"'Hmm, One is surprised such knowledge can even still survive this long.'"
Nox paused. What do you mean by that?
Veil's ethereal voice drifted into the boy's mind lazily as he explained, "'Well, it's been well over five hundred thousand years since One was shattered into fragments. One is impressed such knowledge can still exist after so long...'"
Nox looked confused, muttering under his breath, "How do we have such knowledge if it's been five hundred thousand years since you were sealed?"
A sudden, dead silence dropped over the table.
Rakï looked up sharply from her fourth croissant. Silvanus' hand froze mid-air, right as he was moving the platter of pastries away from her. Even Zayne's breath hitched in the corner. Nox froze, realizing his mistake a second too late.
"... How do you know that?"
Silvanus' eyes narrowed directly onto his son.
A bead of sweat dripped down the side of Nox's face. He quickly stuffed his mouth with another piece of waffle to buy time. '... Should I come clean? I mean, they basically just told me we belong to a lineage of spiritualists...'
He reached out to Veil mentally. 'Should I tell them?'
Veil hummed in thought. "'Since we have reached this point, why not come clean? What's the worst that can happen?'"
What Veil said actually made sense. Gritting his teeth, Nox swallowed the food and forced himself to speak. "... You might not believe me when I say this, but after I regained consciousness from my accident two months ago, there was this entity bound to me. They said they were a god and that they had chosen me. Since then, I have been able to see the creatures of the Spiritual Plane. It was back then that the entity told me two Authorities were given to me to use freely: Tzel and Baloev."
Rakï took in a sharp, audible breath, her eyes widening. For a moment, the very air in the room stilled.
Silvanus took a slow sip of his now lukewarm coffee, then spoke unhurriedly, "What did that entity say their name was?". Nox hesitated.
"'Go on, child. You can tell them. They will believe you.'"
Nox took a slow, deep breath, then forced the word out. "... Veil..."
Silvanus and Rakï instantly exchanged a heavy look. Then, Rakï leaned forward, her expression softening into an encouraging smile. "Dear, what did this... 'Veil' tell you?"
With the truth finally out in the open, Nox recounted his entire meeting with the God Fragment from two months ago. Everything he had experienced, everything he had learned from Veil—he spoke it all.
When he finished, the entire room fell dead silent. The only thing breaking the quiet was the steady, rhythmic ticking of an ornate clock on the wall.
Tick! Tock! Tick! Tock!
Rakï bowed her head, resting her forehead against her clasped hands. Silvanus stared blankly up at the ceiling. Zayne stood rigid behind the head chair, his face uncharacteristically grim. Nox stared down at the gold threads of the exquisite tablecloth, entirely unsure of what to do next. Underneath the table, Meimei was completely curled up, happily using his feet as a warm pillow.
"... This is... Damn..." Rakï let out a heavy breath.
Silvanus rubbed his temples in frustration. "... Nox," he began, his eyes still fixed on the ceiling. "... Did this... 'Veil' not tell you how they were shattered into fragments and sealed?"
Nox shook his head. "No."
Silvanus sighed deeply and shifted his gaze over to the butler. "Zayne, you were there when it all went down. You tell him."
Zayne lifted an eyebrow playsfully. "It's been many years, Chairman. It seems I don't quite recal—"
"I'll triple your year-end bonus," Silvanus interrupted flatly.
Zayne's smile widened instantly, his eyes crinkling into joyful slits as he spoke cheerfully, "Ah, yes! I remember perfectly now. Listen well, Young Master!"
Rakï snorted into her coffee.
Zayne cleared his throat, his posture straightening. "Five hundred thousand years ago, in the time of the 109th Vessel of Darkness, Vurunoc Vohu, the seven continents were actually one. The worshippers of the God of Light launched brutal campaigns against the followers of the God of Darkness. They claimed the God of Light was the sole salvation of the world, and that the God of Darkness was its ultimate scourge. Those who took solace in the Darkness were treated worse than worms. Because of this, the two dominant religions split across the land. Wars were continuously waged between nations and temples alike, until the Temple of Light completely wiped out the core of the Faith of Darkness: the Vohu Clan."
Nox furrowed his eyebrows, interrupting the story. "Vohu Clan? Isn't our family name supposed to be Arur?"
Zayne chuckled softly. "After the God of Darkness was sealed, that name absolutely needed to disappear, otherwise the entire clan would have been hunted to extinction. Unlike the God of Darkness, the God of Light never favored a single family line, choosing to frequently change Vessels instead. Shifting Vessels didn't destabilize the Light's core forces, but targeting our bloodline directly was meant to hurt the Vohu Clan permanently."
Nox hummed, digesting the ancient history. Zayne continued.
"It was during that crisis that Vorunoc Vohu received a direct word from the God of Darkness: they would descend to Terra," Zayne continued. "This was terrible for the the followers of the God of Light for Vorunoc Vohu was a terrifying woman... She wasn't just a Vessel. When she walked onto the battlefield, the shadows didn't just rise—they starved. In terms of power, she was not to be taken lightly. And so each Faith armed themselves and prepared for a final, apocalyptic confrontation. Then, on a fateful day—one that started quite uneventfully, actually—the two massive armies clashed. At that exact moment, the God of Darkness descended, and immediately, the God of Light did too. It was a divine battle like nothing this world has ever seen since. The raw power was so immense that the fabric of reality began fraying the longer they stayed in the mortal world."
Zayne's cheerful tone turned momentarily serious. "Ultimately, the God of Darkness was struck down, shattered into nine individual fragments, and sealed away. Though, not all of them were caught. Three fragments were cast into the Dream Realm, four fragments were locked away by the Faith of Light, and two fragments were completely lost to time, their locations entirely unknown. After the shockwave of that battle, the single continent fractured and split into the seven we know today, permanently separating the nations. Many ancient races were completely wiped out in the cataclysm and civilization was reset... And that is exactly what happened!"
Nox pressed his palms to his forehead, feeling a massive headache coming on from the sheer weight of the information. "... Ugh, my head hurts... Wait a minute..." His eyes suddenly snapped wide open as he processed a terrifying realization, staring dead at the butler.
"You're five hundred thousand years old?!"
Zayne offered a polite, closed-lip smile. "No, Young Master. I am over five hundred thousand years old."
Nox sat completely stunned.
Silvanus let out a light, commanding cough to regain control of the room. "Now that you finally know our history, we need to properly assess you... No, we need to assess the one called 'Veil.' We must see if they are truly the genuine God of Darkness, or simply a malicious entity imitating them."
"'Hah! How preposterous! One? An imitation?!'"
With a sudden surge energy, Veil popped straight out of Nox's chest, his spherical form hovering in the air.
Nox frowned, looking between his father and the floating entity.
"... How exactly do you plan to do that?"
Silvanus lifted his now-empty coffee cup, which Zayne seamlessly stepped forward to refill. "Simple," his father replied, his silver eyes locking onto his son's.
"Let the entity talk to us directly."