Trip to Imagination - True Identity - Braudain's Repentance

"H-how did you know?!"

Braudain was stunned and he didn't know how to react properly. His calm demeanor was broken

"Who really are you?"

Braudain started to question Philip's identity, even though he has see most of Philip, currently, he has some doubts and he wanted to confirm it

"Do you want to move somewhere private?"

Philip asked politely and Braudain turned his head towards the door. He's worried that the princesses might overhear their conversation

"Yes please, they don't know anything and I would like to keep my secrets hidden"

"Alright..."

Philip agreed to Braudain's request and he will grant it. He was about reached his right hand towards Braudain's forehead and touch it when Emily made a comment

「 I'm surprised that you didn't control Corleona and Clara's fate? What made you avoid doing that? 」

Philip's eyes widened as he realized his mistake

'WAIT!!!'

Philip pulled his right hand back and ran towards the door to open it. The door slammed open and both the princesses were startled

Philip was looking at them and raised his left hand in a snapping gesture

*Snap*

An audible sound reverberated through the room and out of the hallway. Braudain saw the wave coming out of the room

Corleona's fate in terms of her keeping her burden to herself and Clara's fate of staying in the past has slightly changed. They just need time to adjust

Philip immediately closed the door, went in front of Braudain, and poked his forehead. Their consciousness suddenly went black and they felt like they were falling down

~~~

"Huh?"

Braudain was startled and his heart thumped faster. But due to experience, he didn't panic that much, though the darkness was worrying him

After a few seconds, Braudain's body became wet and he felt he was being pulled down deeper in the ocean

It was then that he felt being pushed back into the surface of the ocean. He saw the light above him getting closer to him

"Haaah!"

Braudain subconsciously held his breath, so when he surfaced from the ocean, he let out a deep breath. He saw himself in the middle of a calm ocean and clear skies

"Welcome to my World of Imagination"

Philip welcomed Braudain and he looked around in surprise and amazement

"This is a world inside my consciousness. Anything that I can think of will happen, only in this world. There are no limits to my imagination, so anything can happen"

"Ah..."

Braudain was speechless. He was suddenly transported to somewhere else entirely and he doesn't know how to react

"In this world, we're alone. I can kill you instantly by crushing your soul and consciousness, but I will never do that... Unless you invade my own consciousness"

"..."

Braudain didn't reply and just looked at Philip. He regained his calm demeanor and prepared himself to talk to Philip

"So, how did you know my true identity?!"

Braudain asked with slight anger. The secret that he has is not known by anyone, but Philip, who he just met, already knew about it. Not even Sai, who's supposed to know something, never paid attention to him in Saykrandae

"Surely you don't expect me to reveal my secrets to you, don't you?"

"It was worth asking"

"I commend the effort... But let's just say that I have personally met Destraborne"

"!!!"

Braudain widened his eyes again from Philip revelation. This means that Braudain has knowledge pertaining to some dragons relating to the gods in the Divine Realm

The reason as to why Philip was able to learn Braudain's true identity is from the ⟨⟨ Eye of Sai ⟩⟩ ability, combined with ⟨⟨ Scan ⟩⟩ and ⟨⟨ Observe ⟩⟩ sub-abilities

Even if the Omega System has restarted and removed all subsystems, the essence of those certain subsystems will still exist and function. Just like the gacha items such as Loot Bag and Loot Boxes were just sitting on his office table. There are still affinity levels, ranks, qualities, and rarity, but Philip won't be able to see them since it's useless information as of now. Emily has the choice whether to reveal those information to him on the spot

Everywhere Philip goes, he always constantly uses the ⟨⟨ Eye of Sai ⟩⟩ and its sub-abilities, so that he can gain more information that he may miss

He doesn't get information overloaded since using the ⟨⟨ Supreme Sense of Calculation ⟩⟩ already shows him quantitative information more than what the ⟨⟨ Eye of Sai ⟩⟩ can give

