Another autumn morning let its dry leaves fall to the ground. At that time, however, Theo was already five years old.
Recently, Midian had been declared—by Duke Ethan himself—a district of the capital, Loureto, and the region's primary farming area. With technological advancement accelerating across the continent, the replacement of human labor with machines had become an undeniable reality within the Lawrence Duchy.
Ethan invested every available resource into the use of machinery to increase production efficiency, especially in agriculture.
Struggling to control a harvesting machine, Michel tried to keep it moving in a straight line.
A mana crystal beneath the iron platform that housed Michel's cabin sustained the entire machine, acting as its engine.
The cutting bar was the only part of the machine that made brief contact with the ground. The rear section, where the crystal and the cabin were located, levitated thanks to the sound waves and energy emitted by the mana crystal.
"He's still getting used to it, right?" Duke Ethan commented with his arms crossed, laughing beside Anton.
"Yeah. He can barely keep the machine straight."
Ethan failed to keep a serious face.
"He's probably thinking, 'This lousy machine… it'd be better to harvest by hand.'"
Anton laughed along with the Duke.
"Without a doubt," Anton said, wiping a tear from his eyes.
Looking to the side, Ethan's attention was drawn to a warehouse at the edge of the fields.
"Tell Michel I'll be right back," Ethan said, turning away.
"Where are you going, Lord Lawrence?"
"To the warehouse."
☽✪☾
By a stream within the forest, Theo sat on the riverbed alongside Agnes and Magnum, talking. Hanging from an apple tree, Theo searched for the best fruit while debating with his friends.
"Theo, you know that clay rock you threw at me hurt, right?"
Agnes smacked her own forehead.
"It's stone. And the correct way to say it would be 'you.'"
"Aaah, Miss Blah, Blah, Blah. Why don't you become a teacher?"
An apple was thrown from the top of the tree and struck the back of Magnum's neck. Right after, Theo jumped down with a few more fruits.
"You really should, Agnes. And you, Magnum, should join my mother's lessons so you stop being illiterate."
Magnum ground his teeth.
"It's free. All it'll cost you is those hours you spend getting in the farmers' way. So maybe you should try…"
Exploding in anger, Magnum threw the apple back at Theo. The Young Master caught it easily with his bare hands.
"You geniuses think it's easy?! How do you expect me to learn to read at four years old, huh?!"
"Well… by learning…" Theo replied, unable to find a better answer at the moment.
Truthfully, comparing Magnum to the two of them was unfair. While Theo and Agnes were considered geniuses and recently awakened deviants, Magnum was just a low-class peasant with no family encouragement toward education.
In fact, that entire society did not encourage peasants to learn how to read and write, monopolizing knowledge in the hands of the nobility since ancient times.
Magnum only had opportunities thanks to Duchess Camille, the current secretary of education of the Lawrence Duchy.
"You geniuses are really playing dumb, huh?"
"Dumb. If you're referring to people in the plural, the whole sentence should—"
"Aaaah, to hell with it!"
"Hey! Are you insulting me now?!"
Theo laughed quietly as the two argued. The Young Master washed the apples in the running water, listening as his friends hurled insults into the wind.
Then, an irrational strand of mana drew his attention. A vaporized energy, tinted blue, cried out to Theo, begging the boy to follow it.
'There will be moments when mana will speak to you, but not with words…'
The message Ethan had passed on to his children resurfaced in Theo's mind.
'It will draw your attention and seduce you, just like a nymph would. That is exactly why the Forest of Nymphs bears such a name… Mana lures its intruders and guides them to the beasts' prey. Therefore, no matter what is happening, whether the day is peaceful or not…'
"Hey, where's Theo?" Magnum asked, looking at the apples scattered across the riverbed.
Agnes turned quickly.
'Resist this enchantment.'
'This mist…' Theo thought, completely engulfed by the solitude of the dead zone.
It was so dense it could almost be called solid, like a curtain of wind pushing the boy sideways at every moment.
A majestic glow hummed within the mist, breaking the imperfect sense of danger.
