Daeryon’s head snapped up, his face a complex mask of grief, anger, and a flicker of something unreadable.

  "A second chance?"

  he repeated, the words sounding foreign and almost hopeful on his tongue. "What do you mean?"

  My ghostly form pulsed with a faint blue light. "He was sent back in time to his twelve-year-old self. He was sent back to stop all this from happening."

  Daeryon’s eyes widened, the implications hitting him with the force of a physical blow. "He… he's here? Raion is here? In this world? Now? No, but he is not 12 years old yet,"

  he demanded, his voice trembling with a raw, desperate hope. He spun around, his piercing gaze scanning the empty stone hall, searching for the ghost of a boy he had yet to meet.

  "Yeah, just like you said, I don't think he's back yet." My voice was a soft, mournful counterpoint to the sudden storm in Daeryon's soul.

  "You told me you just met your wife yesterday. That means that this is before anything happened, but I don't know which timeline it is."

  "But what does that mean?" Daeryon asked, the confusion etched on his face.

  "Are you saying that the tragedy hasn't happened yet? Or that Raion hasn't come back yet?"

  "I don't know," I admitted, the honesty in my voice a sharp contrast to the monumental knowledge I possessed. "I need more information."

  My voice grew firmer. "Are you expecting a child now, or is she not pregnant yet?"

  Daeryon stood still for a long moment, processing the question. "We are expecting."

  A stunned look, not of fear but of profound realization, crossed Daeryon's face.

  "You said he went back to his twelve-year-old self," he said, the words a slow, deliberate whisper.

  "But he's about 11 now. That means... he hasn't gotten here." He looked back at the empty space where I was, his eyes wide.

  "You're a voice from a future that has not yet come to pass."

  The tension eased, replaced by a cold, frightening clarity.

  "So tell me, ghost. What do I do now? How do I change a story that has already been written?"

  The question hung in the air, a plea from the world's most powerful warrior to a boy who had only ever fought with a pen.

  Before I could even begin to form a coherent thought, a series of familiar blue screens materialized before my ghostly eyes.

  [Relationship Increased with Daeryon : 25%]

  [You have reached a substantial relationship with the character. You will receive a reward.]

  The message was familiar, but the next screen was not.

  [Acquired: New Abilities]

  [You have been gifted three unique abilities from Daeryon Kang's personal mastery.]

  [Acquired: [Seven Dragon Palms]

  [Acquired: [Heart-Shattering Roar]

  [Acquired: [Aura of the Dragon]

  A new energy, cold and raw, coursed through my ethereal form. It felt like an evolution, a deeper connection to the Black Dragon Chi that already flowed through me.

  Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

  I checked my status window, the glowing screen instantly updating with the new information.

  Daniel Lee Omar

  Rank: F (Breakthrough available)

  Title: N/A

  Level: 1

  Total Attribute Score: 124

  Your Attributes:

  * Strength: 5 (+50% from Black Dragon Chi) = 8

  * Agility: 5 (+50% from Black Dragon Chi) = 8

  * Endurance: 20 (+50% from Black Dragon Chi) = 30

  * Intelligence: 8

  * Black Dragon Chi: 70

  Your Abilities :

  [Writer's View] [???]

  [The pen may be mightier than the sword, but what happens when the writer walks the battlefield?]

  [Endurance of the Broken] [D-Rank Passive Ability]

  [Born from the user suffering. It grants the mind and spirit an unnatural resilience, allowing the user to withstand incredible pain and mental attacks]

  [Seven Dragon Palms] [A-Rank]

  [A unique martial art created by Daeryon Kang himself. This technique uses a series of seven devastating palm strikes that combine raw power with an intricate, flowing chi manipulation to bypass an opponent's defense and cripple them from the inside]

  [Heart-Shattering Roar] [B-Rank]

  [Allows the user to emit a sonic roar that carries a spiritual attack. This power bypasses physical defenses to assault an opponent’s will, courage, and chi flow]

  [Aura of the Dragon] [B-Rank Passive Ability]

  [The user projects a field of potent chi around his body. This aura intimidates opponents, subtly disrupts their techniques, and can deflect weaker physical or chi attacks without needing to consciously act]

  The new abilities were a stunning confirmation of my connection to Daeryon.

