The battle at Sky City had left Leon and the Dragon Kings significantly weakened. The Tower Master suggested they rest for a couple of days before returning to their respective tribes.
Morgan frowned, "Old man, your Sky City is in ruins. Where exactly are we supposed to rest?"
The Tower Master smirked. "Ah, young one, do you think I've lived for thousands of years without keeping a backup plan?"
With that, he activated a spatial magic circle, transporting everyone to a hidden chamber deep beneath the ruins. The chamber was fully furnished with an abundance of supplies—clearly a survivalist's bunker prepared for the end of the world.
"This was meant to be my retirement home," the Tower Master explained. "But now it's available for all of us to squeeze in together for a while."
Morgan scoffed in disbelief, "Old man, who retires in a hidden bunker? You clearly built this in case we couldn't beat Ultimate Fear and had to run for our lives!"
Regardless of the banter, the chamber provided the exhausted group with a much-needed place to recover. The space was large enough to give everyone their own private quarters. Constantine, carrying an unconscious Leon on his back, followed Mevis and Noah into one of the rooms. Mevis, now awake but still weary, trailed behind them.
After laying Leon on the bed, Rossweise said softly, "I'll stay with him. You all should go and rest."
Constantine nodded silently. Before leaving, he cast one last glance at Leon's unconscious form, then quietly exited.
"Noah, you've had a long night too. Go get some rest," Rossweise urged gently.
Noah shook her head, her exhaustion apparent, but she remained resolute. "I want to stay and wait until Dad wakes up."
Rossweise's face softened into a fond smile. She reached out to ruffle Noah's hair. "Alright. Then we'll wait for him together."
"Mm-hmm!"
Mevis stood silently against the wall, a glass of wine in her hands. Like the others, she hadn't yet cleaned off the dust and blood from the battle. Instead, she had come straight to check on Leon.
"Mevis... teacher?" Noah finally asked, her voice hesitant. "Who are you, really?"
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Leon finally woke up, his vision blurry at first. Above him stretched the cracked, soot-stained ceiling of a hidden room tucked within the ruins of Sky City. He had been unconscious for quite some time.
"Rossweise! Rossweise? Ross.... mphh mpph." Leon's voice was muffled, his face buried into something soft. Then he realized his situation—he was being held against a soft, ample chest. But something was off. The scent wasn't Rossweise's.
Leon tried again, muffled: "Rossweise?"
Then he heard a voice that made his heart stop. "Oh dear, you woke up." It was Mevis.
He struggled to pull away, but Mevis only tightened her embrace, pressing him closer against her soft chest. A surge of panic rose in Leon—why was she holding him like this? And more importantly, why wasn't Rossweise doing anything to stop it?.
He turned his head—and saw her.
Rossweise stood at the doorway, eerily composed. Too composed. Her fingers gripped the frame so tightly that the wood had begun to splinter.
Then came Noah's innocent voice, cutting through the tension like a blade. "Mom? Are you jealous Grandma's cuddling Daddy?"
Rossweise's eyes flicked to Noah, cool and sharp. "Jealous? No, Mama's not jealous," she said, voice smooth as silk but cold as frost.
Mevis chuckled, clearly enjoying herself. "Aww, the queen's getting jealous, huh?" she teased, brushing Leon's hair back with a motherly touch. "Don't worry, darling. I was just keeping him warm."
Rossweise stepped forward, the crack in the doorframe deepening. "Even if you are his mother," she said, voice low and dangerous, "he's still my husband. You don't get to hold him like that."
Mevis raised an eyebrow, amused. "Possessive, aren't we?."
Leon, caught between the two women, looked like he'd rather be unconscious again.
Leon's mind reeled. Grandma? Mother What?
Finally, Mevis let go of him. Leon, still dazed and thoroughly confused, glanced between Rossweise, Noah, and Mevis—trying to make sense of why Rossweise had called Mevis "Mother" and why Noah was referring to her as "Grandma."
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"Mevis... teacher?" Noah finally asked, her voice hesitant. "Who are you, really?"
Mevis finally spoke, her eyes reflecting a strange blend of pride and sorrow. "I'm his mother." She sat beside Leon, gently stroking his hair as he lay unconscious, then looked up sharply.
"Mother?" Rossweise repeated, her voice barely a whisper.
"Yes," Mevis confirmed, her gaze tender as she looked at Leon's sleeping face. "I'm Leon's biological mother. My name is Lynda."
