Past, Present and Future

After Haruki walked through the black door, we go back to Ragnarök, a year and ten months ago. "HARUKKII!!" Emygdius' voice roars throughout the forest, sending dragons and phoenixes flying in terror as Haruki disappears from Ragnarök. After getting blown away, he wastes no time returning to the spot where Haruki disappeared. He glares up to the sky, "Alvis!! Why did you stop me!?"

Alvis Ragnarök appears from the bright evening sky, hovering. He raises his wooden staff and says, "Emygdius, you will stand down."

Although frustrated, Emygdius has pledged his loyalty to Alvis, so he dares not disobey his orders. However, when Haruki is involved... "With all due respect, Alvis. Haruki is my only grandson, so I will not allow even you to stop me from rescuing him."

"Emygdius, you already know, don't you? That boy is no one's child."

"Shut up, Alvis. Don't say another word."

"That boy is..."

"Alvis..."

"He is a false dragon."

"SHUT UP!!!"

"Step down, Emygdius." Despite Alvis' warning, Emygdius jumps toward the floating Alvis. Alvis points his staff at Emygdius, and says, "

slightly raises his staff, "Gravity Magic: Edicst Eagephw."

Alvis increases the gravity around Emygdius. The amount of force pressing on Emygdius is much more powerful than a black hole's suction force. However...

"Is this all you can muster, Alvis? Or are you getting weaker in your old age?" He raises his hand, and the earth becomes spikes that attack Alvis.

"You still don't give up."

Alvis waves his staff to the side and the spikes vanish before they can strike him.

"You cannot defeat me, Emygdius."

"We'll see about that," he says as he jumps up and charges Alvis again.

"Gravity Magic: Eporilnus."

Alvis pushes Emygdius away with a repulsive force, and he crashes to the ground. However, Emygdius stands up and charges Alvis again. And again, he is blasted back.

"Your magic is weak, Emygdius. Earth magic is limited to sterile environments. Let me demonstrate." He snaps his finger and their surroundings suddenly change. In an instant, Emygdius finds himself hovering in the cold vacuum of space. "See, with the snap of my finger, I created a reality with no planets and no ground for you to manipulate. Your magic is weak. You are weak. Give up, Emygdius."

Emygdius, who is on all fours, breathes heavily. He is affected by the lack of oxygen. "Weak... you say..."

"Yes, weak. You might be a dragon elder, but I only gave you that title because you were stronger than the other dragons at that time. You are easily replaceable."

"That's... not... the only... reason..."

"What?" Emygdius opens his hand, and dust falls from it. "I see. You expected me to change the surroundings, so you grabbed some dirt before I did. However, what can you do with that little speck of dust."

Emygdius smiles. The dirt in his hand starts to form a small sandstorm. The sandstorm grows larger and larger. Until this newly created reality is filled with fierce sandstorms.

"So you created counterfeit sand with magic. I forget that you are quite adept at fighting stronger opponents. Hmm..." The sandstorms become much more vicious, and Alvis's vision gets impaired. "Do you think this will give you the edge? Wait...?" Alvis is confused because Emygdius's presence has suddenly disappeared. "Is he dead? But why are the sandstorms even more vicious? No, I should just transport out of this realm."

Just as Alvis snaps his finger, something grabs onto him. He looks down and sees Emygdius grabbing onto him, smiling. Thanks to Alvis, both he and Emygdius return to Ragnarök.

"You..."

"Too late!!" screams Emygdius. He punches Alvis in the face sending the True God flying downwards. The force of Emygdius's punch was strong enough to crack Alvis's skull. Alvis crashes down with a great thud that destroys the ground.

"Gah!!" Blood spews from his mouth.

"No one will stop me from saving my grandson. Not even you, Alvis."

"Well done," says Alvis clapping his hands behind Emygdius.

Emygdius looks back, surprised. "How..?" He looks back and the Alvis on the ground fades away.

"You did well against my clone." Emygdius gets ready to fight, however, Alvis raises his hand, "Wait, I do not want to fight you, Emygdius. I see your determination to save Haruki. However, I ask that you not take action."

"You know I can't do that, Alvis. Where is he?"

"He is in Leagard. Emygdius, I know why you want to retrieve him. That boy, Haruki, is—"

"Code Name: Ryu," says a woman as she walks toward Alvis and Emygdius.

"Freyja," says Alvis, surprised.

"Haruki is an artificial being created to host ALL's power, right?"

"ALL? Who is—"

"The original god, ALL. The mother of the Six True Gods. The reason we hold the Cleansing Ritual is not to protect Haruki but to protect the realms from ALL's revival."

"You did quite a bit of digging around, Freyja. Well, I never expected to keep this information from you all forever."

"Why would you keep this from us?"

"Knowing how impulsive you and Emygdius are, I could not tell you both."

"What about Ember and Cordelia? Did you tell them?"

Alvis nods his head. "They have been dragon elders longer than you both. And they were also Haruki's first caretakers. But lately, Cordelia and Ember have been acting more like you two—digging up information that was best buried. I can't tell you any more than I already have."

"Why not!? Why does a True God like you have to remain silent!?" yells Emygdius.

"Fate has decided this is Haruki's best chance at avoiding another cleansing. Just trust me and wait."

"Wait—"

"How long?" interrupts Freyja.

"Two years and ten months. If you do, I will not ask any more from you. You can dig for answers and search for Haruki without me stopping you."

Both Emygdius and Freyja can sense the sincerity behind Alvis' words. "Fine," says Emygdius. "If it's only two years, then I won't pester you any longer."

"Same here."

"Thank you, Emygdius, Freyja. But heed this warning. If you choose to pursue this matter further in two years, know that you will have eyes on you at all times."

"We'll be careful."

"Haruki, just wait. In two years, I will bring you back."

—Two Years and Ten Months Later...

"Are you prepared, Emigdius?"

"Always."

"Remember, we need to be discreet, so no destroying continents again."

"Please, those savages had it coming."

Freyja sighs, "I am regretting this already."

"So, where is Haruki now?"

"Alvis said he was on the Aldrik Continent. That is as much as he could say. Apparently, Haruki is quite difficult to pinpoint these days."

Emygdius bursts into laughter. "That sounds like my grandson." He looks at the sky, smiling, "Haruki, it's time to come home."