Vol 6. Chapter 153: The Meaning of Family

After Safina left that last, cryptic remark, she and Kaiser departed together. Watching their retreating figures, Leon’s thoughts were in turmoil. He was genuinely relieved that they had managed to step out from the shadows of their past and face life again.

It was also a testament to the extraordinary healing power of his precious little girls — they had managed to bring some light back into the lives of Safina and Kaiser.But the Void in Atos’ domain would not spare Samael, nor would it spare them.

Leon himself was already caught in a dilemma, so he could fully empathize with the sibling pair’s current emotional state. Yet the nature of their choices was fundamentally different.

Safina and Kaiser had placed the meaning of their existence in the act of choosing. They simply made their choice without being tormented by it. But for Leon, no matter what choice he made, he would inevitably lose something precious.

Either he would lose Aurora, or he would lose Samael and all the creatures living upon it, including his own family.

“What the hell am I supposed to do...” Leon muttered to himself. For a moment, he shook his head, trying to dispel those troubling thoughts.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to think about it — it was that he couldn’t bear to face it.

Leon stood up, intending to go and discuss the matter with Rosvisser and the others. But just as he was about to leave, his gaze inadvertently fell upon the notes Safina had just been jotting down on the table.

Leon picked up the piece of parchment and glanced at it. The contents were fragmented, not forming complete sentences. There were strange arrows, crude sketches, and random symbols scattered across the page.

Leon couldn’t make sense of it at all. This was something that only Safina herself would understand.

Not giving it another thought, he put the notes back where they were and walked out of the library.

...

...

At midnight, Aurora was awakened by that strange dream again.

This time, the palace and the old man in the dream became even clearer. The sand beneath their feet was nearly all drained away, sinking into the depths of the beach.

On Aurora’s side, the sand remaining on old man side was nearly gone.

Upon waking up, Aurora sat up in bed, trying to calm herself down. Then, she threw off the covers, put on her slippers, and quietly left her room.

Muse and Moon were still asleep. But there was no sign of Noa.

“It’s so late. Where could Big Sis have gone?”

Since she couldn’t sleep anyway, Aurora decided to go out and see if she could find Noa.

She carefully opened the door to the sisters’ room and poked her little head out, glancing left and right before stepping out. She tiptoed her way toward the staircase.

But as she passed by her parents’ bedroom, Aurora noticed that light was seeping through the gap beneath the door.

“Mom and Dad are still awake...?”

Aurora scratched her messy pink hair, walked up to the door, and was about to knock.

She thought Noa might be inside with them. But just as Aurora’s hand was about to tap against the door, she heard voices coming from inside.

“Is that really the case, Xiaoxue? Did you really see a dragon back then? In the Sanctuary, you said you felt like you’d seen Aurora somewhere before. So it was in the Time Web after all. She’s the one that Chronos referred to as the... temporal anomaly.”

“That’s Noa’s voice.”

“Yes. Judging from Chronos’ power, since Aurora is destined to become the next God of Time, there is no way to change that outcome.”

“That’s Xiaoxue’s voice.”

After that, there was a long, tense silence that lasted several seconds.

“Aside from Aurora’s appearance, did you see anything else in the Time Web?”

Rosvisser asked, her tone gentle but probing.

“...I saw Aurora sitting on the Throne of Time,” Xiaoxue said softly.

“She was all alone, with no light in her eyes. She sat there for a very, very long time... So long that she transcended the very concept of time. To be eternally imprisoned on that throne — it’s not just a metaphor.”

“That loneliness and pain... just hearing it is heartbreaking. Let alone actually sitting on that throne oneself...” Noa’s voice was filled with helplessness and reluctance.

“Is having Aurora succeed Chronos, restarting the power of time, and using it to seal the Void Gate... really the only way to save the Samael?”

Leon’s cold, biting voice cut through the room.

“Leon... what are we supposed to do...”

Another long, heavy silence fell. It felt as if everyone was holding their breath, waiting for Leon’s response.

Finally, he spoke, his voice low but firm:

“I will never give up on Aurora. No one can take my daughter away from me. Not even the God of Time.”

Leon had no idea how to stop the Void invasion, but he was absolutely clear about one thing — his bottom line:

“No one is taking Aurora away from me.”

“But Leon, if Aurora doesn’t ascend to the Throne of Time, we won’t have enough power to seal off the Void. At that point, Atos will lead the entire Void Realm to invade us...”

Leon took a deep breath and then slowly exhaled.

“Then... we fight Atos. Even if it costs me my life, I will stop Atos.”

Leon had never said anything like that before — that he would sacrifice himself to stop an enemy.

Because in the past, no matter how powerful his enemies were, he had always been able to rely on his own strength to deal with them. But this time, he was facing the ruler of another world.

Even someone as powerful as Kaiser was merely a subordinate under Atos. The sheer terror of facing such a tyrant was unimaginable.

