CHAPTER 290: THE AEON AWAKENS

Dominic watched the flow of magic power leaving the stone chamber.

But there was no sign at all that it was stopping.

As he grew more and more impatient, Isolde came running out, her face completely drained of color.

"It’s no good! Even when I try to stop the flow, it won’t stop! It keeps pouring out on its own! ...Ah!!"

Dominic’s expression must have been extremely harsh.

Isolde’s words stopped, and she froze, stiff with fear.

It was too late!! Because of this foolish woman, was everything now sliding into the worst possible ending?!

Inside Dominic, there was nothing but anger.

"Destroy the entire stone room. Isolde, release the barrier. We must stop the Aeon from coming out no matter what. Chancellor! Evacuate everyone in the palace! No—think of the worst. Send all citizens out of the capital at once! Make them run as far away as they can!"

"At-at this time of night, moving so many people will cause terrible confusion!"

The Chancellor shouted with wide eyes.

He looked like he might faint at any moment.

But Dominic had no time or kindness left for him.

"If they don’t run, they’ll be eaten! If they’re fine being eaten by the Aeon, then do as you please!"

"Eek!"

The Chancellor jumped and then ordered the soldiers to evacuate the people in the palace at once.

Then he himself ran toward the government hall to move the citizens outside the capital.

"You mean to destroy that room?"

Isolde snapped at him.

"Is there any other way to stop this?"

"We don’t know how much magic power has built up in there. That room has taken in my extra magic power for years. It might explode in a huge blast. The palace might even be blown apart!"

"That’s why I ordered the evacuation. Either way, if the Aeon appears, not only the palace but the capital and the whole country will end. So we must bet on the chance we have."

A glittering and richly dressed man stumbled forward while standing in front of Isolde as if to protect her while she opened and closed her hands in hesitation.

"H-How dare you speak so rudely to the Queen! Acting like you’re so great! Just because you’re a little better-looking than me! Wh-who do you think you are?!"

He was clearly scared of Dominic.

His body and legs trembled and even his voice shook.

And still, he had followed them all the way here and tried to protect Isolde, even with a bit of personal feelings mixed in.

In a way, it was admirable.

But now was not the time.

"Move! Get out of my way!"

Dominic brushed the man aside with one hand.

The man screamed and went flying.

"Isolde. Release it, now!!"

Because of the man’s bold action or maybe foolish action Isolde finally made up her mind.

"...Fine."

With one short answer, she ran toward the stone room.

A moment later, the barrier covering the stone room vanished.

Dominic made Isolde and the soldiers step far back.

He focused his mind and letting his magic power run through his whole body.

He stretched both hands toward the building and released the built-up magic in one strike.

BOOM!!

When Dominic’s magic blast reached the stone room as if it were being swallowed, a flash of light ran through the air with a huge roar.

It seemed that the magic power stored inside the stone room had answered his magic blast and exploded together with it.

A violent shockwave surged out and knocked down the trees around them.

When the dust finally settled, the Queen’s palace had been blown away along with the stone room itself.

The whole surrounding area was destroyed, leaving only the base of the foundation behind as rubble.

But even while the magic blast exploded, Dominic sensed massive magic power being sucked from the stone room toward the direction of the inlet.

It seemed the path for Isolde’s magic transfer had already been rewritten by the gate to carry the flow straight into the demon world.

A shaking like a deep rumble traveled through the ground under his feet.

It grew stronger and stronger, rising violently from below.

The source was obvious, it was the gate at the inlet.

Shiao Yi... The Aeon is coming... The barrier has been broken.

Sending those thoughts to Shiao Yi, Dominic ran toward the inlet.

The growing quake kept stealing his footing.

The trees shook, the roofs of buildings collapsed ad the stone lanterns fell over.

The red painted board fences twisted and bent like waves.

When he reached the edge of the high ground and looked down at the inlet, the broken altar lay shattered.

The small mound of sand behind it had become a clay like hill covered in jagged stone chunks.

In the center, a bottomless and black endless hole had opened.

From it, a massive amount of foul mist burst upward.

No, it was dark magic, an opposite force to their own light magic.

It shot straight up and then swelled out in a huge burst.

"It’s coming!!"

Dominic drew his sword from its sheath and held it ready.

A shapeless black mass rose from the inflated gate.

It stretched upward higher and higher without showing its full form.

What they had met in the demon world had truly been only a tiny part of it.

Even from this place far above the inlet, Dominic could only look up at the Aeon towering before him like a mountain.

It had no eyes, no mouth and no clear form, it was just like a giant black slime.

The sheer pressure of its presence stunned his body and mind, almost forcing his knees to collapse to the ground.

Facing such an insane monster, he was honestly afraid.

The difference in power was too clear.

There was no point in even comparing.

To that thing, someone like Dominic was nothing more than a winged ant.

But, he forced his trembling body to obey and wrapped magic power around his sword.