-Chapter Forty-Seven-

New Destinations

When Aelius opened his eyes again, there were severely intense dark circles beneath them, all resulting from immense mental strain.

How did he forget how he died?

The most important moment of his past life.

Slowly, he pushed himself up to the edge of the bed and hunched over, burying his head in his knees.

What has he been fighting for all this time?

Revenge?

A hero? Him?

No, he was just a fool.

The true heroes were the ones who gave their lives willingly for the cause.

Why was he still alive? Why did he come back in time, after everything that happened to him?

What was the point, if the destruction of the world was inevitable?

What was the point of returning, when he cannot resist his fate?

He doesn’t even have the will to be angry anymore.

Should he just… end it here?

Both his past and future… is pointless.

Opposite him, he knew Asura was sleeping. But what was the point even if she was right here with him?

With a future like that waiting for them, what’s the point of walking down this Path?

No… if he did that, what about all this anger burning within him?

The grief that was rapidly turning to hatred.

In the corner of the room, he didn’t notice the door open and a voice call his name.

His mind was too preoccupied, it wasn’t functioning in clarity, as the voice drew closer and a pair of soft hands took him into their grip.

“Aelius!”

The familiar voice called and Aelius looked up, finding a black-haired teenager opposite him.

This person is… Lia.

“Aelius, are you okay!?”

Ah, right. Lia. It’s Lia.

“Oh… Lia, is that you?”

“What’s wrong, Aelius?” she asked him.

He didn’t know what to say.

“I’m just tired, I guess.”

He turned his head back away, looking at the ground.

I’m nothing but a powerless coward. I’ve been shamelessly thinking I can change the outcome of this life. All this time, I’ve been making a fool of myself in the eyes of fate, Aelius internally scoffed. Chosen. As if.

Suddenly, he felt a pair of arms embrace him, and a soft sniffle come from Lia’s voice.

“Then rest. If you’re tired, just rest.”

She didn’t say anything anymore.

Rest would be nice… It would be nice, yeah. But it’s just not possible. Time waits for no man. That future calamity… that started with… Saki? It was Saki, the Datenshi who opened the path to the Grand Horizon.

And Lia. The very same Lia that was embracing him right now. She was dead in his past life.

On one arm, he has the Heir of the Heavenly Order, the Supreme Ruler of Mana. On the other arm, he has Saki, the cause of the Cataclysm.

Maybe fate isn’t impossible to resist, if you know what’s coming?

The Patriarch is difficult to kill, but what if they fight Lia? We know that Lia can control any other person’s Mana at will, but that’s only the case with Conjurers.

That’s fine, that means that when we attack the nest, she can render the only Conjuring Devil in existence useless. That way, I can save Valorie’s life.

If I teach Valorie how to wield Dimensional Energy, she can also become a huge asset to defeating the Patriarch’s underlings, which can save Halona’s life.

And lastly, if Lia can really manipulate the Mana within not only Conjurers, but also Augmenters, that means that she can render Devils into normal opponents!

Right now, I could have the ultimate nemesis of Devils in my arms.

It’s still too early to hope, but… there’s a chance. And there’s no time to waste.

No time to waste. No time to rest. We’re already behind schedule.

I need to awaken Lia’s powers immediately.

—-----------------------

At first, it was unexpected when Saki left him. At first, Aelius felt despair at how he had just found hope and yet now Saki had embarked the same path as his past life.

But, truthfully, it wasn’t that unexpected.

He already knew the future, and of course Fate wouldn’t be that easily deterred.

At least, there is one advantage he has in this life that he didn’t in his last.

A bond with Saki. According to her, she is polarised to his existence in the eyes of the Universe.

Along with that, and knowledge of the future, Aelius is certain he can find a way around what’s coming.

In the meantime, he has to focus up. Time to embark toward new destinations.

Raphie who had defeated the Spectre with the power of the Pixies had lost all but her normal powers the next day.

Regardless, she took her sister’s place to take charge of the village, and began her role as both chief and guardian.

Aelius knew she was strong though, so as long as they don’t face a threat on the same scale as the Spectre, this unnamed village should hopefully be fine.

As for the Noble Escorts, Aelius didn’t interact with them much.