In this case, when he looked for information regarding Braudain, he saw several titles

「 Polearm King, Last General of Last Hope, Legendary Soldier, Descendant of Saykeraborne, Master of Polearm Arts, Bearer of a Mythical Dragon Spine, High Dracotaur, Transported to Another World, Disaster General Canditate 」

He also saw different title from Corleona and Clara respectively

「 First Princess of Saykrandae, First Rapier King, Possessor of Sacred Mana, Transported to Another World, Demon Lord Slayer, Rapier Whisperer, The Damned, Disaster Princess Candidate 」

「 Second Princess of Saykrandae, Healing Saintess, Pol's Successor, Krueger's Successor, Gauntlet Grandmaster, Disaster Princess Candidate 」

But for now, he focused on Braudain first, even though the princesses also has some interesting titles

Of course, just like the [Polearm King] title, each title has different effects to the person or being that's attached to. The title [Descendant of Saykeraborne] is what caught is attention the most

He then tried to identify Saykeraborne, but that was the moment he unlocked a special condition. By logic, Saykeraborne should be the Disaster Dragon that was supposed to be guarding Sai, derived from the name "Say" or "Sai", which means Disaster

Also, Saykeraborne sounds a lot like Destraborne, the Destruction Dragon, which makes both dragons related as siblings, just like how Valkarrie and Sai are to each other

The fact that Saykeraborne, Sai's dragon and a supposed guardian to her, was nowhere to be seen during the Great Extinction War and at no point did Sai mention any dragons to him whenever they talked could only mean that the dragon is missing

There could only be three reason as to why the dragon would be missing; First was either he was killed or murdered, second was that this was the work of the Council once again and sealed him, and third was that Saykeraborne hasn't been born because Sai hasn't unlocked her Plane of Existence yet, but that wouldn't make sense as to why Braudain is a descendant of Saykeraborne

That's why Philip wanted to talk to him

「 ... 」

Emily was still surprised and stunned that Philip has inferred this much information with little clues and just logic. It never gets old for her

"Tell me Braudain... Where is Saykeraborne and how did he have a descendant?"

"..."

Braudain then let go of his polearm and crossed his arms. The polearm expanded in diameter and increased its length, boring through the surface of the ocean and causing a single massive wave of tsunami. The cracks around the polearm became larger and the core of the polearm could be seen. The core looked like a bone and it has a color of a jade

Philip narrowed his eyes at the Shattered Polearm and he started to become suspicious of the polearm

'Is that what I think it is?!!'

「 Confirming... 」

Braudain then started talking

"Saykeraborne went missing the moment I was born in Saykrandae. I never was born from a family and grew as a baby. The moment I gained consciousness, I saw myself lying on the ground with thousands of charred dead bodies around me. I found myself in the middle of a burned wasteland with trees turned to ashes, rocks and armor melted to the ground"

"..."

Philip kept quiet to listen to Braudain's story. The ⟨⟨ World of Imagination ⟩⟩ was changing as Philip tried to imagine what Braudain was telling him

Braudain was in awe that Philip managed to replicate what he saw the moment he came to the world. Nonetheless, he kept going

"The reason that I was aware of Saykeraborne's existence is that I know the basic information about him... The Disaster Dragon, part of the Brotherhood of Echelon Dragons, a Dragon of Gods"

"..."

Philip noted that Braudain doesn't know that Saykeraborne is supposed to be Sai's personal dragon

"I also have his crest on my chest..."

The crest that looked like a serpent with a pair of big round wings, three spears, and four crosses lit up behind his tunic

"This made me aware of the state of Saykrandae and learned everything about the world..."

"..."

"I am half human and half dragon, a High Dracotaur, a level that can transform himself into either a man or a dragon. I found the kingdom that King Porti rules and became the general after that... Until the Great Extinction War and the destruction of Saykrandae"

"..."

