The night had not yet ended.
But sleep had abandoned Aerion completely.
After the revelation on the balcony, after hearing the name Aetherion, after feeling that strange golden power awaken inside him… something within him had changed.
The palace had quieted down again, but inside Aerion—
There was no silence.
Only a growing pressure.
Like something ancient was trying to break through.
Aerion stood alone in his chamber.
The curtains moved gently with the night wind, and the faint light of the comet slipped through the glass, casting pale shadows across the room.
His hands were clenched.
His breathing slow.
Unsteady.
"That name…" he whispered to himself.
"Aetherion…"
The moment he said it again—
The golden warmth inside his chest suddenly flared.
Violently.
"Agh—!"
Aerion dropped to one knee.
A sharp pulse of energy shot through his veins.
Not painful.
But overwhelming.
His vision blurred.
The room around him began to distort.
The walls twisted.
The air grew heavy.
"Aerion!"
Lyria's voice echoed from behind as she rushed into the room, but—
Before she could reach him—
The world shattered.
Darkness.
Then—
Fire.
The first thing Aerion felt was heat.
Burning.
Endless.
When his vision cleared—
He was no longer in the palace.
He stood on a battlefield.
A massive one.
The sky above was not blue, but black and crimson, as if the heavens themselves had been torn apart.
Lightning cracked across the clouds.
The ground beneath his feet was soaked in blood.
Broken weapons, shattered armor, and lifeless bodies stretched as far as his eyes could see.
Thousands.
No—
Tens of thousands.
Aerion's breath caught in his throat.
"What… is this…?"
The air trembled.
A distant roar echoed across the battlefield.
Deep.
Monstrous.
And then—
He saw them.
From the far horizon, an endless army advanced.
Creatures made of shadow.
Their forms twisted and unnatural, their eyes glowing with a terrifying red light.
They moved like a living storm.
Devouring everything in their path.
Aerion instinctively stepped back.
But then—
He noticed something.
He wasn't alone.
At the center of the battlefield—
Standing before the entire shadow army—
Was a single figure.
A man.
Tall.
Unmoving.
Surrounded by silence.
Aerion's eyes widened.
The man wore dark armor lined with faint golden patterns.
A long cloak moved behind him despite the still air.
And in his hand—
A blade.
Not just any blade.
A sword that seemed to glow with pure golden light.
The air around it trembled.
Reality itself felt unstable near it.
Aerion felt his heart pounding.
"…That's…"
Even before he heard the name—
He knew.
Aetherion.
The Eternal King.
The shadow army roared.
Thousands of creatures surged forward at once.
A wave of darkness.
Enough to crush entire kingdoms.
But Aetherion did not move.
Not yet.
He simply stood there.
Watching.
Waiting.
Then—
He took one step forward.
And everything changed.
The ground beneath him cracked.
Golden light erupted from his body like a blazing sun.
The air exploded outward.
A shockwave tore across the battlefield, throwing the front lines of shadow creatures into the air like leaves.
Aerion staggered slightly just from witnessing it.
"What… kind of power is that…?"
Before he could process it—
Aetherion moved.
He disappeared.
Not fast.
Not like a blur.
He simply—
Vanished.
And then—
He was in the middle of the army.
A single slash of his sword—
And dozens of shadow creatures were erased instantly.
Not cut.
Not destroyed.
Erased.
As if they had never existed.
The golden light from his blade didn't just damage them—
It removed them from reality itself.
Aerion's breath became heavy.
"That's… impossible…"
The shadows attacked from all sides.
Claws.
Teeth.
Dark energy.
But none of it touched him.
Aetherion moved like something beyond human.
Every step precise.
Every strike absolute.
One swing—
Hundreds fell.
Another—
The ground itself split apart, consuming entire waves of enemies.
He wasn't fighting.
He was dominating.
Completely.
The battlefield turned into chaos.
The shadow army tried to overwhelm him with sheer numbers.
Thousands against one.
But it didn't matter.
Aetherion raised his free hand slightly—
And the sky responded.
Golden lightning tore through the heavens.
Striking down the battlefield.
Every bolt annihilated hundreds of creatures instantly.
The earth burned with radiant energy.
The shadows screamed.
But their screams didn't sound like pain.
