“Mom, please. I’m already old enough to fight alongside you—let me support you in this fight against the horrible humans,” said a small child who looked no older than ten, standing before his mother.
The woman facing him was of immaculate beauty. Her long blond hair cascaded down her back, and pointed ears peeked through the strands. Her golden eyes, marked with the omega symbol unique to their lineage, shimmered gently as she offered him a reassuring smile.
She stood up, her long white robe brushing against the floor, covering her feet as she looked at her youngest—and only surviving—child.
“I know you think you're ready. I know you're the most talented among the four children I bore, thanks to your rare divine physique… but I won’t lose my last son to those humans.”
“But Mom! I just need to fight more. And the more I fight, the stronger I become—you know that too! I’ll be able to help you better if I fight instead of hiding, like you always make me do,” the child said, his voice tight with frustration.
“Mom, I want to fight!” he repeated, eyes burning with determination.
His mother smiled faintly, then spoke, “I understand what you're saying… but that only works if your opponent isn’t vastly stronger than you.”
“Our enemies aren’t fools. They’ll notice if you keep getting stronger with each battle.”
“But—” he tried to respond.
“Lorion!” she shouted, her expression turning serious as she met his gaze.
“I won’t repeat myself. You will not fight. You are the only hope of our race. You’re the one who will help us fight for the future.”
“With your divine physique, if given time, you will grow strong enough to free us from the tyranny of those humans… or as they now call themselves, Neo Humans.”
“What future would I fight for if you and everyone else are already dead? I’d rather die with you,” Lorion said, tears forming in his eyes.
His mother looked at him for a long moment, then closed her eyes. When she opened them again, her irises were glowing. Before Lorion could speak again, he collapsed to the ground, unconscious.
---
She gently picked up his small body and began walking down a grand corridor. Along the walls hung pictures—her, her husband, and their children who had already died.
At the end of the hall, she stopped in front of a door with a golden handle. She opened it and stepped through.
The room beyond wasn’t large. At its center stood an altar, dimly lit by a narrow round window set high in the wall behind it.
Around the altar stood four old men clad in glistening armor. They looked majestic, but a closer look revealed the truth: they stood on the threshold of death.
“Ancestors,” the woman said as she knelt, “thank you for doing this—for trying to save my son.”
One of the old men smiled. “There is no need to thank us, Aeris. Everything we do is for the survival of our race. That child… is our only hope.”
Another spoke, “We know that while he remains here, you cannot fight freely. Your thoughts will always be tied to his safety.”
“We’ve lived for hundreds millions of years,” a third said. “And still, we failed to reach the Realm of Legends. Now, at the edge of our lifespan, if we can use our final strength to help you breach the dimensional barrier of our universe—just long enough to give Lorion time and peace to grow stronger—then we do so gladly.”
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Aeris stepped forward and laid her son upon the altar, then retreated five steps.
It had taken her nearly a million years to find a universe not too dangerous—among the countless worlds scattered across the multiverse.
She had wanted to find one with no threat at all. But time was short, and she had to settle for the least dangerous one she could sense.
It was a young universe, only a few billion years old. She selected a planet within it that radiated the faintest energy signature. She didn’t know which race lived there—it didn’t matter. What mattered was that no strong power could be felt.
Raising her head, she looked outward—toward the battlefield. Her people were still fighting. They were being massacred. Her rage boiled inside, but she had to finish this first.
She extended her hand. A small circular portal opened just behind the altar, swirling with pitch blackness.
It was the edge of the universe.
She looked at the four ancestors—those willing to sacrifice themselves for her son. Even if it was for their race's future, the thought weighed heavy on her.
She stretched out her hand toward two of them and gently closed her fingers. Neither resisted. Their bodies shimmered, breaking down into tiny particles of light. The particles merged and formed a glowing orb that floated to Lorion and surrounded him.
It was a protective seal, one that would conceal him beyond the universe’s reach.
Though she could observe other universes, Aeris wasn’t strong enough to cross into them. But with the sacrifice of the last two ancestors, she could open a breach in the dimensional barrier—just long enough to send him through.
She extended her arm again. The final two ancestors dissolved into light, smiling throughout the process.
Gathering their combined energy, Aeris added a part of her own and focused it through the portal.
BAM!!!!
A loud explosion echoed through the universe.
CRACK!!!!
A fracture formed at the edge of the universe, just wide enough for a child to pass through.
Without hesitation, Aeris enveloped her son in energy and launched him through the crack, aiming for the young universe.
