We arrived at the surface after struggling to get out of the underground tunnel. Huge shockwaves erupted from the city. The soldiers trembled at the enormous power surge flowing from the direction we are facing.

The tunnel has an exit around the outskirts of Valden city. Dense clouds formed around what could be the battlefield where the landscape transformed every passing second. The cracks in the ground traveled all the way here. We retreated far away but close enough to figure out the situation.

Dense and dark grey clouds surrounded what seemed like a focal point of a massive blast in preparation. Golden flames blazed brilliantly while spreading like a wildfire. I have heard of it before. It must be the same attack that lord Aldir used back in Elenoir. But who is he fighting against? A better question might be who are they fighting against?.

The humidity in the air around us skyrocketed as it became hard to breathe. Several soldiers fainted as the remaining supported them on their shoulders. The scorching heat pierced my skin. We must retreat as far as possible, we will get caught in lord Aldir's attack.

"Everyone, retreat to the hills there. Hurry up." I shouted to grab the attention of my men and we rushed away.

Gusts of cool and pleasant air sped past us. The heat reduced as I was able to let out the breath I held in. It felt as if the heat retracted itself to its source. My rising tensions disappeared despite the unexpected outcome. The soldiers tend to the fallen ones.

The air around us got sucked in the direction of the city as multiple tornados formed at the far expanses of my vision. An invisible barrier, similar to the previous one we encountered before, expanded significantly towards us.

I tried to approach the barrier as its size settled for a while. I held out my hand to touch it. The mana inside me began to leak out. I fell to my knees as I could not sustain the drain. Jolts of pain resonated throughout my mana core.

The soldiers pulled me away from the danger zone and rested me on the flat surface of a rock. I got on my feet after the help from the healers. I sure am getting old, or in this case, maybe the power that drained out the mana folds stronger than me.

A huge sound erupted which ranged my ears. The ground trembled as we could feel an impact traveling towards us. The mana-sucking barrier exploded pushing large amounts of air from it. I urged everyone to get away, though I doubted that we could get away unscathed this time.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. My life flashed on the back of my eyelid. The 200 years that I've spent along with despair and destruction, eventually finding hope in the form of the current generation, and only to lose them. Succumbing back into the darkness. Is this the true cycle of life?.

Well, one thing is for sure. Virion Eralith would not go down that easily. At least the old man that kid knew, wouldn't. This might become my final performance. I activated the second phase of my beast will. The toll for this on my mana reserves was high because of the mana drain before. Nevertheless, I need to do this.

The shockwave from the burst barrier loomed towards me, I glanced at the soldiers taking rushing to take refuge around the boulders. I gathered the mana particles around me and prepared to intercept against the upcoming projectiles.

A sonic boom occurred in the sky. I raised my sight to the sky only to see something like a projectile bound to us at a height of several miles. An uncertain feeling of relief crept up to me.

Then it happened. The wave didn't come near me. A majestic dragon flew before me. I recognize this dragon. She is the precious companion of that brat. Wasn't she presumed to be dead? Wait, we shouldn't have made that assumption, to begin with. Does it mean, Arthur is also alive?

A ray of hope began to rise inside. My heart might as well burst with happiness at this possibility. I wonder what will happen to me if I get to see him now?.

A girl jumped off her. She had twin horns that resembled that of Vritra. My veins popped out on my forehead as my blood circulated in rage. The pleasant feeling I had a few seconds ago burned away from my fury. I alerted my stance and began thinking of the enemy before me.

"I come in peace, sir," she spoke timidly yet her voice showed no hesitation.

"Why are you? and is that you Lady Sylvie?" I questioned while looking at the dragon expectantly.

"Yes, Virion. I am Sylvie and the girl is---" Lady Sylvie said before the girl made a slight gesture to her.

"My name is Caera, of the Denoir blood from Alacrya. I am also a comrade of Arthur Lewywin. Pleased to meet you, sir" she introduced herself with great manners.

I disregarded her name as something in her words caught my attention. Comrade of Arthur Leywin?. So, he must be alive and doing well. Yet, my mind didn't want to acknowledge the words of an unknown person. I wanted to hear that from the ones I know or hell if only I can confirm that with my eyes right now.

"Lady Sylvie, is that true? Is Arthur alive? Tell me" I asked with anxiety I never knew that I had.

"Yes, Virion. Arthur is fine," she spoke calmly yet her voice reverberating through my ears.

"Where is he now? What happened to him? He is unscathed, right? W-" I questioned before I was cut off by her.

"Hear it in his own words. I am sure he is desperate to meet you all as well." she smiled.

"Who is this girl? Why is she with you guys?" I asked since I felt unease.

"All I can say for now is that She is our ally and Tessia is now safe thanks to her." Lady Sylvie said.

I was at a loss for words at this. She is an ally despite being one from our enemy continent, moreover, she helped my granddaughter? How could I have acted so rudely against her?

"Please forgive me for my rudeness, lady Caera. I can't thank you enough for what you did." I said.

"Do not worry about it sir, it is an obvious thing that you would feel angry towards someone from an enemy continent, especially with these," she said as she rubbed her horn.

"Where is Tessia right now?" I enquired.

"She is with my master right now in Dicathen, they escaped before me through a teleportation circle. I am sure we will be able to contact them after the current situation subsides," she said.

I see. That is a relief despite my anxiety to meet both Arthur and my granddaughter. It is not until she spoke about the current situation, I remembered the war-like battle going on in the city.

I focussed back on the trouble we are in despite the temptation to rush back to the ones I cherished.

"The Asuras from the Epheotus and the Vritras are at war. The city is destroyed." lady Sylvie informed me.

