Chapter 213: He’s Back (Two-in-one)
Fourth Era, Freista Empire.
Imperial Capital, Black Lily District, Jin Gui Street No. 32.
This was once just an ordinary villa.
Now, the high-ranking nobles of the Imperial Capital who knew the inside story had bestowed upon it the name of Grand Duke’s Mansion.
The Current Empress of the Empire’s husband would naturally be the future Grand Duke.
Although Isadorella and Shaya had not yet married, the nobles of the Imperial Capital were well aware of the decisive nature of Isadorella, the former Second Princess and now Empress.
Her words would surely become reality, unwavering for any reason or matter.
Dusk had arrived.
The light golden sunset sprinkled down from the distant horizon, leaving a brilliant afterglow in the courtyard of Jin Gui Street No. 32.
Bathed in the twilight, the blonde maiden slowly opened her eyes.
“How is it?”
As soon as Aerora opened her eyes, she saw the pure silver script diffusing in the air before her.
It was an inquiry from the Azure Silver Witch, Sylvia.
After spending some time together, Aerora had become quite familiar with the Azure Silver Witch, who presented a cool exterior but was, in reality, not much different from any young noble lady.
Looking at the diffusing Azure Silver script in the air, Aerora simply shook her head slightly.
“It’s still the same.”
“The aura of the Old Sun God has dissipated, meaning he has won.”
“I can feel Shaya’s qi. In other words, his will still exists within the Spiritual Ocean and has not completely faded during these five hundred years.”
“However, when exactly he will wake up… I’m not sure either.”
Soul, spirit, Spirit World…
Even in the realm of Mysticism, these were the most profound and complex aspects.
Even with the status of Aerora and Sylvia, which had surpassed the Throne limit, there were few secrets in the Multiverse for them, but regarding souls, no one dared to make definitive statements.
The only certainty was that souls also had a so-called lifespan and were by no means capable of infinite existence, forever immortal.
Although in the vast majority of cases, creatures’ bodies would decay and perish before their souls… there were always exceptions.
In the history of the Black Tower, a powerful necromancer had gone mad while researching reincarnation spells…
In pursuit of eternal life and strength, he continuously transferred his soul into new vessels, new artificial bodies.
However, each time the soul changed vessels, it was actually a process of eroding the soul’s origin.
After nearly a hundred such cycles, even though the synthetic bodies the necromancer had replaced them with were still in factory-new condition, his soul itself had become severely damaged and was on the verge of collapse.
Not long after, it extinguished itself.
This principle could also be applied to Shaya.
No one knew the extent to which his soul and self had been worn down in that long war over the past five hundred years.
If the soul’s origin had been completely worn away, then no matter how perfect the body, it would merely be a walking corpse.
Or perhaps… he could wake up again.
However, the damaged, riddled soul would have lost many things, forgotten many important memories.
“Is that so…”
Beside her, a trace of loss was evident in Sylvia’s Azure Silver beautiful eyes.
Nowadays, Shaya’s secrecy of traveling through time and space using Historical Echo was no longer a secret to Sylvia and the others.
After all, they were the direct victims of Shaya’s trans-temporal sea king behavior; no matter how slow they were, they would eventually realize it.
And Shaya’s journey to the First Era had not been hidden from Sylvia, Isadorella, and the others.
However, the pollution of the Fallen Sun in the First Era would also affect them.
So, in the end, the only thing that accompanied him to the First Era was Aerora’s Holy Spear Rungoniumad.
As the true owner of the Holy Spear, Aerora herself naturally became the sole channel through which Sylvia and Isadorella learned of Shaya’s current condition.
What Shaya did on the Lost Island in the First Era…
And his resolute fall into the Abyss along with the Lost Island.
This, spanning four eras, was also known to those who silently watched over him in the Fourth Era.
And now, with Shaya’s centuries-long deep sleep…
All that remained was waiting, anticipation, and hope.
“I understand…”
“Empress Isadorella visited a few days ago and stayed in this mansion for a long time. But at that time, Little Ai, you were still meditating and resonating with the Holy Spear, so I didn’t disturb you.”
“I’ll pass on your message to her next time she visits.”
Sylvia lowered her eyes slightly, suppressing the loss in her beautiful eyes.
Nothing was more disheartening than an indefinite wait and repeated hopes extinguished.
“And also.”
A trace of hesitation flickered in her eyes.
However, soon, the Azure Silver script quietly appeared in the void.
“Little Ai…”
“Since the Old Sun God has fallen and the gamble in the Spiritual World has come to an end, you should rest too.”
“The soul erosion caused by traversing different timelines… even a Throne cannot withstand it for too long.”
Finally, Sylvia uttered these words.
As fellow Thrones, and having even sealed herself in the White Tower for five hundred years…
Sylvia knew exactly what Aerora had been through during this time.
The flow of time inside and outside the Historical Echo, between the First and Fourth Eras, was different.
Although only a few months had passed in the Fourth Era.
In the First Era, over five hundred years had flowed by.
This difference in the flow of time had no significant impact on Shaya, who was in the First Era, or Sylvia, who was in the Fourth Era.
After all, they were both in real worlds, and their perceived experience aligned with the flow of time at their current temporal node.
However, Aerora was in the Fourth Era while simultaneously using the power of the Soul Pact to attach her will to the Holy Spear currently in the First Era.
The different flow of time between the First and Fourth Eras forced Aerora to endure hundreds or even thousands of times more memory surges within an extremely short period in reality.
It was like forcefully injecting the life experiences of a hundred-year-old person into a four or five-year-old child… Such a massive tearing sensation could drive any transcendent below the Legend rank insane, even causing their souls to collapse.
Although Aerora had achieved the Throne and even formed her own Spiritual Ocean, she was not comparable to transcendents below the Legend rank.
