Chapter 21
Did I actually die? No, I feel my heart beating so I’m definitely alive.
An elf was nearby floating and transparant like a ghost, a male elf who looked just like I did but with somewhat different hair color.
“Son, I’m glad you didn’t become a dragon hybrid even though pure dragons are beautiful. Well born dragon hybrids are also beautiful but if it’s blood born, like what happened in the other timeline happens… it’s ugly.”
He called me son?
“Wait… who are you?”
“I’m your dad… or at least what’s left of his spirit who remembers you.. I still feel like your dad though so I’m your dad, Inard.”
Inard?
“What do you know about the hybrid? That’s supposed to happen in the future…” I needed to question this. Was this similar to that woman in the springwell who looked like Vyvyan?
“I’m glad you didn’t become a hybrid since it looks horrifying. The previous version of you didn’t realize that… in fact you didn’t even mention it so I had to force the author to add that fact. Oh.. I know the future… why do you think I abandoned both your mothers? I had to lay the foundation for what you had today… you forget I have space and time magic that allows reversal? It’s better than Vyvyans even though she’s a demigod she can’t control it like I can.”
Why is he not making sense?
“The previous version of me? If you’re my dad wouldn’t you have loved me regardless of how I looked?”
Inard looked at me like he couldn’t believe it.
“You know why Elizabeth was covering her face in volume 15 of chapter 22 but not doing so in Volume 12 chapter 27? Why was she able to kiss you while doing it there but not after you became the Hybrid? Didn’t you get the memories of the web novel? In fact, she was always shy and refused other positions because she felt guilty about how ugly you were… especially in the cold or at night. Your looks didn’t affect the elves as much… or even Nier because she had a daughter with you but Elizabeth… it’s not really your fault in this timeline but the previous version of you… Useless. You got into danger, your two moms came to save you! Yeah you succeeded here and there but if it would have been better if that Troy did what you did now. Well, now is better than then.”
“Wait, dad… we’re talking about the web novel now? What does any of this have to do with the web novel?”
And why am I calling him dad now? Inard was a man who left and did it with a dragon after.
“Yes, you got the memories of someone who read that web novel… though honestly the author didn’t get every fact right even though I kept pushing the thoughts over dimensions into his head to write it… There were inconsistencies everywhere like he was just writing sometimes to fill a quota, but the important thing is he got the loneliness of Vyvyan and Elizabeth right. He also got the events of the novel right… and he got Zhu’s version of you right. That author he made Lucia and Nier more jealous than they really were. Also Lucia eventually did begin to like Elizabeth before the first year was over. Remember the Dragon Egg issue at the end of volume 15, Lucia had no problems with Elizabeth, only my sister did… she always had problems with Elizabeth since I had chosen Elizabeth over her before.”
“Okay dad, let’s say I believe you’re my dad and you were the one who instigated that author to post a novel on some website, let’s say I believe that… then why did you run after a dragon woman when you had both Elizabeth and Vyvyan around?”
I wanted to know… I mean it was obvious he could have had a three way with the two of them but instead he let this happen. I’m sure he knew of their relationship before as well especially if it’s mentioned in the novel that he supposedly instigated.
“It’s because Elizabeth has a short life… don’t you remember I wanted to break her free of that cage like you did? In order to do that I needed a dragon heart so I could help her live longer. She was became the Empress when you were 8 years old after your second birth and I needed to get her that dragon heart. When I looked at the future I knew she resented doing that but it was the only way to keep you safe otherwise the other human nobles who knew your identity would try to kill you. I had Vyvyan give birth to you after time reversal so the elves will accept you and she remade some of our organs as well.”
“Okay then why did you stay with the dragon woman? You know how much Mommy Vyvyan was worried about you? She even gave you a ring when you never returned.”
“Son! Daddy casted a time reversal spell on dragon mom, in fact daddy seduced Dragon mom for that purpose because… well…. Dragon mom had big boobs and daddy loves big boobs.”
I stomp my foot on the ground. How the hell is my father so shameless… well I am pretty shameless too because I like the same thing but why does he have to be this way? This was supposed to be the man both of my moms fell in love with? He had them in their youth, he had Elizabeth in her prime and… well I have them now so there!
