After the revelry, pure black’s sanity gradually returned.
"Undying Sword, all materials for the Breath of the Divine Dragon are gathered. It's time to sever immortality."
Of course,
Before meeting the Prince, it was customary to eavesdrop.
"...He is so strong."
"I want to be like him too."
Was this praising my friend?
Pure black’s lips curled into a smile as he eavesdropped. The feeling of gradually becoming stronger and being recognized felt truly good.
It was worth the despair of several nights and countless trial-and-error efforts.
Pure black’s heart blossomed with joy, and he unknowingly walked up to the Prince.
"Wolf."
"Fortunately, you are unharmed."
"Owl..."
"I killed him."
"Mmm..." Hearing Wolf's answer, the Prince was silent for a moment, then apologized, "Sorry..."
"I was just doing what I had to do," Wolf replied calmly.
"Wolf," the Prince choked up slightly, "Thank you, you..."
"Father-in-law has this item," Wolf handed the Long-Plum Scentwood to the Prince.
After receiving the scentwood and examining it, the Prince was shocked, "Mmm!? This is... a branch of the Long-Plum? Is it, on Owl?"
"Yes."
"This way, we're one step closer to completing the Breath of the Divine Dragon."
The Prince nodded excitedly, "Yes, Wolf, you're right."
Then, Wolf handed the stone and the flower to the Prince.
"Oh, oh, so that's... the stone for the Breath of the Divine Dragon? What a strange shape," the Prince said with curiosity.
It's just a gallstone.
Pure black, with a god's-eye view, answered unexpectedly.
"Indeed, someone worshipped this stone."
"Really? Just as Jō wrote..."
"Yes, in the stone gate's deep cave... it said, 'Fragrant and auspicious, welcoming you into the palanquin'," Wolf replied truthfully.
"Into the palanquin... mmm," the Prince murmured, and after thinking for a moment, asked, "Where is it written?"
"In the cave deep within the stone gate."
"Mmm, does it mean to board a palanquin there and marry somewhere?" the Prince analyzed, "Perhaps that place is the entrance to the Divine Realm."
"Fragrant and auspicious... means to be smeared with the Breath of the Divine Dragon, perhaps that's what it means."
"Then, let's quickly put the collected materials into the censer and burn them."
The Prince looked expectant, his long-held wish finally making tangible progress.
As long as he obtained the Dragon's Tears from the Divine Realm, he would officially welcome an ending other than the Shura ending.
All preparations to go to the Divine Realm were complete, awaiting only the final step.
Pure black, returning to Wolf's body, placed the collected materials into the censer on the table before him according to the prompts.
After doing so, he looked at the Prince.
Currently, only the medicinal catalyst – the Dragon's Heritage Blood – was missing.
"Wolf, give me the Undying Sword..." The Prince naturally understood his meaning. After receiving the Undying Sword from Pure black, the little one looked at Pure black shyly.
"Sorry, please close your eyes."
"Huh."
Pure black smiled like an aunt, "Big man, still shy... tsk tsk."
Before he could close his eyes, his vision was forcibly darkened.
"Mmm... woo..."
What a terrible sound.
No wonder he asked someone to close their eyes.
Shortly after a gentle whimper, the Prince's voice came, "It's okay now, Wolf."
His vision recovered, and the censer before him was emitting a faint pink glow, with a subtle fragrance wafting out.
Glancing at the censer, Pure black asked, "Are you okay?"
"Don't worry, I just made a small cut on my chest."
Upon hearing this, Pure black glanced at the Prince's flat chest, "It's not a chest with bumps, what's there for me to be ashamed of?"
"Is this the Breath of the Divine Dragon?"
The Prince stared blankly at the swirling mist emanating from the censer, his face filled with surprise, "It gives me a... nostalgic feeling..."
He turned to look at Pure black, "How about it? Has anything changed?"
"The scent... and the Divine Realm... this word keeps swirling in my mind... it won't go away."
"The Divine Realm... as recorded by Jō, it's probably the path to the Divine Realm from there... but the method to reach the Divine Realm."
"Fragrant and auspicious, welcoming you into the palanquin."
"Mmm, it's already been scented with the Breath of the Divine Dragon. As long as I board the palanquin deep in the stone gate, the path to the Divine Realm will open, right?"
Unlike NPCs in other VR games, Sekiro and other VR games, while guiding players through dialogue, only trigger corresponding plots if the player collects enough items themselves.
Without any awkwardness, it was as if everything was meant to be.
The Prince’s deep emotions drew Pure black into the plot, "The day to sever immortality is just around the corner... Wolf, I implore you..."
"I will not fail in my mission!"
After leaving the room, Pure black did not rush to the depths of the water-borne village’s stone gate.
He turned and went to the second floor, where Ema had been waiting for a long time.
He had learned quite a bit about the Shura ending these past few days and held strong respect for Ema's readiness to face death.
"Lord Wolf... I have found a clue on how not to kill the Prince."
Ema handed a letter to Pure black.
[Ba's Notes
Lord Jō's coughing condition is worsening.
It seems the path back to the Divine Realm is hopeless.
I wish at least to sever the Dragon's Heritage and return him to human form.
To return to mortal form requires two items: the Long-Plum flower and the Undying Sword.
I have the Long-Plum flower at hand, but not the Undying Sword.
I believe it was hidden by Senpou Abbot.
Because the Abbot would surely not wish to see the Dragon's Heritage severed...]
After reading the notes, Pure black instantly understood.
It matches!
Everything matches!
The clues from Miko, regarding the ending of the Dragon Returning Home.
The method to save the Prince's life is: using Miko's body, which has consumed two snake gourds, as a vessel to bring the Dragon's Heritage back to its homeland.
This way, the Prince can survive.
Directly severing the Dragon's Heritage would also sacrifice the Prince, as the carrier of the Dragon's Heritage bloodline. This is the fourth ending, besides severing immortality (Prince's death), Dragon Returning Home, and the Shura ending!
"Returning to mortal form, the Prince will become immortal?" Pure black asked.
"Yes, this records... the method to sever the Dragon's Heritage and return to mortal form," Ema said with a troubled expression, "But to do so, we need the Long-Plum flower. Just as I told you before... Long-Plum is a flower brought from the Divine Realm by Jō, but someone broke its branches with their bare hands and took the flower... Without the flower, the Long-Plum could only wither, and we couldn't even save the Long-Plum tree in the end."
"Without the Long-Plum tree, there is no Long-Plum flower," Pure black mused, "But Father-in-law has the Long-Plum Scentwood, which means the person who callously picked the flower back then was Father-in-law. That old man, I'm going to have to shell out gold again!"
"The branch that was taken still has flowers on it," Ema offered new advice, "If we can find it, perhaps..."
"So... Father-in-law has to die twice... no, should I be abused by Father-in-law twice?"
"Damn it!"
"Mada mada!!!"