The moment he passed through, the crack sealed itself—like it had never existed.
“Grow stronger, Lorion… and come back to free us from their tyranny,” she whispered.
Then, closing the portal, she turned toward the battlefield.
Her eyes burned with fury.
“Now it’s time to make you pay.”
---
She took a step—and instantly appeared outside her planet, her white dress fluttering in the void.
An immense pressure descended upon the battlefield. All Neo Humans felt it at once.
The fighting stopped. Soldiers froze, weapons lowered, and all eyes turned to Aeris.
She stood like a divine figure in the center of chaos. Her white dress shimmered like silk under the starlight, golden patterns weaving across the fabric. Her golden eyes calmly scanned the field. No weapon nor aura. Yet the air itself seemed to tighten around the Neo Humans.
Breathing became a struggle.
Aeris looked around. Planets destroyed. Solar systems gone. The galaxy—once their last sanctuary—was crumbling. Her kin’s broken bodies floated in the void. Shattered limbs. Crushed fragments.
The Neo Humans had almost erased them.
The few elves still alive stared at her, eyes wide with hope.
“Empress Aeris is here!” one shouted.
“Empress Aeris!”
“She will save us!”
Their voices rang out in unison.
Humph.
A new figure appeared—a Neo Human commander in black armor, with a sword on his hip and black hair flowing behind him.
“Oh, Empress Aeris… finally,” he said with a smirk. “Have you decided to surrender and become our pets, like the Emperor asked? That way, we can stop this senseless massacre.”
Aeris stared coldly.
“I hope Lucan doesn’t think you alone are enough to stop me.”
The commander laughed. “Don’t act tough. Your husband was the strongest among your kind, and he was only at the Sacred Emperor Realm.”
“I doubt you’re stronger than him. And if that’s the case, our Emperor has no need to meet you himself. I’m also a Sacred Emperor—I’m more than enough.”
“Oh really?” Aeris replied. “We’ll see.”
She walked forward.
As she passed the Neo Humans, they began to vanish into specks of light—one by one. No resistance nor sound.
By the time she reached the commander, every Neo Human on the battlefield was gone. Only the elves remained.
Aeris tilted her head and smiled. “Hmm. I didn’t know your kind were that fragile.”
“Fucking bitch!” the commander shouted, enraged. He threw a punch toward her face.
BAM!
The shockwave shook the stars.
But Aeris didn’t flinch. She stopped the punch with a single finger.
“Well,” she said. “I thought you were more than enough to fight me. What happened?”
“I’m not feeling very threatened.”
The commander stepped back, face dark.
“You really hid your strength well… Who would've thought you were stronger than your husband?” he muttered, sweat rolling down his face.
Before he could react, Aeris was already standing in front of him.
A moment later, he saw his body—his arms, legs, torso—floating in pieces. He had been completely dismembered without knowing when.
His body parts glowed and instantly reassembled, healing in seconds. He floated back, stunned.
“What… are you?” he whispered.
“Hmm? I know that won’t kill you,” Aeris replied calmly.
“You fucking bitch… You want to play? Then let’s play,” he growled.
He disappeared—and reappeared among the elf soldiers.
“Let’s see if you still want to ‘play’ when I kill all your kin!”
He swiped his hand. He felt their deaths.
But the next second, he was still in front of Aeris.
And the elves were alive.
“How is this possible?! I clearly felt when I killed them all!”
“Even if you are stronger than me, it's not by that much… unless…” he whispered, eyes wide.
“Unless you are in the False God Realm—the same as our Emperor…” he said, frozen in place.
It was said that the difference between a False God and a Sacred Emperor was like that between a mortal and a Sacred Emperor. They could manipulate senses—make false seem real and real seem false—and kill lower-realm cultivators as easily as squashing insects.
Realizing it, he didn’t hesitate.
He fled.
Within seconds, he was out of the elves’ galaxy.
He looked back.
No one followed.
He let out a breath—
And froze.
Aeris was already in front of him.
“Why are you running?” she asked. “Weren’t you supposed to be my equal?”
He stood there, frozen with fear.
“I won’t play with you anymore,” Aeris said coldly. “You can now disappear from existence.”
Her eyes glowed.
The commander’s body disintegrated, breaking apart into particles of light—erased from existence.
“Lucan,” Aeris called out, her voice echoing in the void.
“I know you’re watching. What are you waiting for?”
“I didn’t take you for a stalker.”
She narrowed her eyes at the empty space in front of her.
“Come and fight.”
