"In the Name of the Dragon" by Hunter Qijie

In the annihilation of the white light, the little prince held the sword left to him by the magician, cut off the thorns all over the mountains and plains in front of him, and liberated the heather flowers blooming in it.

He knew that his little duke was sleeping there.

All the way across the fragrant sea of ​​flowers, Xiaojie searched and searched, and finally saw a dragon as expected.

Lying on its side among the gray-blue heather flowers, a silver dragon lazily rests on its bent forelegs.Its restrained wings are folded on the graceful dragon spine, and its posture is peaceful and serene without losing its natural arrogance and majesty. As the scales rub against each other lightly, the undulating and uniform breath makes a small snort like a pause, As if waking up from a long dream, Yinlong suddenly opened his eyes at this moment.

The Sleeping Dragon was awakened by him.The little prince stared at it and only looked at his own focused and gentle eyes.

Then he heard his own heart pounding that stopped even his breathing──

The resonance of the soul immediately resounded through the whole world.

The white light faded slowly, the phantom of the evil dragon disappeared, and the undead also disappeared. The sky was clear, only the stars and the moon remained.All the violence/chaos had ceased, and even the fire that had been burning had disappeared in an instant.The evil dragon controlled by the man slowly circled down, and after a cloud of smoke cleared, the two teenagers stood side by side. Under the bright night sky, they showed their embarrassed but still hard to hide their upright and determined figures.

"...Brother, thank you for taking care of me." Qi Ya said to the man with a smile.

Although his voice was hoarse and weak, and he even had to be supported by the people around him, the boy's eyes were no longer chaotic or confused.Like growing up from a boy to a real teenager in an instant, Qi Ya's tone was clear and cautious, without any fear of men before, and even felt relaxed from the bottom of his heart, he had already broken the spell with the help of the little prince bondage.

The man was also shocked by this scene, his expression that had hardly changed before began to crack, "Xiaoqi...you..."

Xiaojie quickly stood in front of him with a sword, "Don't even think about controlling Qi Ya──!"

The man narrowed his eyes unhappily, and raised his hand as if to summon another spell, when a voice suddenly descended from the sky, like thunder, both heavy and loud:

"It's alright, Elmi."

Their expressions all changed, and the man raised his head to confirm, "...Father?"

The voice said again: "He has released you."

The man frowned, and said unwillingly, "It's not wrong, but it's not him—"

The voice ignored his excuse, and called instead: "Qi Ya."

"Yes, father." Qi Ya bowed his head respectfully, even though he was seriously injured, he still did not forget to put his hand on his chest politely, and knelt down on one knee.His demeanor was still impeccable, without any loss, as if he should be so noble and elegant by birth.

The little prince couldn't help shouting to Kong: "Are you Qi Ya's father?! Why did his brother treat him like this──"

"Xiaojie...!"

Qi Ya was surprised and wanted to reach out his hand to stop him, but he heard the voice continue to sound in a deep voice, as calm and emotionless as his brother, "Because this is his fate. Your name is Xiaojie, right? The people of the old gods who survived the apocalypse .”

"So what?" Xiaojie couldn't see Qi Ya's father, he could only raise his head and stare fearlessly at the sky while talking, and tightly held Qi Ya's hand that was extended to him.

"It's very interesting," the man seemed to smile, and said meaningfully, "I'm looking forward to..."

The little prince was puzzled: "What do you mean?" What do you expect?

But there was no answer.The man's tone changed immediately, and he asked Qi Ya again seriously: "Qi Ya, is this your choice?"

"Yes." Qi Ya said without hesitation, but he gritted his teeth and said after struggling for a while, "I want to play with Xiaojie, and I want to see more of this world──I don't want to Go back. Dad, can you..."

"Of course not."

Qi Ya's brother interrupted unhappily, but the cold voice agreed gently, "Well, you can go and play."

The man was taken aback, and said in disbelief, "Father──?!"

