An hour had passed since Leon made his grand return to the Solaris House.
The chaos of Leon's return marked the end of Amon's birthday celebration. Alrock brought Sir Arthur and Leon away from the party for a proper, private conversation. And without Alrock present, the other members dispersed quietly, ready to share the gossip of the night's experiences. As a result, most individuals treated Amon's birthday as an afterthought.
But the person in question couldn't be bothered.
After escaping from the Grand Hall, Amon returned to his humble abode and removed the stuffy collar suit he was forced to wear. Leon's return ahead of schedule had thrown the Transmigrator into a loop, and there was plenty for him to think about now. Without knowing, he went up to the rooftop garden, illuminated by gentle moonlight.
Why did Leon return early? What were the repercussions of his return? Must there be a change in plans?
All of these were questions that plagued Amon's mind. Fortunately, he wasn't going to be alone in this problem.
"A penny for your thoughts?"
A serene whisper tickled Amon's eardrums, breaking his silent contemplation. His golden eyes rolled back, unveiling an ethereal beauty as gorgeous as the Moon above. Still dressed in her full ball gown, Yue looked just as enticing as she did at the party, and her close proximity to Amon highlighted her curves and natural attraction.
Yet, Amon wasn't baited in. His eyebrows furrowed deeply, and he replied with a grim voice:
"You know what I'm thinking about."
"Leon's return, right?" Yue's lips raised ever so slightly. "We didn't expect him to come back so early."
"Even in your timeline, he didn't deviate from the original schedule?"
"No, just as you said. Leon should have returned during Grandpa Alrock's birthday celebration. For him to arrive this early is an unforeseen deviation."
"..."
Amon remained silent, and his expression was bleak. Ever since he'd transmigrated into Hyades, he had spent every waking moment preparing for the events of [Bright]. The Calamities they would face were catastrophic, and their lives were all on the line. Fortunately, as Amon knew the future, he'd thought he could leverage that knowledge to prevent the disasters from ever occurring, effectively saving humanity in the process.
But Leon's early appearance threw a wrench in the works.
"How much has the future changed? Since Leon has returned early, I'm guessing the events of [Bright] have effectively begun."
Amon fell deeper in thought. His one advantage over his enemies was now in jeopardy, and the future had become completely unpredictable. The worst-case scenario would be an early occurrence of the Calamities before Amon had become strong enough to fend them off.
Yue watched her fiancé struggle and chuckled to ease the tension.
"Aren't you misunderstanding something?"
"Misunderstanding?"
"The events of [Bright] didn't begin when Leon returned. It has always been going on."
"Ah…"
The tall youth gasped in realisation. Amon had lived in Hyades for the past eighteen years, and it was still difficult to recognise that the world of [Bright] had become his new reality.
"We've been actively changing the world ever since we returned. Of course, our actions would have changed the timeline. However, that was our intention, wasn't it? To save the world?"
"... you're right."
By existing in this world, Amon himself had changed the timeline. Not to mention the various activities he had been partaking in weakening the Demon Cult. Just Yue and Amon's engagement alone was enough to change the timeline, as the Demon Cult couldn't corrupt Yue and use her to destroy the Elune House as depicted in [Bright].
"Some deviation is expected. And we've been prepared for instances like these."
Unlike Amon, Yue was completely calm. Her tone didn't waver in the slightest, even after the initial shock of Leon's return.
"Though, we need to change our plans ahead of schedule."
"So, we're beginning phase one early?"
Amon and Yue had been collaborating for eight years—brainstorming and figuring out the best way to prevent the complete annihilation of the human race. And they have concocted a multi-phase plan to derail the Demon Cult's nefarious intentions, starting with the return of Leon Bright.
"That's right; we must allow Leon to enter the Knight's Academy and learn the Solaris Mystic Arts. At least until the Sword Bestowment Ceremony."
After much deliberation, Amon and Yue agreed that Leon's existence in Hyades was vital to humanity's survival. Why? For one, he was the protagonist of the story. His existence seemed to propel the timeline forward, and his individual power in the future would become a great asset in defeating the Demon Cult. However, there was also one very crucial reason.
The Holy Sword, Ascalon.
Leon was going to be the sole wielder of the legendary sword.