He also kept Asura away from them. With Lia and her in tow, he exchanged goodbyes to Raphie, and quickly departed back into the desert.

It was only but the first night of many they were yet to spend in the so-called Death Glades, that encompassed both the Death Desert and his aim, that lay at the centre of the desert, the Death Fields…

—-----------------------

On the other side of the Farrien Kingdom, a small village was being built hidden away from prying eyes.

Most of its residents were young children, but recently, they got a new member. The man was none other than one of the Archdukes of the Kingdom, the Aerianne Archduke.

“I’ve got someone for you to meet,” Aria told him the very first day he arrived.

“Right,” her father answered unsurely as he followed. “This person has been taking care of you?”

“Fufu, I suppose that’s one way to put it.”

He raised an eyebrow curiously at her enigmatic response.

“Come along now.”

Aria turned away and escorted him through a short series of caves until they saw an opening at the end.

Blocking it however, was a magic barrier.

The Archduke approached the glowing barrier in awe.

It was not simple magic. It was incredibly complex. Something that had to have been at the Eighth Tier, minimum.

“I can move through freely, but for you, we’ll have to temporarily disable it.”

The father watched his daughter reach out to the barrier, her eyes glowing golden, and a small hole opened before them.

“Now, head on through,” she suggested.

“Mm, alright then.”

The Archduke stepped through, glancing around him as the hole closed up and Aria stepped through the barrier itself without resistance.

She quickly took her place in front of him again, the soft patter of her footsteps echoing around the rocks as she continued, until they finally walked out into the light.

The Archduke’s vision returned to him after being momentarily blinded from the sudden change in light, and gasped to see that within the mountain, there was an entire miniature village.

Dotted around the hills were individual huts, and he could see areas like a small town centre.

What was most incredible was the blue sky overhead, with clouds.

“That’s a…” the Archduke squinted his eyes.

“Yes, it’s a projection. Truthfully, we are underground currently.”

Though they were underground living within rock, trees and rivers flowed around them. This was a village designed around nature.

“Aria!”

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They were interrupted by a voice and the Archduke looked over to find a teenager running up the hill to them.

“Aria! Who is that!?” the boy exclaimed, arriving with a pant.

He was modest in appearance, with black hair and brown eyes, appearing to be the same age as Aria and Aelius.

“Ah, Brian. Well, let me introduce you. This is my father, the former Archduke of the Aerianne Archduchy,” Aria smiled and the boy’s eyes widened.

He turned to face the Archduke before he began to nervously tremble.

“I-it’s an honour to meet Aria’s father!” he respectfully bowed his head.

“Oh, uh. Sure, no need to be so formal with me,” the Archduke uncomfortably assured the young teen.

“I’m going to go see Granny now. Do you mind escorting the kids outside back in? I also think some went out for gathering fruit.”

“Okay,” the child named Brian nodded. “If I run into any trouble, I’ll make sure to convey it through the messaging system.”

“Alright. Stay safe,” Aria smiled and his cheeks flushed, before he quickly turned away and disappeared through the barrier.

“Right…” the Archduke sighed, turning back to face the village.

“Let’s continue.”

They made their way through the wooden village, until they came to a shrine-like building built into the side of the village cavern.

Upon entering, it was revealed to be merely but an entrance into a deeper tunnel, and upon progressing even further in, the Archduke was surprised to see it was a very serene environment.

There was a large tree growing in the centre of the large cave, with a clear pool sitting before it. The water dazzled like stars in the night sky, and tranquil clouds of glowing lights floated about the air.

It was the definition of magical.

“Grandma~” Aria called as she led her father toward the pool. “It’s me.”

Her father looked perplexed, examining his surroundings when he suddenly felt the hairs on his neck stand on end.

An ominous presence descended over him and he froze, his eyes darting around the cave until he noticed movement within the pool.

As the waters stirred, it began as a small shadow but grew larger.

The Archduke’s eyes widened in sudden overwhelming awe and fear in the presence of the majestic creature rising out of the sacred waters.

All the hairs on his neck and arms rose up to stand on their end as he gazed at it.

“T-that’s…”

A pair of golden eyes with thin slits for pupils, identical to his daughter’s, opened and looked down at him.

“Aria, you’ve brought a stranger today.”

The voice spoke in the Duke’s head, for the dragon’s mouth did not move.

