After giving the delivery details to Rosavere, Aether left the company, though he wanted to have a small talk with that receptionist, but it seems like she was busy now, so he didn't push her; he just left the company with so many questions swirling in his mind like shadows in a storm.

He arrived at SA Academy, or... Sovereign Arcanum Academy!

Aether was surprised. The academy was almost rebuilt, and everything occurred so quickly. Cranes shaped the sky, workers hammered, and scaffolding wrapped the spires. The academy was rising again.

He stepped inside the Academy with a curious expression, the paths now paved in obsidian stone that gleamed under the fading light like polished blades, the buildings almost 80% completed… though it was not as grand as it used to be, but… something better than nothing.

"She really gave it her all, didn't she?" Aether muttered with an awed tone, his voice a low rumble echoing off the half-formed arches, as he entered the gate only to be blocked by the guards stationed there.

"Permit, please" one guard demanded.

Aether shook his head; with a snap of his fingers, a ripple tore through the air like fractured glass, and he disappeared in a vortex of black mist, reappearing inside the building, the guards utterly flabbergasted, one stammering,

"What happened?… Did I imagine it?"

Meanwhile,

Aether walked the corridor as he looked around the final finishing stage, the walls etched with intricate designs and polishing had been going on here.

He looked for Dora, but no… he couldn't find her here, nor could he find Delphine.

"Where could they be?" He wondered aloud, as he leaned on the window staring at the ongoing academy rebuilding… he for a second just stood there and stared at it as if he was reliving his past.

This was the place where he changed…. This was the place where he first met many of his wives, who were so indifferent and unique and now… he knew many of them to the core, their happiness craved on his soul, their passions etched in the rhythm of his breath… talk about a life-changing academy.

In his previous life, he could not finish his schooling and forced to quit so many things and so many had changed in his life from best to worst…but here, this changed back… from worst… from nobody, a gutter-rat scavenging scraps in the empire's corner, to… the best and… Emperor, his throne a seat of thorns woven from conquered woman~

It sure felt like a story… where every twist was a dagger's edge!

"Haha…" Aether chuckled amusedly, thinking… Many opportunities seized in the dead; many gentle moments, fingers tracing the curve of a lover's spine in the hush after battle; many sad moments, death of his beloveds in his hand… so many things that shaped who he was now.

This Academy, even though it was broken; it gave him more memories than anything… memories that armoured his resolve and prepared him for everything.

Aether softly smiled with a gentle expression, "Life would have been easy if it was just a student," he muttered with a slightly longing expression… as if he didn't want to have responsibility of anything, just being himself and running around without a care and loving his wives and teasing them with wicked grins that drew blushes like dawn over snow peaks, enjoying their youth… but—

"Great power comes with great responsibility, I suppose," Aether murmured quietly.

Not that he worried about this current situation, but it's just… You know the feeling of just being happy and in love?

Being a student, nothing to worry… that's all!

No decrees to sign in blood-ink, no legions to lead into the maw of chaos… just the thrill of discovery, the spark of a forbidden kiss under the library~

It's something you could not get back at any moment, if only the world would pause its relentless grind.

As he leaned on the window, Aether noticed the Origin Pillars in plain view to everyone, and there was not even the security that Dora usually kept.

Aether hummed with a thoughtful expression, before disappearing in a shimmer of fractured black mist, reappearing before the Origin Pillars with the faint crackle of displaced air.

Aether raised his eyebrows when he saw the Origin Pillars actually raised above the ground… no, not like they had just risen—more like they had steps now?

Originally, it was just a wide circular platform with twelve pillars standing along its edge.

But now the entire platform had risen, resting above a series of circular tiers each larger than the one above it… stacked like a descending spiral of stone.

Around ten of these widening layers supported the main slab, creating a massive step-like structure.

Aether stepped on the first stair, and in an instant, he felt a freaking pressure on his shoulder as if something was pushing him down by a force that was not even comprehensible.

The pressure surprised Aether, and he muttered, "I guess now I know why she didn't put guards around it," as he tried to take another step.

"Hm!"

Aether hummed, clenching his fist, still stepped up, again… again and again—

"Arrh!"

Aether felt like his mind was going to explode. With just four steps, he was already feeling heaviness in his body, and if he stepped once more; he felt his body might break down or even… smash into pieces.

"Just what the fuck is going on here?" He muttered with a confused expression, voice a ragged whisper laced with fury, while holding down the pain of the pressure on his body, fingers digging into his thigh.

"I think it would be better if you stepped down—now, before that arrogance of yours paints the stone with your blood."

Aether turned back and saw… Dora looked at him with an amused expression, her lips curved in a sly crescent, arms crossed over her chest.

"Did you know this was happening?" Aether asked as he tried to move to the fifth step, forcing his body forward… his legs straining like bowstrings drawn to breaking, muscles screaming, his mind splitting like he was in a deep headache that no healer could mend.

"Stop it and get back—Fuck you, I won't watch you shatter yourself over pride," Dora said with a firm expression, eyes narrowing to slits that promised retribution if he pushed further; she was not letting the bastard play with his life.