The reason why Leon returned to the Solaris House in the story in the first place was to undergo the Sword Bestowment Ceremony and to select a suitable sword. To everyone's surprise, Leon would summon Ascalon, the sword only held by the Solaris Founder and the Solaris Saint. Two of humanity's greatest heroes.
Without Ascalon, the difficulty of the future Calamities would effectively triple. There was a reason why Leon Bright was the hero of [Bright]. Ascalon was a weapon capable of slaying Dragons and Demigods, making it the most suitable sword to defeat the Demon Cult and its elite forces.
"But that won't be an issue. As long as Grandpa Alrock is around, Leon will follow the first act faithfully. Meanwhile, we will attack the Demon Cult's bases to weaken them as planned. However, there's one more thing we must do."
"What?"
"Leon's deviation made me think we've been taking it too easy," Yue explained her train of thought with a sombre tone switch. "While his deviation is something we can manage, what about the other deviations we are unaware of?"
"..."
"Greater Demons, Portals to the Outer Realm, Mythical Beings… They are all threats that could lead to the end of humanity. I had put them off since we're far too weak to challenge any of them. But now that you have your Sixth Sun and Moon, we can begin eliminating them in earnest!"
"That's actually… a good idea."
Amon stroked on his hairless chin in deep contemplation. Yue's idea wasn't all that foreign to him. In fact, this very problem was something he kept at the back of his mind. With Yue and his combined power, they could easily dispatch Greater Demons and threats of a similar nature. Plenty of remnant Greater Demons sealed in the past would be unleashed in a future Calamity. The Demon Cult's military force would significantly reduce if they could clean them up before then.
"When Leon draws Ascalon during the Sword Bestowment Ceremony, the Demon Cult will ramp up their activities. So before then, we will have to do some clean-up."
"You're right… So what's the plan now?"
Amon readily accepted Yue's proposal without any further questions. However, the moment the words left his mouth, he felt a cold shiver brush across his shoulders. His deep golden eyes dilated as he caught sight of Yue's rapidly rising lips. They were highly reminiscent of the crescent moon, just that it was far more sinister than beautiful.
"Hehe, as a Solaris Knight, you are still forced to go on missions, right?"
"Yes…"
"And you can't leave your post without prior approval, right?"
"Yes…"
"So we're left with only one other option!"
"..."
Even without Yue saying it explicitly, Amon understood what she was getting at. Taking in two deep breaths, he muttered with a tired sigh:
"You want to elope again?"
"Hehe, as expected of my fiancé! You know me so well!"
The ethereal young woman instantly locked arms with Amon as if it were the most natural thing in the world for them. She leaned onto his shoulder and grabbed tightly onto his whitening arm. Watching her reaction, the only thing that Amon could do was sigh.
The pair were no strangers to eloping. They had probably done so over a dozen times in the past. The reasoning was quite simple: they couldn't reveal that they were actively hunting Demons and members of the Demon Cult or that they were multiple times more powerful than they actually were.
Hence, under the guise of 'eloping,' the pair could freely do their activities as they pleased.
But… There was one minor problem.
"Must I write the letter again?" Amon wore his most defeated expression yet as his voice deepened with fatigue.
"Of course, you must! Otherwise, how would they know that we've eloped?"
"... but why must the letter always be so mushy?"
"That's the only way we can convince them that we're a couple in love who really just want to spend time together! Do you want them to doubt our elopement and come searching for us? What if they discover our secret plans or, even worse, our true abilities? Then they'll start questioning how we know about the Demon Cult, and eventually, our cover will be blown!"
"... Fine."
After spending eight years with Yue, Amon knew he couldn't defeat the girl in a logical debate. His best option was to roll over and present his tummy for the girl to play with.
"Here! I got the pen and paper!"
"... you sure came prepared."
"Don't worry about it! Now, write down what I'm about to say!"
"Hah…"
Broken and battered, Amon wrote down one of the most disgustingly romantic elopement letters he'd written yet. Leaving it at his bedroom desk, the pair disappeared into the night faster than the speed of light.
It was only in the morning that Amon's mother discovered that her son had gone missing, and the entire Solaris House was uprooted with another scandalous gossip that would consume Amon for the rest of his life.