Chapter 12: Epilogue
As Dale stepped through the gate, he was enveloped by colors beyond the description of this world.
With each step he took, the landscape transformed.
An endless expanse of a gray winter night stretched before him.
He remembered the first time he reached this “Winter of the Universe” from the Elven Kingdom.
The cold was so intense it felt like his blood would freeze and his lungs would tear apart. The chill of the apocalypse coursing through his veins was proof enough.
After the decisive battle with the Third Empire, Dale faced the Winter of the Universe that threatened to engulf the continent. The ancient fear that the world would end in ice, the very apostle of that doom.
Even Dale couldn’t confront it with sheer force. Yet, the winter chose to halt its advance and let him pass.
“Because there is an end, there can be salvation, and sorrowful and painful things can cease. Your existence should have been a blessing, not a fear to be pointed at.”
“You’re too trivial to be worth my time. I’ve lost interest. Begone.”
A silhouette of pure frost spoke, marking the end of his conversation with winter.
And now, Dale found himself once more in that world of winter.
In the biting cold that could freeze blood and lungs, Dale looked around. There was nothing to see.
As Ray Eurys had said, could the lost history and answers of the Fourth Empire truly be here?
He couldn’t know.
In the monochrome winter night, Dale began to move forward. Without hesitation or doubt, just steadily.
In this world, the passage of time was elusive.
How long had he walked? Days? Weeks? In a world where even hunger and sleep were frozen, Dale’s existence was sustained solely by his consciousness.
At the journey’s end, Dale’s consciousness finally reached the place where answers lay.
”…”
The tendrils of Shub coiled around his heart throbbed, and the silent cold and darkness began to stir.
──The Empire of Winter was there.
“I’ve been waiting for you, brother.”
The Queen of Winter was there.
Not just Dale, but with the Mother of Old Darkness smiling beside her. Yet, it didn’t matter. Just seeing their faces again was enough.
”…”
Ironically, at the end of winter, what engulfed Dale’s body was an indescribable warmth.
A warmth that could melt even the hottest desert began to thaw the frozen heart of ice.
Like spring melting winter, warmth wrapped around Dale’s frozen body, causing it to thaw.
”…Lize.”
Something hot rose from his throat. Like a child, he felt tears welling up.
“I believed you would eventually reach this place, brother.”
But as his frozen heart melted, the warmth stirred another emotion within Dale.
He had believed there was nothing in the world left to take seriously. But he was wrong. What stood before him was no longer a world left alone.
There was something he had to face more seriously than ever.
“Lize, what are you planning?”
And so, Dale spoke. To the shadowy lord before him, the Black Gold Emperor, and the Empress of Winter.
“I’m not planning anything.”
“Do you really think so, Lize?”
“Of course.”
Lize showed no hesitation.
“What I wish for is a world where you, brother, and everyone can be happy.”
”…”
“Look, brother.”
With those words, Lize turned her back. Without a hint of caution, she revealed her back and walked away.
The Mother of Old Darkness, who stood by her side, also turned with a silent smile.
“An unawakened illusion cannot be distinguished from happiness.”
Turning away, Lize whispered.
“Welcome to the world of happiness, brother.”
Lize whispered, and with those words, Dale’s consciousness sank into darkness.
When Dale rose again, the place was both unfamiliar and familiar.
It was the “Emperor’s Chamber” of the Fourth Empire he once ruled.
“Dale?”
Turning his head, he saw Charlotte lying beside him in a nightgown. She reached out silently to stroke his cheek.
“You don’t look well. Did you have a nightmare?”
”…It was a happy dream.”
But Dale shook his head quietly as he answered.
“Then why do you look so sad?”
“Because it’s a dream I have to wake up from.”
Dale replied bitterly as he got up. Yet, the world didn’t shatter like glass to reveal the truth. This scene was never a lie to begin with.
The Charlotte there was an undeniable truth.
Likewise, everything in this world was an undeniable truth.
Dale rose, and Charlotte gently reached out to him.
“Dale, can you feel it?”
Charlotte guided his hand to her belly.
Thump, thump. He felt a pulse. It was Charlotte’s, but another life was also stirring there.
”…Yes.”
“Our child.”
“I see.”
“You know, Dale. I’m truly happy.”
And the child between them was also an undeniable truth. Charlotte smiled, and Dale silently brushed her hair aside.
