Epic of Ice Dragon: Reborn As An Ice Dragon With A System

"How do you know my name?"

The girl answered with confusion, tilting her head. She was slightly afraid, but somehow remained calm as her expressionless face seemed to hold no emotions, even though she was scared, trembling.

"I… I didn't knew you were named Ruby, you reminded me of someone… Someone that was once everything to my life…"

"Hm…"

"Are you here alone? Why? What happened to you?"

"I… I can't say…"

"Why?"

"It is dangerous… I just… don't want to die."

"Ah…"

Since that day that Rakasha sheltered the little Vampire girl back home. Out of pure goodwill, or perhaps because she reminded him so much of his long-lost daughter that his dull and empty life slowly began to change.

The little girl slowly opened her heart more and more for him, showing him her smartness and her cheekiness, all combined with the slightly refined demeanor of a noble girl… Yet deep down, her adorable innocence and curiosity for everything always made him smile a little bit.

He taught her anything she asked for, the same way he did for his beautiful baby girl Saphira. For the first time in over sixty years, Rakasha smiled.

"Huh?"

Ruby noticed it when it happened.

"What is it?"

"You're smiling uncle… Are you happy?"

Her innocent red eyes looked into his very soul. There was very little that could escape the little vampire girl.

"I-I am smiling…?"

Rakasha touched his own face, as tears stared flowing out of his eyes out of the blue.

"W-Why are you crying now?" She asked while being worried.

"N-Nothing I just…" Rakasha sighed. "I just… I guess I am happy."

Rakasha gently patted Ruby's little head, as he smiled back at her with tearful eyes.

"Thank you for making me smile, Ruby… Thank you for being here, with this uninteresting old man…"

Rakasha recalled such mast, all his memories emerging within his mind as tears continued flowing from his eyes. His hammer blazing with divine furnace flames as he continued hitting the barrier over and over and over again.

CLAAASH!

CLAAASH!

CLAAAASH!

CLAAAAASSSSHHH!

"Ruby… RUBY! RUBYYYYYY!"

As he screamed his lungs out, he continued remembering.

"Uninteresting? You're not uninteresting Uncle! You're so nice with me and… You're also super amazing, I've never seen someone capable of making items! Can you teach me one day?"

For a few seconds in that moment, Rakasha recalled the same adorable face with an endless and innocent curiosity from his daughter within Ruby's face.

"Sure… I guess this old man's not that boring as I thought, huh… How about I teach you how to make accessories, eh?"

"That would be great! Maybe I could make a ring or something… for mama."

As memories continued flowing, Rakasha continued hitting the barrier, more and more furiously.

"Your mother? Where is she?"

Ruby looked into the window.

"In a faraway place… Mama saved me from someone evil, but… she doesn't want me to be exactly free either… I still love her though. I hope that one day I can tell her that… I don't want to become what she wants me to become…"

"Ah… I see. Maybe one day we can tell her, together. How about it?"

"I never thought about asking for help… You're right!"

As these memories flowed and the screams of Rakasha echoed across the mountains, they slowly reached the sharp ears of the unconscious Ruby, who was resting over the magic circle in the floor, right in front of Red.

Several cultists were conjuring an incantation, using many Divine Materials assembled around the divine magic circle. The runes began glowing bright red, as Red smiled back at the sleeping girl.

"She can't hear you, foolish brute."

She laughed at Rakasha's screams.

But within Ruby, as she submerged within an endless abyss of darkness, she could hear him.

The voice slowly became louder, and louder, and louder…

"Ruby…"

"Huh? Who is this voice…?"

"Ruby…!"

"This voice…"

"RUBY!!!"

"Ah…!"

"RUBYYYYYY!"

"Uncle?"

"I don't want you to die… I couldn't do a single thing back then… I couldn't do a single DAMN THING! But now I can… I HAVE TO! RUBY…! RUBYYYYY!"

"Uncle!"

Ruby felt lost in the endless sea of darkness, as she was confused.

Countless red eyes opened as she saw around herself.

They were the eyes of an unfathomable being, her progenitor, her oldest ancestor.

A merciless and ruthless man shrouded in mystery, the one that brought the massacre and carnage to this world…

"Ruby..."

"Eh? Ah… It's you again?!"

"I've always been there."

"Eh?"

"Watching you."

"No… No…!"

"I know how you feel…"

"You don't know a thing! You're a monster!"

"A monster… I guess that's how I've always been addressed… But are you not a monster too?"

"No… I…!"

"Discriminated, treated as a dangerous being, dependent in blood, weak to sunlight, seen as a monster by literally everybody in the world… Ruby, stop pretending to be different. You're one of us, one of my family members."

"Stop… get away from me!"

Ruby's consciousness continued being covered by the endless darkness.

"She will soon steal all your powers away… Do you truly want it? Do you want our legacy to end here?!"

"Leave me alone…"

"I'll help you free yourself! I'll help you claim the power you always had!"

"No… I am not…!"

"You're my vessel, and you and I… shall reign this world once more."

"Stop…! No!"

As Ruby fought against the powerful mind of the Vampire Progenitor, the runes around her began to destabilize, the enormous aura emerging from within her even without her necklace were tremendous!

"What the…?! What's going on?!"

Red was suddenly left speechless, the entire ritual was being interrupted, everything slowly stared failing!

And all of this was Rakasha continued hitting the barrier, with everybody else's efforts.

Small cracks suddenly began to emerge, slowly, yet steadily.

Drake finished his incantation that only took him twenty seconds, an enormous magic circle was conjured in a split of a second as endless holy light was conjured from all within his body, gathering into his claws.

"Rakasha, sorry for taking so long… Divine Holy Light Magic: [Heaven's Judgement]!"

FLAAAAASSSSHHHHH!!!

An enormous ray of pure holy light emerged from within Drake's hands, clashing against the Formation…

Crack… crack…!

CRAAASH!