Leon didn’t have enough confidence to defeat him. But he refused to give up on Aurora.

So the only option left was to stake his life on a direct battle against Atos.

A heavy sigh echoed in the room. It was the voice of the Primeval Dragon King, Noa.

“Leon, throughout history, there have been countless situations like the one we face now.

“Sacrificing a few to save the many — from a rational standpoint, that is the most correct choice.”

“But if you choose to fight, the casualties will far exceed one person.”

Leon paused for a moment, then responded in a low voice,

“So, what those tyrants are saying is that we should just do nothing, and coldly watch as Aurora takes that damned throne?”

“No malice intended, Leon,” Dragon King’s tone was calm and measured. Someone has to say this cold, hard truth, and since none of you want to, I will.”

She paused for a moment, then continued,

“But from a rational standpoint, I don’t want to give up on that little pink-haired girl either. I like her quite a lot. She’s clever, quick-witted. She should have a bright, limitless future ahead of her, not a life chained to the Throne of Time.”

Dragon King’s words were much softer this time.

After spending so much time with Star and her sisters, the ancient Dragon King had also developed a bond with these little dragon girls. And ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) as someone who had lived for millennia, having witnessed countless life-and-death partings, Noa could now calmly and rationally analyze the situation for Leon.

“No one wants to see Aurora sit on that throne of destruction,” Noa said, her voice heavy with the weight of centuries of loss.

Rosvisser let out a soft sigh, her voice filled with exhaustion and sorrow.

“If it really comes down to facing Atos head-on, then my choice will be the same as Leon’s. Even if it means sacrificing myself, I will protect my daughter.”

The couple’s stance was so... naive, so idealistic.

If this were the Noa of old, she would have immediately countered with:

“What if, even after sacrificing yourselves, you still fail to defeat Atos?”

But the Noa of today no longer asked such questions. Because in such a cold, hopeless situation, the only warmth worth preserving was the bond of family.

The light of humanity should not be extinguished by cold logic. This was the true meaning of “emotion,” a secret that the ancient Dragon King Noa had only come to understand after centuries of watching over Noa and her sisters.

Another suffocating silence fell over the room.

A few minutes later, Leon broke the silence again.

“Since Xiaoxue can already sense Chronos’ presence, does that mean we can open the Time Palace now?”

Xiaoxue was a key created by Chronos himself to open his palace. But over the ages, Xiaoxue’s memories had been sealed, so no one had ever managed to locate the Time Palace, which only existed in myths.

Now that Xiaoxue’s memories had been unlocked and she could sense Chronos again, this was their best chance to enter the palace and uncover the truth.

“I... can try,” Xiaoxue said, her voice trembling slightly. “But I’ll need Rosvisser to channel my power.”

“Alright,” Leon nodded. “We don’t have much time. Let’s do it now.”

“Wait, Dad.”

Noa stepped forward. “If we do manage to enter the Time Palace and meet Chronos, what do you plan to do? What do you want to say to him?”

Leon fell silent, his expression heavy. After a moment, he replied,

“I want to see if I can find a way to break this deadlock from Chronos himself. Noa, no matter how small the chance, we can’t afford to let it slip by now.”

“...Alright. I understand.”

Having made their decision, they all stood up and headed toward the door.

Hearing the sound of footsteps approaching, Aurora, who had been eavesdropping outside the door, quickly darted into a nearby storage room.

She wrapped her arms around her knees, her pink eyes trembling uncontrollably.

So, the nightmare she had resisted for so long... wasn’t just a dream.

When the last grain of sand fell, Aurora knew exactly what would happen. The moment the hourglass was filled, her fate would be sealed.

She was on the verge of breaking down.

Her small hands were shaking, tears forcing their way through her lashes. Curled up in the corner, her ten fingers dug into her disheveled hair as she struggled to suppress her fear, breathing heavily.

She was scared. Terrified. She desperately wished that this terrifying nightmare was just... a dream.

If it were just a dream, then she could grab her teddy bear, run to her parents’ room, jump onto their bed, and bury herself in their arms, letting the warmth and safety of their embrace swallow her fears.

But the words of her father, mother, big sister, Aunt Noa, and Xiaoxue kept echoing in her mind:

“Is forcing Aurora to sit on the Throne of Time the only way to save Samael?”

“I won’t abandon my daughter, even if it costs me my life.”

“Sacrificing a few to save the many — that is the rational choice.”

“I’m with Leon. Even if I have to throw away my life, I won’t give up Aurora.”

“... ... ...”

In the cold, silent night, in the dark corridor, the storage room door slowly creaked open.

Aurora stepped out, her small steps cautious and slow. She quietly followed behind Leon and the others, heading toward the courtyard.

Under the moonlight, her cherry-pink eyes sparkled with a renewed, unyielding resolve.