The Parent Tree chuckled softly.

“Did you say, ‘A Twilight with no abilities’?”

The Parent Tree took a step closer.

“So, it seems like Kiscrios said that to you?”

“…Parent Tree, I really don’t understand what you’re saying.”

The dragons of the divine realm, including the Lords, had always treated Chrys like that. Especially the Lord, who saw her as a precious gem of the divine realm precisely because she had no abilities.

The Twilight Dragon was a beautiful being, embodying the colors of the sky at twilight. Among the dragons born with a powerful force of destruction, the Twilight, born uniquely, couldn’t do anything on her own and needed protection. She always had to be guarded by the Dawn Dragon.

Since opening her eyes in this world, Chrys had found it strange.

‘…Why am I the Twilight?’

Everyone treated her not as Chrys but as the Twilight. They remembered her as the Twilight more than her name.

She couldn’t receive missions like others, and when she tried something, she heard remarks like, ‘Why bother since you’re just a Twilight?’ If she did something well, they would say it was decent for a Twilight, and if she couldn’t do something, it was expected because she was the Twilight.

It was because her body was weak… because she was vulnerable.

Compared to other dragons, it was objectively true. She had insufficient magical power, a weak body, and a small stature. She couldn’t even dream of missions like sealing the rift. She had tried to force herself to do at least one day’s worth of work, but the Lord always stopped her.

She had complained at some point, but the Lord wouldn’t understand.

‘What’s the problem when they let me live without any deficiencies?’

The Lord asked what was needed more, but when she heard those words, the frustration was indescribable.

On that day, Chrys fell ill with a fever. It was the first time she realized how stifling and suffocating it could feel.

…And on that day, a massive rift opened.

It was a significant rift that even the Lord rushed out. While everyone in the divine realm went to resolve the rift, she was left alone, with no one to properly explain the crumbling sensation she felt.

Moaning in feverish agony, Chrys grabbed onto Sol Noctis, who was wandering nearby, and began to sob uncontrollably. She didn’t remember what he said. All she remembered was how he had continued to wipe her sweat as she moaned and cried.

It was the same even after she stubbornly entered Sedition.

It all started with the question: why was the Twilight here?

Chrys always had to endure the jealousy and resentment directed at her, yet at the same time, she was treated with disdain. It took a long time for her to establish her current position in Sedition. And even then, she had to live in constant fear of it all dissipating at any moment.

However, it seemed as though the Parent Tree was implying that she had no reason to be treated that way.

“Are you saying that I’m not incapable after all?”

Living with that treatment all this time, the more she thought about it, the more unjust it seemed. She couldn’t even figure out who to vent this anger to.

“Why aren’t you speaking? What did I see exactly? Is there a reason you’re hiding it?”

“That… it’s complicated to explain.”

The Parent Tree fidgeted once again, clearly exasperated. With all this talk about the divine realm’s Lord and the like, Chrys was getting annoyed as well.

“…Alright. I’m not Dawn, so it might not be that important, but I guess I should ask the Lord anyway.”

It was irritating. He was, after all, a Lord of the spirit realm. Chrys had tried to keep her composure until the end, but Parent Tree grabbed her urgently.

“Hey, heey, wait a second!”

The Parent Tree blocked the path once again, prompting her to sigh. Seeing him increasingly flustered, it was clear that the Parent Tree had some inkling about this matter.

“….Our existence encompasses countless possibilities in the time we live.”

“What?”

She wondered what he was trying to say all of a sudden, as it seemed like he was attempting to explain a complex matter from the beginning. Chrys listened in silence for the time being.

“Although it seems peaceful right now, there’s always the possibility of a variable that could lead to the world’s destruction in an instant.”

“I don’t quite understand. Then why can’t the future that Dawn sees be changed at all?”

What Dawn saw inevitably happened. It couldn’t be changed. So, she thought that the future was predetermined in one direction.

“Because it didn’t happen, they call it a possibility. But from the moment Dawn sees it, it ceases to be a possibility and becomes an inevitability. So it’s… not an avoidable prophecy, but rather a prophecy that becomes reality from the moment it is seen.”

The Parent Tree added an explanation before she could ask.

“We, including Dawn, have shared the power derived from the source of the world, so those who wield divine power can’t help but be fascinated by it.”

“Well, I still don’t really understand.”

The ‘we’ that the Parent Tree was referring to meant the Lords of each realm.

The reason they could rule as Lords was that they possessed the power of the source. The powerful destructive power enjoyed by the dragons of the divine realm, the unchanging power of in the spirit realm, the vibrant vitality possessed by the blessed fairies, and the profound wisdom of the devilkin connected to the essence.

These powers, known as divine powers, governed each realm and enriched the world.

Divine power was a force that intervened in cause and effect. In the old days, the power that the three forces fought to monopolize.

“Then, what about me? What did I see? It’s not Dawn’s power, so what was it?”

“Well…”

“I can’t have seen something meaningless, right?”

Suddenly, the Parent Tree, who had been bowing his head all this time, lifted it. His gaze was as cold as that of a predator about to pounce on its prey.

Something was off.

He continued to observe this way as if entwining Chrys in the aura of the sacred tree. He was clearly looking in this direction, yet it was unclear what kind of reaction he wanted to see.

“So, what did you see? Does it seem meaningful?’

“Parent Tree, you seem to be repeating the same thing over and over. Even if it seems meaningful, whether it’s Twilight or whatever, isn’t it just a name? I always thought I was named Twilight because I was incompetent until now, but it seems that may not be the case, according to what you’re saying. I don’t know how to take this in.”

Why was she named the Twilight Dragon?

In the divine realm, Dawn meant the time of light, the hopeful future. It was always used as a metaphor for the good things and hopes we would inevitably experience moving forward.

…On the other hand, the Twilight Dragon did not carry such a positive connotation. They were the same yet different.

Twilight, representing the time of sunset, often symbolized an inevitable time that one couldn’t avoid no matter how hard they struggled. Just as the dark side followed the light, it implied that just as everything had a beginning, it also had an end.

What Chrys saw was the day of destruction when a massive rift like a black sun appeared and the world shattered. Naskan became strange, Sol Noctis became hostile to the Parent Tree. Axen Ark, who may have fled from someone, perhaps from the Twilight Knights and died.

It would have been fortunate if all of this truly had no meaning.

A time of end.

A fleeting time.

“Then, should I interpret it as something that will never happen?”

While Chrys was confused, the Parent Tree continued to observe her. His intense gaze felt like it was wrapping around her, sending shivers down her spine.

“The Great Rift… you mentioned it, didn’t you? It seems like I saw that. If I can see it with my abilities and if it’s so important, then… there’s no reason to hide it from me, is there?”

Her voice trembled. It was awkward to meet Parent Tree’s gaze.

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