Aeren watched the sky, feeling the peace around this place. Comfort started to take him, and he let it happen. Slowly, he began closing his eyes, but then snapped them open and saw a man in the sky.
Aeren saw the man and smiled. He moved away from the stone, which was destroyed by the man's punch as he landed on the destroyed rock and turned his head to Aeren.
Aeren hid behind the elf lady. "Please help me."
Aeren was in despair and felt fear in his heart as he showed this to the elf lady.
Olivia saw the man and could tell the man was stronger than her.
Olivia didn't know who he was, but she knew if she fought him, she couldn't even scratch him.
The man stood up, looked at Olivia, ignored her, and saw Aeren. He felt anger inside after seeing him. His blood was boiling, wanting to kill him as soon as possible, but he didn't show it outwardly.
"Aeren, come out. Don't act like a coward."
Aeren didn't react or reply to him, only watching Olivia with fear and despair.
Olivia saw this and felt pity for a second, then looked at the man again. She couldn't find the courage to fight him—Olivia wanted to kneel before him.
He looked like the elf species, but anyone could tell he wasn't from the elves. His body was built and bulky, with dark abyss-like eyes that held no emotion, only deceit.
Olivia couldn't even muster courage when someone appeared in the sky, more beautiful than Olivia herself. She looked at the man on the ground, and he looked back at her.
"You demon, why have you come here?"
Olivia was shocked by seeing her—she never thought this person would come to protect her. Olivia's fear disappeared, and she started feeling courage. Now she didn't need to kneel before anyone.
She proudly stood on the ground. Aeren noticed this and thought, She must be someone important to know about the Real One. Still, he didn't change much.
Aeren saw this and asked Olivia, "Who is she?"
Olivia was shocked by his question and looked at him with surprise.
"You came seeking help and you don't even know who she is?"
Aeren watched her silently but didn't understand. He thought, Do I need to know about everyone?
Aeren thought it through and started to understand the meaning of Olivia's words. He fully grasped who she was—the Empress. Understanding the situation, Aeren left Olivia and went to the Empress's side, stand before her.
The Real One and the Empress noticed Aeren standing between them. Both looked at him, and the Real One smiled while looking at Aeren without reacting further.
"Lady Empress, please save us from this demon. He is slaughtering our species, and you're the only one who can save us."
She watched him for a few seconds, then turned her head to the Real One and ignored Aeren directly. She didn't reply to him or even acknowledge him.
"HAHAHAHAHAHA, Aeren! If you had begged me, I would have thought of taking you in, but you chose her over me."
The Real One wasn't shocked by her reaction—he had seen her before and gotten the same treatment when he came to her. She simply didn't care about others.
The Real One looked at the Empress and said directly, "I want him. Give him to me, and I will leave. You can hand him over alive or dead—your choice."
The Empress looked at Aeren and saw no quality or feature that moved her. She also felt something odd about him—like something wasn't right.
The Empress dismissed all her thoughts. "Get lost, human."
She waved her hand and struck at Aeren. Dust swirled around him, but she felt no reaction from him. Dust remained around Aeren, but he stayed in one place and whispered loud enough for all to hear—words that filled them with fear: "I've seen enough freedom here. Time to clean up."
None of them understood his meaning, but they all felt fear that almost made them shiver.
They started looking around, wanting to know what made them feel this way, but they found nothing and sighed in relief. They never suspected that Aeren could inspire such fear.
Aeren turned to the Real One and said, "Hey, Real One. Didn't I already give you what you wanted? So why did you come after me?"
Aeren's tone changed. His voice and tone became emotionless, and his eyes held no emotion either. The Real One didn't react, but the others were shocked by his split personality and went on guard against Aeren.
The Empress was already shocked by the fact that she hadn't even scratched him. Though she hadn't used much power, it should have been enough to send a person flying.
"No, you killed my clone, and you will pay for that. Besides, you didn't do anything—it happened on its own."
Aeren thought about it and understood his meaning. No one had seen time reverse, and no one could see such things either. Even time users go with the flow of time—forward and reverse—but they can't do anything about the flow. And if someone has the power to stop time, after it stops, it reverses no matter what.
This was flow—flow couldn't be controlled. Flow was itself one of the freedom's aspects. Flow could be cut but not stopped. But this didn't apply to Aeren. Aeren is freedom, and they were all his—he could take them whenever he wanted, like he took all freedom from space, void, universe, galaxy, and worlds, which was why everything shattered, even the nothingness that lived in the Void.
Aeren thought about these small details, then ignored all thoughts and watched the Real One. "What will you do about it?"
The Real One looked at Aeren silently for a moment. He didn't notice that the Empress had done nothing about it, but she was now slightly doubtful about whether to help him or not.
The Real One had to ask Aeren to join him, or Aeren would become his biggest headache. He didn't even know what Aeren's skills were or how powerful he was. That's why he had told the Empress to give him up or kill him—no third option.
"If you come with me silently, we can make a new contract, or you will die here. The choice is yours."
Aeren thought, Contracts don't bind me, but I've had enough of this freedom.
"I'd rather die than make a contract with a demon."
The Empress smiled at Aeren's words and felt familiarity with him, so she offered, "Okay, I will protect you from this demon. But you have to serve this continent."
Aeren turned his head to the Empress and saw her goddess-like smile, but he didn't fall for her beauty and said, "Fuck off."
The Empress's mouth shut at Aeren's reaction, her mind going blank. She never thought some youngster like him would dare say words that were clearly an insult to all of her elven species.
She shot pure mana at him without saying anything.
Aeren dodged the attack and moved to another position, seeing all the three of opponent opposite to him.
"HAHAHAHAHAHA... Aeren, I like you even more now! Come with me!"
Aeren did not react to his comment and Aeren stood with no emotion on his face and thought, Killing them with freedom would be an insult to my freedom. I will kill them with this body. That will be freedom too.