They sounded like fear.
Aerion felt his legs weaken.
"This… this is what I'm connected to…?"
The realization hit him like a storm.
That power.
That overwhelming presence.
That wasn't just a king.
That was something far beyond a normal human.
The battle intensified.
The shadows began to merge.
Combining.
Growing larger.
Stronger.
A massive creature formed from the darkness—
Towering over the battlefield like a living nightmare.
Its body twisted with countless screaming faces.
Its eyes burned like hellfire.
It roared—
And the sky itself cracked.
Aerion felt fear crawl up his spine.
"That thing…!"
But Aetherion—
Still stood calm.
Unshaken.
The giant shadow creature charged.
Each step shaking the earth.
It raised its massive arm to crush him—
And then—
Aetherion finally raised his sword fully.
The golden blade ignited.
Brighter than before.
So bright that the battlefield itself seemed to fade in comparison.
For a brief moment—
Everything went silent.
Then—
He spoke.
A voice calm.
Absolute.
"You should have stayed forgotten."
And he swung.
The world split.
Not metaphorically.
Not visually.
Reality itself tore open.
A massive arc of golden light cut through the battlefield.
Through the creature.
Through the sky.
Through everything.
For a second—
There was nothing.
Then—
The giant shadow creature collapsed.
Disintegrating.
Piece by piece.
Until nothing remained.
Silence.
Complete silence.
The battlefield was empty.
The endless army—
Gone.
Destroyed.
Erased.
By one man.
Aerion's breathing became uneven.
"That's… not possible…"
But before he could process anything further—
The vision shifted.
Aetherion stood alone now.
The battlefield behind him destroyed.
The sky slowly clearing.
But something was wrong.
His sword—
Still glowed.
But his body—
Was cracking.
Golden light leaked from the cracks in his skin.
Like his power was too much for even him to contain.
Aerion's eyes widened.
"No…"
Aetherion looked down at his own hand.
For the first time—
His expression changed.
Not fear.
Not pain.
But realization.
"…So this is the cost…"
His voice was quiet.
Almost tired.
The golden light around him grew unstable.
The world trembled again.
And then—
He looked forward.
Directly.
At Aerion.
Aerion froze.
"…He can see me…?"
That wasn't supposed to happen.
This was a vision.
A memory.
But Aetherion's eyes—
Were locked onto him.
And in those eyes—
There was something terrifying.
Not anger.
Not hatred.
But recognition.
Aetherion spoke.
Softly.
But clearly.
"...So you are the one…"
Aerion's heart stopped.
"What…?"
"You carry what remains of me."
The golden light flared violently.
"And what comes next…"
His voice grew heavier.
"…will decide everything."
The world began to collapse.
The battlefield shattered.
The sky broke apart.
Everything turned into light.
"AERION!"
Lyria's voice pulled him back.
He gasped sharply as his vision returned.
He was back in his room.
On the floor.
Breathing heavily.
Lyria was holding his shoulders tightly.
"Aerion! Look at me!"
His eyes struggled to focus.
"Lyria…"
"I'm here."
He grabbed her arm.
"I saw him…"
"Who?"
"Aetherion…"
Her expression changed instantly.
"What?"
Aerion's voice was shaking.
"He fought them… alone…"
"What did you see?"
He looked at his hands.
"They weren't just enemies…"
"They were afraid of him…"
Lyria stayed silent.
Listening.
"And at the end…"
Aerion's voice dropped.
"…he looked at me."
Her grip tightened.
"He saw you?"
Aerion nodded slowly.
"And he said…"
He hesitated.
Then whispered—
"You carry what remains of me."
The room fell silent.
The weight of those words settled between them.
Lyria looked at him carefully.
"That means…"
Aerion slowly clenched his fist.
"Yeah."
"This isn't just a bloodline."
The faint golden light flickered under his skin again.
Stronger.
More stable.
Alive.
"…His power is inside me."
Far beyond the kingdom—
Inside the depths of the shadow realm—
That ancient presence stirred again.
This time—
Not with doubt.
But with certainty.
"…So the vessel has awakened…"
The war that once ended—
Was about to begin again.
But this time—
It wouldn't be the past fighting.
It would be the future.
And Aerion…
Was standing at its center.