Reborn as the Failed Lord with my Resource Gathering System.-Chapter 258: I will make you remember your past Jacob.
Yahoshi sighed, the sound echoing softly in the enclosed darkness of the barrier.
"I expected something like this to happen. Even if I were to explain your past life a million times over, it would be of no use if you can't remember it visually. Words are just wind to a soul that has forgotten its shape."
Dorian didn't utter a word.
To be honest, he had predicted the chances of a fight happening on this date. He had prepared contingencies, hidden weapons, and escape routes.
But this… this was different.
Yahoshi continued, her voice trembling slightly.
"My words can only mean so much. Especially now that you are drawn to those girls, those containers." She bit her lip, a flicker of genuine jealousy crossing her face, but she was quick to regain her composure.
She slowly stood to her feet. The boat rocked gently as she closed the distance, standing only a few inches from where Dorian sat.
"I had wished for you to remember on your own terms. That would have been much better. You would have understood this world, the betrayal, and the necessity of my actions through your own logic."
She slowly began to caress his cheeks. Her hands were cold, like marble that had been left in the snow.
Dorian did not sense any killing intent. His danger instincts were dormant, confusing him even further. She was going to hurt him, he knew that, and yet his body refused to identify her as a threat.
"But we are out of time, Jacob. So… I will help you remember."
"Wait—"
Before Dorian could react, Yahoshi had already thrust her fingers against his temples.
[Foreign Mana Detected.]
[System Override Initiated by: Origin Source.]
[Blocking failed.]
A massive surge of dark, ancient mana flooded into his brain.
"ARGHHH!"
A loud, painful groan tore from Dorian's mouth. His head was thrown back, his pupils rolling into his skull. His fingers stiffened, clawing at the air as his body convulsed, fighting against the intrusion that felt less like a memory and more like a stroke.
In that moment, the dam broke.
The rivers of blood from the God War.
The feeling of Yaho's skin against his.
The cold steel of the Void Dagger piercing his heart.
The taste of dirt in his mouth as he died.
And then, the darkest memory of all.
He could recall them all.
He saw Yaho, weeping in the mud. He felt, through a lingering soul connection, the sensation of her teeth tearing into his dead arm. The madness. The consumption. The birth of the Evernight Witch.
It was too much.
His mind, trying to protect itself from the sheer trauma of the download, shut down.
Dorian collapsed forward. His body landed violently on the floor of the boat, unconscious.
Yahoshi stared at him for a while, panting from the exertion. Then, a small, sad smile showed at the corner of her lips.
"Honestly, you can be so cute sometimes when you sleep. Too bad this world deserves none of it. Not until I make you sit on that throne and look down at all of them as they burn."
Yahoshi reached out to brush a stray hair from his forehead.
Crck.
She stopped.
She looked at her hand. The tips of her fingers were beginning to crack, the skin peeling away to reveal something that looked like rusted iron underneath.
She frowned, pulling her hand back.
"Tch. I have spent too much time outside my domain. This vessel is reaching its limit."
She needed to leave. She needed to collect her essence from the wives to stabilize herself.
But just as she prepared to open a portal, a thunderous sound echoed through the void.
BOOM!
A massive crack appeared on the left side of the dark barrier.
Something was hammering against the fabric of her dimension from the outside.
CRASH!
The barrier shattered like glass.
A gale of wind, sharp enough to cut skin, blasted into the serene space, churning the water into a frenzy.
From the breach, a figure descended.
Ciel.
She plummeted like a meteor, landing on the water's surface with such force that the shockwave nearly capsized the boat.
Her eyes were glowing a furious, vertical-slit gold. Her wings were fully spread, casting a shadow over the Witch.
Immediately upon seeing her, Yahoshi leaped backward, creating distance between herself and the True Dragon.
Dorian remained unconscious on the floor of the boat, lying right between the two apex predators.
Slowly, Ciel lowered her stance, hovering just inches above the water. She took a good look at Dorian. She could hear his heartbeat, erratic but strong. He was alive.
Relief washed over her, instantly replaced by a rage so potent the air began to vibrate.
She looked at Yahoshi.
"The Evernight Witch," Ciel spat the name like a curse. "For a long time, I have chosen to ignore your antics. I turned a blind eye to whatever actions you committed because my Master did not order your death. But this… attacking my Lord?"
Ciel raised her hand. Mana began to condense around her palm, forming a sphere of destruction.
"You will pay for this with your life."
Yahoshi stood at the far edge of the boat, cornered. She tried to step back, but there was nowhere to go.
"Child of Ragnor," Yahoshi sneered, though her eyes darted around, calculating an escape. "You look nothing like your father. But you are just as arrogant as he was. Blindly loyal to the Dragon Monarch even at the expense of your own life. Truly laughable."
"Try as you might, you are still going to die here."
Ciel aimed her palm directly at Yahoshi's chest.
Yahoshi bit her lower lip.
Fighting was not an option. Not in this decaying body, and certainly not against a True Dragon in her prime. If she hoped to stand a fighting chance, she needed to retreat and complete the harvest of the wives.
She sensed outside the barrier. Her witches—the Fifty Pillars she had summoned—were gone. All of them.
Ciel had slaughtered an entire army to get here.
"Honestly," Yahoshi muttered, frustration leaking into her voice. "Every time I am here, there are always insects trying to get in my way."
She looked past Ciel, her gaze lingering on Dorian's unconscious form one last time.
"I'll come back for you, my love. So please… wait for me."
"Oh no, you don't!"
Ciel didn't wait for her to finish.
ROAR!
A massive beam of concentrated Dragon Breath erupted from Ciel's palm, vaporizing the air as it screamed toward Yahoshi.
Yahoshi didn't block. She fell backward.
She dropped straight into the dark water like a torpedo, letting the depths swallow her.
The beam struck the water a split second later.
BOOM!
A massive explosion of steam and displaced water shot into the sky.
As Yahoshi sank deeper, pushing herself further into the abyss to access her teleportation network, she saw the light of the laser chasing her.
She closed her eyes, preparing for impact.
But suddenly, shadows moved in the water. Three witches, survivors of the battle outside, swam in front of the beam.
aThey used their bodies.
They were incinerated instantly, their deaths buying Yahoshi the fraction of a second she needed.
A dark portal opened beneath her, and she vanished, leaving nothing but bubbles and blood in the water.
On the surface, Ciel waited for the steam to clear.
She scanned the water with her sensory magic.
"She ran away," Ciel growled, her claws clenching. "Coward."
She turned her attention to the boat.
The barrier was collapsing now that its creator had fled. The fake stars were flickering out, revealing the real night sky of the Ishtar River.
Ciel stepped onto the boat. She knelt beside Dorian, her expression softening from the rage of a dragon to the concern of a guardian.
"Master?"
He didn't respond.
She gently lifted him, cradling him in her arms as if he weighed nothing.
"Lili!" Ciel called out to the open air.
Lili landed on the boat a second later, looking disheveled and covered in witch blood, but unharmed.
"Is he okay?!" Lili panicked, looking at Dorian.
"He is alive. But his mind is in turmoil. We need to get him back to the Estate immediately."
Ciel spread her wings, launching herself into the night sky, carrying the Dragon Monarch home, leaving the ruined date and the terrified city of Ishtar far behind them.