With every step Theo took deeper into the forest, a familiar sensation brushed the back of his neck—a feeling from another life…
Every branch he stepped on incorrectly delivered the same sensation Liam Mason had hated: the uncertainty of the future. Not knowing what would happen, unable to see even a few meters ahead.
Only the wind carried the boy toward the end.
Guiding him to the face of despair and death itself.
Dragged by a gust of wind, the mist split open violently, creating a small clearing within the forest.
The neigh of a horse tore through Theo's eardrums.
Scanning the newly revealed space, the boy searched for the source of the sound… But aside from lesser creatures fleeing the area and birds escaping the trees, he found nothing.
Until the mist revealed another boundary, opening a path and unveiling a small rocky hill.
A black horse, clad in shadowed steel armor, loomed above the Young Master. Its white eyes met the most beautiful amber tint of Theo's gaze, drowning him in fear.
The rider atop the merciless beast wore the same black steel armor, a metal lance gripped in his left hand. However, there was no head where one should be.
Instead, a white cloud poured from the cavity of his neck, dissipating a few centimeters into the air.
Theo's body was already paralyzed. But when his gaze met that being's eyes, his soul froze solid.
When the knight turned to the side, his head was held in his right hand—a pale, dried face, as dead as a decomposing corpse. The empty, black eyes resembled the abyss itself.
His cracked lips moved, releasing a hoarse yet imposing voice.
'Michel Hansen, Anton, Ramires, Frans…'
Those names stabbed into Theo's chest, causing pain and pressure so intense that the boy spat blood.
His eyes widened as he recalled a scene from another life: a knight mounted on a yellow horse driving his sword into Liam Mason's chest.
Former General Mason spat blood, just like Young Master Lawrence.
Weakness overtook Theo's body, as did the paralysis in his eyes.
The knight continued to pronounce the names of Midian's residents, without missing a single one.
Though Theo was the only one standing before the knight, his name was never spoken. That alone was a relief.
The moment of tension between the spirit and the boy was shattered by an explosion, followed by intermittent tremors.
Theo snapped back to reality. Feeling blood trickle from his mouth, he wiped his lips and ran backward.
His vision wavered between past and present. After being struck by the knight on the yellow horse, Liam Mason had wandered through the forest, clutching trees along the path, losing strength with every step.
Running through the forest, Theo had no idea where he would emerge, nor what he would find within that mist. Then, another explosion rang out…
Liam, however, tripped over his own weakness and crawled through the forest, dragging his open wound across branches and leaves. His regrets did not fade.
Theo's regrets, on the other hand, struck with every step.
On his deathbed, Liam found a stone in the middle of a clearing and tried to lean on it. With his last strength, he managed to stand one final time.
The clouds parted, allowing the crimson glow of the blood moon to bathe Liam, letting him glimpse nature one last time.
However… when Theo emerged from the mist and looked at the sky, instead of clear clouds and a beautiful firmament, he found smoke clouds covering the horizon.
"Theo!" Agnes shouted.
Running and fighting against the current's force, Theo stretched his hands toward Agnes…
While Liam, feeling the pain in his hollow chest, reached out toward the blood moon that bathed him one final time.
"Theo…" Agnes said, grabbing his shoulders and stopping him. "What happened?"
"It doesn't matter. Let's get out of here…"
Theo looked back with a sense of regret. But before he could sink into that bitter feeling, another explosion caught his attention.
Moments later, countless explosions tore through the wheat fields.
The three children ran along the trail, engulfed by a cloud of smoke that burned their noses.
The tremors grew stronger with every step…
'What is…' Sunlight flooded Theo's eyes, announcing the transition between the forest and the farmlands. 'Happening…'
His eyes widened, and his small body froze. The vast fields that once looked like a sea of flames under the sunlight were nothing more than a dead land, consumed by chaos.
Towers of smoke pierced the sky, stealing away the celestial blue with the penumbra of ruin. The stench of despair—something Liam Mason knew all too well—made itself known to Theo.
The untamable fate once again delivered the sensation of death…
In the form of a black cataclysm.