However, the time she had experienced spanned hundreds of years.
It was worth noting that Aerora’s entire life up to that point, including her ten years in Eden, was less than thirty years.
Similar to Shaya’s experience.
Each meditation, each time she used the Soul Pact to sense the presence of the Holy Spear… would cause immense erosion to her soul.
And Aerora had never stopped such meditation during this period.
Whether it was helping Shaya stabilize his soul in the Spiritual World and confront the Old Sun God, or controlling the Holy Spear to protect Shaya’s body from harm… she had never slacked off for a single moment.
“The confrontation in the Spiritual World has now ended.”
“And that Queen of the Night, Augustina—”
“She should be a trustworthy companion. With her guarding Shaya’s true body at the bottom of the Abyss, I don’t think any accidents will happen.”
“Little Ai, you should go to sleep too.”
Sylvia knew that the blonde maiden before her had not slept for months.
“No…”
Facing Sylvia’s persuasion.
The blonde maiden simply shook her head slightly.
“I know Augustina can be trusted…”
These were Aerora’s heartfelt words.
The five hundred years of waiting and companionship by the frozen throne at the bottom of the Abyss could not have been achieved through insincere means; all of it proved Augustina’s sincerity.
Aerora knew very well that if anyone, or any god, dared to step into the Abyss and harm the sleeping Shaya, Augustina would stand before him just like she would.
“But…”
A hint of softness flickered in the blonde maiden’s eyes.
“Even if it’s just a trace of my will on the Holy Spear… I still have to accompany him.”
“Who asked Shaya to be such a guy who’s afraid of loneliness?”
“Even when he’s sleeping, if I’m not by his side, he won’t be able to sleep soundly, will he?”
“And—”
Aerora’s sky-blue eyes flickered slightly.
“Miss Sylvia, have you heard those stories circulating among the common folk?”
“Stories about people in comas, like vegetative states, who suddenly regained consciousness and woke up after decades of unconsciousness because their families called out to them day and night, recounting their shared memories, bit by bit…”
Sylvia was slightly taken aback.
When she was still the only daughter of the Grand Duke of Azure Court, she had indeed heard similar stories from the common people.
“But, aren’t such stories baseless, folk tales fabricated to praise family affection?”
“Being in a vegetative state means losing all perception of the outside world… even hearing is gone, so how could they hear their family’s calls?”
“Moreover, there are many reasons for a vegetative person to wake up, and it’s not necessarily this one.”
“I know.”
“That story about the vegetative person is likely fabricated… even if it’s not fabricated, it’s probably embellished.”
“It’s like in fairy tales, at the end, when the protagonists are on the verge of despair, the female protagonist’s tears awaken the male protagonist’s dormant vitality—”
“Everyone pulls themselves together, shouts about friendship, bonds, love, and justice, and decisively defeats the great demon king.”
Aerora nodded: “But, what if?”
“What if, because I’m not by his side, not doing this, Shaya cannot awaken.”
“What if, while I’m sleeping, the bottom of the Abyss is invaded by Mythical Creatures, and because of the Holy Spear’s assistance, Augustina couldn’t defeat them, and Shaya got hurt…”
“Then—”
She smiled: “I don’t think I could ever forgive myself.”
Aerora’s voice was faint but carried an indescribable determination.
An unquestionable resolve.
Sylvia’s plain white fingers moved slightly, and Azure Silver magic surged in the void, but ultimately, no new characters were drawn.
Although she had witnessed it before… it was only now that she once again clearly recognized.
What kind of status Shaya held in the heart of this young maiden.
“If Shaya never wakes up again… what should we do?”
Sylvia’s unspoken anxiety and confusion were answered by Aerora’s expression, without needing to be asked.
Sylvia had thought that given Aerora’s importance to Shaya, she might choose to die with him.
But now, it seemed she had underestimated this blonde maiden.
She would never choose to die with him.
Instead, she would silently stay by Shaya’s side, by that frozen throne, accompanying the young man who might never wake up again.
Until the day he opened his eyes again.
Or perhaps… until the end of time, when the erosion of soul or body had dried up all memories.
Therefore, during this period, no matter how anxious and uneasy Sylvia, Isadorella, and Diris were during the long wait… the blonde maiden before them had never revealed any emotions like impatience or urgency.
Because Aerora had understood from the beginning that she would spend her entire life accompanying him… wherever Shaya was, that was where her home was.
Whether he woke up or remained asleep made no significant difference.
“Yes—”
“It’s just spending a lifetime waiting for him to return…”
Suddenly, Sylvia felt that her inner turmoil and eagerness had subsided.
Little Ai had already reached such a state of enlightenment.
She had always seen Aerora as someone to compare herself to, someone to compete with.
Why was she falling behind at this critical moment?
“In a couple of days, I’ll move the Netherworld over too.”
“I was too impatient before.”
“If we could wait through those five hundred years back then, what’s a mere few months…”
Sylvia sighed softly. The Azure Silver script had not fully appeared.
But in the next moment, she saw a flicker of emotion flash in the blonde maiden’s beautiful eyes.
The autumn evening breeze blew through the courtyard planted with lush vegetation.
Leaves swayed in the wind, rustling in the treetops, and the fragrance of blooming osmanthus filled the entire courtyard.
The street where this mansion was located was named Jin Gui Street precisely because it was lined with abundant osmanthus trees.
This was currently the blooming season.
No, it wasn’t just the scent of osmanthus…
The autumn wind also carried a scent that was incredibly nostalgic, incredibly familiar, causing Sylvia to involuntarily feel like shedding tears.
“He’s back.”
The maiden’s voice echoed in the evening courtyard, with a slight tremor.
This was the first time Sylvia had seen such a beautiful smile on the usually expressionless, cute face of Aerora.
