Natan

"The Land of Dawn was born from the void, and to the void it shall return.

Over the past few centuries, the seal that holds back the Lord of the Abyss had been waning in power, while the cracks in the Abyss grew constantly. The Lantis Mountains could no longer withstand the crippling corruption of the Abyss, and humanity was forced further and further north in order to survive.

With this, the Lord of the Abyss fully awakened and his demon forces reached the walls of Moniyan's cities. Humanity began to understand that their apocalypse was nigh. But then, a ray of pure light appeared, and provided Moniyan its protection.

The people cast their gazes skyward, seeking out the source of this divine light. It was then that they realized—this was a sign that the Lord of Light had awakened, too.

The powers of light and darkness sprang into action, and the Endless War descended upon the lands once more.

Tragedy and warfare abounded, wreaking destruction upon all life, never to be reborn. In such an era it seemed that nobody could halt the spread of war. A thousand years passed, then three hundred more, yet still the conflict waged with a growing intensity, showing no signs of stopping.

It was into such an era that Natan was born.

As he grew up in Eruditio, Natan proved himself naturally gifted. Whether in science or magic, he achieved attainments unimaginable by any normal man.

As the years passed, the turmoil of war had rent a terrible scar upon the hearts of the people, never to be healed. This despair was a heavy burden borne by all, even the young children.

And none more so than the Eruditians, who as humanity's last hope now formed the peak of human wisdom, as built over millennia. Hence Natan walked the same path as the other scholars, from a young age taking on the task of saving this world.

Several years later, the youthful Natan had already became the driving force of Eruditio, taking an active part in various important research projects. By the time he was 28, he had already been appointed as the official leader of Eruditio for his outstanding achievements. Together with its citizens, he endeavored to seek out a way to save the world.

The Abyss had by this point accrued even more Twilight Orbs. If every last one fell into the hands of the Lord of the Abyss, it would spell the return of pure chaos to the world, as all light faded into darkness. Natan and the others were running out of time. They took command of all those in both Eruditio and the Magic Academy, striving with all their might to find a way to turn things around and avoid a certain descent into chaos.

A wealth of weapons, each one powerful beyond belief, was researched and created before being sent into war. Nevertheless, humanity remained vulnerable under the threat of the demons and their Twilight Orbs. The plan to halt the Lord of the Abyss' advance was already less a plan of action than a wish, something that cast humanity ever further into despair.

It was at that somber moment that Natan stepped forth once more, and presented a new idea—the creation of a time machine.

It was a wild fantasy of an idea, one that seemed to raise more problems than it solved. How exactly does one travel through time? Even if it were possible, how would you know which turning point in time to travel to? And moreover, would changing the past really change the future, too?

Regardless, humanity had been forced into a corner with no way back. Even the weakest flicker of hope could not be allowed to die out.

Eruditio put all other research aside and committed all of its manpower and resources into the search for a way to make time travel a reality.

Natan allowed himself not a second of rest, with almost all of his time and energy dedicated to his research.

This unrelenting effort eventually produced results. Natan and the other researchers worked together to produce an apparatus that, if provided enough power, could warp time itself. They continued to advance their research based around this discovery, a rudimentary time machine slowly developing before their eyes. A nagging problem remained, however: even with their current research, they had no way of providing the machine with such a gargantuan amount of power.

Another issue was the fact that all four corners of the Land of Dawn had been ravaged by the Endless War for a long, long time now. Fissures spidered across the earth, floods surged, and tornadoes howled as countless lifeforms faced extinction in their unforgiving environments. The Moniyan Empire's former glory was replaced by a scene of true desolation. Eruditio lived on thanks to its shield of protection, and took in myriad refugee families.

No more was Eruditio merely the 'City of Scholars'. Now, it was the final light still shining as humanity faced its apocalypse.

As the Abyss gained control of the final shard of the Twilight Orb, it seemed that fate had been decided. Dark blasts of fearful energy burst forth, circling the skies above as the Land of Dawn let out a pained cry. It felt like it would be split apart entirely before long.

The final bastion of humanity, Eruditio, stood alone as it strived to kindle its dying flames of hope.

However, it was precisely then that a miracle came to be. The explosive power that blasted from the Twilight Orbs resonated with the time machine, and so Natan hurriedly activated the device; it shook with an awe-inspiring energy that surged into its hollows and shined with a warm and mighty brilliance as if it were alive.

Beyond the laboratory, darkness encroached upon the land as it descended from the skies. The defensive network had been devastated by the blast of energy, and now an unstoppable tide of demons flooded into the city en masse. Buildings toppled and the streets went up in flames.

Everyone knew all too well that this was to be humanity's last stand. More than this, they all knew very well how it would likely end. Though failure hung heavy over their heads, that unrelenting spark of hope continued to burn on in their hearts. Such hope in the face of defeat is what makes mankind, and they placed it entirely upon Natan.

Natan took in the bleak scene before him, and started up the time machine with resolution in his eyes. There had been no time to test it, but their theories suggested it could support a single person and transport them through time and space. This was only a theory, however, meaning there'd be no way to guarantee his safety.

The end of the world loomed before him, and at his back shone the hope of all others. Natan shouldered the expectations of humanity and stepped into the past.

The future had to change. Even if it meant a lifetime spent searching the sprawling expanses of time and space, Natan would never give up hope, for such hope didn't belong to him alone. It was the hope of everyone in Moniyan. Just as long as he kept going, and never gave up, there was still a chance for the Land of Dawn's survival."

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