Night always made Elarion look more beautiful.
Above the Kingdom of Lunaris, the moon hung so close it seemed within reach from the tops of the towers.
Its light fell over the silver forest, the crystal river, and the palace rooftops built from white stone.
At the center of it all stood Moon Palace, the seat of power of the Moon Elves.
The race was famous for three things.
Longevity.
Beauty that bordered on the impossible.
And lunar magic inherited through their blood.
Yet among the thousands of Moon Elves living in Lunaris, there was one name people talked about more than any other.
Aelion Vaelaris.
The son of the Vaelaris family.
The strongest young mage of his generation.
The owner of silvery-white hair that always shimmered beneath the moonlight.
His eyes were pale blue, like the sky before dawn.
His ears were long and pointed.
His face was so perfect that many young nobles considered him a son descended directly from the moon goddess.
But Aelion himself had never cared about any of that.
To him, titles and praise meant nothing.
There was one person who mattered far more.
Lyra Elaris.
"Aelion."
A woman's voice came from behind him.
Aelion, who had been standing on the balcony, turned around.
Lyra walked toward him.
Her long hair was golden brown, unlike the silver hair most Moon Elves had.
She wore a simple blue dress without any noble jewelry.
Even so, Aelion had always felt that Lyra was more beautiful than the entire palace.
"Daydreaming again?"
Aelion smiled.
"I'm looking at the moon."
Lyra stood beside him.
"Liar."
Aelion raised an eyebrow.
"Why?"
"Because you've been looking in the wrong direction this whole time."
Aelion fell silent.
Lyra smiled.
"The moon's over there."
She pointed at the sky.
Aelion sighed.
"I know."
"Then?"
"I'm looking at something more beautiful."
Lyra stared at him.
Aelion immediately turned his face away.
He regretted saying that.
Lyra let out a soft laugh.
"Are you flirting with me?"
"No."
"That's too bad."
Aelion looked at her.
"What?"
Lyra smiled.
"I thought you'd finally learned how."
Aelion smiled too.
They stood in silence after that.
There was no conversation.
None was needed.
They had known each other for years.
And yet there was one thing Aelion had never said.
I love you.
Three words.
Very simple.
But for all those years...
Aelion had never managed to say them.
Aelion had tried.
Countless times.
The first time was when they were still a hundred years old.
To humans, that age might have sounded impossible.
But for a Moon Elf, they were still considered young.
At the time, Aelion had brought a Moonlight flower.
He intended to give it to Lyra.
But before he could say anything...
Lyra told him that her father was sick.
Aelion abandoned the attempt.
A few decades later, he tried again.
This time, he prepared a moon-crystal ring.
But the kingdom was attacked by monsters from the northern region.
Once again, he put it off.
Then there was war.
Then training.
Then royal duties.
Then countless other excuses.
There was always something.
And the longer it went on...
the harder it became to say.
"Aelion."
"Yeah?"
"Do you know what tomorrow is?"
Aelion thought about it.
"The Moonfall Festival?"
Lyra shook her head.
"Tomorrow is your birthday."
Aelion smiled.
"Oh."
Lyra stared at him in disbelief.
"Oh?"
"I almost forgot."
"You always do."
"Because birthdays aren't important."
Lyra looked at him.
"They're important to me."
Aelion fell silent.
"Why?"
"Because..."
Lyra smiled.
"...if you hadn't been born, I never would have met you."
Aelion's heart stopped for a moment.
He stared at Lyra.
Lyra seemed to realize what she had just said.
Her face flushed slightly.
"Don't look at me like that."
"Like what?"
"Like..."
She looked away.
"...like I just said something weird."
Aelion laughed.
"Okay."
But in his heart...
Aelion made a decision.
Tomorrow.
He would say it.
No matter what happened.
Tomorrow, he would tell her everything.
Far above them...
the moon suddenly flickered.
Only once.
Aelion saw it.
His brows furrowed.
"Did you see that?"
Lyra nodded.
"What was it?"
"I don't know."
Aelion raised his hand.
A faint silver magic appeared in his palm.
He directed it toward the sky.
Then...
his expression changed.
