Leave a comment

In the sky that was full of stars, a black line ran from south to north, splitting the sky into two distinct halves. Like a splatter of black ink on the canvas, the stars were swallowed by the darkness.

A middle-aged man looked up at the sky with furrowed brows.

The black line had taken up nearly half of the sky. Specks of light rushed toward the black line, with a trail behind them like meteors.

The middle-aged man knew he could not wait any longer. He turned to the gentle-looking woman, who was singing a lullaby to her ten-year-old daughter in her arms. “We should go now,” he said to the woman softly.

The woman looked at her daughter’s adorable sleeping face. With much reluctance, she gently placed her daughter on a pink bed and carefully tucked her in.

Just when she was about to get up, a small but warm hand grabbed hers tightly.

The woman looked down in surprise, only to be greeted by a pair of innocent and slightly troubled eyes. “Daddy, mommy, where are you going?”

The woman quickly gave the little girl a reassuring smile and patted her hand. “Mommy and daddy have something very important to take care of. It won’t take long. Be a good girl and take a nap, Cornelia. We’ll be here by the time you wake up.”

“Can mommy and daddy not leave?” The little girl clutched her mother’s fingers with her tiny hand, like she had a premonition. “Cornelia wants daddy and mommy to sleep with me.”

“That won’t do, darling. Mommy and daddy must attend to some matters.” The woman leaned down, patted Cornelia’s little head and smiled.

“Why?” The little girl simply could not understand what could be more important to her parents than sleeping with her. She scrunched her face up really hard as she mulled over the possibilities, unfortunately to no avail.

“Because mommy and daddy are the most powerful people in this world.”

“But aren’t powerful people able to do whatever they want? So it shouldn’t be a problem if mommy and daddy want to stay, right?”

“That’s not true. The more powerful a person is, the harder it is for them to do as they please. You will understand this when you grow up, Cornelia.”

The little girl tilted her head in confusion. “Cornelia won’t be picky about food from now on. Don’t leave please, mommy?” she begged.

The woman shook her head and tapped the little girl on her nose. “Don’t worry. Mommy and daddy will definitely return. We’ll buy you the doll you’ve always wanted when we’re back.”

Sadly, not even the doll that little girl always wanted could entice her. She started sobbing.

The woman lowered her head and rubbed her face against the little girl’s ticklish spots, causing the latter to burst out laughing.

Knowing that there was no way she could stop her parents from leaving, the little girl thought hard again. She knitted her eyebrows together, then said with a pout, “Mommy always made Cornelia come home before dinner. So mommy and daddy must return before dinner too!”

“Sure.” The woman hooked her pinky with the little girl’s, then gave her a smile that was as warm as a spring breeze. “Mommy promise.”

……

Unbeknownst to anyone, Cornelia showed up at some point. Her gaze was fixed on the black flame, dancing on Lilith’s fingertip.

Her face remained expressionless, but her body started trembling. She was silent for a moment, before she finally found her voice again. Her cracking voice sounded like it pushed its way out from a burning throat. “Dragon… Eater…?”

“Dragon Eater?” Lilith was slightly taken aback. What did Cornelia mean by that?

But before Lilith could process Cornelia’s words, a wave of resentment suddenly exploded from the girl in black dress.

Cornelia’s white hair was flying everywhere, as tears of blood streamed from her eyes…

“Ha…ha… Dragon Eater? … I didn’t expect…to be able to meet you here… again… Haha…” Cornelia stretched her arm out to Lilith. Her eyes were glazed over and she had a sinister look on her face. She approached Lilith but suddenly disappeared when she was only less than ten centimeters away.

Lilith was startled. It was at this moment, she suddenly realized that she seemed to have underestimated… Cornelia’s reaction toward the black flame.

The fastest way to wake a sleeping person was to go up to her and give her two slaps. But based on Cornelia’s reaction, that was no longer the case. She was reacting like Lilith had woken her up by yelling “THAT’S RIGHT, IT WAS I WHO KILLED YOUR ENTIRE FAMILY. COME KILL ME IF YOU WANT TO” into a megaphone right next to her ear.

Obviously, Cornelia started awakening with the intention of killing her.

Titan 12138 slumped on the ground, as Cornelia’s devilish growl dashed her final glimmer of hope. She could no longer deceive even herself.

The world had begun to collapse. Rifts appeared in the sky and the land beneath it was crossed by great fissures. Plants withered and the rivers ran dry. The black sun gradually faded, like a blotch of black ink diluted by a drop of water.

No matter how real this world was, no one could change the fact that it was only Cornelia’s dream.

And with Cornelia’s millions-year-old dream coming to end, so did this world. Naturally, this was also Titan 12138’s fate as her body had started fading.

Black flame rose around Lilith, devouring the power of faith. She approached the disappearing old titan, hesitated for a moment before asking, “Do you have… any last wish?”

“Last wish?”

Titan 12138 raised her head. She was aging very rapidly, looking no different than a withered tree right now. Her skin started wrinkling even more as spots like green mosses peppered every inch of it. She also seemed to be blind now as her eyes had their lost focus.

“My wish was dashed to pieces by you just now, king.”

“I’ve told you… Even if I did nothing and became the god of this world, it would still be impossible to resurrect your clansmen. That fantasy of yours can’t be called a wish.”

“Is that so…? In that case…”

Titan 12138 took off the silk cloth that hung loosely on her now and handed it over to Lilith. In an exhausted voice, she asked slowly, “Can you repeat your full name again, king? …Just like you did a thousand years ago.”

I am not that king of yours.

A silent sigh escaped Lilith’s lips. She stood up and draped the silk cloth around her shoulders, wearing it like a hero’s cape. The imitation holy sword appeared in her hand.

She put a foot on a rock and pointed her sword at Titan 12138 with an arrogant smile on her face. It was the pose that she thought the king from a thousand years ago would most likely do.

“My name is Artemis Niger Lilith, the Chaos Dragon. Little dwarf, tell me your name.”

“Titan 12138.” Most of the old titan’s body had disappeared. All that was left of her was that smile of relief on her face and her barely audible voice. “My name is Titan 12138… It is the name your majesty has given to me.”