"Enough about us. What about you, Jack?" Broidrireg asked. "Considering you are here instead of out there with your army, have your army finished raiding World Maker's headquarters?"
"About that, I think you will be surprised hearing this," Jack said. "My army was stopped by the devils."
"The devils?!" Syndrillis asked. "By devils, do you mean the devils from the underworld?"
Jack nodded. Jack reiterated to them the reports he received from John and Jeanny about what happened when their army was on the way to World Throne.
"This is truly bad…," Quetzalcoatl remarked.
"Bad is an understatement," Jygorth added. "This a catastrophe on a level never happened before since the ancient war, and we don't have as many true dragons as during the ancient war. The odds don't look good for this war."
"That might be true, but you don't have outworlders during the ancient war," Jack said. "This is the reason we are here in this world, to deal with this catastrophe."
Jack wasn't wrong. The underworld forces were meant as the players' final challenge in the original main quest. Things just didn't proceed the way the original story was meant to be since the main quest had been deleted.
Broidrireg let out a long sigh. "Here I thought the war was over after that battle in Liguritudum and we can return to enjoying peace again. It seems our struggle is not over yet. It's a good thing I've made an arrangement."
"What do you mean?" Jack asked.
"I've talked with Eoranth," Broidrieg answered. "He is willing to be your country guardian after I am gone. He is a great dragon. I always believe he will be a dragon greater than me. He already is, and he will become greater still. He still has much potential to go. He will be a better country guardian than I ever…"
"I don't want a different country guardian…!"
Jack's exclamation drew everyone's attention.
"I… I'm sorry… I think I should leave…," Jack said. He stood up and walked to the exit. Broidrireg and the others just stared at him.
After Jack was out of sight, Syndrillis said, "He is more sensitive than I thought."
"Yeah, it seems like he only tried to look cheerful when he came," Eoranth added.
Broidrireg let out another long sigh.
*
Later that night, Jack was on the balcony at the palace. He was gazing silently at the city ahead. Grace was with him earlier. They chatted, but she could see that Jack was mostly distracted. She knew Jack would like to be alone so she left.
Jack closed his eyes as he enjoyed the night breeze. Everything felt so peaceful. He knew this peace wouldn't last. A world-ending menace was on its way here. His nemesis got the means to become a God and could very well become a worse menace. Everything was a mess. He knew this was not the time to laze around but he just needed these few moments of peace.
He heard a familiar voice then.
"Care to join me for supper?"
Jack turned around and saw Darmos there. In his hand was a bundle of lines tied to large fishes.
"I caught these from the lake next to Heavenly Citadel. If you want, you will have to do the cooking, though," Darmos said.
Jack grinned. "Let's do it," he said and took out his cooking tools.
"Here," Darmos handed the bundle of fishes to Jack.
Jack grabbed the bundle after putting his cooking tools down. As soon as the bundle of lines changed hands, the fish came to life. They wiggled and tried to bite Jack with their sharp teeth.
"Whoa…!" Jack jumped away and let the fish go. They fell to the floor and floundered.
"Hahahaha!" Darmos laughed hysterically while holding his stomach.
"The heck… I forgot how much you love pranks," Jack said.
"Haha… Hehehe…," Darmos was wiping the tears in his eyes for laughing so hard.
Jack went and picked up one of the lines that tied the floundering fish. "What the hell kind of fish is this?" He asked.
"This is Eras Fish," Peniel explained. "They can breathe outside water."
"That's why they are still alive," Jack said.
"Yeah, my draconic aura kept them still when they were in my hand," Darmos said. He finally stopped laughing. "Being alive also makes them fresh. Fresh fish make for a more delicious dish, don't they?"
"Considering you brought the ingredient, I'll let this prank slide, mighty one," Jack said. "All right, let's cook our meal!"
"You sure you don't want me to invite Ellie here? Her cooking is better than me," Jack asked while cooking.
"Nah," Darmos replied. "I have eaten her cooking almost every day nowadays. It has been some time since I ate yours. I want to remember how bad it tastes."
"Oh, yeah. If it's so bad, don't ask for extra, okay," Jack said and handed Darmos the first plate he cooked. "Here."
When Darmos grabbed the plate, rapid explosive bangs were heard. At the same time, the bottom of the plate lighted up. The sound and the light startled Darmos so much he dropped the plate.
Jack was laughing his ass off as it happened.
"Hm…?" Darmos had a good look at the fallen plate after the commotion ended. There was what looked like the remnant of a firecracker stuck to the bottom of the plate.
"Where the hell did you get this firecracker?" Darmos asked.
"He bought it earlier today," Peniel told Darmos.
"I thought you forgot I love pranks?" Darmos asked.
"Hahaha, I just said it to bring your guards down," Jack said as he wiped the tears that came out from his eyes due to the laughing. However, he found his tears didn't stop coming out no matter how many times he wiped them. Even after he stopped laughing.
"Jack…," Darmos said.
"I'm sorry... I don't want to be like this. I just can't help myself…," Jack said. Peniel flew to his shoulder and pat his cheek to console him.
Darmos came and sat by Jack. He put his hand on Jack's shoulder. "There is no need for you to pretend to be cheery. Just cry if you want to. Most of the time, the hardest goodbye is the one you know will happen but can do nothing about it. That sense of helplessness is overbearing. Trust me, I know. I've had enough share of those tragedies. Now, it is my time, but please know that I am at peace."
"If I knew this would happen, I wouldn't have asked you to be my country guardian," Jack said. He no longer wiped his tears, but they continued to roll down his cheek.
Darmos shook his head. He said, "Let me tell you, my outworlder friend. If I can turn back time to when you asked me to be your country guardian. Even if I know what will happen to me, I will still choose to be your country guardian. In fact, I will not give you that bullshit demand about finding brimstone fruit. I will just accept your offer immediately. Supporting you have given my old bones a meaning to life again. You give me the feeling of having a family. Something that I have lost for quite some time. I don't regret our time together."
"… Thank you," Jack said. He looked up at the clear night sky filled with stars. "I'm going to miss our talk."
"Me too…," Darmos said as he gazed at the same sky.
