"Some say death is the end. But for those who love deeply enough… death is just an obstacle."
Aether stood alone beneath the ruins of the Starlight Sanctuary. Ashes of Aira's body still lingered in the air, like a dying constellation.
Inside him, faint echoes of her voice stirred.
"Aether..."
"I'm here," he whispered, kneeling.
"I will bring you back. No matter what price I have to pay."
He opened his palm. A faint soul-mark glowed like silver flame — Aira's soul fragment, stabilized but incomplete.
SYSTEM WARNING: Resurrection is a Forbidden Protocol.
Proceeding will collapse morality alignment and trigger dimensional instability.
"I don't care about morality. I care about her."
He placed the soul-mark into the Cradle of Echoes, an artifact said to awaken the location of lost spirits.
It pulsed.
A map formed — to Veltharox, the Tomb of Time, buried deep within a dead world ruled by Chronospecters.
To reach Veltharox, Aether had to pass through the Mirrorfall Gateway — a black rift between timelines.
The entrance was guarded by a cursed beast: the Thousand-Eyed Warden, once a god, now a forsaken gatekeeper.
"Turn back, Devourer. You seek to undo what should remain undone."
"She wasn't a mistake," Aether replied, eyes cold.
"Your death will be."
He unleashed Beelzebubb's system:
Devour Command – Consume Divine Remnants
The Warden's 1,000 eyes exploded into darkness.
Aether stepped over its corpse, eyes glowing with the flickering flame of obsession.
Behind him, the Mirrorfall Gateway cracked open, revealing…
A world of frozen time.
Veltharox.
Inside Veltharox, the air itself resisted movement. Seconds stretched into minutes. Echoes of the past repeated on loop.
Aether watched visions:
Aira as a child, laughing in the meadows of her elven homeland.
Their first kiss beneath the shattered sky.
Her last words in his arms.
Each vision tore his soul apart — but he pushed forward.
At the center of Veltharox stood the Clockwork Altar, where time's laws could be rewritten.
But it had a guardian: Nayr'Khan, the Broken Time God.
"You dare attempt resurrection? Even gods are not allowed to twist fate like this."
"Then I'll do it as a demon."
They clashed — time looping endlessly, blades rewinding mid-swing, blood flowing backward.
But Aether was no longer mortal.
He bent the law of recursion using Beelzebubb's forbidden protocol:
Skill: Devour Paradox – Eat Time Loops
The god screamed as his loops collapsed into oblivion.
Aether stood over him, exhausted — but victorious.
Placing Aira's soul-mark into the Heart of the Clockwork Altar, Aether whispered:
"I found you. Now come back."
The altar scanned the fragment.
Soul Incomplete: 79%
Require: Core Memory
Location: Elven Homeland – Yusellea, Realm of Lightroots
Aether gritted his teeth.
"She left her core there… where she grew up…"
A new journey began.
But just before the altar went silent, a voice echoed:
"Aether… please don't lose yourself for me."
He closed his eyes, holding the mark to his chest.
"It's already too late for that."
After years, Aether stepped into Yusellea, Aira's sacred homeland — a realm of towering bioluminescent trees, floating lakes, and wind-chimes made of crystal leaves.
Elves gathered in silence, shocked at the one who dared return.
Aether looked nothing like the boy who once walked hand-in-hand with Nahida.
Now, he was a monster cloaked in shadows — eyes burning with vengeance, carrying a dead girl's soul.
Nahida's younger sister, Saryen, stepped forward.
"You shouldn't be here."
"I'm here to take back Aira's Core Memory."
Saryen's eyes burned with sorrow and suspicion.
"She… left it with us. As her final wish. She said if you ever came back like this, we were to stop you."
Elven archers appeared from the trees.
"Don't make us enemies, Aether."
He looked at them — calm, merciless.
"I came for love. But I'm not afraid to become hate."