There was silence as both Philip and Braudain were standing in space when the ⟨⟨ World of Imagination ⟩⟩ showed how Saykrandae was destroyed and how the alien invasion went, according to Philip's imagination and memories

Saykrandae exploded and a bright flash of white light filled the world, letting both of them return to a blank world, without the calm ocean and clear skies. The Shattered Polearm is still bored into the ground

"I see... So, there were no signs of Saykeraborne nor did you witness him?"

"Unfortunately, no"

"There were no records written about him?"

"I've tried to read all records, writings, and books throughout Saykrandae and there was none"

"Not even hearsay, poems, bardic music, rumors, none?"

"None..."

"..."

Philip was silent. If not even the residents of Saykrandae never saw nor heard about a divine dragon, then this won't lead Philip anywhere

'Unless... I used Origin Seeker on him right now? No... I only use Origin Seeker when I have to change someone's fate. Looks like Braudain's fate is still in the right track... I'll have to confirm..."

「 And if he is? 」

'Then, we'll hold off with Saykeraborne for now, until we get a different clue about him from somewhere else'

「 Then, go ahead 」

"Braudain..."

"..."

"You're a High Dracotaur, the descendant of Saykeraborne, and the bearer of that pole... How did Saykrandae fall to the hands of the demon lord and how were you struggling when you were fighting?"

"..."

Braudain frowned deeply and intense regret filled his eyes

"I... I..."

Braudain stuttered and Philip raised his left eyebrow

"I... The truth is... Even if I am the descendant of Saykeraborne, I don't possess any of his power... I only have superhuman strength and endurance, nothing more. I couldn't even transform into my dragon form..."

"..."

"If only I could've unlocked the power of a High Dracotaur, I could've saved the world... I could've helped Polem... I could've prevented the war... I could've saved humanity... But I didn't because of my incapability! That's my one and only regret... Because of that, the princesses are suffering right now and I'm guilty of that..."

"..."

"To this day, I deeply regret my weakness!!! Now, because of me, the world was destroyed and I couldn't save it!"

Braudain started to tear up, showing that be was very affected of his incapability

Philip felt his feelings and he could tell that it's genuine from his ⟨⟨ Body Language Translator ⟩⟩ ability. There were no lies, no facade, no acting, and no faking

This was Braudain's repentance. To carry the guilt of letting his world be destroyed all by himself

"That's why I'm surprised when you said you can revive Polem! She knows what to do... I would like to consult her!"

「 What do you think? 」

'He's trying to settle here on Earthenmana and he's trying to repent by wanting to protect this world... But he's hopeless since he can't tap into the power of a High Dracotaur as a descendant of Saykeraborne'

「 What will you do now? 」

'That was his fate... To be unable to have the power of a dragon of the gods because it's forbidden for a human to have that kind of power, especially since it's not permitted in the Divine Realm... I wonder why Saykeraborne did this?'

「 Aren't you going to change his fate now that you know the root of his fate? 」

'...'

「 Hm... I wonder why you're hesitant? It would be easy as a snap of a finger to change it? 」

'It's not that... At most, I would like for Saykeraborne to not arrive this early... I want to wait before Sai can unlock her Plane of Existence and after that, I will come back to Braudain'

「 Oh, okay! That sounds like a plan 」

'...'

Philip blinked and replied to Braudain's request

"I said I might... It's not confirmed yet"

"Even if there's a sliver of a chance... I will take it"

"Hm, alright then..."

"Thank you..."

Braudain is still sorrowful and frowning, but a little bit of his sadness was chipped away because of the news on Polem

"Now that that's out of the way... Tell me... Where did that polearm came from?"

Philip immediately probed on Braudain's polearm since he took the most interest in it, especially since he saw one of his titles [Bearer of the Mythical Dragon Spine]. He immediately want to know because depending on his answer, the power scaling will change and Philip might consider changing Braudain's fate entirely

"!!!"

Of course, Braudain was surprised that he asked about the polearm. This was one of his secrets after all, and one of the sources of his repentance