Transmigration Into The Beginning After The End

CHAPTER 16 - TIME II

The green emit of light from my hands lit brighter by a second, I didn't wait for Sylvia's voice of confirmation and inflicted her with the light of green. Enveloping her giant dark body, it caught her by surprise. 

A minute or so passed by and I could even tell that her wound was still bleeding, frustrating as it was, I tried to inject more of my mana into the igniting spell hoping that this was enough to heal her from her dying wound. 

"That's enough child." 

I ignored her and continued to provide the spell with even more mana to the point where I was already less than half of my core in energy. It had to work, no. It will work. 

To my surprise Arthur held her arm back, ensuring that I would heal her. 

My healing factor was better than Alice Leywin's by a mile, and I know for sure that her healing powers weren't enough for her to heal Sylvia's wound. But mine could, and I would. 

The weight of my body was a little more than what I could handle now without mana augmentation. It felt like I was pushing and holding a giant boulder twice my weight in an uphill position. 

My mana reserves were running low, and in any given moment, I would run out of energy to get the spell from going. 

As the last bits of mana left my core, I felt a strong flicker on my forehead that knocked my heavy body backwards into my butt. "Luke, I said that was enough. No amount of healing magic will close this wound." 

"T-That can't be true!" I snapped. "You're telling me that you are a fixed point in time?! That even with my ability to be an emitter with advanced healing prowess, I still can't heal that wound?! Bullshit!" 

Sylvia put her hand on my head, saying, "I appreciate your efforts in trying to heal my injury, but it can't be easily done my dear. After all it wasn't done by any normal being, so treating this injury would need someone of the same skill level as the individual who gave me this." 

Having said that, Sylvia still didn't seem to have any sort of reaction whatsoever of hatred towards the individual who caused her this pain. No, she seemed to have pity towards that being and nothing more. 

Arthur, who was holding Sylvia's arm back said, "Y-You were sacrificing yourself… so that I could meet my family once more?" The demon-lord looking figure gave him a head pat as well, revealing her upcoming death. Sylvia managed to give us a sheepish smile, she whispered, "Art. Yes I am dying. But I will get angry if you blame yourselves, thinking that you two are the cause of this. I have been dying for quite a while now. You are doing me a favor by allowing me to leave this forsaken cave a bit faster." 

When she finished speaking, a bright golden glow radiated out of her body. The inner cave's walls reflected her glow and blinded me for a couple of seconds, being late at covering my eyes, it was still able to make out the shape that was in Sylvia's spot. Replacing the ten-meter titan-like figure was a dragon even larger. From her snout and to the end of her tail, the color of pearl white coat of shimmering scales. Beneath her iridescent lavender eyes were glowing golden runes that marked her neck and ran down to spread around her body and tail like sacred engravings. It was said in the novel that her runes were completely unique to her, which I called bullshit, but after seeing it with my own eyes I realized that it was true. These engravings are entirely different from any other Asura's runes. The dragon's wings were pure white adorned with white bladed feathers so fine and sharp that they could put swords forged by master smiths to shame. 

The golden glow dimmed, and my eyes hurt less, letting me fully see what I only could try to describe while having my clear sight taken away for a brief moment. 

"There now… Do I look more like a Sylvia?" Sylvia let out a toothy smirk. 

S-Sylvia?? Y… you're a dragon!?" Arthur said, surprised. 

Of course, I already knew Sylvia was a dragon but it was still astonishing seeing one in person. On Earth there were only pictures and fantasies of how dragons lived on Earth during the medieval times and whatnot. 

"Now that I am in this form, we do not have much time. Yes I am something you humans refer to us as 'a dragon'. The reason I am dying is because I had been inflicted with this wound after narrowly escaping from my captors. I had sensed one of them approaching dangerously close a few days ago, so I feel that my time of hiding is drawing to an end. This form will alert them of my location, which is why I only have time to explain what is necessary. I am giving you this to take care of from now on." 

One of her bladed wings unfolded and revealed a translucent, rainbow-colored stone the size of two fists. With a myriad of colors and shades. Sylvie, I thought. Arthur hesitated in taking in the colorful stone, and I knew why, the aura it radiated from the stone made him feel unworthy of holding it. 

"Everything will reveal itself when the time comes so just hold onto this and do not let anyone know that you have this. Most will not know what it is but everyone will be attracted by the aura it emits." Sylvia continued, not waiting for Arthur to respond. 

Then she proceeded to pluck a feather from her wings with her claw and handed it to Art, giving an immediate order. "Wrap the stone with this to conceal it." 

Quickly and with no seconds to be left off, Arthur covered the unordinary stone with the feather, in our very eyes, it became normal, an ordinary stone. 

I was so caught up with the phenomenon of the feather-encased stone, that I never received a glance of the moment that Art became powerful in the first place, the beast will engrave. 

Having a hole in his shirt, only marking of blood showed and nothing more. Sylvia's expression grew visibly pained and weak; it was apparent even for a dragon that was even bigger than her precious illusion. I paid more attention to her features and realized that her bright glowing purple eyes had dimmed into just a dim yellow along with beautiful runes that flowed across her face and body now gone. 

Wait… if she had given Arthur her beast will already, then that means…

I turned rapidly to our opposite side already pumping mana into my body hoping that my elemental affinities would just pop out and help me here but I was wrong. The shockwaves of the explosion sent me flying to Sylvia's dragon wing. 

When I stood on my feet, I noticed a huge part of the ceiling cave had been blown off and what came from it shocked me even more. 