“This is my father,” Aria gestured to him with a light hearted smile. “He came to find me.”

“Hmm…” The dragon bent its head down, coming closer to him and the Archduke froze.

A dragon? Dragons actually existed? he asked himself in bewilderment.

“You do not seem to be a descendent of the Varnia lineage. It must have been her mother that hailed from it.”

“Varnia?” the Archduke repeated, dumbfounded.

That was his wife’s maiden name, his daughter’s maternal family that lived further up North outside of Farrien.

“Yes… that was my wife,” he answered.

“I see. Well, welcome. I can see why you have come. Through you, I can see the nature of your wife.”

The dragon’s words were unsettling, the Archduke realised, as it gazed back into his eyes through its golden irises.

It was as though it was looking through to his soul.

“As long as your father faithfully contributes to our home, I am willing to permit his stay here. If he stays true to character, he will do well to help you and Brian in keeping peace in the village.”

“Thank you, grandma!” Aria thanked her with a beam.

“T-thank you,” the Archduke nodded, still bewildered.

“Yes. I can tell you two have some catching up to do. Aria, I will allow you to bring him up to speed with our affairs. Come find me again if there’s anything else you need.”

“Okay,” Aria smiled back as the dragon disappeared back into the pond, and she turned back to her father. “Let’s step out.”

The two having been finally reunited, the Archduke made it very clear he was willing to leave behind all the superfluous achievements of his life working under the Farrien Royal Family.

He asked Aria of her story, and as she told him everything that took place in his absence, his doubt that she had changed was only further confirmed.

It did not feel like he was conversing with his teenage daughter. Whatever happened, it felt like she had matured greatly in such a short time.

They covered how she awakened the God Eyes, which were in reality, the Eyes of Truth belonging to the dragons.

Her mother’s ancestors, the Varnian lineage, had a close generational relationship to dragons, and as such, she received the Eyes of Truth when she coincidentally ran into ‘grandmother’ many years ago.

No one knew the name of ‘grandmother’. Only that she had founded a small, hidden village to provide a home to gifted and misfortuned children, just as how she had saved Aria at first.

Aria was surprised to discover the existence of the village when she returned to further master magic under grandmother, and somehow ended up being one of the only older children there.

Together with Brian, she’s taken on a role of caretaking after the children. Until her father came looking for her.

And that day, for good, the Aerianne Archduchy fell.

As the father and daughter pair conversed, coming to a nice pond in a small, artificial forest, the nature of their conversation shifted to Aelius, and Aria explained the war that was taking place.

Finally, with their feet dipped in the water, Aria looked up at the false sky, smiling to herself.

“I wonder how he’s doing right now? He promised to visit.”

—-----------------------

Aelius, with his entourage, almost bailed out of the village in a rush.

They didn’t have many hours of travel left in the day, having already woken up around noon.

Nonetheless, Aelius refused to stay in the village for another day. With Lia and Asura in tow, they traversed the desert.

They advanced despite the heat and their exhaustion.

Using only Mana to press onward, they tried to cover as much distance as they could until they finally settled camp together with the setting sun.

The atmosphere was heavy, and Lia who had hope to be indulged in Aelius’ attention, quickly fell depressed at his cold and distant demeanour.

The new girl was not like Aria nor Saki. She had an unapproachable aura.

Like she was Royalty.

Night came and they set up one of the tents Raphie had gifted them before they left, and they sat around a fire, as Aelius silently stewed the desert meat they had hunted.

The silence was overwhelming, even through the meal. Until finally, Aelius placed his bowl down and looked at Asura.

“Asura.”

“Yes, my warrior?”

She gave him a smug smirk as she raised her eyes to meet his gaze, leaning back in a seductive pose.

“What can I aid you with?”

“…The Grand Horizon,” Aelius said. “You know what it is, right? A higher plane of existence.”

“Of course. Yes, that’s right,” Asura smiled in response.

“What would happen if our world became connected to the Grand Horizon?” Aelius asked in a grave tone.

Asura tilted her head.

“Saki would be better to ask about this, for she specialises in comprehending World Principles. But, to give you a short answer, anyone who steps into this world, unless they have enough power alone to resist the laws of this world, will be greatly restricted and suppressed.”

Aelius furrowed his brow.

