"Aion, I remember you saying you won't talk to me until I stop my prophecies. What made my stubborn brother give up his own word?"
In a chamber of the city lord palace, Eon sat behind a desk built purely of glowing golden aura and smiled at the older-looking man.
"Elder brother." Aion addressed him with respect.
Outside, he addressed Eon by his name and the latter didn't refute it to protect Aion's image. But in private, Aion showed a lot of respect to his older sibling.
It's comical for a man who looked to be in his 70s to address a man barely into 30s as an elder. But once anyone knew their divine ranks, it'd be obvious. A peak rank 2 had far longer lifespan than mid rank 2s.
In fact, Eon's proper appearance was supposed to be that of a child six years. He had aged more than he should've—at least by five more times in fact.
There were already light wrinkles on his forehead and a few strands of his hair were turning white. These were signs that could easily be modified if a divine ranker wished to.
But Eon didn't bother. Most divine rankers would be born during his reign. And they'd die way before it ends. He'd outlive more than a couple generations of divine rankers. For every generation, his look would be the new normal.
As Aion was about to reveal why he broke his word, he noticed Eon cough, the corner of his mouth bleeding.
And time, which should've been under control overflowed. Eon's wrinkles grew just a bit more and a couple more strands of his hair grew lost their luster.
"You are…" Aion took a breath and tried to find the appropriate words.
"Growing old again." Eon waved his hand and the blood vanished. "I've lost a part of my vitality with the prophecy again. Nothing much."
Aion's expression crumbled and he looked at his brother with indignation. "Why do you…"
"Don't keep nagging me, Aion." The older man who's also younger looking shook his head.
"Why can't you let others do it?" Aion clenched his fists, pressing them on his knees. "You sacrificed so much for our research on Origin already. Why do you have to bear the price for prophecies too?"
"As I always say," Eon leaned back into the glowing golden chair that looked to be built from the light of stars. "I'm doing this for myself. There is no need to let others bear the price."
"By the time this research ends," Aion slammed the desk and leaned forward, yelling. "You'll be dead. You idiot. You'll die even before me, a mid realm demigod!"
Eon shrugged, not minding his younger brother's outrage and harsh words. Standing up, he glided to the wall on the right and looked up the portrait that captured a 'video' of two boys with a mature man and woman.
She looked to be in her late 40s while the man was barely 20. But he was the older one.
"It feels like yesterday." Eon had a nostalgic smile on his face as the portrait played scene after scene of the family.
They were in far more destitute environment back then. Heaven tribe was better off than others but not much. The wild beasts that Varian encountered on the outskirts were a nightmare to these tribesman not too long ago.
Heaven tribe were even used to sacrificing a few of their own to placate the beasts. Such was their pathetic condition.
And now, those beasts and their entire lineage was under control. Heaven tribe had conquered nature itself and now dared to blaspheme against the God who made this universe.
Aion looked at the portrait for a moment before turning his head away. "…Immortality is not a good goal to have. The origin research, the blasphemy and the endless vitality—we're still nowhere close to reaching the end."
"It is the only goal that is worth having." Eon smiled, his gaze filled with determination. "Even if I die before it ends, the ones who come after me will finish it one day."
Aion sighed deeply and shook his head with a look of fatigue.
"I'm sorry, Aion. You were not interested in Immortality or Origin. But to help me…you threw your entire life away." Eon said, still facing the portrait, his voice unbelievably soft.
"It doesn't matter," Aion waved his hand carelessly. "Even the god of Space-Time died. In comparison, my life is next to nothing."
The death of the space-time god was one of the triggering points that pushed them on this path today.
In fact, Heaven confirmed the death of the three gods. But only managed to go into depth regarding one.
The discovery decimated the concept of 'godhood'.
The six gods, well, demigods they worshipped were thrown off the altars. The three gods, who were even more ancient and would've been worshipped otherwise, were seen as just more powerful divine rankers. The most powerful a divine ranker might be, but limited nonetheless.
"Divine paths, what a deceptive name." Eon walked back to the desk and sat down smoothly. "Those three were at the peak of the divine paths. But that didn't make them gods, it trapped them. The game is rigged from the start. We have to flip the board. The rulermaker will call it blasphemy, I call it justice."
Aion nodded weakly.
Unlike Eon, he didn't have very strong feelings about these concepts. He just hoped to advance the research enough so that Eon wouldn't die. At least not before him.
As for the atrocities he had to commit to achieve his goal, Aion didn't care. Only his brother cared about him when he was at his lowest. So, he'd only care about his brother. The rest could drop dead.
But of course, he couldn't say that openly. As an elder, he still had to maintain a polite and friendly facade.
It's also why he changed his behavior with the lab subject after realizing Ares was also researching on Origin.
He tortured that lad for days and depleted his lifespan. Even if he left him alone, he'd die soon.
Did Aion expect to be forgiven? No.
'That boy must be seething with anger. Like all subjects before him, he wants nothing more than slicing my neck.'
That's precisely why he'd act obedient now and guide the envoys to Ares tribe. The envoys were actually scouts.
Aion planned a raid on the Ares tribe. He'd loot their research, seize their researchers and push the research on Origin forward.
"Ah, brother." Rubbing his beard, the old man finally got to the topic. "The subject you saw that day is a member of Ares tribe. They too are researching Origin…"
Once the talk of origin research came up, Eon sat straight and listened with sharp attention. "No wonder he felt…weird to me. Should I say unique?"
As a peak rank 2, his intuition was able to grasp the subtle clues of fate. And the fate of that boy was…weird, putting it lightly.
If a good life was to be painted white and a bad one black, this one had the purest white and darkest black. A white line would go on for longer while a black one would end prematurely. But for him, these two lines intertwined and kept pushing each other.
What disturbed Eon more was that he couldn't properly divine the boy's fate. While he couldn't predict anyone's future precisely, he should at least get a picture of their life.
For Varian, Eon only saw a flickering light in the void before a pair of eyes appeared.
Taking a deep breath, Eon closed his eyes and checked his soul. Imprinted on his soul were a pair of divine eyes that watched him with an emotionless gaze.
These 'eyes' were watching him since he confirmed the death of the space-time god. Even though he reached the peak of rank 2, he did not know what to make of them.
But that gaze which viewed him as an ant that could be crushed was perhaps the main reason why Eon pushed for this research so hard.
"Torturing him to extract information won't be beneficial. There must be security measures including self-destruction."
Aion's words brought him out of his thoughts.
"Yeah," Eon nodded. "Let's go with your plan."
"That boy…" Aion hesitated for a moment before saying. "He's insane. He keeps saying he's from the future. That we'll all die. That Neveah of all idiots would slaughter us to extinction."
Eon blinked. "What absurdity. Those guys don't even have proper demigods."
"We look down on everyone that we don't even bother spying on them." Aion had a wry smile on his face. "But if Ares whom we labelled as worthless chaos seekers can have research on Origin, maybe we should not dismiss the capabilities of Neveah. Winning against us is impossible. But they should be able to inflict damage."
Eon shook his head in dismissal. "You said it yourself. He is crazy. And Neveah is not Ares. As originally planned, we'll just have our formations up against them and the army on standby. No need for martial law. Show that boy our strength and he'll be more obedient when taking us to his tribe."
"Alright." Aion stood up. "I'll take him around."