everyone off guard.

“Ho-ho-ho-ho! Louis, art thou here!”

Accompanied by hearty laughter, a towering figure—an elderly man with a commanding presence—entered Genelocer’s lair.

Upon seeing him, Louis and his family exclaimed in surprise.

“Grandfather?”

“F… Father?”

“Father-in-law?”

“Gurgle! My dear grandson, you’ve grown so much while I was away! It’s been quite some time since you’ve seen Valentina as well.”

The elder dragon, both Louis’s grandfather and one of the Thirteen Ancestors of the dragon race, had just returned from a long journey and was still dressed in his travel attire.

“How long have you been gone?” Louis asked, noticing his grandfather’s state.

“Were you missing me, boy?”

“I tried reaching out to you, but there was no response!”

“I’ve been visiting the Mahas, you see. They need a good stirring every now and then to keep them quiet!”

Louis’s eyes widened in astonishment. His grandfather spoke about a place even dragons dared not venture as if it were a casual visit next door, once again impressing upon Louis the immense scale of this extraordinary dragon.

He truly is my grandfather…

Louis’s experience with his grandfather, Pamus, could be boiled down to a single sentence:

A soul both free and steadfast. If the twins possessed young and carefree spirits, then perhaps Pamus represented their natural evolution?

As he observed the pair watching him intently, a mischievous twinkle in his eye, Pamus produced something from thin air and nonchalantly placed it in Louis’s hand.

“Young man, no matter how rushed we are, I must at least give my grandson a proper gift for becoming a holy dragon!”

Louis tilted his head, examining what now rested in his palm. “What is this?”

Resting in Louis’s hand was a dark brown horn.

The explanation was simple.

“Oh, it’s nothing much. There’s a creature called a Waldo that lives in the Maha Region. This here’s one of its horns.”

“Are they hard to obtain?”

“Ha ha! It might be tough for others, but not for an old codger like me! I took down one of those crazed beasts in a single blow, just like you’d whack a mad bull!”

“Aah!” Though Pamus claimed it was nothing serious, that didn’t seem to be the case.

Louis didn’t miss how Genelocer and Valentina’s faces hardened at the mention of the name “Waldo.”

Well, I guess it’s not particularly dangerous.

If it were, his overprotective parents wouldn’t have just stood by while their grandfather gave him a horn from the fearsome creature known as the Holy Permit.

“So what do I use this for?”

“Well… It’s quite sturdy, so I plan on melting it down later and crafting some toys from it.”

“Mm-hmm.” Louis gave a nod and carefully placed his grandfather’s gift into his pocket dimension.

“Well then, this old man must be on my way now!” As Pamus prepared to leave, Louis called out one last time.

“Just a moment, please!”

Louis stopped him. “What’s wrong?”

“I have something to tell you. For both of you.” At these words, Pamus halted, and Valentina and Genelocer turned to their son.

In the silence that followed, Louis rubbed his chin.

I wasn’t planning on telling you today, but…

It was the end of the second sleep cycle.

He had considered waiting until later, but decided that it would be better to talk when the whole family was together.

“What do you want to tell us?”

“Is there something you’d like to discuss?”

“What’s troubling you?”

Louis met the eyes of his parents and grandfather, then spoke.

“I… will be moving out.”

”…?!”