Standing before the golden castle, Elric's sight panned over the chaotic horizon of the water elemental realm. Despite the good news of Aghus death, not a single mouth had embraced a joyful cheer as the suffocating taste of destruction of their land has robbed them of their celebration.
Aghus might be gone but so are the ones they loved.
Elric's eyes reflected a pained expression as he witnessed the innumerable amount of lifeless body scattered everywhere. The dried corpse of the supposedly gigantic creatures of the water realm waved around by the current in utter coldness.
Broken homes, families and dreams had shut down everyone's mood to celebrate their liberation from Aghus's ruthless ruling.
Elric could only blame himself for all of these.
The once glorious and colorful curved landscape of this realm had undergone an unexpected dark change in just a short time of his visit.
The cry and agony of those who have lost their loved once wailed over the atmosphere and Elric's sensitive ears could not help but notice their unfortunate lament. The same catastrophic scene has been repeated before him as he watched the survivors manically searched for their missing loved once.
The once-proud soldiers of Aghus who survived the energy suction attack of the giant coral mountain beast have unhesitantly abandoned their post and roles as soldiers and hurriedly searched for remaining survivors who need help. Nobles, workers, children and even wild creatures are not spared from such ruthless sacrifice.
Without their Lord giving a selfish command, everyone decided to do the best they can to salvage their possible future.
"Why..." feeling worst with the destruction he has brought again, the sword of fire in Elric's hand slowly dissipated together with his Dragon form revealing his normal wounded body.
The three princesses behind him stare at the bleeding wounds all over his body and the long cut from his belly created a fascinating belt-like scar. His black hair with strips of green and red lines obtained from accepting the dragon blood flowed marvelously.
As much as they wanted to blame Elric, no one has the right to do so as the latter was taken in this realm by force as a prisoner and he had no evil intentions in the first place. The whole disaster started when they executed their plan to rescue Elric and the unexpected reaction of Aghus surely created the domino effect on the current disaster.
They could not help but feel guilty for the destruction that they have started. If only they knew that Aghus would not hesitate to sacrifice so many lives just to get his hands on Elric, they would have changed their plans and possibly choose to forego their father's dying command.
However, what's done is done. With all of this finally ending, the best they can do right now is to continue moving forward and start from scratch.
With everything starting to settle down, the three princesses and the other survivors bowed toward's Elric as a sign of their respect. They fully believe that the power of the Lordship belongs to him.
With Aghus, the most powerful being in the water realm gone, the only possible candidate to become the Lord of the water realm should be Elric which the latter has no idea whatsoever.
However, either he was eligible or not, they have to wait for the divine providence to choose the next lordship.
"Uhm, if you don't mind, can you tell us your name human?" while blushing, Donna was the first one to make her move and asked Elric.
Elric on the other side did not have the willingness to answer her question as his mind was remained fixed on observing the damage he has done.
Despite achieving enlightenment during the God Reckoning tribulation, his emotions and compassion remained intact and he could not escape the glaring wound of guilt from the innocent victims of his battle.
"I know you are currently blaming yourself for all of this mess." Danna's soft and calming mature voice suddenly got Elric's attention and he turned around to face the beautiful eldest princess.
Seeing Elric still unable to express himself, Danna added,
"Rest assured, you are not the only one at fault here..."
With elegance, she moved beside Elric and watched the messy horizon of the water realm. With her beside him, Elric felt like the accumulated guilt that brought him a considerable amount of burden suddenly lightens.
Reflected in her bright golden eyes, are the citizen of the water realm struggling their way to assist those who require help. She saw the citizens caring for and encouraging each other to get up and aid those who are wounded and bury those who have fallen.
What she saw was not the catastrophic end of destruction but the beginning of a bright future.
"It was only ten years ago when the former Lord Mahar, our father, died before my very eyes. And, his last words were something I struggled to understand and believe."
Slowly, tears crawled out of her eyes as she recounted what happened that during her father's last hours.
Danna already had Elric's full attention as his once sorrowful face is now covered in curiosity.
"We were on our way back to the water realm after father had visited the Lord of the Fire Elemental Realm. I do not know exactly what message the Great Seer Mhata told him but for some reason, father was sorrowful as we traveled back all the time. Especially when I realized that his guardian turtle, Dash, choose to remain at the Great Seer Mhata's hands for some reason."
Hearing about the arrogant turtle's name, Elric suddenly butted in. "What do you mean with Dash? Are you trying to say that he was the personal guardian of the late water realm's Lord Mahar?"
Danna nodded in confirmation and continued:
"We were still at the Elemental realm's space when an unfortunate dimensional space void suddenly appeared near us. Father identified that space void like the one that could transport us to the Abyss of Darkness which means it was up for no good."
Recalling this scene, Danna's thin and soft hands clenched tightly in rage.
"We tried our best to escape the suction force of the space void but to no avail. With everyone in our family together with our personal guardians and armies in that journey, the water Elemental realm could lose its lord and best warriors to an unexpected disaster. To save us all, father burned his life essence to obtain an unholy strength just and dragged as away from the dimensional force."
Facing Elric with tears in her eyes including her sisters, she concluded her story. "And just like that, Aghus received the holy provision of Lordship while we lost the most respected lord of the water realm and our only father."