Chapter 337: [THE SLEEPING GOD] PREMIER (VIII)

“SO, this is how you look like,” Aether said while tracing the man’s face. “I could have never imagined it.”

The man captured Aether’s hand and put it on his cheek. A contented sigh escaped his lips the moment he felt Aether’s touch. Then, his expression turned somewhat angry.

“If you have accepted me from the start, then you would have known long ago how I look like.”

Aether took back his hand and smiled. But it didn’t reach his eyes. It was simply an empty smile. “It’s a matter of pride, you see. If I had accepted you, I would have had lost something that made me who I am. But now that I am awake, everything just became inevitable.”

The man’s face suddenly turned vicious. He grabbed Aether’s shoulders and pulled him close. “No! I would never allow it! Not when I finally found you!”

“Sadly, it’s not up to you,” Aether said gently pushing the other away.

But the man didn’t budge. Instead, he clamped Aether’s waist, pulling him even closer. There were almost no gaps between their bodies. Tension surrounded them. But it was neither romantic nor dreamy.

There was only… anger.

And pain.

“Hah! Not up to me? How can you say that when everything that’s happening right now boils down to you and me?” the man said, his eyes red with rage.

Aether looked at him as if he was looking at a child throwing a tantrum. “You’re right. But it still won’t change anything. For these lands to prosper once again, I shall cease to exist.”

“No! I won’t let you!” the man almost growled the words. “If your existence disappeared in this world, then I shall burn it.”

=====

The scene that followed was still Keith and the others fighting the demons that attacked his village. Then, suddenly the remaining demons stopped moving. Before any of the four could react, the demons suddenly exploded. Black light orbs appeared from where they exploded and it flew to the same direction.

Although the four were dumbfounded by this sudden turn of events, they didn’t have time to dwell on it because they discovered that there were still survivors in the village. Which included Miria Lane’s character and the actor playing her father.

After helping the survivors and some love triangle scenes between, Keith, Eleanor, and Sarah, the four traveled to Clyde’s hometown. But surprisingly, they didn’t meet any demons on their way. Instead, there were fires everywhere.

As if the whole world was burning.

Arriving at Clyde’s hometown, they didn’t see any demons but the place and the surrounding area were burning. One look and they knew that the same thing happened here.

They didn’t stay long there because there’s nothing much they could do. It’s important to go to the capital first to check what exactly was happening. So, from there, they teleported to the capital. Their first destination was the church.

Just like the other place, the capital was also burning. It was just slightly better because of the barrier surrounding the place. With the help of the magician staying there, the fire was also quickly put out. It’s obvious that the same thing also happened here.

It’s safe to assume that this phenomenon – demons suddenly exploding and producing that black orb – was happening all around the continent.

When they entered the church, it was in complete chaos. Not just because of the demon attack but because of the sudden appearance of a new page on the holy scripture kept in the church. And it appeared just after the four met Lord Aether. So, it’s obvious that it was by any means just a coincidence.

The content of the page was shocking to say the least. To the point that it could shake the very foundation of the world.

It listed the truth of why Lord Aether disappeared all those centuries ago.

According to the page, the reason he had to disappear from the eyes of the world was because he was becoming too… human. He was starting to feel emotions that he shouldn’t feel as a god. Jealousy, greed, anger, desire, just everything. And that was something a god like him with too much power in his hands should never have.

It was something dangerous. Something that could easily turn him into an evil god. And although he could not feel love, this world that he created was very important to him. Even if he couldn’t say the same for the humans living in his lands, he didn’t wish for them to suffer at his own hands.

There’s only one way he could think of to avoid that – separating all his emotions from himself. And then he sealed himself which led to his slumber.

What he didn’t expect was that that ball of emotions would actually evolve as years passed by. This evolution stopped at the birth of the one now known as the demon king. And with the other’s existence coming to fruition, the other demons also started to appear one by one.

Despite being asleep for centuries, Lord Aether was aware of the demon king’s existence. But he couldn’t break the seal even if he wanted to. Because he set it so he would remain in slumber for a millennium. Only humans could break it. He gave them that privilege.

He just didn’t expect that he would wake up prematurely. And during the worst possible time too.

Since he could feel the demon king, the other could also do the same. His presence agitated the demons. His overwhelming divinity could do that. One would think he could simply annihilate those demons with his powers. But according to the page, he couldn’t do that.

The demons were born from his emotions. They were an integral part of him as his hands and feet. And a god couldn’t hurt themselves even if they wanted to. It would be like punching air.

There’s only one way to end everything.

And that’s to eliminate the source. Not the demon king. Him. Aether himself.