"What about our forces stationed in the city? Did they join the Asuras in the battle? I don't think they can stand on the same battleground." I said nervously.

"The teams led by Lance Aya and Lance Varay are escorted to a safe place. They took refuge at the hills." Lady Sylvie said with reaffirmation.

I sighed in relief. Now only Bairon's team is missing. I do hope that they are stuck in bad weather or any other unforeseen nuance. If they are attacked by the enemy, it would be trouble for them. I hope they are safe.

"Where is Arthur right now? Let us all retreat at once. I don't think anyone of us is capable enough to participate in that full-blown war. No, maybe the whole continent is at the danger of extinction." I cast my sight down only to cover my face filled with grief. After all this time, when we are finally bound to be reunited, we are on the verge of extinction.

"About him....." lady Caera stopped mid-way.

"Is something the matter Lady Caera? Is he alright?" I enquired.

"He is at the center of that war right now." Lady Caera revealed.

"He what?" I trembled in shock, letting out a rude comment like this. Why did this happen? Right before he was a step away from meeting us. When he could have finally reached his family.

"Rest assured, sir. He decided to stop this war. To protect his homeland." she continued with firmness in her words.

I stared at lady Sylvie for a more convincing reason, since she fought beside him and also knew the true strength of the Asuran deities.

"Yeah, Virion. He isn't the same as he was back then. I can assure you that he will return to us." She said confidently.

Well, no matter how strong he may get, I cannot Imagine a human having enough strength to put hordes of Asura at bay.

As I continued to worry, lady Sylvie jolted her head towards the city. I followed her gaze only to find that the traces of the frenzy aura of Asuras disappear. Lady Caera gulped as she claimed an inclined rock to get a better view.

"I can feel the presence of completely new mana signatures. I never felt something like this" Sylvie trembled after the mention of the unknown entity.

"They used Aevum arts to completely freeze the time of the battlefield." She said as she focused on her mind restlessly.

To control time, what a scary ability to possess. They might be able to overthrow any opponent in a moment, no maybe it won't even take a moment, since time itself is static.

"We need to hurry back to Arthur, I cannot reach him or Regis." lady Sylvie said as she got in the stance to take off.

Who is Regis? hmm, maybe another comrade of Arthur. I ordered the soldiers to fall back to the hills. With the help of lady Sylvie, we reached around the frozen battlefield. A certain zone is greyed out of the surroundings and no Asura is left out of its area.

We landed far away and observed them while closing the distance slowly. Just after I blinked, the anomaly has transformed to fit with the surroundings. It was as if the anomaly never occurred. The fallen Asura both from Epheotus and Vritra struggled to get on their feet. Who could have done this?

While pondering over my doubts, I caught sight of someone that didn't fit well with monstrous and battle frenzy Asuras. It was a silhouette that I was unfamiliar with, yet the boy's build looked familiar. He glories with his pale blonde hair and a scarf around his neck, half tattered.

I observed him closely as we made our way there. Everyone looked confused. Lord Windsom and Lord Aldir retracted their troops after the boy spoke something. He then directed his attention to the Vritras who then sprung at him with hostility. I gasped at the moment they reached the boy.

The boy held his own against multiple Vritra and he even was able to push them back. The Vritra then drew back and engaged in a communication tool. We reached into the battlefield close enough to hear the voice from the tool.

'Retreat from Dicathen at once and prepare for the court. We must discuss new things that have risen from the unknown. Moreover, we got things we need to handle right away.' the voice said as the Vritra conversing rattled in surprise.

"But lord Agrona, our enemy, Arthur Leywin is right before our eyes. We can finish him off right now." the Vritra pleaded.

I gasped in surprise as that name came out unexpectedly. Would it mean that the boy with wheat hair is Arthur? I turned my gaze towards the boy, closely inspecting him to find any similarities that I recognize.

Apart from his hair and his eyes, he is completely similar to Arthur. As I was making assumptions in my mind, lady Sylvie and lady Caera are already on their way to the boy leaving me behind. Now I am certain, he is indeed that brat.

'Do you dare go against my words? Nevertheless, he is not someone you all can handle now, not anymore.' Agrona's furious voice rang from the communication tool as the Vritras retreated to completely desert this battlefield other than us humans.

He met my gaze and showed a pleasant smile on his face. That which I had missed for a long while. The sense of belief and trust it carried. A mix of emotions emerged in me. How long has it been since I felt this joy?

My eyes blurred as he walked towards me. I rose my head to the sky to control and cover the emerging water in my eyes. He was directly facing me when I cast my sight down. His golden eyes shone vibrantly and it felt as if he was reflecting my soul itself.

"How have you been gramps?" he asked, with the familiar voice that I thought I lost forever.

"That is my question! Seriously," I retorted back as we let out laughter.

"That was cool tho, the way you resisted your tears, that is!" he said with a mischievous smile.

"You cheeky brat," I said as I rubbed his hair while locking his neck around my arm with a bright smile on both of our faces.

Lady Sylvia and Lady Caera erupted in laughter.

"Seriously, we were dead worried about you kid. Where have you been all this time?" I asked with a stern expression.

"Yeah, I know. Sorry, I should have tried to return as fast as I could. Let us discuss things when we reunite with everyone at the base" he said.

"Don't be sorry, I am sure everyone would be glad to live this long to hear that you are alive. I truly am thankful to you, for returning. I could not bring myself to meet your mother several times even when she forgave me." I said with a sense of guilt.

"I see, then let us go meet her first thing from now," he said as we decided to head back to the refugee camp with this victory and celebrate the most delighted reunion.