Dragon Raja 3; Chapter 487: Sakura’s Wrath (9)

Dragon Raja 3

“Shut up,” Lu Mingfei said quietly.

“You’re the big brother, so what you say goes. If you tell me to shut up, I’ll shut up,” Lu Mingze shrugged and placed the briefcase by Lu Mingfei’s feet. “Don’t focus too much on the naked girl. She’s already ugly now, not the beautiful girl she once was. She used to be so sexy and sweet, sleeping next to you, and you didn’t think of doing anything with her. Now that you’re holding her tight, what’s the point? Take a look at what she left behind. I think there might have been something in there meant for you.”

Lu Mingfei placed Erii on his lap and opened the small red suitcase. She had traveled so far—was this really all the luggage she brought? She was planning to go to Korea, after all, to start a whole new life, waiting for someone under the giant crabapple tree with ice cream in hand. Was this little bit of luggage really enough?

The suitcase was packed tightly. The dresses Lu Mingfei had bought for her were neatly folded. Her usual miko attire wasn’t there, but there were the Roman sandals she wore out, along with white ribboned shoes. Her hair ties, clips, stockings, and ribbons were all packed separately in a plastic bag. Then there were her treasured little toys, and one large item—a photo album. In this digital age, who still collected photo albums?

Lu Mingfei opened the thick photo album, only to find that it wasn’t filled with photographs but postcards. They were all travel postcards from Tokyo, featuring places like Tokyo Skytree, Sensoji Temple, Disneyland, Meiji Shrine… every place Lu Mingfei had taken her. He had no idea how she had collected them.

Because he didn’t want to reveal his identity, Lu Mingfei had always refused to take pictures with her, so she collected these postcards to remember the places they had been together.

On the back of each postcard was a date and a simple message.

“04.24, went to Tokyo Skytree with Sakura, the warmest place in the world is at the top of the Skytree.”

“04.26, went to Meiji Shrine with Sakura, someone was holding a wedding there.”

“04.25, went to Disneyland with Sakura, the haunted house was scary, but it wasn’t because Sakura was there.”

Each postcard had these silly and naive comments, with simple meanings and poor phrasing. It was just a blank-slate girl expressing herself after falling for someone, trying to convey in every sentence, “I like someone,” “I like someone,” and “I like someone.”

Her phone was also in the suitcase. Herzog probably never thought that a girl as naive as her would also use a smartphone, but it was this phone that revealed Erii’s location, and with it, Herzog’s plan. The phone’s screen showed a mountain in Ehime Prefecture, with Lu Mingfei’s back facing the sunset by a shrine. She must have secretly taken this photo without him knowing. Lu Mingfei smiled silently; he had never experienced this feeling before—realizing that his every action was so important in someone else’s world. He hadn’t known that he wasn’t the only one quietly watching someone else’s back.

He took a dress and shoes out of the suitcase to put on Erii. Her body was so withered that it was easy to dress her, but putting on shoes and socks was difficult. Her legs and feet were so shriveled, like dry branches, that Lu Mingfei had to choose a longer dress to cover her emaciated body, making her look more like she did when she was alive. He gently cradled her and placed her against the wall of the well, arranging her hair before placing her little toys beside her, one by one. With Rilakkuma, a little yellow chick, Hello Kitty, and a rubber duck to keep her company, she probably wouldn’t be afraid.

When he was placing Rilakkuma, he accidentally flipped the toy over and saw a label on the bottom, “Sakura & Erii. Rilakkuma,” a Rilakkuma belonging to both Sakura and Erii.

The calmness he had tried so hard to maintain shattered instantly. With trembling hands, he turned each toy over to check the bottom: “Sakura & Erii. Hello Kitty,” “Sakura & Erii’s Duck,” “Sakura & Erii’s Kiiroitori,” “Sakura & Erii’s Keroro”… All the toys had their labels changed. They all marked them as belonging to both Sakura and Erii, their whole world shared between the two of them. The world this girl had was so small, so limited, and for the first time, she had shared it with someone else.

You might have thought she was a princess who owned the whole world, but in her eyes, she only owned you and her toys.

Lu Mingfei let out a beastly roar, stumbling backward, taking a long time to regain his composure. Lu Mingze stood behind him, arms crossed, making no move to offer comfort.

“Deal complete. You can take the next quarter of your life,” Lu Mingfei said quietly.

“Is it to trade for the girl’s resurrection? I’ve already told you, I can’t do that. I can only change the future; I’m powerless when it comes to the past,” Lu Mingze scratched his head.

“Then change the future. Help me kill Herzog. Something for nothing, use that cheat code. I want 100% fusion,” Lu Mingfei turned to face Lu Mingze, looking directly into his eyes. He was so calm, yet it seemed like a lion was ready to leap from his gaze.

“100% fusion won’t be enough to kill Herzog. It took 60% to kill Fenrir, but Herzog has already usurped the White Empress’ throne. The power of the White Empress is at least twice that of a dumb child like Fenrir,” Lu Mingze shrugged.

“It’s fine. You do your best; leave the rest to me,” Lu Mingfei glanced at the withered Chime. “He said he bet on me to win, so he traded his life for mine. So, I’ll bet on myself to win too.”

“Fantastic! Now that’s my brother! What is Herzog? You’re the one who’s truly a monster that deserves to roar across this world! When you roar, all the kings will bow!” Lu Mingze spread his arms and embraced him tightly. “Something for nothing, 100% fusion… 12x boost!”

Lu Mingfei stood silently at the bottom of the well, his hair growing like a waterfall. From his fingers, nose, chin, and every part of his body, white threads sprouted, connecting him to the entire well.

No one had really embraced him. Lu Mingze seemed to have been just an illusion all along. Lu Mingfei formed a cocoon in his isolation, and from within, a heartbeat like the sound of war drums echoed. The threads he had grown wrapped around the nearby corpses, and those who had long since stopped breathing or beating their hearts opened their eyes once more—scarlet gold eyes!

They began to dragonize at a visible speed, their entire bodies covered in scales. Bloody wings burst from their backs and unfolded, one after another, floating in the air, surrounding the cocoon Lu Mingfei had formed like loyal warriors, guarding the awakening of their emperor.

“Bring your army! Though in the end, you’ll fight alone!” The voice of a devil seemed to echo from the sky above.

Series Navigation

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