Chapter 1015 The Black Dragon part 2

Even Ais, who was still struggling from the strange pain and sudden inability to control her 'Wind', stared at Zeus in shock.

"W-what do you mean by that?" Lefiya asked with a pale expression.

As soon as she asked, however, Ais' situation got worse with the black wind being ejected out and her groaning worsening.

"Ais!" Almost everyone from the Loki Familia shouted her name and even took out some elixir thinking that it'll remedy her problem.

Seeing that she won't be able to gather any more information from watching, Riveria called out to Tiona who's clutching a bottle of elixir to force it on Ais, "Stop it. That wouldn't help her."

"T-then what should we do!?"

"Calm down. I have something that might be able to help her." Riveria then took out the candy Kisuke gave her and directly shoved it into Ais' mouth, "Swallow it. This was specifically made for you, though I don't really know what's going to happen."

Ais couldn't feel any reassurance from her words but she had no choice but to take in what was already in her mouth. For a few seconds, there's nothing but a few moments later, a warm relief started spreading, beginning from her stomach down to her limbs. The black 'Wind' began to disappear and soon ceased to exist as another type of 'Wind' replaced it.

Ais was stunned, not because of the instant relief, but because of the new 'Wind' flowing around her that wasn't hers, but someone very dear to her.

It was almost two decades from her perception of time, but she couldn't and wouldn't forget, the familiar gentleness that caressed her skin and the aura that filled her with a sense of security and happiness in the times of her innocence. Ais, with tears running down her cheeks, called out, "...M-mom?"

Everyone was happy that she already looked fine, however, their confusion didn't end when Ais suddenly called out to her mother. Though that confusion would soon turn into shock when the gentle 'Wind' started producing motes of golden light and soon a figure appeared behind Ais.

Golden long hair and golden eyes, she was almost the spitting image of Ais but much more mature.

The figure then gently hugged the tearful Ais from behind and whispered behind her ears, "I never thought that I'd be able to do this again."

Ais, just like everyone else in the room was stunned. Meanwhile, Zeus stood up from his seat with eyes wide open at this unbelievable scene, "...Aria?"

Aria noticed and looked at him before smiling gleefully, "Zeus? It has been a while. How are you doing?"

But the conversation between them couldn't continue as Ais hurriedly turned around to see the familiar face, "Mom!"

Aria turned her attention back to Ais' crying face, "My~ Still the same crybaby from before, I see."

"Mom!" Ais could only utter this one word over and over again while hugging her mother tightly, 'Even if this is just a dream... Please let me sleep a bit longer.'

Aria couldn't help but smile. Being able to guess what she was thinking, she raised her arm and gave her forehead a flick.

"!?" The pain on her forehead was able to push her from delusion and was able to make her think more clearly.

"Silly child. This isn't a dream. And as much as I'd like for us to stay like this for a bit longer, time isn't on our side." Aria picked up the confused Ais from her waist and sat down on her chair while settling her already grown daughter on her lap, "We still have to discuss how you'll have to subjugate the Black Dragon... The corrupted Wind Spirit Aria."

At the drop of such a bombshell, everyone was thrown off their seats, except for Zeus who was making a melancholic expression.

"Zeus!!!" Loki slammed the table, "What's the meaning of this!?"

"Please calm down, Loki-sama. This isn't any of Zeus' fault. It was our, the children's, arrogance that welcomed a tragedy that spanned for a thousand years. It was Zeus, Hera, and the future generation that had to shoulder our grave mistake." Aria defended Zeus while stroking the head of the stunned Ais.

"Stop it, Aria. I don't plan on shirking my responsibility for any of it.", Zeus sighed with heavy air, "But let's now dwell on the past now... My first question is, who are you? Because the Aria I knew just flew by and is currently in the Dungeon."

"Wait, wait, wait!!!" Interrupting their conversation, Loki shouted, "What the hell are the two of you talking about!? Start from the beginning!"

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A thousand years ago, the Familias that Zeus and Hera led were at its height of fame for subjugating one of the greatest monsters on the surface, the Leviathan, allowing the people of the Lower World to regain their footing and push back the remaining monsters back to the opening on the ground.

Way before the lid on the Dungeon was constructed, the Zeus, Hera and other strong Familias dived into the unknown to further push back the menaces and find the 'Kings', the King of Sky and King of Earth.

But despite their long search and extended attack of the unknown wide underground world, they couldn't find it both and only in recent years that they'll come across the King of Earth.

There are many strange happenings during that time, like the slowly disappearing high ranking Spirits. However, they weren't something unusual as many people kept dying from the war in unknown places. Furthermore, the main focus was defeating the last 'King' in the belief that the monsters would stop climbing from the abyss, or at least, weaken them significantly so that the people could thrive on the surface without the fear and threat of the monsters.

A few years later, they were able to successfully find the monster in question, however, it was already too late.

It was a monster that they never saw before nor could understand. Nevertheless, they were able to find out one thing about it and it was one of the worst news of that time, but only known to very few individuals to avoid panic.

"It could beguile Spirits and in some cases, fully control them." Zeus uttered with a heavy heart, "It was an unprecedented tragedy that pushed a certain Goddess and her Familia to attempt to save its victims in the depths of the abyss."