The conversation with my grandmother had stretched longer than I expected.
We had talked about the past, about my parents, about the future of Vaythos, and about the strange road that had carried me far beyond the boundaries of this world.
Then the communicator resting on the kitchen counter began to ring.
Grandma glanced at it briefly before standing up and walking over.
"That must be someone important," she muttered as she picked it up.
The moment she looked at the caller’s name, her eyebrow rose slightly.
"Well," she said, looking back at me with mild amusement, "that was fast."
"Who is it?" I asked.
She answered the call without replying to me.
"Yes?"
A familiar voice echoed faintly from the communicator.
"Lady Elena... I apologize for disturbing you. I was wondering if the rumors I just received are true."
Grandma glanced at me again.
"They are," she replied calmly.
"So he really is back."
There was a short pause before the voice spoke again.
"Would it be possible for us to visit?"
I shook my head slightly before she could answer.
Grandma smiled faintly.
"He says no."
Another pause followed.
"Then please tell him the Emperor would be honored if he came to the capital."
She ended the call after a few more brief words and placed the communicator back on the counter.
"Well," she said while returning to the table, "it seems the royal family has already heard the news."
"That doesn’t surprise me," I shrugged.
"You should go see them," she added.
"I will," I nodded.
We spoke for a little longer after that. She asked me a few more questions about the worlds I had visited and the battles I had fought, and I promised her again that I would return before leaving Vaythos.
Eventually I stood up.
"I should go."
She walked with me to the door.
"Don’t make them wait too long," she said.
"I won’t."
I stepped outside and lifted gently into the air.
The familiar city of Cairo stretched beneath me as I rose higher into the sky. I did not rush toward the capital immediately. Instead I flew slowly, allowing myself to observe the land below.
Vaythos had truly changed.
Cities had expanded across the landscape, roads connecting distant regions that once felt isolated. Military outposts dotted the countryside, and training grounds were visible near many settlements.
The world had grown stronger. And the people living on it had grown with it.
I continued flying at a steady pace, letting the wind move past me while the land slowly changed beneath my feet.
Then suddenly—
A burst of violet flame ignited in the air directly in front of me. The flame twisted for a brief moment before collapsing inward, and Vivi appeared from it in her small phoenix form, her wings beating rapidly as she hovered in front of my face.
"Why are you flying so slow?" she asked immediately.
I blinked.
"Because I want to."
She frowned slightly.
"That is inefficient."
Her wings flapped again as she tilted her head.
"I can move you directly to wherever you want to go. You do not need to fly like this."
I chuckled softly.
"I know."
"Then why are you doing it?"
I looked down toward the land beneath us.
"I’m just observing the world."
Vivi’s wings slowed slightly.
"But I already showed you all the memories," she said.
"That’s true."
Then I smiled faintly.
"But it’s different seeing it with my own eyes."
For a moment she didn’t reply. Instead she quietly drifted to my side and began flying alongside me.
Together we watched the land below.
Cities passed beneath us one after another, each one larger and more developed than the last. Roads connected them in long straight lines, and traffic moved steadily between them. In one large field inside a city, dozens of young soldiers were training.
Their instructors barked commands while the recruits practiced weapon drills and combat formations. A group of younger children trained nearby with weapons under the watchful eyes of older officers. The sight made me smile slightly.
Vivi watched silently beside me. After a while something suddenly came to mind.
"What about the realm I left behind?" I asked. "The small pocket realm."
Vivi nodded immediately.
"They still use it."
"Oh?"
"Yes."
Her wings flickered slightly as she explained.
"The royal military uses it to train their elite units."
I nodded slowly.
"That’s good."
"They renamed it though."
I raised an eyebrow.
"What did they call it?"
"The Guardian Realm."
I groaned quietly and shook my head.
"Why is everything suddenly called guardian?"
Vivi tilted her head slightly.
"Because they revere you as a god."
I sighed.
"That sounds excessive."
But Vivi seemed completely unconcerned by that. The capital city began appearing on the horizon in the distance, its massive walls rising above the surrounding land.
Vivi slowed her wings slightly as she looked toward it.
"Well," she said. "You’re almost there."
I nodded.
"Thanks for the company."
She smiled.
Then violet flames briefly flickered around her small body.
"Goodbye."
The next moment she vanished into a burst of violet light, leaving me alone in the sky once again as the capital continued to grow larger ahead.
As I approached, the defensive systems detected my presence. But before they could react, the world core recognized me. The barriers parted effortlessly. I passed through the capital’s defenses as if they did not exist. Moments later my perception expanded outward across the city. Within seconds I located the familiar presence I was searching for.
But along with the Emperor I also found Arkas, Edgar and Damien.
They were gathered in the Emperor’s courtyard.
I smiled slightly.
Then space folded. The next moment I stepped forward and appeared directly in front of them.
The reaction was immediate. Four pairs of eyes widened in shock. For a moment none of them spoke. Then Edgar was the first to recover.
"Well I’ll be damned."
He stared at me for a moment and then burst out laughing.
"Look at you."
He walked forward and grabbed my shoulder firmly as if confirming I wasn’t some illusion.
"You actually came back."
Arkas remained where he stood, his sharp eyes scanning me carefully from head to toe like a commander inspecting a soldier returning from a long mission.
"You’ve grown strong again," he said finally with a big smile.
"That obvious?" I replied.
Edgar snorted.
"Kid, I can’t even properly feel your presence anymore. That alone tells me enough."
Behind them, Emperor Lucien Rayleigh stepped forward with a calm smile on his face.
"Welcome home, Guardian Billion."
I inclined my head slightly.
"Your Majesty."
Lucien waved the formality away.
"You stopped needing to call me that a long time ago."
Damien Rayleigh stood a few steps behind him as always, silent and alert. His gaze lingered on me for a moment before he spoke in his usual calm tone.
"How did you arrive in Vaythos so quietly? You bypassed every defensive formation we have."
"I didn’t mean to, it just happened." I replied.
Damien nodded once.
"That somehow worries me."
Edgar clapped his hands once and suddenly turned toward a small table near the courtyard.
"Well standing around like statues is boring."
He reached into his coat and pulled out a familiar metal flask.
"Good thing I came prepared."