Heavenly silver light glistened in the sky. Aylin's eyes widened as the light entered her pupils. She was completely petrified as she witnessed the Aeon of Serenity exert its will over the perturbation of nature. Rain of serenity poured over us as we stood on the cliff.
Her hands jittered as I held onto them. But for some inexplicable reason, I saw Aylin's eyes flash with sincere admiration.
Alone on the cliff, we stared out into the sky as Sekito descended. Her clothes reverted to normal, and I felt Aylin's hand squeeze mine even tighter.
"Such marvelous elegance, truly the essence of beauty!" someone began clapping beside us.
Aylin pulled her hand back to her chest and swiftly glared at the person standing with us on the cliff.
He stopped clapping as he felt our glares pierce him. He was a bulky, muscular man wearing sunglasses, with a dragon tattoo spanning his entire body. His short, spiky blonde hair made him stand out even more in the city of Nautilus.
I could immediately sense it from his aura. This was no ordinary civilian. The color of his star was pure corrosion.
I grabbed Aylin by the arm and pulled her closer to me.
The muscular man continued admiring the Aeon of Serenity from afar before turning toward us.
"I believe we haven't met. Name's Zerstörer." He reached out his hand, offering a handshake.
Something was wrong, deeply wrong. The cells in my body trembled at the mere thought of coming into contact with him.
"Aylin, do you know this man?" I asked, keeping my eyes fixed on him.
She shook her head.
Zerstörer pulled his hand back and resumed glorifying the Aeon of Serenity. He spoke as if preaching a religion, with utter devotion. He knew far too much about the Aeon of Serenity, to the point that Aylin and I felt unsettled by it.
Then I heard footsteps approaching up the mountain and saw Devina coming toward us.
"So it was you who caused all this trouble. Who would have thought," Devina said with an annoyed, stern expression.
"Ah, my dear little sister!" Zerstörer exclaimed.
Devina let out a tired sigh and told Zerstörer to vanish from her sight before she made him.
"Aw, come on now. I thought we were close," Zerstörer pleaded.
"Not in a gazillion years, buddy. And quit stalking my elder sister like she's your little science project."
Zerstörer huffed and crossed his arms, declaring that Devina could not do anything about it.
"What are you gonna do? Tear out my heartstrings?"
Devina stepped forward and stared up at the giant before her. His shadow swallowed her whole. They stood unfazed for several seconds before Zerstörer smiled and stepped back.
"You're still as terrifying as ever."
"And you're as perverted as ever."
She pointed at him and told him to hurry back to the underground city.
"Now, now, why rush it? I just saw your amazing sister in action. Might as well go meet her."
"Do I need to remind you what will happen if you do?" Devina raised two fingers and pressed them against her cheek, which flared with bright yellow light.
"Are you telling me what to do now?" He stepped closer to Devina. The dragon tattoo on his body began to glow gray as loxes filled it.
Aylin and I braced ourselves for the worst, but then another group intervened.
"Zerstörer, cease what you are doing immediately."
A woman and a man emerged from the shadows of the forest. The woman had long black hair with hints of red beneath it. Her body was adorned with red lox stones, and she wore frilled clothing with netting. Her assistant, on the other hand, looked more like a corpse than a man. His eyes were dull like those of a dead fish, and his clothes were torn and patched.
"SHUT IT, WOMAN!" Zerstörer shrieked at her.
The zombie-like man's eyes lit up the moment he saw Devina.
"My, a fellow genius. What an honor to meet the genius of 97," he proclaimed, bowing respectfully.
"Ah… you are that researcher who allegedly conducted experiments on living Aeonic hosts," Devina said.
"I'm pleased to hear you have read my work, Professor."
"Vile as it is, your research did contribute to hypotheses surrounding Aeons," Devina admitted.
The president of the underground stormed toward Zerstörer, who looked at her with disdain.
"You, it is always about you!" she snapped.
"There are problems everywhere you go. With you around, how am I supposed to fix the stigma surrounding the underground?"
"And who am I supposed to listen to? You?"
"Do I need to remind you?"
His facial muscles twitched, veins bulging. He shoved Zyo aside and vanished into the forest.
"Well, Professor, apologies for the inconvenience caused."
For a brief moment, I saw Devina grin maliciously before she composed herself and turned to Zyo.
"It wasn't a big deal at all. Thankfully, the Aeon of Serenity intervened before anything worse happened to the city."
"How serendipitous that the Aeon of Serenity was in town the day the tidal wave struck."
Devina froze for a moment before nodding.
"A coincidence, perhaps."
Zyo and Malitigax returned to where they had come from. Devina stood silently in the rain before asking if I had touched Zerstörer.
"Aylin?" she added.
"No."
Devina vanished shortly after, leaving the two of us alone beneath the calming rain