  The [Seven Dragon Palms] was a martial art I had created for Daeryon to pass down to his children, a final gift before his death. Now, I myself possessed it.

  The [Heart-Shattering Roar] and the [Aura of the Dragon] were raw, brutal powers, a mirror of Daeryon's inner strength and ruthlessness.

  I refocused on Daeryon, who was still waiting for an answer, his gaze unwavering.

  I now had the insight to give him one. The plan wasn't just about love; it was about using Daeryon's power in a new, more strategic way.

  "The story you lived was broken from the start," I said, my voice a soft, steady whisper.

  "You said it yourself. Your first wife saw you as a tool, your son as a weapon. Your kindness was seen as a weakness. You tried to protect your children by keeping them at a distance, but in the end, it was that distance that allowed the elders to turn them against each other."

  Daeryon's broad shoulders tensed. He understood the language of battle, but this was the language of the heart, a battlefield he had never learned to navigate.

  "Your strategy is wrong," I continued, my voice growing firmer. "You were always preparing for a fight from the outside.

  You never prepared for the war within your own family. You must build a foundation of love and trust, not just one of overwhelming power."

  Daeryon scoffed, a low, humorless sound. "Love and trust? I am a demonic cultivator. The only thing they respond to is fear."

  "And that fear is what killed you," I countered, my tone unflinching. "It's what killed your family. You will have to do things you've never done before. You will have to be a man, not just a warrior."

  "Here's the first step," I said, my voice laced with the cold certainty of a writer. "It's the most important one."

  "Tell me," Daeryon commanded, his eyes burning with a fiery resolve.

  "You told me that you and Saeryun are expecting. So she is pregnant with your youngest daughter, Areum, right now, so the first thing we have to do to keep your family together is to save your wife."

  Daeryon’s body, a monument of strength, froze. The words weren't a revelation; they were a confirmation of the prophecy I had already laid out.

  The moment he had dreaded, the moment he had pushed to the back of his mind, was now a tangible threat. He wasn't reacting with shock, but with a cold, terrifying clarity.

  "I know," Daeryon said, his voice a low, dangerous rumble. The memory of my words his wife's death during a difficult birth flashed in his mind.

  "I know she dies. But how? She is the strongest woman of her generation! She has a body of steel. Nothing can kill her."

  "No one in your world can kill her with a sword," I countered, my voice steady and calm despite the raging storm in Daeryon's chi.

  "But her body cannot withstand the unique chi she will pass to Areum. It is a legendary birth, and in my world, in the story I wrote, you could not save her."

  A chilling realization dawned on Daeryon’s face. He knew the prophecy of his bloodline. The birth of a child with a unique, powerful chi was a double-edged sword.

  He had simply assumed his wife, strong as she was, would survive. He had never considered that the very gift of his bloodline could be a fatal curse.

  "How?" Daeryon asked, the word a choked-out whisper, a plea for a solution, not an explanation. "How do I save her?"

  "You have to find the legendary Azure Lotus," I said, my voice imbued with the cold, hard certainty of a man who had already seen the end.

  "It's the only flower that can fortify the body against such an immense chi drain. You have to find it, cultivate it, and give it to her before she gives birth."

  The plan was a stunning departure from the battles Daeryon had fought his entire life. It wasn't about strength; it was about patience.

  It wasn't about war; it was about love. He had to go on a pilgrimage, not for power, but for the life of his wife and the mother of his unborn child.

  He turned to the empty space where I was, his eyes burning with a desperate, fiery resolve. "Tell me where to find the 'Azure Lotus'," he commanded.

  "Tell me what I must do."