Aether tried to step forward, but… fuck, he slipped down and rolled back as if every inch of his body had given up everything, tumbling him in a blur of stone and sky until he sprawled at the base.

"Ha… Ha… Ha…" Aether panted heavily as he glanced at her with hazy eyes that trembled and shook violently, pupils dilated, "Just what the heck was that for…" he muttered, looking at those steps with a slightly horrified expression.

Dora gave him a hand, lifting him up. Aether patted his clothes and looked at Dora with a confused expression, brows furrowed. "Why didn't you tell me about this? What the heck was going on with these stairs?"

Dora merely shrugged. "Well, what can I say? You were so busy building your harem—charming queens and seducing princesses while empires trembled in your wake—while I had to work my ass off to deal with this shit all by myself. And yeah, I don't know what's going on with the Origin Pillars. I barely walked six steps"

"Six?" Aether raised his eyebrows in utter shock to hear that she had managed to reach six steps while he couldn't even reach the fifth one.

Was it all about strength?

"Anyway… what's with the sudden visit?" Dora asked as she turned and walked to her office. Aether followed her.

"I came here to ask you about something," Aether said with a serious tone.

Dora blinked, halting her steps mid-stride. "So you didn't come to see me or… her?"

"I came for that too, but for now… I need to focus on something important," Aether replied.

"So she is not important?" Dora smirked with a sly expression. Aether's lips twitched again.

'This woman…'

Aether shook his head. "Did you sense anyone stronger stepping into this Empire? A presence you might know?"

Dora entered her office, and Aether followed her back as he locked the door.

Dora lunged onto the sofa with a tired expression. "Anyone stronger? Do you… Mean Mary by any chance?"

Aether's eyes widened. "So you noticed her?"

Dora cocked her head. "I don't believe so... and actually, I can't even sense it anymore. You remember the barrier, right? I am just like others."

Aether's fist tightened.

"Damn it. Then why did you think it was Mary? A hunch?"

"As far as I know, Mary is the only person with power who has a problem with you, right?" She giggled with a pitiful expression.

Aether's eyes twitched. This fox was really enjoying his suffering, wasn't she?

In any case, he had no solid proof that Mary was involved.

Dora's brow furrowed as she bent forward, her arms resting on her legs. "Could you please explain what's happening?"

Aether then explained the situation of what's going on. As he sat beside her very close, their thighs brushing, Dora gave him a long glance but said nothing as she just kept listening to his situation.

Dora finally responded with a hum. "I understand... so you think the Rosavere Company is working with Mary on something related to the Terra Empire? Interesting..." Her expression turned serious. "And even more… those artifacts you're saying… are you sure about this? What was she trying to achieve here?"

"She said it was about money," Aether said, shaking his head, "but I didn't sense that at all."

Dora hummed again, contemplative. "If it's excessive, why don't you… eliminate her?"

Aether mused.

"I thought of that too...The problem was, she was the only way to reach the merchant she knew, and if I got rid of her, what if the contact went through someone else?" He paused, "I could potentially lose my advantage here… and even more, from the information I got from her receptionist, she wouldn't do something like this… something happened after the barrier erupted."

Dora stared at him with a slight frown.

"What?" Aether prompted.

"Do you want to fuck her or what?" Dora asked straightforwardly. After all, he was thinking too much to deal with her.

Aether blankly looked at her, "I am not… sigh, why does everyone think that?"

A predatory glint appeared in Dora's smirk as her lips curved. "Is that so? Everyone does? Then you should know who the real problem here is, right?" She giggled with a sly tone as her fingers slowly placed on his thighs—damn, that touch itself turned him on!!

Aether blinked as he looked at her with a slightly horrified expression. "How come your ability just keeps increasing?"

Dora blinked, feigning innocence with a flutter of lashes. "Increasing? Brat… I am just giving you a bit by bit so you wouldn't break faster… Haha," she giggled with a haughty expression.

Aether's lips twitched... this fox was really looking down at him!

Aether stared at those holy grails that jiggled furiously under her mild laugh, the swell of her breasts straining against the fabric, 'Damn… I will enjoy one day thoroughly that, making her feel whom she should not ever look down on!' he thought with a serious expression, noting the mental vow like a rune etched in his core... every teasing syllable, he would return it back thousand times, unravelling her haughty facade until she arched beneath him.

Dora then sighed and hummed, "So she might be brainwashed to do something?"

Aether blinked; he didn't think of that possibility, but she seemed too fine to him—her smiles calculated, her words laced with guile, yet no fractured glaze in her eyes, no tremor in her aura... still, it's not something he could ignore, right?

He nodded his head, "Possible," he muttered with a thoughtful expression.

"What should we do now?" Dora asked.

After all, once he gave the artifacts.... it was sure Rosavere was going to spread them like plague-seeds sown in fertile soil, and sure enough, it was going to cause huge problems in the Empires.

In fact, it would directly relate to Aether, as he was the one who produced the Artifacts, right?

But… the major fact that Aether had been thinking about, the artifacts actually could be pretty useful to the people.

As the saying goes… It's not the tool that hurts, it's the person who wields it.

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