“So you’re saying you casted the time reversal spell on her so you could kill her and then she could revert back to ten years before while you could take the dragon heart and give it to Elizabeth?”
“Yes,” Inard said. “That was the plan. That was why daddy had to seduce Dragon Mom, then if he went back to Elizabeth and she cut off her head with a magic infused sword she could get the heart while you could bathe in the blood and get rid of that berserk mana condition and get stronger. That was my plan the whole time, but first I had to convince Dragon mom so I cast the spell on her and then seduced her.”
I mean it makes sense. I guess Inard never really abandoned his son after all.
“Yes, but when I somehow got eaten by the planet before any of that could happen, so I was kind of considered dead after that. Dragon mom stayed there though and didn’t say much, but that was also why the last Troy the Zhu version as you call it, made his way there after he was dying from not using mana. I sent him inspiration to go there because Dragon Mom could help him. She’s such a sweet dragon.”
Actually, I kind of wondered why Troy suddenly got that idea to go see where his dad “died”… this explanation kind of makes sense. Not that I remember that volume too well either though.
“Okay dad, I still have a lot of other questions.”
“Ask away son!”
“What do you mean by me being your son, if you can see the other world then you can clearly see that I should have been that one other guy who read the novel. Also what’s this Zhu’s version of Troy idea?”
Inard sighed and looked at me.
“Son, I gave the author of that novel a vision of all the events of what happened when I put the memories of one of his country man into Troy’s head… but Zhu Liangzhe didn’t drown. I just implanted his memories there into him. The person who read the web novel… he’s still alive. He never had a heart attack. I just copied his memories, in fact he posted that article on the facebook or whatever they call it in the other world. Then he wanted to write some fan fiction… or something like that but he’s still alive too. You are Troy, you may have been given someone’s memories and you have had a personality change but the real Troy is you.”
Wait a moment… he still is continuing though… but at least I know I’m actually Troy… that’s kind of a relief.
“Still that author… seriously so many inconsistencies… He also didn’t get the actual power level of Elizabeth right… you know… even when Troy became part dragon, Elizabeth was actually still WAY stronger than him. Elizabeth right now isn’t even at a fraction of her potential but human lives are too short…. But if it’s extended she can get there… I feel so upset that no one knows how strong Elizabeth is… she used to hug me soo tight and elves are weaker than humans… I feel so good when that happens…I always feel soo safe when she hugs me… she’s much stronger now than she was back then… but still… I failed her… I couldn’t get her out of Hilles city before I died… or at least extended her life span so she could enjoy herself after a successor comes in… !”
What the heck… he is just rambling… Like he completely forgot about me…
“Vyvyan… oh my sweet Vyvyan… I loved you too… but Elizabeth had less time… you just couldn’t understand that… I was going to come back to you… I was going to come back…. But I loved both of you and Elizabeth had less time and all those human obligations… I was going to find a solution for her first… Oh Sweet Vyvyan… although I was physically stronger than you… all that mana you had… the feeling around was so magnificent… you could make vines any time to tie me up… you could push all those different sensations on me… you always knew which parts instinctively with that mana mind reading ability… you were so special Vyvyan…”
Wait a moment… Vyvyan is still physically stronger than me even though I’m slightly taller than her. So is Lucia… wasn’t I supposed to be part human?
“And the last love I had in life… I didn’t give her a name though your other self in the 2nd timeline called her Sylvanas…. Oh she was that perfect combination of both of them when she took humanoid form… oh… at least the hybrid from birth would look so much better and beautiful…. Versus a hybrid from the blood birth that Zhu’s version did…. Oh that was ugly… I felt sorry for all of them yet they still went after that version of Troy even though he was only slightly stronger than before… but I had to see her because it made it easier when you went to see her looking like me… so she would respond when you called her mom… yes… son… I had an affair for you son… I definitely went to slay that dragon… hehehe”
I feel angry for some reason. No snap out of it I have to interrupt him or he’s just going to go on and on.
“Did you revive Troy then? After the first Earth Dragon incident?”
“No, you never died, you nearly died. I made sure to save your life before you died to the Earth Dragon and when I did, I let you be the first time… the second time I put in memories from Zhu Liangzhe, and the third time it was the memories of that man who read the web novel.”
