Chapter 240: "It's been a while, Sis." [END]

[One year later…]

The calamity that had once devastated the entire continent, the one that had been stopped at the cost of countless lives across countless races, struck a heavy blow to the beings of this world once again.

Countless lives were lost this time as well. Countless races saw their own decline, and a radical shift in the balance of power took place once more.

But although every consequence of that calamity mirrored the last one, the outcome this time was very different.

In fact, the war against the Abyss didn't last more than a single year.

The scale of destruction was far more contained, and more importantly, if the previous war against the Abyss had brought about the end of the Age of Gods, then this one brought a return.

People saw the Goddess of Life return, the Tree of Life that had saved so many lives during the conflict now continuing to protect its people as it flourished across the lands of the Kingdom of Solren.

People saw the God of Death reappear, creating armies of the dead, not resurrected beings, no. Beings of death itself.

The race of death creatures was among the first elemental races to return, but unlike in the past, once the conflict ended, they moved toward the Fallen Lands, an uninhabitable region that changed at the war's end. The curtain of dark clouds that had rained deadly ash was gone, replaced by a clear, sunlit sky that struck and revitalized the dead earth of the Fallen Lands.

And finally, people got to see two of the three Calamities of the past, who continued rooting out the last traces of void energy corruption.

Fear of such beings still lingered, but it was no longer what it had once been. People were no longer entirely afraid of the possibility of these beings roaming freely across the continent. Not that they could do much even if they wanted to.

Two of the six kings of the human territories fell. Three were gravely wounded. And only one emerged almost entirely unscathed.

That king was none other than Rowan, the King of Solren, who had watched all of these high-ranking entities unleash themselves within his own kingdom before moving on to the others.

Among the six kingdoms, Solren was the one that suffered the least damage.

Tensions between the kingdoms remained, as did the tensions with the territory of the beast race, a territory once unknown to the masses, thanks to the vast mountain range separating the two regions, but which came to light after the battle against the Abyss, leaving everyone aware of its existence.

Peace was returning. The inhabitants of the continent were recovering, everyone relieved that the calamity which had nearly brought about the death of them all had finally been eliminated.

But no one knew what had truly brought about that peace. No one knew how much effort had actually been poured into it. And more importantly, no one knew that the main contributors to that peace were, at this very moment, walking among ordinary people, along the crowded streets of the royal capital of Solren.

A couple was strolling down the main street of the vast capital, a man and a woman.

The man appeared to be little more than twenty years old. He was tall, with a refined appearance and sharp features. No matter how much he tried to minimize the effect his appearance had on those around him, he still attracted the attention of the women nearby, who couldn't help but steal several glances at him, as though one wasn't enough to imprint his image in their minds.

The other was a woman, slightly older in appearance, somewhere around thirty.

She was slightly shorter than the man, though still above average height, with long, thick blonde hair cascading over her shoulders, a face with delicate features, and a pair of emerald eyes that kept sparking envy in many of those around them.

Seeing that their efforts to minimize the effect their existence tended to have on people weren't entirely working, Evan could only shake his head as he glanced at the woman beside him, clinging to his right arm.

'Yeah, this is definitely her fault,' he thought, not daring to say those words out loud.

Supreme or not, there were certain things a man simply couldn't afford to do, and provoking a goddess with a few screws loose was one of them.

"Don't think I don't know what's going through your head." Seraphine's voice came, laced with warning.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Evan said, keeping his expression calm and his eyes fixed ahead, not daring to meet the beautiful goddess's gaze.

"Oh, sure you don't. But I'll tell you anyway. Showing off my man and making other women jealous is my right, and no one gets to say anything about it except me," she said, not caring in the slightest whether Evan agreed.

"Weren't you the one complaining about me getting too close to other women?" Evan said, almost adding something more, but wisely stopping himself.

"That stubborn girl is a different story. She doesn't know what's good for her, just like that dragon woman," Seraphine said, irritated as she recalled her recent encounter with Evangeline and Luna.

Evan had only recently returned. The battle against the Supreme of the Abyss, and everything he'd done afterward to make sure the universe wouldn't take further action against the planet, had drained him to his very limit.