Qi Ya's face, which was almost transparent due to exhaustion and blood stains, seemed to be flushed with excitement at this time, and he looked at his little prince.Even though Xiaojie didn't understand why he had to get his father's permission, he couldn't help smiling.

The voice said again, "Ilmi, you can come back. Kiya has grown up, and I allow him to decide for himself—besides, you lost the spell to him today, didn't you?"

"Father, but mother's side..."

"You don't need to worry about that. I told you to come back."

It was like the undeniable order he gave to Qi Ya not long ago.Xiaojie even wondered whether Qi Ya's brother was also controlled by their father, he shut his mouth obediently, kicked his feet and jumped onto the dragon, and the dragon made a vicious and restless sound again.

The man was silent for a while, and then said earnestly to Qi Yayu, "Xiao Qi, you will know soon. You can't be with human beings at all. They are just fragile and small ants, and what you have is infinite. How long will he be with you? Then you will have to face his death?"

Qi Ya just smiled indifferently, "Then you really don't need to worry about it, brother."

"...What? Wait! Xiao Qi, could it be that you..." He stared in astonishment with his eyes that looked like deep black holes, and seeing that he didn't deny it, he called out in disbelief, "That's why Dad--Qi Ya! How dare you do that!"

"This is my choice." Qi Ya said coldly, "It has nothing to do with you."

"You'll regret—"

"No, I will not."

He retorted in the affirmative, watching the man ride off on the dragon, not at all happy.

"Brother, goodbye. Dad, thank you..."

The night will eventually pass, just as the post-apocalyptic disaster will never come again, and the dawn has already come to this world.Qi Ya whispered to the dawn sky.

They were already very tired and couldn't move for a while, so they just cuddled together and watched the sun rise in the sea quietly.They sat on stones in the wilderness.Returning to the empty island, it smelled of sea water, soil, and flowers, and the wind blowing was humid and cold, but the dragon's body temperature was much warmer than his appearance revealed.

Xiaojie dozed off for a while leaning on Qi Ya's shoulder, and then said in a daze, "Qi Ya, who is your father..."

"Ah, I'm sorry, didn't I say it all the time? After the end of the world, the new gods ushered in are our beating enemies." He said casually, "However, my brother took over the disaster, so that only 'Despair' became his pet—don't worry, the end is over, and it will always be so peaceful."

But the little prince was stunned when he heard that, gasped, and stared up at his dragon, "New, new god? So, Qiya...you, you too..."

"Me? I'm not... I'm not old enough to inherit, although they all say I have the best aptitude. Who cares, I'll play for a few more years." He said indifferently, but because of the next His words made his cheeks flush slightly.He turned his head to look at his little prince, and reminded him awkwardly, "Don't you want to be by my side all the time? Don't play tricks on you!"

"...I won't!!" Xiaojie retorted immediately.Their eyes met each other's eyes, and both of them laughed, just like when they first met.

They held each other's hands tightly and said the same oath silently.

……I will always be by your side.

"Go home, enough rest, Mitt is still waiting for us." Qi Ya stretched his waist and stood up, the wounds on his shoulder and neck had healed, and when he turned around, he saw Xiaojie looking at the messy scene. After being in a trance for a moment, he smiled knowingly, "When I recover a bit, all of these can be rebuilt."

"Really?" Xiaojie said pleasantly, "That's really great! Ah..."

"what happened again?"

He asked strangely, "Qi Ya, what did your brother say about you just now? What did you do to make him so angry?"

"..."

The silver-haired boy hesitated for a moment.

But before the little prince was confused, his friend had already held his hand, leaned forward and kissed his head again, and then lowered his eyes and leaned against his forehead in the dim light of the early morning, The four eyes meet.

a bit...too close...

Now even the brave and fearless little prince could not help but blush.His little duke didn't speak, but he heard the soft and hoarse voice in his ears──

"I have given you my breath. 』

You will share my life.

Even if we are in a different place and the end comes again, our souls will never be separated.