Reincarnated With A Glitched System: Why Is My MP Not Running Out?

Chapter 2168: The Story Of A Lost Partner

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After hearing my grandfather’s deep frustration about everything that had happened, I watched him blame himself once more for those who were lost in the battle against the Demon King. He kept insisting that he should have been the one to confront the Demon King instead of the heroes. My father let out a long sigh and shook his head slowly.

"You shouldn’t blame yourself about this, father-in-law," my father said as he looked toward the heavy gates leading into the dungeon. "And this dungeon’s existence is also my fault. It should have never existed in the first place."

"Dear, you would have never known that this would have appeared," my mother replied gently. "Please stop blaming yourself over this. It’s not your fault. It really isn’t!" she insisted with clear worry in her voice.

"But it is. It’s all my damn fault," my father answered, the guilt weighing heavily on him. "When we explored the Tower Dungeon, I was the one that forced us to keep going deeper and deeper because I was getting tired of it all. I ended up thinking we could take it, that if this dungeon was weaker than what awaited us on the demon continent, then it shouldn’t have been hard enough to take so damn long."

I listened to him attentively, while also recalling the words my grandfather had spoken earlier. He had cut ties with the Human Alliance of their Continent after what they did, forcing the heroes into weapons against the Demon King without caring about their lives at all. I guessed that their manipulation of the heroes had started way earlier than any of us realized.

And it seemed that, as a former hero himself, my grandfather had once held a strong alliance with the humans. That was very different from... whatever we had today. I thought it was just a normal peace, but there was a growing tension underneath that I did not know if it would ever explode into some future tragedy.

He also mentioned that the elves had taken a long time to forge this alliance with the short-lived humans, for some reason. Even though the Elven Kingdom seemed stronger in every way possible, filled with long-lived and magically gifted beings such as Elves, why were humans still seen as such a serious threat that an alliance had to be carefully forged just so they would not harm each other?

I was not dismissing humans. I knew I should not. But it still made me wonder what was really going on over there on the human continent. What exactly were the humans doing that made them such a big threat beyond simply obeying the gods?

Or... was obeying the gods and acting as their direct "proxies" the actual threat itself?

It remained a mystery for now. Or maybe it was not a mystery at all, and I could gain the answers to my questions by merely asking my grandfather. Even so, I really did not want to bring that topic up right now. The atmosphere was already heavy enough with guilt and old wounds. Some conversations were better left for another day, when the weight of the recent battle had lessened a little.

Nevertheless, it all connected back to dad’s retelling of what had happened. His desperate attempt to descend the tower all the way to the lowest floor and finish everything as quickly as possible had come from the crushing pressure and stress provoked by the Church of the Gods, an organization led entirely by humans.

"Flamie was going to be my companion for life, but I failed him," my father sighed, his voice heavy with old regret. "In a fight against the Floor 70 Boss, where we all almost died... He gave his life so we could escape."

"!!!"

I gasped out loud. Everyone else remained trapped in deep, respectful silence as they listened to his words.

"He used all his latent power and unleashed it at once, aging himself to his prime by force. At the same time, that choice severely crippled his future growth and took away every last bit of his remaining lifespan..." My father’s eyes filled with tears that he no longer tried to hide. "He fought the boss with every ounce of strength he had left. Even when he told us to escape... I refused. I tried to keep fighting and still nearly died. In the end he had to pour out all of his power just to bring that monster down. And eventually... the Flame of his Life faded away right there in my arms."

The room felt colder somehow. No one spoke for several long seconds. The weight of those memories hung heavily in the air between us.

Ignatius remained sitting quietly next to me in his smaller form, clearly thinking hard about everything he had just heard. After a moment he felt my gaze on him and finally spoke.

"It is indeed something we dragons can do," he said in a low, measured voice. "When we feel that our life is about to end no matter what we try, it becomes possible to sacrifice all of our innate potential. We pour everything into our dragon hearts until they explode into pure, overwhelming power. The form he took must have been the result of that final act. It completely destroys our cultivation base and strips away any ability to grow further. We die shortly afterward once our lifeforce is fully exhausted. I was never able to do that myself, though. Your father... took me down mercilessly back then. Hah. For someone who once had a dragon as a beloved pet, he certainly did not hesitate when it came time to kill me."

My father slowly lowered his head, staring at the floor. "I guess I never... really addressed that properly, have I, Ignatius? I did what I did out of pure desperation. After we escaped the hands of the Church and even went as far as moving to the Floating Continent of Cloudia just so we could raise Sylphy in peace, we truly did not want any more trouble. We were simply trying to raise our daughter."

It was clear that my father wanted to apologize to Ignatius. At the same time, there was an unspoken hope that Ignatius might offer some form of apology in return. The old wounds between them still lingered just beneath the surface, even after all these years.

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