“I need more of an explanation.”
This is a bit confusing here.
“Let me tell you then,” Inard seemed to be proud of himself. “There are three timelines and you are the third one which is the current iteration. The first timeline was when Troy didn’t get any memories… he kept going out wanting to forge a name for himself but he died by the Earth Dragons and never went to the empire as in volume 2… didn’t even last the first month. Even though Castell tried to help him he couldn’t draw the ballistae himself… I love you my son but without some memories or help you just couldn’t do it and yet you wanted to adventure outside…”
“After that, Vyvyan my sister went crazy and destroyed half the continent and Elizabeth summoned her soldiers and hunted her down, killing her while dying in the process. They continued the war from 10 years before… millions died and humans and elves almost annihilated each other… horrible 1st timeline.”
Well that does sound like a horrible timeline. My two moms dead… more war and chaos.
“In the second timeline… the web novel one that was transcribed, the ending was pretty much the same. It just lasted longer than one year. Remember how I said the 5 year time skip never happened? The truth is Zhu/Troy was an idiot just like you were before you got this other man’s memories… I don’t know why I thought giving a similar personality would make a difference.. That 5 year time skip was just because the author felt an ending where you died wouldn’t sit well. After you went home for two months you went out again, this time wanting to go to another continent and you died in the ocean… that dragon hybrid body didn’t help against a sea dragon… and it was ugly… ”
Now I’m curious what really happened. I remember the contents the novel with the other version of Troy. If it didn’t end that way then what happened to all the other characters?
“Dad, can you tell me what happened to all the others then? Lucia, Nier, Luna, Sylvanas, Irina… moms, and all of the reest?”
He began telling me about each of them one by one:
“Vyvyan after Troy drowned, went out to sea and never again returned to the continent. She attacked the sea dragon despite it’s magic immunity and died, ripped to shreds.”
“Elizabeth’s dragon Egg idea didn’t actually work. Elizabeth left the continent soon after and drowned after a storm sunk the ship, brute strength and physical ability doesn’t matter if there is no food and water. With Elizabeth’s death the Empire made moves on the North and Nier fought Valiantly but the nobles killed her and Daisy died shortly after.”
“Without Vyvyan around to raise Vera, she wasn’t able to learn magic and couldn’t become a demigod. Your Lucia… well she was pretty useless in that timeline as well. Ling Yue and her daughter, killed by the empire when they reconquered the north and took the fur trade which was a sign of contention, probably why the author made that a plot point in the 5 years later part of the volume… you can tell it doesn’t seem in place with the tone of the rest of the story and that version of you running a country? Heh, I mean Freya was smart but she was overwhelmed with just a city earlier in the novel, which shows how inconsistent that was.”
“Sylvanas was eventually hunted down and killed, and Irina was discovered a few years later and some of the newer human weapons with magic imbued cannons killed them. Dragons were no longer feared after that and went extinct. The continent sunk into chaos again.”
“Troy city, named after you son… well since the alliance crumbled it was burned to the ground a second time. See, all the children died, all the women who helped and cared for you died… everyone died… Tanya, Ying, Xia… everyone… because that version of you was too selfish and too prideful.”
“What about Karana?” I know she’s not really as relevant but I was curious.
“Karana went bankrupt and most of her people died of starvation, wasn’t there a saying you remember from the memories of that man?”
“The saying?” the memories started coming back. “Over 100 million dead… but real…. Has never been tried…”
“Don’t say it too loud son… there are people in that world who will be angry, but Daddy is telling you everything after the time skip never happened and there was no happy ending. Not to mention the reason I didn’t call you in that timeline to talk to me here is because you weren’t worthy of this task.
“There is a task you’re calling me here to do? I’m weak though. I have no talent.”
Inard smiled very happily: “You’re talented at keeping high potential women in love with you just like your father! You might not realize this but I was weaker than both Elizabeth, Vyvyan and the Dragon. I was always being taken care of them… I was good at making them fall for me.”
While I feel angry at this, I can’t deny that I’ve gained his traits in this manner.
“Then why was Zhu Liangzhe first chosen as the one to give memories?” This was something I was curious about if he could choose memories to transfer to me here.
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