"Something's wrong."
"What?"
Aelion did not answer immediately.
He looked at the moon.
For a moment...
the moon seemed to have two shadows.
One was where it should have been.
The other had shifted several degrees.
Then the two merged again.
Aelion lowered his hand.
"It was probably just an illusion."
Lyra looked at him.
"Are you sure?"
Aelion nodded.
"Yes."
But in truth...
he was not sure at all.
The next day...
the Moonfall Festival began.
All of Lunaris was filled with light.
Thousands of lanterns floated through the air.
Music played from the town square.
Children ran around carrying flowers.
Mages put on displays of magic.
And in the middle of the palace...
Aelion stood wearing the Vaelaris family's formal attire.
A white robe with silver trim.
A short sword at his waist.
A Moonheart crystal on his chest.
That day was his 237th birthday.
But Aelion was searching for only one person.
Lyra.
"My lord."
A servant bowed.
"The queen requests your presence."
Aelion sighed.
"Where?"
"The Council Chamber."
"I'm coming."
The Council Chamber was filled with nobles.
The King of Lunaris sat on the throne.
Queen Seraphine sat beside him.
Aelion bowed.
"Your Majesty."
The king looked at him.
"Aelion."
"Yes?"
"You will be given a special assignment."
Aelion raised his head.
"An assignment?"
The king nodded.
"Several of the kingdom's mages have discovered an anomaly on the western border."
"What kind of anomaly?"
"A spatial fracture."
Aelion fell silent.
"A spatial fracture?"
"Yes."
One of the senior mages stepped forward.
"It was small at first."
He unrolled a scroll.
"But over the past seven days, it has continued to grow."
Aelion read the report.
Then his eyes stopped.
"These coordinates..."
He recognized the location.
"Evershade Forest?"
The mage nodded.
"That's right."
Aelion immediately remembered something.
"Are there any casualties?"
"No."
"Creatures?"
"None."
"Changes in time?"
The mage fell silent.
Aelion stared at him.
"There are?"
"A slight one."
"How slight?"
"Around the fracture, one day in the outside world..."
He took a breath.
"...is equivalent to about three hours inside."
Aelion shot to his feet.
"That's not a spatial fracture."
Everyone fell silent.
"It's a time fracture."
The king frowned.
"How dangerous is it?"
Aelion answered:
"If it's left alone..."
He looked at the map.
"...it won't just affect Evershade Forest."
"Then what?"
"A time fracture isn't limited to space."
Aelion pointed to the surrounding region.
"If it grows large enough, it can connect the past and the future."
Queen Seraphine asked:
"And what would happen?"
Aelion looked at them.
"Reality will begin to overlap."
The room fell silent.
"How bad would it be?"
Aelion answered:
"The dead could return."
Everyone fell silent.
"Cities that haven't been built could appear."
He continued.
"History could change."
"And if the fracture reaches the center of the world..."
Aelion stopped.
The king asked:
"If that happens?"
Aelion answered softly:
"Elarion might never have existed."
Aelion left that afternoon.
But before he went...
he searched for Lyra.
He found her in the palace garden.
Lyra was picking Moonveil flowers.
"Aelion."
"I have to go."
Lyra stopped.
"Where?"
"Evershade Forest."
"For how long?"
"I don't know."
Lyra looked at him.
"Is it dangerous?"
Aelion smiled.
"Not too dangerous."
"You're lying."
Aelion let out a soft laugh.
"You know me better and better."
"I do know you."
That sentence left Aelion speechless.
He wanted to say it.
Now.
There was no war.
No meetings.
No excuses.
He took a breath.
"Lyra."
"Yes?"
"There's actually something I want to say."
Lyra waited.
Aelion looked into her eyes.
"I..."
Suddenly...
DONG!
The sound of an emergency bell rang throughout the palace.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Lyra's expression changed.
Aelion immediately turned around.
The sky above Lunaris changed color.
The moon appeared...
though the sun had not fully set.
But there was not one moon.
There were two.
Then three.
Then...
six.
The entire sky trembled.
Aelion stared at it, his face pale.
"Impossible."
Lyra asked:
"What is it?"
