Chapter 5: Changes in the World

The office was silent for a moment, but August wasn't there to have tea with Aegon.

Despite being over eighty years old, August held a low posture, as the person across from him, who appeared to be in his twenties, was from the same era as the dark mage Zeref. August was undoubtedly the junior.

August broke the silence first. "May I ask, where is Lady Irene?"

Aegon gestured to Heine, who stood behind him with her hands clasped in front of her. "They'll answer that."

"Lady Irene has gone into seclusion."

"She's training in transformation magic, hoping to solve her troubles," Heine and Juliet responded in tandem to August's question.

Hearing this, August visibly relaxed.

Aegon chuckled, "Don't get too excited just yet. There's a price. I want her to leave the Alvarez Empire and work under me."

August didn't show any surprise. "To be honest, I had some suspicions before, but I wasn't sure because..."

Aegon interrupted him, "Because I'm not like what you know or what's recorded in the Apocalypse?"

Seeing Aegon's frankness, August nodded. "That's right, also... no, it's just my guess at the moment."

Aegon raised an eyebrow, "Interesting. Let's hear it."

This was the second purpose of August's visit—to gather some information from Aegon to see if he knew about the changes happening.

August chose his words carefully. "Forgive my intrusion. After noticing your differences yesterday, I consulted the Apocalypse and used Ancient Text Magic to try and find out the reason for your changes."

"I couldn't find the reason for your changes, but I did discover something different..."

Aegon's interest was piqued. He leaned forward, "Ancient Text Magic? What did you find?"

August first explained to Aegon, "Ancient Text Magic is used for exploration, detection, and retrieval. It can view the entire continent in real time through satellites deployed across various continents."

Aegon understood. Essentially, it was a walking, human satellite.

"As for the discovery, it appears that the world seems to have gotten bigger."

Aegon muttered, "No wonder I felt something..."

He had felt this way when flying from Ishgar to the Western Continent.

Previously somewhat bored, Aegon was now fully engaged. "Bigger? Do you have any evidence?"

August waved his hand, and two satellite maps, one blue and one red, appeared in midair:

"Take a look."

First, he pointed to the blue map. "This is the map I observed using magic earlier."

This map showed five continents, including Ishgar and Alakitasia, with Ishgar at the center. Surrounding the continents was a vast ocean, with the ocean's area far exceeding that of the continents.

Then he pointed to the red map. "And this is the map I observe now."

"While the satellite view of the five continents hasn't changed, the Ancient Text Magic's overhead view has changed, showing many islands that weren't there before."

In the red map, the five continents had indeed changed, becoming larger, though their outlines still matched the previous ones.

The newly appearing islands were marked in different colors for easy comparison.

"More importantly, parts of continental outlines have appeared next to the northern and southern continents, though I can't yet confirm if they are complete continents."

Aegon compared the two maps, rubbing his chin. "You mean you suspect these new areas are previously unseen continents?"

August frowned. "Exactly. I specifically checked ancient texts, and there were indeed some mentions in dragon language texts."

Aegon raised an eyebrow, "Interesting."

August was puzzled by Aegon's attitude.

Aegon smirked, "This makes things more interesting, doesn't it? Good, I have a task for you."

August quickly caught on. "You want me to help you explore these possible unknown continents?"

"Exactly."

To Aegon, August's Ancient Text Magic and his vast magical power made him a perfect tool for the job.

August agreed without hesitation. "To be honest, I was planning to do that anyway."

Agreeing with Aegon was more of a formality for August, as he would have done it regardless. It also allowed him to curry favor with Aegon.

Aegon smiled. "However, there's something else I need you to do first."

The smile gave August the impression that Aegon had some ill intentions.

"Please, go ahead."

"Fight me."

The chaotic magic emanating from August was, in Aegon's eyes, a walking bundle of experience points.

Since this bundle had come to him, he wasn't going to let it go easily.

August hesitated slightly. "But..."

Clearly, Aegon's suggestion was completely unexpected.

August tested the waters, "I am no match for you. What's the point?"

He wasn't worried about his safety. Aegon wanted him to explore the world's changes, so he wouldn't be in any danger before that.

He just saw no point in the fight.

In a fight, Aegon would win, and he would lose, plain and simple.

There was no room for discussion, so he genuinely asked.

Despite being known as the "Lord of Great Magic," he wasn't arrogant enough to think he could defeat the Black Dragon.

If August were to fight Zeref, they might deplete each other's magic, and August's combat experience might give him an edge.

But his opponent was the Dragon King, the sole survivor of the Dragon King Festival, and August was well aware of his limits.

"There's no point. I just want to fight."

Behind Aegon, Heine subtly nodded to August.

Aegon noticed but didn't call her out since she was technically helping him.

Seeing this, August had no choice but to nod reluctantly. "Alright, as you wish."

Aegon and August went to the outskirts of the city to avoid destroying half of the town with Aegon's Black Dragon's Roar.

Aegon transformed into his true form, a ferocious black dragon.

Not daring to be careless, August planted his staff in the ground. "Evil Spirit Possession!"

A pillar of fire enveloped August, turning his skin red with white patterns appearing on it.

As expected, the battle was one-sided.

August's beams and staff attacks failed to harm Aegon.

His usually unstoppable laser beams didn't even leave a mark on Aegon's body.

Using teleportation, along with divine hearing and vision to foresee the future, August exhausted all his tricks, only to expose a deliberate weakness after half an hour of fighting.

Aegon struck him, sending him crashing through a dozen trees, ending the Evil Spirit Possession.