Lark had always been like that.
Every time he greeted us, he would abruptly embrace us in a brotherly hug, as if to crush our waists.
Back when I was on the receiving end, it felt nothing but painful, and I never felt any brotherly love.
But in this situation, jumping into our midst at the risk of his life, spitting blood yet embracing and smiling at us, I saw his side face...
It was bewildering and heart-wrenching.
I had never truly regarded him as a real brother.
Had he always considered us... his brothers, with such care?
"I don't know what you've been through."
Lark, coughing and spitting blood, opened his mouth.
"I'm indecisive and know nothing but wielding a sword... so I don't really understand the worries you've had, the hardships you've gone through."
Lark, with his deep blue eyes, looked back and forth between me and Fernandez,
"But even if we point weapons at each other, even if we hurt and fight each other... aren't we still family?"
Until the end.
He said such things.
"Let's talk, brothers."
"...I'm sorry, brother, but we don't have that luxury."
Fernandez, who had been silent with his head down, slowly spoke.
"My mind is set, and it will not change."
"Fernandez..."
"There's no point in talking between us anymore."
Crack...!
Dozens of thorn spears rose behind Fernandez.
"Like I'll do to Ash, I'll destroy your body and only take your soul to the spirit realm."
"..."
"I'll persuade you afterwards...!"
As Fernandez resolutely declared his intent to kill him, Lark silently watched him,
"Alright, Fernandez... if that's what you want, go ahead."
He smiled wryly.
"I'm sorry for always being a failure of a brother."
"..."
At that moment, Fernandez's face crumbled in despair.
But the dozens of thorn spears were already primed. Fernandez closed his eyes tight and shot the spears forward.
"...I'm sorry, brother."
Swoosh!
A rain of thorn spears poured down towards Lark-
"That unfilial, unfriendly bastard-!"
I stepped in front of him.
My hastily summoned gray walls blocked the thorn spears but crumbled like sand.
I desperately pulled Lark and dodged amidst my collapsing walls.
"To think you'd go so far as to imprison your father in the spirit realm, cut off your brother's limbs, and try to kill us both!"
I too may not have the best filial piety! I've also stabbed Lark in the side, and fought fiercely with you!
But you, you are the true king of unfilial conduct!
"I, as a Confucian boy upholding the spirit of the Eastern Nation of Courtesy, cannot forgive you! I'll show you, Fernandez!"
I was screaming, but I was actually running for my life.
Those monstrous thorn spears couldn't be stopped with my wall summoning.
Fernandez scoffed at my actions.
"Show me then. Let's see how you plan to stop me..."
At that moment.
Fernandez's shoulders twitched.
At the same time, the entire Ark shook with a thud.
"...What's that?"
Fernandez looked down in confusion.
Thud! Boom! Rumble!
The Ark shook violently with a series of loud explosions.
Fernandez hurriedly extended his thorns downward to the central tree branch of the audience room to check the Ark's overall condition, but...
Snap!
"Ugh?!"
The thorns were repelled and snapped back.
Stunned, Fernandez quickly looked around.
"Could it be...?!"
"Yes, Fernandez. Do you finally see?"
On the floor of the audience chamber... small branches of Everblack were embedded all around.
Needless to say, those were the branches I had planted.
It was bound to be unnoticeable. After all, the entire audience chamber was surrounded by a giant tree trunk.
How could the small branches I stealthily planted during the battle be noticeable against that large tree trunk?
"Why do you think I was running around the audience chamber in the first place?"
There's no such thing as a pointless move.
"Why do you think I deliberately lured you away from the throne to this side?"
Everything was according to plan.
From the beginning, my intention was to plant the branches I brought throughout the audience chamber and to lure Fernandez away from the throne, the center of control for the Ark.
"Where the hell did you get these branches?!"
"Where did I get them?"
I smirked derisively.
"Are you blind? This entire imperial palace is surrounded by Everblack!"
I had broken off these small branches on my way from the palace entrance to the audience chamber!
Even though they are just small branches, they are of Everblack, practically powerful magic wands in themselves.
Ordinary humans couldn't even touch them, let alone break them off. And even if someone was qualified, they couldn't do this without prior experience with Everblack.
But I was qualified and had handled branches synthesized by White Night before. That's why it was possible.
After seizing control of the broken branches,
I plugged them into the central trunk of this audience chamber - the control center of the Ark, causing damage to the Ark's system.
So to put it simply!
"How do you like the taste of ransomware?!"
Like injecting a virus into the main computer!
No matter how sturdy the exterior of a ship is, if its internal system is damaged, it's bound to be compromised, right?
I pointed an accusing finger at the bewildered Fernandez.
"This is what I call the Trojan Horse strategy, you bastard!"
Rumble!
The Ark shook violently.
Fernandez, gritting his teeth, glared at me and hurriedly ran to the throne to regain control of the ship. But.
"Urgh...!"
That was exactly the trap.
The branches of Everblack I had planted had deeply infiltrated the central system of the Ark.
I, too, am a guardian of the empire and a legitimate successor of Everblack.
The command I issued was 'halt the Ark'.
Fernandez struggled to remove my command, but it's hard to remove a poison that has spread through the veins.
The Ark began to vibrate more intensely, gradually losing its functions...
"Ugh!"
Vrooooom!