“And how likely is that? Say, out of a hundred people, how many of them would be suppressed- no, let me rephrase that.”

Aelius clasped his hands together, looking into Asura’s eyes gravely.

“Out of a hundred people from the Grand Horizon, how many of them could resist the World Principles?” he asked.

“Hmm…”

For the first time, Asura was not confidently making any remarks. She simply gazed up at the night sky in deep thought.

“They have a different standard of power there. Think about it like this. Let’s assume there was a world beneath us, with its own laws.”

Aelius keenly listened onward.

“If any of the inhabitants from that world set foot in ours, they would be about as strong as an infant, for that is the scale of the power their world could support. Ours is, obviously, within its own standard. On the same assumption, if you set foot in their world, you may also be restricted by the world, into being as weak as an infant from your original world.”

Aelius nodded along, waiting for her point.

“To avoid being restricted, you would need to have sufficient power within yourself. You would need to be stronger than the World Principles, in order to resist them. Let’s just say, for example, anyone above the Eighth Ring can resist the restriction. If someone at the Seventh Ring entered the world, they would be restricted to the equivalent of the Seventh Ring in that world. So they would be on equal footing with other people of the Seventh Ring in the context of that world.”

“I understand. But… what does that mean in terms of the Grand Horizon?” he asked.

“Of course, they have their own standard of power over there, for which we do not even know the names of,” Asura shrugged. “Anyhow, anybody who sets foot in Vertex above a certain level in their own world, can resist this world. Anyone else will scale down.”

“If it’s something like the Eighth Ring, wouldn’t there be very few people? Our world has very few people at the Eighth Ring,” Aelius asked.

“Yes, but just because our world has few people at the Eighth Ring, do you think the Grand Horizon is such a place?” Asura asked. “It is an infinite universe. Talents and incredible geniuses are just drops in a bucket.”

“Shit…” Aelius grimaced. “What do you think would happen if a gateway opened between the Grand Horizon and Vertex?”

Asura frowned at him, sitting up.

“Why are you so suddenly concerned with the affairs of the Grand Horizon?” she asked.

Aelius silently looked back to her for a moment.

“Why do you think the Devils are so desperately amassing power? To be honest, we never considered that, right?”

“Ah, well. I thought it was obvious,” Asura shrugged. “They desire to sit upon a throne where they believe they rightfully reside. And in order to do so, they require power.”

Her response only confused Aelius more, but before he could question her, she continued to speak.

“Anyhow, to answer your question, if a gateway opens, then people from the Grand Horizon will come through to this world. Other people. To the normal residents of Vertex, some of them may seem like gods. Inevitably, world order will be reshaped and the people of Vertex will become citizens under a greater force that arrives from the Grand Horizon. But whatever that fate may be, it’s far better than having your entire species being turned into livestock by your mortal enemies, no?”

Suddenly, something clicked in Aelius’ head.

The Devil Patriarch was so scared of the Grand Horizon, he was acting like they would come through and destroy Vertex.

What was he so afraid of, exactly?

If it’s actually just people like Saki, in other words, fellow humans, then the worst fate that awaited them would merely be subjugation.

At least, if the Grand Horizon will try to enslave Vertex, it’s better than being wiped out by the Devils.

Tristia, his sister, was also from another world. But her existence hasn’t spelt destruction, either. Because she was actually just another normal person, like they were.

What should Aelius do? What should he choose?

The Devils, or the invaders from the Grand Horizon?

It is just a matter of picking one’s poison.

What does his heart tell him? He shut his eyes to listen to his inner self.

It was very simple.

Vengeance.

He desired justice.

Anyone who harms his people, he will kill. Anyone who tries to harm his people, he will kill. Anyone who harmed his people, he will kill.

After everything he went through in his past life, he no longer has any desire to save his species at large.

He wants to live for himself now.

He wants all his loved ones to be happy.

Aria, Alea, Lia, Violet, Claire, Halona, and even Asura.

All the regrets of his life, like Valorie, and the Mercenary troupe under Halona, he will prevent.

From now on, he will dedicate himself to protecting them.

And eradicating the Devils is only the first step in the plan.

As Aelius looked up at the sky, he felt serenity suddenly blow over him.

This new life will be dedicated to new destinations.