Guild Wars

The moment Draco pushed the door open, he smelled the scent of disinfectant and medicine. The room itself was quite small, with white-painted walls and a small fan placed on the stand beside two beds.

On the bed to the right, near the window, was an aged woman who wore a white-colored blindfold around her eyes, seated upright while gazing outside to the back mountains of the estate as the breeze made her white hair flutter.

Minus the blindfold itself, she looked just like Fyre did when Draco first met her before her molting. She wore a simple white pajamas that looked extremely comfortable from where Draco was standing.

On the side, washing a bunch of blindfolds of different colors with detergent in a large basin with his hands, was a middle-aged man with half white, half black hair who had a hunched back. He left his upper body bare, which was still quickly muscular, but there was no mistaking the huge scar around his heart area that was visible in his waning skin.

He was still quite tall, slightly above Draco, but his stature ruined any advantage he had. He only wore a pair of loose shorts that seemed comfortable to move around in and was silent as he worked, though he wore a slight smile.

When Draco pushed the door open, the woman did not respond at all, but the man turned to glance at him. His eyebrows furrowed but he stopped what he was doing and rinsed his hands while walking over.

"Another one, huh? Usually it only happens when she's relapsing but I guess anything can happen nowadays." The man said in a familiar voice that marked him as Dante, Draco's father.

Rather, the powerful and deep voice that filled others with safety and reliance was now cracked and full of world-weariness. Draco watched him walk over with a cold expression as his eyes were still bloodshot from the emotions he was holding back, but he breathed out lightly and managed to control himself.

"Why?" Draco asked sharply, his gaze pinning down his father.

Dante froze with confusion. "Huh?"

Draco did not repeat the question but kept glaring at Dante sharply. Dante scanned Draco up and down slightly until his breath caught and his pupils constricted rapidly.

"You're not an apparition born from Lilith's Illness… you're actually…!!!" He exclaimed, then turned to Lilith who was still gazing outside.

His expression rapidly cooled as he remembered the situation and then turned back to Draco with a complicated look. He sighed and gestured to the other bed in the room that was unoccupied and spoke in a weak tone.

"Please have a seat and I will explain why on our behalf." Dante said while bringing another chair over to sit nearby.

Without hesitation, Draco sat down and folded his arms, maintaining direct eye contact with his 'father'. Dante sat near Draco and glanced at his grown son up and down, marveling at how much he resembled his cousin Gremory.

"I have no idea what kind of hardship you have suffered growing up alone Draco, I truly don't nor do I dare to pretend to. Fyre went out to look after you but she did not care contact us lest the Pangu Lineage think we were plotting something." Dante began in a heartfelt tone, speaking seriously but slowly.

"The truth is that we failed you, Draco. Your mother and I failed you. The duty of a parent is to protect their child and grant them shelter from the wind and rain, and we couldn't even fulfill that basic premise."

"The bloodline conflict is just a factor in the situation at best. It was our poor decisions since childhood that led to the inevitable outcome at the end. If I had not succumbed to your mother's wiles and rather taken both her and Fyre in arm, there would have been no conflict."

"Both sister would have had years of closeness and training to hone their skills before your birth, making their power greater than what actually happened."

"We should have not done the blood replacement. This might sound cruel, but we should have believed in you to survive that initial period of backlash given that it was your own bloodline which would have meant that Dominic would never have been disheartened with me and all that occurred would not have occurred."

"Given that Lingtian fractured his own lineage and acted hastily, even with the Primogenitor Giant we could have wiped out the Pangu lineage fighters during that battle with light injuries and even marched to their home base to wipe them out completely."

Dante's eyes were slightly red. "Everything that occurred was due to my own weakness and indecision. If I had done things right, I would-"

Draco snorted at this point, which silenced Dante. He glanced at the older man as if looking at an idiot, then placed a hand on his forehead.

"Firstly, since you cannot manage to guess what I went through, I will show you." Draco said as he injected memories of his 21 years of suffering into Dante's mind, right up to the moment where he reincarnated, which he did not add.

After going through this, Dante was a bit dizzy but he quickly adapted thanks to Draco silently using his Celestial Lord branch power to enhance Dante's mind. When Dante processed all the memories, his face changed greatly as he stood up with shock.

He could only tremble as the scope of what his son had gone through, and then sat down with defeat. He understood that his small hopes of being forgiven by his son were laughable; no one who went through all that could hold a shred of forgiveness in their hearts.

However, Dante was suddenly hoisted up into the air with a pair of furious green eyes looking at him.

"This is what I hate about you the most! Always giving up when you see something difficult ahead! How can a coward like you be my father?!" Draco roared as he shook Dante in the air.

Dante was shocked by his son's outburst, but looking into his eyes, Dante seemed to understand something as his mind almost exploded. He understood finally that his son didn't care about the past actions, or had even acknowledged them somehow.

When he was asking 'why,' he was not asking about why he was sent out. He already knew that. He was simply asking 'why,' as parents, they had never risked it all to come and be with him, not even once.

It was extremely unreasonable from a normal person's point of view after knowing the full story. Dante was crippled and Lilith was clearly suffering from something severe given the way she was acting, so who could they sneak out to save or visit him?

But neither Draco nor Dante felt it was unreasonable. If a parent could not even surmount these challenges for their child, what right do you have to bring life forth to this earth?!

"..You're right. I am a coward. I had the thought many times, especially when I still had some strength in my body and Lilith had not yet truly fallen this low. If not to go myself, to send Dominic or Isabella over to make you know that you were loved or missed."

Dante lowered his head with shame. "I was scared. Scared that Lingtian would find out and initiate war. I was in no condition to fight and neither was your mother. The Lineage had been weakened as of our 12 branches; 3 of them had directly disengaged from us officially while another 4 were half empty as some families left."

"At that time, what would I do to protect your mother with this crippled body? What could I do to protect you who was out in the world in an unknown place?"

Draco dropped Dante who almost fell, but Draco did not help him. Rather, he glanced at Dante with intense eyes and then at Lilith who was still staring outside.

"What's wrong with her?" Draco asked.

Looking at Lilith, sadness appeared in Dante's eyes. He looked at Draco and opened his mouth, but paused. He then said first as a preamble. "Nothing I am about to say is exaggerated to try to win your sympathy, but is the truth. This I swear on my life."

After saying this, Dante took a deep breath and glanced at Lilith. "Your mother… she suffered severe brain damage after blocking a blow from the Primogenitor Giant. She had the strongest psychic abilities of our lineage during her time, but even that was not enough to withstand such a blow."

"After that, it was possible to recover her damage and even regain her power, but… your mother blamed herself for your sealing. After all, while I simply stood to the side like a coward, she was the one brave enough to make the decision that saved our lineage from endless war and annihilation."

"A normal woman… a normal mother would feel extreme guilt. This was made worse because your mother was not a normal mother. She was… crazy."

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