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40 Years Ago - The Mountain Borderlands
The dying dragon, Lynda, crashed through the treeline, her body battered and bleeding. Before she collapsed completely, she saw a human approaching. From his aura, he was no ordinary farmer.
A dragon slayer? she thought despairingly. So this is how I'm going to die.
She lost consciousness, never expecting to wake again. If there was any heaven, perhaps she could join her fallen people there.
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Buzz... Buzz...
She blinked... and opened her eyes. For a moment she thought she was in heaven, but she was greeted by a wooden ceiling and a sizzling sound from another room. She found herself in a simple bed, her wounds treated and bandaged.
She was examining her surroundings when the door creaked open.
The man appeared.
She thought he would kill her now that she was awake. That's why he saved me, she realized bitterly. To torment me before the end.
"You want to humiliate me? You want to kill me? Do it now! Don't be a coward—just kill me straight!" she spat, her voice weak but defiant.
The man replied calmly, "I'm not going to kill you."
"You're a dragon slayer. Your kind are all the same—there's no difference."
"You're not entirely wrong," he admitted, setting down a bowl of soup. "I did kill dragons. But I'm retired now. I only served long enough to earn the money to buy this land. Now I have nothing to do with dragons or the Empire."
He offered her the soup. Despite her pride, the aroma was irresistible, and her body betrayed her, accepting the nourishment.
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Mevis continued her story, a faint smile touching her lips. "I thought he was just like the others. We dragons shared the same stereotypes about humans—that they were all hostile, that we were nothing but beasts to them. I was no different, filled with the same prejudices." She looked at Noah. "As I started to live with him, my perspective changed. I started to see his kindness, his integrity. I started to like him. And soon... I fell for him. I pursued him." Her smile widened slightly. "And I indeed succeeded."
Noah's voice broke the silence. "So you did chase Grandpa?"
Mevis pulled Noah into a gentle embrace. "Yes, dear. He was indeed charming and handsome." She glanced at Leon, who lay unconscious on Rossweise's lap. "He... he just looked so much like his father."
Her expression darkened as she continued, voice low with memory. "Days passed… I recovered. But I refused to leave. Even when my strength returned, I stayed by his side. He told me I was being stubborn."
A faint smile tugged at her lips. "Maybe I was. But I didn't care. I wanted to live with him, not just be saved by him."
She drew a slow breath, her gaze distant. "We spent nearly ten years together. Ten years of quiet mornings, shared meals, and long walks through the valley. He told me stories—how he defeated dragon kings, how he earned enough gold to buy this land. He was so proud, so alive."
A soft, nostalgic light shimmered in her eyes. "He even taught me how to ride a horse. I was terrible at first, but he never stopped encouraging me."
Then her voice softened, almost reverent. "And then… I got pregnant. After all those years, we were finally going to welcome a new life. It felt like the world had finally given us its blessing. Life was perfect…"
Her voice faltered, the warmth in her eyes dimming. "…until…"
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The Day Leon Was Born – At the Ranch
Slash!
"Lynda! Lynda! Leave! Save the boy!" her husband screamed as he fell, protecting her from Shadow's ambush.
"No! No! NO!!" Lynda cried, clutching her newborn son. Her husband had been struck down right before her eyes, killed by Shadow while protecting her and their child.
Injured and desperate, she ran, the little boy clinging to her. She barely managed to escape into the stormy night.
Thunder roared as rain began to pour. Through the downpour, Lynda saw a sign: "Cosmode Orphanage." With a heart shattered into pieces, she placed her newborn in a basket, wrapping him carefully in a blue towel—the same color as his father's eyes. She left him there, her tears mixing with the rain.
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"I tried to save him. I barely escaped myself... until Shadow found and killed me too," Mevis finished, her voice breaking.
Mevis spoke again, her voice filled with decades of pent-up emotion. "My dear boy, you've grown so much. I'm glad you were raised well." Tears streamed freely down her cheeks now. "I may have missed your life, but I never stopped watching over you. I never stopped being your mother."
Leon stared at the woman before him—the teacher, the ally, the mysterious warrior—and finally saw the truth in her eyes. The same determined, loving eyes he sometimes saw in his own reflection.
"Mother?" he whispered, the word feeling both foreign and right.
In that moment, forty years of separation, loss, and longing bridged in a single, understanding silence, as a son finally met the mother he never knew he had.
Then, from the side, Noah's voice broke the stillness with innocent confusion. "But Grandma… if you died, then how are you here now?"
And just like that, the silence turned into something deeper—an unanswered question hanging in the air, waiting to be unraveled.