CHAPTER 260: THE ANCIENT BATTLE AND THE AEON

The elder paused while took a cup filled with warm tea and moistened his dry throat before continuing.

"By that time," he said, "our people, the Minoan tribe had already fled to hide deep within the northern mountains. A few brave souls risked their lives to go outside and send us what little news they could."

He finished that part of the story and fell silent for a moment.

Shiao Yi thought back to the creature he and Dominic had seen deep underground, the Aeon.

What they had witnessed was surely only a fragment of its true form.

He could not even imagine how vast the entire body must have been.

It had no eyes, no mouth, no organs like any living thing should have.

Its existence was like slime. It’s amorphous, shifting, impossible to understand and yet, it lived.

Its alien nature reminded Shiao Yi of the enemy he had once fought in his previous life.

The Aeon didn’t look like that enemy at all—their shape, their essence, everything about them was different. But both shared that same incomprehensible and terrifying quality something beyond reason, beyond all understanding.

That same feeling stirred something deep within Shiao Yi and it was a memory he had buried long ago. The memory of that hopeless battle where he and his comrades were sent to fight an enemy that no one could truly comprehend, knowing few would ever return alive.

A shiver ran down his back. His chest tightened painfully as he imagined the fear and despair that the people of this world must have endured, being attacked day after day by such monsters.

A warm hand touched his back. When he leaned into it, Dominic pulled him gently into his arms. The faint scent of him, the steady warmth of his body, slowly loosened the tension in Shiao Yi’s trembling frame.

"It’s all right," Dominic whispered beside his ear, his voice low and soft. "I’m here. I’ll protect you."

Shiao Yi hadn’t said a word aloud, but somehow, Dominic understood the fear that still lingered inside him, the fear that refused to fade.

There was no proof in those words, no real guarantee but the sound of that quiet and steady voice filled Shiao Yi’s heart with calm and made him believe, if only for a moment, that everything would be all right.

With Dominic here, everything would be all right. He’s was not alone. Dominic was with him.

A single tear slipped down his cheek and Dominic’s fingers gently wiped it away.

He didn’t care that Koios was slumping in shock or that the head of the Leto family was watching them with an exasperated expression.

He didn’t care that people might call them a foolish couple.

Shiao Yi loved Dominic deeply. He did not want to let go of these warm arms that held him so safely.

Whether the elder noticed them or not, he lifted his gaze far into the past and began to speak with a solemn tone.

"If things had continued as they were, all life would eventually have been lost. The last remaining kingdom faced the ultimate battle with everything it had. Those who did not join the fight scattered across the world, leaving their homeland behind. The royal family, knights, and those with strong magical power remained as bait. The magicians by using their lives prepared magic circles throughout the kingdom, waiting."

"Eventually, drawn by the concentrated magical energy, the Aeon appeared. By this time, the Aeon had grown so enormous that they covered the entire land of the kingdom. Those who remained as bait poured their magical energy into the circles while offering themselves as lures, keeping the Aeon contained within the kingdom. The magicians used every ounce of their life to power the magic circles."

"The earth split open and the kingdom, along with the Aeon, the king, princes, knights, and magicians, sank deep into the ground."

"Everything was buried far beneath the surface and the final magic circle was activated. A strong barrier was woven between the surface and the depths of the earth. The barrier spread out covering the world. It was designed to trap everything. To trap the Aeon underground."

"Thus, the kingdom disappeared, leaving behind the vast Desert of Death. A new history began. The Aeon do not appear now, but the corrupted magical beasts still emerge. The fear that the Aeon may one day return to the surface has not vanished. Our Minoan people have made it our duty to pass down this history to future generations. We are the only ones who know these events from the Prehistoric Era."

The elder paused, then continued. "At that time, our distant ancestors who witnessed everything reported seeing a pillar of light rising far from the kingdom, in the wasteland. That place was where the sanctuary fortress stood. The world at that time was far more advanced than it is now. They say there were tools and facilities that today would seem like nothing but a dream. We do not know exactly what the magic circles in the royal capital looked like, but surely they were unimaginably advanced, beyond anything we could comprehend. These circles must have resonated with the magic circles in fortresses scattered across the world, spreading the barrier across the entire globe. That is what still protects us from the Aeon today."

The elder finished his story and closed his eyes. Perhaps he was praying for the souls of the courageous people of that ancient kingdom.

Shiao Yi listened quietly, his heart heavy with awe and a deep sense of respect for the sacrifices that had made his own survival, and the survival of his world, possible.

After leaving the Leto household, Shiao Yi walked along the corridor leading to the Pallas household with Dominic, his mind replaying everything he had seen in the underground world. Dominic seemed to be thinking the same.

"Shiao Yi, do you remember the magical beast we encountered just before escaping to the surface? The one that seemed to have once been human?"