Aether tried to open the book, but his hands shook uncontrollably. Everyone around him remained still, strangely indifferent to his unraveling. Through blurred vision and tears flooding his eyes, the book slipped from his grip and fell open to a page he hadn't seen before.
The first line read:
"Tears fall, the universe cracks. Today, the Devil's son is born—the savage beast, Aether. He who tried to be a hero… today becomes the villain."
Aether knelt on the ground, weeping. His sorrow seemed to fill the very cosmos, trapped by illusions devouring his soul. A love taken from him had stripped away the last of his reason.
Then, as prophecies do, it fulfilled itself. The space around him began to fracture. As everything crumbled, Aether fell—into a darkness so deep it felt like an endless abyss, a pit with no bottom no matter how long he plummeted.
He opened his eyes with effort—they felt heavier than mountains. In the darkness, he began to see images… of himself, from another world, another timeline.
There, he had succeeded in life. He held the waist of his beloved with tenderness, while their child hugged their legs joyfully. In that moment, Aether's heart swelled with bitterness and envy. His gaze lowered, and his eyes glowed crimson.
In one sentence, Aether affirmed his purpose:
"I will manipulate the threads of destiny."
Suddenly, his fall slowed. Gently, Aether steadied himself and landed on a surface of black water—facing the same person. His older self, the one who had pulled him from Nivar the first time and offered him the choice to return to his life or continue what he started.
Aether the adult.
The younger Aether looked at him with chilling coldness and commanded:
"Return me to Nivar. Now."
It was not a request, nor a plea. It was an order—every word etched with absolute seriousness.
The adult self wanted to speak, but that gaze—that coldness and calm—held something fundamentally changed. With sorrow and disappointment, he said:
"You are no longer... Nivar's hero. Nivar does not allow travelers who are unqualified to be heroes to enter the Gate. I cannot permit you to enter."
The younger Aether stared back with icy clarity. He would not repeat himself—his seriousness was absolute.
"If you don't believe my words, perhaps you'll be convinced to see for yourself."
Then, the younger Aether began moving his hands in the shape of an infinity symbol, tearing the darkness behind him and carving a rift through time and space. With a mix of pride and defiance, the revenge-filled youth strode toward the Gate that supposedly only allowed heroes to enter.
With steady steps, he crossed through as if it were nothing.
Stunned, the older Aether exclaimed:
"This is impossible! How could he cross without issue? The Gate cannot accept him with such intentions—it cannot—"
Before he could finish, the younger Aether completed his passage. He glanced back briefly, their eyes meeting one last time. The youth said coldly:
"Your role is over. You've done your duty. Farewell."
The rift closed, separating the two beings into different worlds. The older Aether spoke his final words softly:
"Perhaps... just perhaps... he is still accepted there. Even as a devil."
"Farewell... my angel of the sky."
There, the last remnants of the older Aether's spirit dissolved within the younger Aether's consciousness, leaving behind an impenetrable darkness—a void even the sun could not illuminate...
When Aether entered Nivar, he found himself in Griffin Forest.
"The forest—the very same one I passed through before."
A distant explosion echoed from the Eastern Kingdom, far to the northeast. Aether looked at his hands and began channeling enhancement magic through his entire body. In an instant, he launched himself nearly 15 meters into the air—and while still ascending, he called out:
"First Gear!"
As soon as the words left his lips, he hurtled forward with crushing speed, shattering the sound barrier in his wake. He reached the kingdom's soil just as Shadow had launched a surprise assault. Leonard was moments from clashing with Shadow when—abruptly—they both heard a voice roar:
"Second Gear!"
Aether landed with tectonic force, the impact alone blasting a shockwave that hurled both fighters backward. Dust and debris settled. Then, Aether lifted his gaze—cold, focused, and unflinching—toward Shadow.
.
.
.
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