Chapter 1954: Their Sacrifice
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Surtr''s eyes shone bright red, as he saw visions through the ring in front of him. A gigantic zing ring that grew several kilometers in length, constantly beginning to spin rapidly.
Memories of the time he hatched from the egg, memories when he was but a little dragon, of Mia and Nia taking care of him, helping him train, feeding him, making him feel weed.
Of the many foes he fought, of the good times, and of the bad times... Of slowly finding a new purpose in his life, and of growing to love and care for those around him, that had given him so much in return.
Surtr saw all these memories with each fragment of his Divinity and his Divine Abilities he gave away... Including even the deepest aspects of his soul, his Unique Skills.
The wishes he made that day he died; those hopes he fruitlessly had when he died... The embodiments of such wishes were now going to be the pirs for his new Ascendancy Law Ring.
FLAAAASH!
The ring grewrger andrger, zing with mes. The Ascendancy Law Fragment of Asmodeus ended bing its pir, but the rest was all filled with Surtr''s own powers. He could see it; this ring was the embodiment of his life so far...
And in the corner of it, he saw something else as well.
A small glimpse of his previous life.
"A-Ahh..."
He saw himself as a human again, walking his way back to school with his sister.
Laughing, smiling, getting yelled at, not doing his homework, studying but still getting bad grades.
His mother''s lunch, the days he went to watch movies with his father.
Surtr closed his eyes as he gritted his teeth, tearsing from his closed eyes.
Muspel and Asmodeus also nced at this life.
"The life you left behind, my son?"
"I see... It was a beautiful life."
The memories continued, theughter of his sister, or when she got angry at him.
His mother''s gentle smile, his father''s loud voice, his family together, eating at the same table.
His father that wouldn''t stop talking about old movies he liked so much, and his mother telling him to eat his vegetables.
"Mom... Dad..."
Until everything was epassed by mes, consumed by them. His father and his mother died before his eyes.
And his sister...
He hoped she would live, somewhere, anywhere.
"So this is what happened... In yourst moments, you saved your sister from death." Muspel said. "How admirable... Indeed! You were the chosen soul to reincarnate into my son, Surtr."n/?/vel/b//jn dot c//om
"What a brave action at the end of your life... I was wrong, perhaps. You are indeed worthy, Surtr," Asmodeus smiled.
"..." Surtr smiled lightly, as these memories also became part of the Ascendancy Law. RUMBLE!
Thunderbolt hit his body, and yet his sorrow was so strong that these lightning bolts didn''t hurt anymore, he resisted them with his eyes closed.
And yet...
"It''s not enough?"
He realized that his ring wasn''t growing enough, it was still too faint, its power wascking...
Even after he sacrificed everything he had, it was still not enough...
"But I... You said I could do it?"
Muspel and Asmodeus smiled back at Surtr.
"Indeed, and you will do it, my son."
"Who do you think we are?"
"Eh?"
FLUOSH!
Suddenly, a huge portal made of mes emerged, and Surtr saw in awe and shock as hundreds- no, thousands of fire dragon souls emerged.
Of all shapes and sizes, but all enormous, majestic, ghostly, some were orange, others dark red, some were golden in color, and a few a mix of everything.
"Surtr!"
"Well done!"
"We''ve been watching you this entire time."
"You can do it!"
"We believe in you!"
"Please, let us be the bricks that will build the staircase towards your ascension."
Surtr was shocked as he saw the Fire Dragon Souls fuse into the Ascendancy Law, disappearingpletely as their essence was dissipated and merged into it.
"N-No...! Wait...! What are you doing?!"
Surtr was shocked, screaming.
He saw them sacrifice themselves one after another...
"WAIT!"
He kept asking, but they didn''t stop.
"W-Why?! You don''t have to sacrifice yourselves for me!"
As he continued crying, the souls never stopped reaching the ring and merging with it. Rapidly, the ring became gigantic, robust, and began to materialize with much more vigor. mes emerged from it, resembling hundreds of dragons.
"They''re not dying, Surtr. They''re simply passing the torch, we all are." Asmodeus said.
"Surtr... you''re the future of our kind. We realized for a while now, that simply staying as ghosts would serve no purpose," Muspel said.
"B-But...!"
"You must continue moving forward," Asmodeus smiled back at his little brother. "Take our power, forge a new destiny for you and our kind... for your loved ones and friends, family... for
everyone."
"Surtr! You will be the first of our family to be a Venerable... You will reach heights nobody could do, and I am sure that you will one day even surpass my original power,"
Muspel said.
"Mother!" Surtr cried. "Brother!"
As he cried, he saw their souls flying towards the Ring, Asmodeusrge soul, and Muspel''s
gigantic soul, all of it!
FLUOSH!
As Surtr cried while seeing them slowly fade away into the ring and be one with it,
Asmodeus smiled at him.
"Wait... Please... I want to...! I...!"
"Do your best, and never stop believing in yourself, brother."
"Aaaah!"
Surtr saw Asmodeus disappear.
And then...
His mother looked at him.
"I will always love you, Surtr... And mama will be there for you, always. Don''t cry, we are not disappearing. We are entering a new state of being. We will be your power... Use it well."
"Yes... I promise...!"
Surtr nodded, as Muspel suddenly rushed back to him out of nowhere, hugging him and
licking his entire face.
"You''ve grown into a fine dragon; you make me proud."
And then she went back, fully fusing with the Ascendancy Law Ring!
FLAAASH!
And in that moment, as the soul of a Primordial Dragon merged with it...
The Ring overflowed with so much power, the entire sky cleared in an instant.
The ground beneath cracked open...
And Surtr slowly floated towards it, his hands reaching the ring.
"Thank you for being my family..."
He closed his eyes, as he himself turned into pure mes, merging with the ring as well.
And everything turned red.