During the zenith of Inega II’s reign, The Empire and Fiery Flame Land erupted into a full-scale conflict. Opposing The Empire across the Distant Flame Desert, the kings of the Nemasases directly participated in that war.

For both The Empire and Fiery Flame Land, the war was inevitable. Numerous conflicts and contradictions had already existed between them, and their commercial dominance needed to be settled through military confrontation. Additionally, secessionists along the borders and within both territories sought to leverage the other’s power for their independence from either The Empire or Fiery Flame Land, making the war between them a certainty and destined to unfold within decades.

However, Fiery Flame Land did not anticipate that under the leadership of Inega II, The Empire’s war potential would surge rapidly, as would his personal power, to the extent that even before they were fully prepared for a comprehensive war, The Empire’s army was already poised for battle.

If Fiery Flame Land hadn’t received support from all sides and experienced a nationalistic awakening domestically, while The Empire’s eastern and northern parts were entangled by the Azure Sky Royal Court and Steep Ridge Fortress, it wouldn’t have taken months for the Nemasis Bloodline to be swept into the Tranquil Sea by The Empire’s iron flood.

At that time, The Empire’s influence weighed heavily across the whole of Terra, even pressurizing the ancient and traditional Gantreignum Republic.

But no one could comprehend why The Empire chose to engage with Fiery Flame Land, which was neither easy to confront nor as justified by bloodline legality as Steep Ridge Fortress, instead of dealing with them. Why mobilize the Eastern Legion’s resources and trigger frequent disturbances at the Azure Sky Royal Court? Although there was indeed some enmity between The Empire and Fiery Flame Land, it wasn’t to such a targeted extent.

This has always been an unsolved mystery in scholars’ eyes.

And now, the mystery is unveiled.

It was the Realm of Light.

The reason Inega II exerted all his effort to attack Fiery Flame Land was to gain a direct seaport to the Tranquil Sea and obtain exploration rights over the [Realm of Light]!

[So this was the reason Inega initiated the war back then...]

At this moment, gazing at the Pupationer channeling the power of the Realm of Light into himself, ripples of memory surfaced in his heart, for he too was a witness to that war, how could he not have had doubts related to this aspect? Although Inega II was a powerful ruler, his achievements in both civil and military affairs were unrivaled in the history of Terra. If not for the ’Dark Moon Turmoil’ interrupting the Empire’s resurgence, this Black Sun could have at least unified southwest Terra and reclaimed Steep Ridge Fortress.

Such a wise and powerful sovereign could not have made such a strategic miscalculation in the war against Fiery Flame Land, forcing The Empire to negotiate after years of stalemate and missing a once-in-a-century strategic opportunity.

But now, seeing from this perspective, the Pupationer realized that Inega II was not wrong.

The treasure in his hand, known to all of Terra as ’Inaga’s Legacy,’ could indeed command the Realm of Light, ruling over this ancient and mysterious Labyrinth!

If Inega II had succeeded back then, possessing the power of the Realm of Light, accompanied by the First Knight, with the Black Emperor supported by Unyielding Fortress Heliade, along with the legion commanders and the Icewind Valley Governor loyal to The Empire and the royal family, even with internal conflicts abound, this unbelievable power could have dominated the entire continent!

Unfortunately, at that time, the Tara Confederation surrounding the Tranquil Sea, including Far Shore Island, was unwilling to allow The Empire to partake, collectively supporting Fiery Flame Land, enabling it to hold its ground despite its initial great strategic disadvantage.

Inega II could not enter the Realm of Light to gain power under the watchful eyes of the other powers, and his failed venture resulted in subsequent strategic shifts. The Empire’s internal discord appeared due to this failure, leading to the outbreak of the Dark Moon Turmoil.

But now.

Right in this moment.

Amidst the endless brilliance, the wings behind Fairy Ian and his Aether True Body grew larger and larger. The constantly shattering and reassembling cube gradually solidified into a shape resembling an eye... Or, perhaps, the form of a Silent True Demon!

The silvery-white shell flowed with light like a tide’s corona, while the pure azure core unleashed arcs of lightning connecting the two, like a continually transforming refracted iris, reflecting various futures across space-time.

It was like an eye, gazing at everything present like the center of a heart!

[Aether True Body·Seer’s Eye]

This eye foretells a potential, representing a beginning. A future no longer possible, also the earliest of ancient cycles.

If that pitch-black sun obtained the perfect Aether Body and a hint of the Seer’s Ability, perhaps most stories in this world would no longer occur. The Empire sweeping across Terra, coupled with a monarch who can glimpse into the future, the Black Sun’s radiance and the power of the Unyielding Fortress could genuinely conquer the entire world.

At that time, perhaps he could have achieved more, but perhaps he would have missed more. His success could have opened the portal to the future, but it might also have barred the path leading to the ’Farthest Path.’

So the Black Sun fell.

That person failed.

The key in his hand could open the door to Thousand Stars and the gates of the Realm of Light and the Exotic Species Research Institute, but because he was the Emperor, the most renowned strongman in this world, he, in turn, could not successfully gather all the keys, left only to regretfully watch these opportunities slip away.