Sweet daily life of Little Tanuki and Qin Che in Love and Deep Space

It's a pity that I couldn't see your dragon one last time before I left.

I wonder if he'd feel sorry for you if he saw you looking like this...

I think so...

"Qin Che..." you whispered his name, in a voice only you could hear.

That requiem, you remember the dragon liked this song.

However, you have never sung it to him in its entirety.

You don't know whether death or a return awaits you at the end of the story.

All you know is that this is the first time, and it may be the last.

Time seemed to rewind to a night in Tal City, at the top of the Dragon Cave, where he sat beside you, saying, "Sing it again."

Tiny notes squeezed out of your chest, gathering together little by little.

You know, he can hear you; his soul is inside your body.

The lightning strikes interrupted the song time and again, but the pain that struck the soul did not stop your singing.

At this moment, you feel as if all sound has disappeared, and only that lingering requiem echoes throughout the entire Court of Judgment.

The lingering sound faded away on the ground...

Actually, you've always wanted to tell him that besides this song, you can sing many other songs, and if he likes them, you can sing them all for him.

I just don't know if there will ever be another chance...

After a long while, as if in response, a long, drawn-out whistle came from behind Tongyun.

You struggled to lift your head and look up at the sky.

Yes, the sound of a dragon?

He's here...

The hypocritical old man shouted excitedly, "It's here! The dragon has descended! Control her! Control the dragon bait!"

The ground shook, and all the weapons were aimed at the dragon.

This is a carefully planned final hunt for the dragon, using you as bait.

But so what? Nothing can stop a raging dragon.

It slaughtered everyone in the Court of Judgment.

Only you are left, the last one.

In the clouds, a wounded dragon swoops down at you, its eyes filled only with the chaos and madness unique to wild beasts.

Reason tells you that it's just a dragon, and it no longer recognizes you.

You suddenly remember the story Qin Che told you in the alley outside that little tavern, the story about the dragon and his lover...

You remember him saying, "The monster could never truly become human; he couldn't escape the fate of a dragon, nor could he love anyone for long. So, at the end of the story, he killed his lover. This is the dragon's curse."

So, another story has come to an end.

Very well, you've come to kill your dragon.

Great, you are his lover...

Facing the direction the wind is blowing, you open your arms, wanting to embrace your dragon one last time.

But you didn't get the embrace you were waiting for, nor did you get the death you were waiting for.

Before the dragon's attack, you feel a hand grab your wrist.

He places your hand on his chest, and subtly, you feel a resonance between you and your other half of your soul.

"Qin Che!"

In the split second before the death brought by the dragon arrives, through the resonance of souls, that blood-red greatsword reappears in your palm.

No!

Your throat is so dry and hoarse that you can't make a sound.

Only your heart cries out in silence.

Yet it still pierced straight through the dragon's chest.

It looks as if you inserted it yourself.

Once you fall, your fate will plummet into the abyss of curses, as if written in the book, with no turning back.

The blurry, phantom image that once appeared in my dream has become reality.

The dragon gripped your hand tightly and, with all its might, thrust the sword into its own chest.

This was his final act of defiance against fate.

You cling to the dragon's neck, and together you plummet from the clouds.

The dragon used its last strength to carry you away from the Court of Judgment.

It flew over the obsidian chapel and crashed into a valley filled with datura flowers.

Its body lay quietly among the flowers, its garnet-like eyes reflecting your clear image.

"Look at me, I won't let you close your eyes!"