“I’m so scared this happiness will shatter like a dream.”
At Charlotte’s words, at the fear in her voice, Dale found himself unable to respond.
When Dale left his castle, what stretched beyond the horizon was an endless black-and-white winter night.
The Empire of Winter, and the Empress who ruled it, were there.
“Lize.”
“How is it, brother?”
“What do you mean?”
“Aren’t you happy?”
Lize asked, and Dale smiled bitterly.
“Well.”
“Until the end of the universe comes, this world’s happiness will not break.”
Lize said. Here, on the Winter of the Universe where they stood.
“No one can stop the end. But until it comes, we can be happy. That was the answer I found.”
He recalled the Golden Lord and the riders who once struggled to prevent the end of the universe. Lize was not as foolish as they were.
“That was your wish.”
“In this world, no one gets hurt, and there’s no pain. Even the conflict between gold and shadow is meaningless. Until the end of the universe, we can dream endlessly in this happiness.”
Lize said.
“You’ve changed, Lize.”
“I haven’t changed.”
Lize shook her head at that.
“From the day you first taught me magic, brother, I’ve only ever wanted one thing.”
”…”
“A world where I can make everyone happy with my magic. Finally, I can achieve that dream.”
As Lize said, they could remain buried in this unending dream and enjoy happiness.
Dale remained silent. The Mother of Old Darkness still watched him with amusement from Lize’s side.
“Lize, let me ask you one thing.”
“Go ahead, brother.”
“When you speak of ‘everyone,’ does that include you?”
“Of course.”
Lize answered without a moment’s hesitation.
“My beloved brother, father and mother, the loyal vassals of the Saxon family, and all those they love and cherish, they can all be happy in this unawakened dream──.”
The Empress of Lies spoke.
“That is ‘my happiness.’”
“I see.”
Hearing that, Dale laughed.
“You are just like me, Lize.”
He laughed bitterly and then spoke.
“For your own happiness, you’re driving everyone you love into misery. Just as I did.”
At those words, Lize’s expression twisted. Yet, Dale remained unfazed.
“Sometimes, the pain of sacrifice is sweeter than happiness. But Lize, it’s hard to imagine now how much pain my unilateral sacrifice must have caused you.”
”…Brother.”
“The pain you must have felt from my sacrifice, the fear and suffering those close to me had to endure while I indulged in the selfishness of sacrifice, I couldn’t comprehend it.”
Dale said.
“Lize, just as you are now.”
”…”
“You asked if I was happy, Lize.”
Dale spoke to Lize.
“You know, Lize. I’m not happy at all. I’m so miserable and in pain.”
“Why, how…”
Lize swallowed her breath at those words.
“Your unilateral sacrifice for me is so painful it’s driving me mad.”
”…!”
“And once, in the face of my sacrifice, you must have felt such agony and pain.”
Before he knew it, Dale’s voice was trembling like a child’s.
He knelt down and continued, pleading.
“It’s my fault, Lize.”
No amount of regret for past foolishness could change anything. As the Black Gold Emperor, he clearly remembered the conclusion that required no one’s understanding or permission.
The pain Lize inflicted on Dale was ultimately just atonement for his past foolishness.
“My ignorance, my inability to understand your suffering, the suffering of my father and mother, of Charlotte, of Lady Sepia, and of the knights who serve me—it’s that ignorance that has led you here.”
”…”
Lize remained silent in response.
Before long, the figure who should have been the Mother of Darkness by Lize’s side had moved to stand next to Dale.
─ Ah, dear child of humanity.
It wasn’t even the Mother. A girl with the horns of a goat whispered, unable to contain her affection.
─ To think you could maintain your human form to the very end, to the very last moment.
“That was our promise,” Dale replied calmly to Shub.
Human. The word had lost its meaning for him. Long ago, Dale had annihilated the true humans of this land, as the king of monsters.
Yet, even now, Dale remained human.
“Sacrifice doesn’t atone for anyone else’s misfortune. It only atones for one’s own.”
Dale spoke.
“As the Lord of Black Gold, I believed I was atoning for the pain and sins of humans. But from the start, the only burden my sacrifice carried was my own sin and suffering.”
In exchange, Dale had driven those he loved into the depths of despair.
He realized this far too late.
“Please, Lize.”
And so, there was only one thing Dale could say.
“Don’t torment yourself any longer.”