He'd hoped that now, with everything resolved and himself finally back, he'd get to rest. But who could have imagined that a conflict between women was already underway, and that he would end up as collateral damage in it?

"Anyway, today is an important day for you, just as it is for me. So stop complaining, and focus on how you're going to introduce your beautiful woman to her," she said, beaming as though she couldn't wait.

Seeing her like that, Evan could only sigh as a warmth spread through his heart.

Watching the beautiful goddess finally able to enjoy life the way they had both once dreamed, back when all of this began, gave him a sense of peace he'd thought he would never feel again.

It was something he had fought for over a very long time, something that had once seemed unreachable, and now that he had it, it still felt slightly surreal.

It was clearly something he wasn't used to, but he was slowly getting accustomed to it.

And no matter how unfamiliar it still felt, Evan could say with certainty that all the efforts he had made had been worth it.

The happy expression on the faces of all his acquaintances, subordinates, allies, and everyone else around him was the result of his efforts, as well as those of many others.

"You're right. It's a big day for both of us. Let's just hope it doesn't turn into another disaster," Evan said, the last part muttered under his breath. Seraphine heard it anyway, earning him an elbow to the ribs.

He had settled all of his affairs, and now the moment had come, the one he had put off several times over the past months. The moment to meet someone who had been an unexpected development in this cycle, though an entirely welcome one.

The memories of his childhood in this life were clear in his mind, that person's appearance, as well as the love with which she had protected him back then, when his parents couldn't.

She had been his protective figure for the first four years of his life in this world, a figure who, for all he knew, might not even remember him anymore.

The two of them kept walking, until at last they reached their destination.

The Awakener's Academy.

Evan looked at the academy's imposing main building in the distance, followed by the rest of the campus and the various other complexes spread across the entire academy grounds.

The tall, imposing walls, for all their attempts, couldn't obstruct his vision, letting him take in a clear image of the entire place with a single glance, as well as examine every single being present within it, and find the one he had come for.

He and Seraphine walked in through the academy's entrance unnoticed, unseen by the guards and by the rest of the students, and made their way toward a specific area.

Many students nearby eventually noticed them, but he ignored them, his gaze settling on a pair of girls walking through the academy's gardens, heading in their direction.

One was a girl with short, almond colored hair that reached her shoulders, a pair of bright violet eyes, and an expression full of energy as she spoke to the girl beside her.

The other had a refined bearing, long black hair, delicate features well above average, and dark eyes that gave her an impassive, almost cold appearance, though that coldness was absent in this moment as she listened to her friend.

But Evan could see that there was much more hidden behind that expression. More than she would probably have wanted anyone to know.

'It seems she hasn't completely forgotten about my existence after all,' he thought, feeling a little relieved.

He took a deep breath, calming a heart that had started beating hard, going against all logic, considering his current level of existence, and walked toward the two girls approaching from the opposite direction.

Seraphine, beside him, said nothing, remaining silent while still clinging to his arm, as though offering support, understanding the turbulent emotions of the moment.

The distance between the two parties shrank until the two girls finally noticed them as well.

At first, nothing happened, confusion painted on both their faces.

But then Lirien's expression seemed to shift slightly, as though she'd noticed something she couldn't quite place or define.

Her friend, however, unlike her, seemed to freeze at the sight of the man before them.

'This… what is this feeling?' Selena thought, staring at the couple in front of them.

She didn't know him, and she was certain this was the first time she'd ever seen him. And yet, the sight of that man stirred an unease in her she couldn't explain.

Her heart began beating faster as a sense of familiarity, buried in the depths of her soul, began resurfacing.

The longer she looked at him, the stronger that feeling grew.

Lirien, standing beside her, noticed the change, and her attention immediately returned to the man in front of them.

Her eyes widened as the image of a strange boy who had helped her no more than a year ago seemed to overlap with the sight of this other man, clearly older than both of them.

"You…" she began, but couldn't manage anything more, as though she too hesitated to give voice to her own doubts.

Evan noticed this. He noticed the change in Lirien, just as he noticed the turbulent emotions building inside Selena.

He looked at her, and a gentle smile appeared on his face.

That smile only made the emotions Selena had been holding back surge even stronger, as though a dam were about to give way.

"It's been a while, Sis."

And just like that, the dam broke.

[END]