[Vol. 8] Chapter 322: A Name, Nothing More
God said, “Let there be light.” And so, there was light in this world.
That Light came from beyond the heavens, arriving in a world of pure chaos. At first, the world had no meaning, no rules, no concept of anything. So the Light created the world in seven days. It split the heavens and the earth, drew the laws, gave souls to all living things, and filled the world with matter and color. This became the so-called Beginning.
But Yolandal White knew this was not the truth.
The Light was not the origin of the world. Before it came, the heavens and the earth already had their own rules. Those rules were not perfect, by today’s standards, they were even twisted and strange. But right and wrong are never absolute. At least in form, that was a stable world that could have lasted forever.
The coming of the Light changed everything.
It tore apart the endless cycle, shattered the old rules and fortresses, and replaced them with new laws of its own. Everything that tried to resist or block it was melted away in its radiance. Light shone across the heavens and the earth, turning the old unchanging rules into endless cycles and rotations. Countless beings of the past died, slept, or vanished in sorrow, while countless new things were born, filling the world with upheaval.
It erased the rulers of the past one by one. But the will of the immortals could not be fully destroyed. So the Light gathered the ashes left behind from their fall and forged them into chains of Law. With new will replacing the old, every trace of the past was sealed as a forbidden thing, never to rise again.
Only a very few survived, hiding and waiting. Among them were the dragons.
The so-called Primordial Light does not exist. It is indeed powerful, holding strength even the ancient rulers could not judge. But this was never creation. It could not make space and time from nothing. It could not, as the stories say, shape laws out of pure will and imagination. Even the new beings it made were only built from the bones and blood of what already existed.
There was never a Primordial Light.
There was only a thief and a plunderer.
It stole the crown of the old rulers and boldly claimed itself as the master of the new world. Yet the survival of a world was never guaranteed. It created great brilliance for a time, but at its core, all it ever did was take materials from the basket called the past and use them to build a new house.
It only knew how to take, to plunder, to use. But without the root of creation, those rules were like drawing water from a well. No matter how deep the reserves, sooner or later they would run dry. Behind that bright light lay a darkness that would one day be revealed.
The Dim Light, that was its true nature.
The Primordial Light does not exist. It cannot exist, and it should not exist. There is only one way to change a fate of eventual destruction, even if that way is not perfect.
For thousands of years, Yolandal had held onto this belief. But what she saw today shook her conviction for the very first time.
She saw the Light bloom within thunder. In its glow, hymns of creation sang again, dividing heaven and earth, writing the laws, giving birth to life. It was the afterglow of the seven days of creation, something that should not exist at all.
Even the thunder of a forbidden curse strong enough to destroy a god became like background music to that light. The world evolved inside the Light, endlessly spreading across heaven and earth. The formations left by the ancient dragons shattered. Figures vanished one by one from Yolandal’s fading awareness until, in the end, only a vast emptiness remained before her eyes.
Heaven and earth returned to chaos. All things faded into nothing. Just like the empty world before the so-called Primordial Light arrived, and standing in that emptiness was a single figure.
“…May I ask you a question?”
The radiance slowly faded. She turned Her head. In Her golden eyes shone the very same light as before.
Calm, yet not cold.
She did not answer, but asked in return.
[I felt something… memories and emotions. Are you offering me faith?]
Yolandal did not deny it.
“If even after seeing what just happened my heart could feel nothing, then I really don’t know what meaning all my efforts until now would have. Some things cannot be expressed with words. So this is probably the only way.”
[I thought you would be unwilling.]
“Compared to the survival of the world and my people, what is one single life worth?”
As if noticing something from the feelings She had just sensed, She lightly shook her head.
[I’m sorry, but I am not the kind of being you think I am.]
White froze for a moment, then quickly smiled.
“That is a very good answer… I understand. Thank you very much.”
[?]
Letting out a small breath, the White Dragon looked once more at the lone figure of Light standing in the vast emptiness, and spoke seriously.
“Your Divineness the Goddess… at the very end, may I know your name? Your true name.”
She was silent for a while, then finally, just gave a small nod.
[Violet… nothing more.]
…………………………………………
The Imperial Capital, Royal Palace, Star-Gazing Tower.
Leonis Frederick had been sitting there alone for half a day.
He had dismissed every servant, guard, and worker from the tower. Even the hidden agents from the Austre Empire’s Intelligence Bureau, who always stayed close by to protect him, had all been ordered to leave.
He locked himself in the highest place of the capital, the closest spot to the sky, quietly waiting for the moment to come.
All preparations were done. Worrying more would be useless. Better to let things flow naturally and leave the future to fate, even if fate had never really favored him.
In just half a day, Leonis thought about many things.
He remembered his own life, which could be called grand and full of waves. He recalled children who were more talented than him, others who were useless, and even those whose faces and personalities he could barely remember. He thought of the vast Austre Empire itself.
In only fifty years, he had left countless marks on this world, and yet, in another sense, it felt like he had left nothing behind. Leonis knew very well he was no different in essence from the emperors before him. Perhaps, another hundred years later, his name would simply be written in the same records as all the emperors before him. Nothing special, just another name.
Leonis did not want to become such an “ordinary one.” So when the chance appeared before him, he chose to seize it, to make the greatest gamble of his life.
Ruler of the world, walking against heaven.
If he succeeded, he would rise to the heavens.
If he failed… he would die without even a grave.
“Ah~”
Suddenly, ripples like flowing water appeared behind him. A tall figure stepped out, as if walking through the void, and arrived on the lonely star-gazing tower.
Leonis tilted his head slightly and looked at the newcomer. His stern, hard face showed no change. He didn’t even fully turn to face them, instead still gazing at the deep crack in the sky above. The devoured heavens were reflected in his eyes. The Emperor spoke in a calm voice.
“So, this is our first meeting, isn’t it?”