Arthur stepped out of the portal as a sharp cold wind slapped him in the face the moment he appeared above Thyrandel. The skies looked the same. Below him stretched a borderland wasteland of a scorched forest and an abandoned fort near the sea. It took half a second for him to recognize the territory.
"Velmora…?" he whispered.
This place was the previous demi-human continent, which was now occupied by demons.
A heaviness settled on his chest instantly. He exhaled slowly, steadying himself, then asked the Guardian AI with a slight trepidation in his voice, "How long… how much time has passed here?"
There was a short silence as the AI made connection with its clone back in Avalon, which it left to look after the island before they left for the Ancient realm.
The response came with crisp neutrality, but the words hit him like a hammer.
[It has been more than twenty-nine years, Commander.]
Arthur's heart dropped. For a moment, he remained frozen in his place as he was reeling with shock at the news of the amount of time passed in Thyrandel.
Twenty-nine years, nearly three decades have passed. Who knew what had changed in that long time, his mind immediately jumped to the faces of the people he'd left behind in Avalon. Selene, Lisa, Kai, his friends and the people of Avalon.
Questions started to pop up in his mind like, what happened to all of them. Or would they think he abandoned them.
And a deeper fear gnawed at him like acid, the fear for his original universe. He dreaded finding out what happened there.
Time moved slowly there compared to Thyrandel; but still more than a year must have gone by.
'Did the Entity finally attack humanity? Did anyone die? Are they waiting for me?' He also worried about the fate of his friends there.
He forced himself to breathe out and shook his head sharply. He was extremely worried but before returning to his universe he first had to see what happened to his city and find everyone
"No," he muttered. "First things first… I should check Avalon."
He clenched his fists, then shot toward the distant horizon, as a purple tail of energy was left behind him. He flew at his top speed towards Avalon, which was more than a hundred times faster than his previous speed. But while he was shooting through the sky, he thought about using his new powers, he continued flying across the sky and looked down at his hands at the Aether covering his body.
"…Let's test this out a little."
The Aether output across his body intensified and appeared like a purple flame. With a deliberate thought, he compressed the space in front of him and expanded it behind trying to emulate a warp drive. He knew all the fundamental knowledge about how a warp drive works so it was quite easy for him to guide the new energy to do exactly as he intended.
And slowly the purple energy started to do what he intended and space folded in front of him and his speed which was stagnant after reaching his top speed started to climb higher and a few moments later the sky snapped loudly as he vanished from sight, moving far faster than any speed he had ever achieved before.
…
Avalon
Selene sat behind her desk in the administrative tower overlooking the city. The office was decorated simply with cool colors, and some simple modern furniture and decorations adorned the room.
She was reading a set of documents about city guard recruitment for the new city that was being built on the island, signing evaluation forms one after another.
But except for her, the room was empty. Because nobody dared to disturb her unless absolutely necessary.
She paused her writing for a moment, exhaled, and glanced at the window.
The city outside stretched across the northern section of the island like a blooming civilization, a mix of sleek advanced architecture Arthur had left behind and the new constructions built by the Guardian-controlled bots. The city was still under the final phase of construction. The walls had doubled in height, with defensive towers manned by powerful mages and martial artists. Airships hovered at docking platforms, and tens of thousands of people walked the streets below.
Despite her stoic face, Selene had dedicated nearly thirty years maintaining the island and its many cities, agricultural and industrial sectors. And she had also spent the equal amount of time searching for Arthur.
She had traveled across kingdoms, deserts, frozen mountains, even the depths of the ocean. She had crawled through every pocket dimension, dismantled ancient ruins, and hunted creatures that could flatten cities.
But even after asking for help from her grandfather, a Demigod-ranked mage, they couldn't find a trace of Arthur. But she didn't lose hope as she could still feel Arthur's life force through their connection, and that kept her going.
Selene had always suppressed her emotions around others, and even with Arthur around when she finally felt an entirely different kind of emotion, she had suppressed it too and thought that those emotions were due to finally gaining a friend.
But only after Arthur disappeared she accepted she had completely fallen for him. But now she had no way to convey her emotions as the person in question was missing.
