Chapter 2: Aftermath of the Shadows.

Chapter 2: Aftermath of the Shadows. 

In the grand hall of the Palace of Zephyria. 

I looked directly at my father, seriously without breaking eye contact or letting myself be distracted by any change of topic.

"Father, what was that Primordial doing here?" I asked, my voice firm with seriousness and demand. "Why does he seek revenge against all?" 

Astraeus let out a heavy sigh, as though carrying the weight of an ancient burden. He knew he could no longer keep this old rivalry hidden. But before he could speak, my mother, Yuren Xia interrupted. 

"We can talk about that later," she said, concern etched in her expression. "First, are you alright, dear? You're completely drained." 

I could see the worry in her eyes. She understood that Vaelthar was far beyond my current strength. 

"I just need some time to recover, that's all," I reassured her before turning my attention back to my father. I was determined to hear the truth. 

He sighed again, accepting his defeat in this conversation. "It seems I have no choice but to explain now, huh?" 

He straightened, his violet eyes sharpening with seriousness. 

"Listen." 

"Very." 

"Carefully." 

He spoke each word with deliberate weight, setting the gravity of what was to come. 

"As you already heard from him, and as your mother has told you before, Vaelthar is the Primordial of Annihilation, one of the thirteen Primordials. However, unlike the other twelve, he was our god Zephyros's first creation—one of the three main Primordials, along with myself and the Primordial of Judgment." 

My father paused before continuing, his tone darkening. "Unlike the two of us, Vaelthar was a failed creation. Zephyros made a grave mistake during his formation, one that was never corrected." 

My breath hitched. "Right, the failed creation." 

"Yes. That failure led to disaster. Vaelthar's was never right in the mind—his only desire was to destroy Aetherion and claim power for himself." 

"To stop him, Zephyros cast him into the Void Sovereign's domain, where only the void existed—where there was nothing to destroy. At first, it seemed like a perfect solution. But we were wrong." 

I stiffened as he continued. 

"It was within the Void that the existence of the Annihilots began. Vaelthar formed an entire army, all infused with the power of the Void." 

Astraeus's fists clenched. "When the Astral Sovereigns realized the danger, they immediately expelled him from the Void. If he had stayed longer, he would have amassed an army capable of unmaking existence itself. But by the time he was cast out, he had already learned how to create more soldiers." 

"Using the fabric of space itself, he siphoned energy from the Void to grow his forces." 

"The Astral Sovereigns wiped out his army faster than the speed of light. But they soon realized something: as long as Vaelthar existed, his army would always return." 

I frowned, absorbing the weight of his words before speaking. "But, Father… if he was the root of the problem, why not destroy him outright? Wouldn't that have solved everything?" 

Astraeus closed his eyes briefly before responding. "I was about to explain that." 

He took a deep breath. "Primordials are bound by something called Unshackled Existence." 

"So, he could not be killed."

['Unshackled Existence' is a state where a being simply cannot ben killed, ended or destroyed at all. If you are naturally not above the being with this ability then you cannot kill it no matter what.]

My eyes widened. "Why would the gods create something like that!?" 

My father chuckled dryly. "I expected that reaction. But there is a reason." 

He continued, "When an Eclipsal Lord perishes, Primordials are meant to guard their nations until a new ruler is chosen. To ensure stability, Primordials were granted Unshackled Existence." 

Ah right, I did not explain what an Eclipsal Lord is did I? They are basically the rulers of their respective nation with each Eclipsal Lord being stronger than the Primordials of their respective Nation.

"And, Vaelthar somehow managed to not die by the hands of Zephyros despite the point that beings with Unshackled Existence could be killed by the ones stronger than them.

"And it cannot be undone as Vaelthar, can somehow resist the power to let his story be rewritten. That is why the only way to stop Vaelthar was to seal him to the End of Space and Time's Fabric, where no one could escape from at all. There, he could not create more Self-Annihilators and the endless dimension will keep him weakened." 

Astraeus exhaled. "But it seems he has managed to free himself." 

He turned to my mother. "Yuren, do you have any idea how this could have happened?" 

She furrowed her brows. "I have no idea as well, dear. But I know for a fact, that he hasn't recovered all his strength yet. Meaning, he isn't in his prime state currently."

Before we could deliberate further, a familiar voice chimed in. 

"He mentioned absorbing souls, remember?" 

A female phantom with dark wings stepped forward. Her skin pale white with red blood-like eyes. She had short silver hair. A black attire covering her up until her thighs. Her ghostly lower body hazing like a Ghost.

Nyxelle Caelren, my younger sister. The Watchkeeper of Zephyria.

She crossed her arms, a tired expression on her face. "I'm honestly surprised by how quickly you all forgot that, despite him saying it before leaving. He absorbs souls like meaning he can use that method to quickly recover his strength." 

Yuren Xia gave her a soft smile. "Ah, dear, it's not that we forgot—" 

"Yes," Astraeus added, "we simply didn't focus on that part as much, given Vaelthar's sudden return." 

Nyxelle sighed. "Oh? So, you can remember things? My apologies for assuming otherwise." As she wraps her arms, around me from behind. As I, patted her head without turning around.

"Also compared to how Vaelthar was in the past, just absorbing souls of monsters won't be enough for him to recover his true strength." Astraeus said, with a sigh. Mentioning how useless the absorption of Monster souls was for Vaelthar.

"In fact, he is already superior to a Catastrophe already."

She let the matter drop, shaking her head. "Well, whatever. Oh, right—there's a message from the other nations." 

I straightened. "What is it?" 

Nyxelle's red eyes gleamed. "They plan to hold a Celestial Concord." 

Silence fell over the hall. My parents and I exchanged glances, our eyes wide with disbelief. A Celestial Concord being called this early? Was it truly because of Vaelthar's return? That, we would soon find out.