A Confession beneath the Fireworks

The twilight sky glowed like embers. Ayato strode steadily along a path through the forest at the foot of the mountains—the only pristine area left amidst the catastrophe ravaging the surrounding lands. The air here felt clean, almost sacred, protected by an invisible force.

But the peace was deceptive.

The deeper he went along the path, groups of ghouls and undead began to emerge from behind the trees. Their eyes were hollow, their bodies tattered.

Yet, strangely, instead of attacking, they bowed in a terrifying, reverent silence, clearing a path for him. A bitter homage to the "Conqueror of Ice."

With every step, shadows of his past tried to claim him.

First step. The figure of his burdened mother appeared, her thin hands clutching his wrist. "Why did you strangle me? Why were you born?" she whispered emptily.

Third step. Kaelyn stood before him, her guard uniform still neat but her red eyes gazing sadly. "You promised to protect Selphira ojou-sama... But you left when we needed you most..."

Fifth step. Selphira appeared in her stained white dress, her red gaze piercing. "Did you think running would solve everything? Traitor... you left us to die..."

Seventh step. The faces of Lunareth's citizens, now undead, stared at him vacantly. "Traitor... you sold our happiness for a noble's life..."

Ayato stopped. His chest tightened, his knees nearly buckling under the weight of all these accusations. But this time, he did not run. He drew a breath—three tight, two loose—and stepped forward, breaking through all those shadows until they shattered into nothingness.

The world changed.

No longer the forest, no longer his own past. What unfolded was Cielle's memory - a painful vision of her deepest regret.

Ayato saw Cielle - not in the powerful form of the True Mother, but in her fragile, human-like form after her Demon King power was sealed. She walked slowly among the creatures she had once created: the vampires once mighty now looked hollow; the ghouls and undead trapped in half-dead bodies; the perfect ghouls with empty eyes despite their intact forms.

Cielle witnessed their suffering firsthand. The eternity she had once bestowed with pride had now turned into an eternal curse. What pained her more was seeing how the "beauty" she had collected as a "reward" from those who received eternity—a fragment of dusk she preserved, a child's genuine laughter, touching tears of reunion—all faded in meaning when confined within eternity. The same sunset would feel bland when witnessed for the thousandth time. A laugh lost its meaning when it could be repeated endlessly.

"Eternity itself dims that beauty," Cielle whispered in the vision, her eyes wet. "All this time, I wasn't collecting beauty... I was killing it."

That regret hit her like a wave. With a shattered heart, she made her heaviest decision: to strip eternity from all the creatures she had ever created. One by one, with trembling hands, she extracted the seeds of eternity from the vampires, ghouls, and undead—returning them to their original fate as mortal beings.

But what she received was not gratitude. The vampires who had worshipped her as their mother now looked at her with deep hatred. "Mother has betrayed us!" they cried. "Mother doesn't consider us living beings! Mother is ending us with her own hands!"

Conflict was inevitable. Cielle, with tears of blood, was forced to eliminate the rebelling vampires—her own creations, whom she had once birthed with love.

That was the origin of the conflict with the Vampires. Not born of hatred, but from a sacrifice misunderstood—a painful decision to end suffering that she herself had begun.

The flash faded. Ayato was back in the forest, but now his eyes were wet. He understood. Cielle was not a power-hungry monster. She was a mother forced to drink poison to end her children's suffering.

And at the end of the path, under moonlight filtering through the dense leaves, the True Mother was waiting.

Cielle—in her Demon King form. Her hair was white like fresh snow, her red eyes glowed in the dark like two living embers. But now, Ayato could see clearly: behind that darkness was a weary woman, filled with millennia of regret.

Without a word, Ayato stepped forward quickly and embraced her tightly.

Cielle stiffened. Unprepared. Her cold body trembled softly.

"Enough," Ayato whispered into her ear. "I understand the burden you carry. You don't have to bear it alone anymore."

Hearing that, Cielle surrendered. Her body went limp in Ayato's embrace, and for the first time—she cried. Not tears of blood, but clear tears that had been held back for too long.

After her sobs subsided, Ayato released the hug and looked at her. His silver eyes shone. "Remember our promise? About the fireworks on the hill?"

Before Cielle could answer, Ayato raised both hands. From his right palm, freezing mist formed hundreds of small ice spheres that glittered like pearls. From his left palm, red-gold sparks flared, enveloping each ice sphere with a warm light.

"I'll keep my promise," Ayato murmured, and with a gentle pushing motion, all the glowing ice spheres shot into the sky.

They soared high, forming a spiraling vortex of light swirling in the night sky. Then—

Boom... boom... boom!

One by one, the ice spheres exploded, not with a deafening roar, but with a soft hiss like a whisper. Each explosion revealed fireworks more magnificent than the last—golden rings expanding like mini suns, shimmering blue cascades like waterfalls of stars, and red-purple flowers blooming then vanishing in puffs of glittering smoke.

The dark sky became a living canvas, adorned by a dance of light both fleeting and mesmerizing. Every firework that faded was immediately replaced by a new one, creating a stunning visual symphony.

"Look, Cielle," Ayato said, gazing at the sky. "Fleeting beauty is the most precious. Because we know it will end, we cherish every second of it more."

Cielle stared at the sky with sparkling eyes, a genuine smile finally blooming. Slowly, the aura of darkness faded. Her milky-white hair turned black again, her red eyes returned to a clear blue. The True Mother had found forgiveness.

A small smile was etched on her peaceful face.

―Thank you, her lips seemed to form, but it was conveyed not through sound, but through her heart which had resonated.

The next morning, Ayato activated his communication stone. "Aurel, Cielle is safe. We're ready."

From the other end, Aurellia's voice sounded relieved. "Coordinates to Sanctuary have been sent. Let's end this."

Ayato turned to Cielle, who was back to her usual self. "Ready?"

Cielle nodded, her eyes shining with newfound determination.