Darkness.
For a thousand years, darkness was all Lothan knew.
No sunlight.
No wind.
No sound.
Only an endless void.
Time itself had lost meaning.
Days became years.
Years became centuries.
Eventually, Lothan stopped counting.
Then something changed.
A crack appeared in the darkness.
A tiny beam of light pierced the Abyssal Prison.
For the first time in a thousand years, Lothan opened his eyes.
The light hurt.
His vision blurred.
The prison walls trembled violently.
Another crack spread across the darkness.
Then another.
And another.
BOOM!
The ancient seal shattered.
A wave of energy erupted throughout the prison.
Stone fragments exploded outward.
The chains that had bound him for a millennium finally broke.
Lothan fell forward onto solid ground.
Fresh air rushed into his lungs.
The sensation felt strange.
Almost forgotten.
Slowly, he stood.
His body felt heavy.
Weak.
Unfamiliar.
A thousand years of imprisonment had changed him.
His silver hair had grown long.
His black cloak was torn and faded.
The proud prince of Nethoria looked more like a wandering ghost.
Lothan stared at his trembling hands.
"One thousand years..."
His voice sounded rough from centuries of silence.
He stepped forward.
The prison cave opened onto a mountainside.
When he emerged, he froze.
The world was different.
Completely different.
Massive towers stretched toward the clouds.
Strange roads crossed the landscape.
Countless lights illuminated the horizon.
Nothing looked familiar.
The forests he remembered were gone.
The kingdoms he knew had vanished.
Even the mountains had changed.
A thousand years had erased the world he once knew.
For hours, Lothan wandered.
Eventually he reached a large road.
A strange metal object rushed past him.
Then another.
Then dozens more.
Lothan instinctively prepared for battle.
"What manner of creature is that?"
The machines continued moving without paying him any attention.
Only after watching for several minutes did he realize they were not living beings.
Confusion replaced caution.
The world had advanced far beyond anything he remembered.
As evening arrived, lights began appearing everywhere.
Buildings glowed.
Roads illuminated themselves.
The city sparkled like a sea of stars.
Lothan felt strangely small.
For the first time in his life, he was the outsider.
A relic from a forgotten age.
Soon he arrived at the edge of a vast city.
Thousands of people filled the streets.
Children laughed.
Music echoed through the air.
Merchants sold food from brightly lit stalls.
The sight reminded him painfully of Nethoria before the war.
Before everything was lost.
Lothan quickly pushed the memory away.
Then he noticed a massive screen attached to one of the buildings.
Images moved across its surface.
A woman appeared.
She was speaking to the public.
"...today marks the one thousandth anniversary of the Great Demon War..."
Lothan stopped walking.
His attention fixed upon the screen.
The image changed.
An ancient painting appeared.
A familiar face stared back at him.
His own.
"...according to historical records, the Demon of the Abyss nearly destroyed the world before being sealed by divine judgment..."
The words struck him deeply.
Historical records.
Legends.
Stories.
That was all he had become.
The image changed once more.
A giant statue appeared on the screen.
The inscription beneath it read:
THE HERO WHO SAVED HUMANITY
Lothan immediately recognized the face.
The Hero.
The warrior remembered as humanity's savior.
While he himself had become history's villain.
Bitterness settled within his heart.
No one remembered Nethoria.
No one remembered the peace that once existed.
No one remembered his family.
History had forgotten everything.
Lost in thought, Lothan wandered deeper into the city.
People occasionally glanced at him.
His clothing looked ancient.
His appearance seemed unusual.
It wasn't long before security officers approached him.
"Sir, are you alright?"
Lothan stared blankly.
The language had changed over the centuries.
He understood nothing.
The officers exchanged concerned looks.
"Can you understand us?"
Still no response.
The situation quickly became awkward.
A crowd began gathering nearby.
Then a calm voice interrupted.
"He's with me."
Everyone turned.
A young woman stepped forward.
She looked no older than twenty-one.
Long dark hair framed her face.
Her blue eyes carried a strange sense of warmth.
The officers looked relieved.
"Do you know him?"
The young woman hesitated.
Then shook her head.
"No."
The officers blinked.
"You don't?"
She smiled awkwardly.
"Not really."
"Then why—"
"Because he looks completely lost."
The officers glanced at Lothan.
Then at the woman.
Finally, they sighed.
"Alright. Just make sure he's okay."
After a few moments, they left.
The crowd slowly dispersed.
Silence returned.
The woman turned toward him.
"You really don't know where you are, do you?"
Lothan remained silent.
She sighed.
"That's what I thought."
For the first time in a thousand years, someone had spoken to him without fear.
Without hatred.
Without knowing who he was.
The woman extended her hand.
"My name is Aria."
Lothan stared at her hand.
Then at her face.
Something about her felt unusual.
Not familiar.
Just... different.
After a brief pause, he answered.
"Lothan."
Aria smiled.
"Nice to meet you, Lothan."
Neither of them knew how important that meeting would become.
Neither knew that fate had brought them together.
And neither knew that hidden deep within Aria's forgotten past were secrets connected to the Great War itself.
For now, she was simply a kind stranger helping a man who no longer belonged in his own world.
And for now, that was enough.
To be continued...