...But it did not stop and started to reboot instead.
Fernandez, sitting on the throne, had merged more than half of his body with thorns, and he was regaining control of the damaged Ark.
I was dumbfounded.
You should have fought monsters with that indomitable will, really...!
"Do you think I'll just watch?"
I pulled out the last branch of Everblack I had kept and thrust it into the central trunk.
I poured my consciousness into it, striving to silence the Ark.
Inside Everblack, Fernandez and I clashed wills. Fernandez tried everything to restore the Ark, and I did my utmost to hinder him.
How long we tugged in this battle of wills.
"Why... don't you understand, Ash."
Fernandez uttered in a choked voice.
"You don't know. You must have forgotten. What you've been through all this time. The sacrifices you've made."
"..."
"You've been so broken that you couldn't even maintain yourself, surviving by overlaying someone else's personality."
I faced Fernandez. His voice was trembling.
"Even if this world completely collapses, you must be saved. That's why I've been trying to save you."
"..."
"But why... why are you trying to break again? Why won't you run away...!"
"What are you asking such an obvious question for?"
I don't usually enjoy putting on airs, but if you ask, I have to answer.
"That's because it's the path I've chosen."
It's not just about the current me.
It's about the countless 'me's and their afterimages emblazoned on this flag. All those numerous attempts have come together to form this trajectory.
All of them are the results of my choices.
Traces of my struggle to somehow save the world and reach the true ending.
"You're right, brother. I don't remember my past self. But."
I smirked.
"I think I know now what I've been fighting for all this time."
"For what?"
"For myself."
Fernandez's eyes widened. I stated firmly.
"Not for anything else. I fight for myself."
It's me who wants to save the world.
This is my desire.
Why keep going even when my soul is shattered, and I'm layered with someone else's memories?
"Because I want to! Because I choose to!"
I'm just being honest with my heart. I'm sincere about my own desires.
As sincere as I am - I'll do my best to hold on until I can't anymore.
I'm not being forced by anyone, nor am I making a noble sacrifice! This is all my will!
I'm playing this damn defense game of my own volition!
"So stop looking at me with those pitying eyes as if it's all just a whim!"
Don't bestow mercy or salvation on your own whim!
"Even if I fight to the end and shatter into pieces... it's all my choice!"
"...!"
Fernandez's face hardened with shock.
Regardless, I gritted my teeth and poured more will into seizing control.
"Enough, let's just land this cursed Ark! As Lark said, it's time to go home!"
"...What?"
"Let's go down to the ground! Go and face legal judgment for your deeds! And Lark, go to the temple for treatment!"
The crimes Fernandez committed are incredibly severe.
Even as a prince, he'll likely face life imprisonment, probably even the death penalty.
But at least until then, I'll visit him daily to feed him and keep him company. I'll even draw a commemorative portrait with him before he dies!
"Let's go home!"
"...!"
"Damn it, fuck! That's right! After all, we're brothers!"
I don't remember.
A lifetime spent with you guys, it's not in my head. I have none of the memories from previous cycles.
But still, damn it!
"Let's live, brother...!"
"...!"
"Not in some nirvana beyond, but here, in this reality, together...!"
I clenched my teeth.
Fernandez and Lark, I'll get them out of here and return to the ground!
Rumble!
But it doesn't stop.
The Ark continued its operation. My will couldn't reach the deepest part of the Ark.
"...Haha."
Still refusing to give up and struggling, Fernandez looked at me quietly.
"I was... completely mistaken."
He slowly reached out his hand and clenched it into a fist.
Crack! Crack! Crunch...!
Then,
The walls next to the audience chamber opened simultaneously, revealing a passage.
I was startled and looked that way. The passage led to the sky outside the Ark. A fierce wind gusted into the audience chamber.
"Go, Ash."
Fernandez, with his head bowed, was hidden behind his disheveled hair.
"In a little while, the Ark will be transported to the spirit realm. Leave before that... go."
"Fernandez...!"
"To think I've only hindered the very thing my brother wanted to do, instead of supporting it..."
A bitter smile hung on his lips.
"I truly was a terrible brother."
"Let's go together, brother! If we're going, we should go together!"
"...If I leave this throne, the Ark will immediately become ethereal and be transported to the spirit realm. Someone needs to stay in control."
Fernandez slowly leaned back against the throne.
"I'm sorry. For trying to control you at my whim."
"Fernandez...!"
"...I support your final challenge."
Fernandez waved his hand dismissively.
"Have a last battle with no regrets."
"..."
"The transfer will start soon. Take our brother and leave."
Gritting my teeth, I turned to the side. Lark, lying on the carpet leading to the throne, was bleeding and struggling to breathe.
"I'll support you, Lark. Let's get out of here."
"...No."
But Lark shook his head.
"I will stay with Fernandez."
"What...?"
"To leave him alone in this Ark, in the spirit realm for eternity... That's too harsh."
Fernandez looked at Lark in surprise. Lark, with a pale face, smiled peacefully.
"Having left you two in loneliness for so long, now, even if late, I will join you."
"..."
"Go now, youngest."
Boom! Rumble!
The vibrations of the Ark intensified even more. It seemed the transfer to the spirit realm was imminent.
Lark placed his forearm on my shoulder and gave a faint smile.
"Take care of the world."