He is the being who knows the truth about the existence of all beings. He is the only one capable of putting an end to any existence and granting a beginning to all creation.
Aegis, the entity who knows true immortality, the name of the last, and the firstborn. One who has lived for countless years, experienced millions of emotions, and studied all the arts of the universe.
A being whose very flame could blaze everything that ever was or will be.
Yuu Izumi, his human name, is now only a memory. In this vast Cosmos, no such man existed. Only Aegis remained.
"It's a pity I don't have a traveling companion."
Aegis sighed and gazed at the blue planet before him. He raised his hand and closed one eye, aligning his palm with Earth in the distance. From his vantage point, the world appeared so small, so fragile. He could erase it just by squeezing his fingers.
But he lowered his hand.
He had no desire to destroy the place where he was born and once lived as one of them.
"Perhaps if I had someone to share my immortality with, my days would be happier."
He stood on a nearby star, smiled, and looked out into nothingness.
"Time is no friend to life. But if I had to choose one, I'd like it to be a fellow traveler— Someone with whom I could share my life. Yes… that's what I truly want."
If he searched the entire cosmos, he was sure to find someone to accompany him on his journey.
"No..." He shook his head in disdain. "How can I find someone like that? Even gods and aeons die. Unfortunately, I don't share that fate. That's why a being like me is destined to walk alone."
He stopped looking ahead.
"I see. So, what should I do?"
He walked around the Ancient One's body, and picked up the square object that being was carrying. It was red in color, but when the sun hit its surface, it glowed gold.
With quivering lips, he averted his gaze from Vortexia and looked back at Earth.
He had been born there. His life as a human was short. At fifteen, his heart stopped beating. Instead of entering heaven or hell, however, he found himself reborn in a different universe. It was a place where war was the language of the powerful.
Aegis survived in that world, fighting and learning. Years turned into centuries, and centuries turned into millennia. Over time, his power grew so great that it broke the barriers of the universe that had adopted him. He broke free and transcended the rules of existence. He returned to his home world, Earth.
But then the Ancient One appeared. No one who had reincarnated in another universe could return to their original one. This was an unbreakable law that protected realities from collapse. However, Aegis was no longer someone who obeyed those rules. He had acquired a power that transcended that of the gods and the Aeons.
Confronting the being that regulated realities was inevitable.
Aegis had triumphed.
Yet looking now at the place he had once called home, he asked himself, "Why did I come back?"
There was nothing left: No family. No friends. The people he knew and loved had been gone for hundreds of years. He could resurrect them and bring back their bodies and faces. But they wouldn't be the same. Maybe their souls had reincarnated or dissolved into nothingness.
"Well, it didn't go so badly. I got this thing."
The Vortexia."
"If this cosmos can't give me what I want, then I'll have to go to another one. That's the only solution."
The Vortexia allowed its user to travel between universes and realities. Since it belonged to the Ancient One, it probably had more useful and powerful functions, but he cared little for it.
"Yes, I'm going to travel a bit. I'm curious to see how things are going elsewhere."
Aegis activated Vortexia, and a kaleidoscope of colors unfolded before his eyes. He saw many worlds go by. One or perhaps many of them reminded him of experiences he had lived through. After all, those worlds were his hobby from when he was human. He chose one without hesitation.
He approached the portal that had formed and spoke to himself.
"I'm tired of being alone. As the Aeon of the Beginning and the End, I'm supposed to be a role model, but sometimes I wish I were just a young human."
A being who needed to sleep, eat, and drink.
"A normal life. To have a family and a home. A place to come back to after work. But also to enjoy the thrills of youth. I wonder what that would be like."
Aegis paused for a moment before taking the final step into the portal. His body began to fade, fragmenting into tiny particles of light.
"Love, friendship, pain, happiness, sadness, anger... Human emotions. I have forgotten them."
He didn't remember when it had happened, but all of those emotions had disappeared. Day after day, century after century. Today, the being dubbed The Strongest Aeon was nothing more than an empty shell.
His heart had been consumed by time.
The darkness within his soul was too great.
There was no reason for Aegis to rise.
"What is left when you no longer feel anything?"
Perhaps that was why he was desperately searching for a traveling companion. But was there anyone truly immortal as him?
"I've always looked for... Oh. I see. This time will be different."
For millions of years, Aegis had searched for a being who could share his eternity. However, everyone he knew perished. None could bear the weight of time, and those who did either became twisted or died at the hands of others.
He made a decision.
He would no longer search.
"I will create such a being. A truly immortal being. Someone who can accompany me forever."
"With them, I will relive love, friendship, sadness, and joy. I will relive the emotions I forgot."
With those existence-shaking words, he crossed over to the new world.