Descending down but not entirely, a figure that was close to Sylvia's previous illusion scanned us and even landed on me for a couple of seconds before seeing the giant dragon next to us. Clad in sleek black armor and a blood red cape that matched its eyes. The figure's pale gray skin matched the clouded sky in the background. The horns were different, though, as this entity had two horns that curled down and under its ears, lining its chin. 

Sylvia immediately covered Arthur with one of her wings in time to protect him from the falling debris, she did the same to me as if to protect me from his eyes. Though, it was already too late, after all we both locked eyes. 

"Lady Sylvia! I advise you to stop your stubbornness and hand it over. You've already caused us quite the trouble after hiding yourself! If you submit, the Lord may even heal your wound," the entity reasoned impatiently. 

But that was no demon or entity, no. It was something much more cruel and stronger. A Scythe that goes by the name of Cadell. The being that would kill Sylvia and take her to Agrona back on Alacrya for one of his inhuman experiments. 

That was enough to enrage me. 

Letting the mana in me go rampage, creating sorts of lightning around both of my arms. I had now used an entirely different deviant aside from my healing but that didn't matter, what did was to take Sylvia with us to Elenoir, away from this bastard. 

Immediately after finishing that thought, the world around me seemed to be at a pause. Sylvia, Arthur and I were the only ones moving. Static Void? I initially thought but something else told me that I was wrong. 

Ignoring Cadell, Sylvia casually levitated her wings revealing us both underneath her wing. "I'll open the portal now. I didn't have the time to make it go directly to your homes but it should take you to a place with humans nearby. Do not let him see you and do not look back," she whispered, her eyes solemn. 

The auburn haired boy ignored her instructions and said, "Sylvia! Is what he said true? If you turn yourself over, will you be able to live?" 

I wanted to answer that question badly but it wasn't in my space to answer something which might bring the future to another direction. It was something I couldn't afford to do, not here and not now. 

"Don't trust his honey-coated words. It will be worse off for you if you are found right now. As for me I would rather die than go back to where he is," Sylvia said, impatience and anger mixed in her voice. 

"No! I won't let you die here–"

"Then go with us. Cross the portal with us and I vow to heal you to your perfect state, but please, go with us." I spoke over the main character, in hopes and desperately wishing that she would agree and leave this place before anything that I would regret happens. 

Sylvia gently wiped Art's cheeks with her claw, her draconic eyes lined with what he saw as tears. I then too realized I was crying, wiping my own tears with my hands, Sylvia continued to speak. "You asked me once, why I chose to save you. The truth was to satisfy my own greed. I wanted to keep you as my own child even for just a little bit. I intentionally prolonged the transportation spell because I wished to spend more time with you, but it seems I didn't even have the chance to finish it. I'm sorry, little Art, for my selfishness but I have one last request to make… Can you be my grandson and call me grandmother just this once?"

"NOO! I don't care about all of that! I'll say it as much as you want if you come with me! Grandma! Grandma! You can't! Not like this!" 

Arthur pursued, "I-I-I… Please, I'm begging you, just come with us. I-I don't know what you did but everything is frozen right now; we can escape! Please, Grandmother, don't go. Not like this!" The young little boy held on to Sylvia's claw, desperately trying to pull her away with him. 

Before I knew it, she pushed Art into the portal. "Thank you, my child." 

As he was almost touching the portal, she stopped time for him. It was taking a toll on her for doing that but I couldn't say anything about it or she would see me differently. In those moments earlier, I envied Arthur, getting to call Sylvia something that only you would say to a relative who was important to you was a thing I may not get to experience. 

"Now, Luke, we must talk." Sylvia turned to me. "You are something I didn't expect to see here. Your entire presence is an anomaly which I can't even fathom where you came from. But one thing must be sure, and that is you are an outsider, something Agrona's aether machine can't predict." 

"W-What are you talking about Sylvia?" I asked, scared of her next words. 

"Luke Hodges, you are something either astonishing or unremarkable. Your own mana core stage tells me that you are not a normal child, maybe something like a shadow that this world can't see." Sylvia's words hit me like a train. It wasn't something I expected her to say to me, but it was something I was hoping one day I would hear, but not today. "Not to mention your words of worry from earlier, if I was a fixed point in time." 

I stepped back hesitant. My heart beating louder in my chest. Even my breathing was uneven and it became hard to inhale oxygen into my lungs. "Listen Sylvia… I-I-I." The words in my mouth didn't leave and rather left it open. 

What can I tell Sylvia? 

That I know the future? That this world is from a novel? A fictional story where things go south every time there is peace? That when things get hopeful, there is always despair next door already knocking into the continent's doorstep?

W-What could I really say to her? 

Was I really going to pass through that portal without telling her anything?

Sylvia's forehead touched mine, "Well, it doesn't matter where you came from or where you are headed to. You–like Arthur–are my dearest grandchildren. I'm sorry that I startled you in a way, but I wanted to see your alarmed expression, something you never showed me until now." 

Her calmed voice sent a message to my mind and body, telling me that it was okay to ease up. "I-I'm sorry I can't tell you anything right now." I said, in between sobs and tears not being able to contain them any longer. "But I promise, she will be okay on Arthur's hand." 

She let out a sigh of relief as she stood tall like a majestic dragon. This time I truly saw what Sylvia was going through, just having me and her together being able to move freely in "Static Void" brought a huge toll on her. Sylvia wasn't going to last any longer if this kept up, and that broke me from the inside. Even though I only spent two months with her, she still managed to give me attention and support.

A thing I lacked back on Earth. 

"Goodbye my children." 

That was the last thing I heard from her before I was pushed into the portal along with Art.