As she signed another document, her body suddenly froze. Her pen dropped from her fingers and clattered onto the desk.
A pulse ran through her soul like a lightning strike and her breath hitched. She could sense him again.
'Arthur…?'
His presence… his existence… was suddenly clear to her again. And he was getting closer rapidly.
Selene shot out of her chair so fast the table and chairs slammed at the walls and broke apart. In the next instant, she vanished from the office and reappeared high above Avalon.
Her eyes scanned the horizon desperately, and a strange emotion started to well up inside her heart, as she waited with anticipation for Arthur to arrive.
FLASH.
A streak of purple tore open the sky, folding space like a curtain. And as the purple cocoon came to a halt, from within it emerged a figure.
Selene's breath stopped. He looked the same as when she last saw him, the same eyes, the same hair, the same posture, Arthur appeared not even a day older.
Selene's eyes immediately reddened, as tears started to well up in her eyes and her throat tightened. Without waiting a second she shot toward him, and hugged him tightly and desperately, afraid that he would vanish again.
Arthur was a bit surprised at Selene's outburst, as she slammed into him with a force strong enough to break the bones of any Sage, though he didn't even flinch.
Arthur had never seen her giving in to her emotions like this, but then his expression softened and hugged her back just as firmly with a smile.
Her face was buried against his shoulder, and he could feel her body slightly trembling.
Both of them didn't utter a single word for nearly a minute and just shared a hug. Arthur, seeing Selene still continued to silently shed tears, carefully lifted her face towards him. Their eyes met, as he came face to face and so close to Selene.
He could still see the tears in her eyes, so he gently wiped them away and said with a broad smile, "I am back."
…
A Few Hours Later
Selene and Arthur walked side by side toward the meeting room in Avalon's administrative complex. Selene's cheeks were still faintly rosy, and she walked slightly ahead of him, refusing to meet his eyes to avoid Arthur's gaze and hide her blush.
Arthur, on the other hand, had a very stupid grin plastered across his face, as he followed behind her.
He watched her back with an expression so smug and amused that Selene could feel it stabbing into her like a dagger.
Selene, feeling Arthur's smirk, glared back at him. "If you keep smirking like that, I will throw you into the ocean for the sharks."
Arthur whistled innocently as he avoided her piercing gaze. "I didn't say anything."
"You don't need to," she snapped as she looked at him. "Your stupid face says enough."
Arthur raised his hands defensively but internally, he was laughing thinking about what had happened inside the room.
'Who would've thought the usually cold, and elegant dragon princess would be that wild in bed?'
Every time he remembered what happened inside that room, he had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from grinning like an idiot.
Selene's blush darkened, sensing his thoughts, and she sped up her walking pace until she was almost power-walking.
Arthur easily kept up. "Selene."
"Don't talk to me."
"Selene."
"I said don't talk."
"…Selene."
She stopped, closed her eyes, inhaled sharply, then turned around with the expression of someone who was two seconds away from dropkicking him into the stratosphere.
"What?" she asked as she crossed her hand before her chest.
Arthur reached out, caressed her cheek with his thumb, and whispered, "Thank you… for keeping Avalon safe."
Her anger melted instantly. And her eyes softened, a tenderness she almost never let anyone see.
"…You don't need to thank me you idiot," she muttered again, but her voice was quiet, almost affectionate. She quickly turned around to hide her expression and continued guiding him towards the meeting room.
Arthur smiled, he had explained to her what had happened after he was sucked inside the space crack and Selene had also updated him on what had happened in Avalon in his absence.
He was extremely grateful towards her for what she did for Avalon, if not for her the island would have been conquered by some kingdom long ago after seeing its resources, as there was an adamantine mine in the depth of this island and other precious minerals were also in abundance here.
There were also the magical trees Arthur had planted that produced fruits which could help mages advance in their realm. All these were bound to attract the gaze of powerful kingdoms, and if not for Selene's strong presence the island would not remain his today.
They finally reached the large double doors leading to the meeting room.
Selene paused, placed a hand on the handle, and glanced back.
"Everyone has been waiting for you," she said softly.
Arthur nodded, as Selene finally opened the doors.
***
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