Aelion answered:
"The fracture has reached Lunaris."
KRAAAAK!
The sky was like glass.
A black fracture appeared among the clouds.
People screamed.
Lanterns fell.
The palace towers shook.
Then something emerged from the fracture.
A hand.
Not a monster's hand.
Not a human hand.
A hand made of black light.
Aelion immediately raised his hand.
"Lyra!"
"I'm here!"
"Don't move!"
Aelion unleashed his magic.
MOON BARRIER!
A wall of silver light appeared above the city.
The black hand slammed into it.
BOOM!
Aelion was forced back several meters.
Blood spilled from the corner of his mouth.
Lyra ran to him.
"Aelion!"
"I'm fine."
But Aelion saw something behind the fracture.
A city.
A city he had never seen before.
Then the city changed.
Into ruins.
Then a forest.
Then an ocean.
Then...
Lunaris in ruins.
Aelion froze.
He saw thousands of possible futures in a single second.
And in almost all of them...
Elarion was destroyed.
"Aelion!"
Lyra's voice brought him back to his senses.
He looked at the woman in front of him.
For the first time...
Aelion felt afraid.
Not afraid of dying.
He was afraid he would not be able to save her.
Lyra took his hand.
"We have to go."
Aelion shook his head.
"No."
"What?"
"I have to close this fracture."
"You can't do it alone."
"I have to try."
Lyra gripped his hand tighter.
"Then I'm coming with you."
Aelion looked at her.
"No."
"Why?"
"Because if I fail..."
He fell silent.
"...I don't want you here."
Lyra stared at him for a long time.
Then she offered him a faint smile.
"If you leave..."
She stepped closer.
"...I'll still wait for you."
Aelion could not answer.
He wanted to say something.
Something he had kept hidden for more than a hundred years.
But now was not the time.
Not yet.
Aelion released Lyra's hand.
"I'll come back."
Lyra nodded.
"Promise?"
Aelion smiled.
"Promise."
Aelion flew toward the sky.
Moonlight enveloped his body.
His white hair streamed behind him.
His eyes turned bright blue.
Seven magic circles appeared behind him.
First Circle — Moonlight.
Second Circle — Lunar Shield.
Third Circle — Silver Bind.
Fourth Circle — Eclipse.
Fifth Circle — Moonfall.
Sixth Circle — Lunar Dominion.
And the seventh circle...
Aelion had never used it before.
Because that magic was forbidden.
Its name was:
Moon Reversal.
But Aelion did not yet know...
that one day...
he would use that magic.
Not to save himself.
But to save all of reality.
At the cost of...
himself.
In the sky...
Aelion drew closer to the fracture.
The closer he got...
the clearer the sounds became.
Whispers.
Sobs.
Screams.
And the voice of someone calling his name.
"Aelion..."
He stopped.
The voice sounded like his own.
"Aelion..."
The fracture widened.
Aelion raised his hand.
"Who are you?"
There was no answer.
Then...
an eye opened behind the fracture.
An enormous eye.
An eye that seemed to see all of time.
Aelion felt his entire body freeze.
A voice spoke:
"You are not supposed to be here."
Aelion gritted his teeth.
"This is my world."
The voice laughed.
"No, it isn't."
Aelion raised his hand.
Moonlight gathered around it.
"I will defend it."
The voice answered:
"Then..."
The fracture opened wider.
"...prepare to lose something far more important than your world."
Aelion did not understand.
Not yet.
But far below...
Lyra suddenly clutched her chest.
A strange pain appeared for no reason.
And for a moment...
she saw a man standing alone beneath the moon.
A man with white hair.
A man who was crying.
A man who seemed to be saying something to her.
But she could not hear the words.
Lyra frowned.
"Who..."
The vision vanished.
She looked up at the sky.
And without knowing why...
tears streamed down her cheeks.
Meanwhile, Aelion raised both hands.
The seven magic circles lit up.
For the first time in Lunaris's history...
Moon Magic was unleashed without limit.
And that night...
was the beginning of Elarion's destruction.
And at the same time...
the beginning of the story of a man who would one day become someone who had never existed.
To be continued.