From the moment I was chosen by the holy relic

Although his tone still carried a hint of helplessness, he finally relented. It was a compromise he was unwilling to admit, perhaps not because of belief, but because of some ancient intuition: some stories, once they begin, cannot be ignored.

Just then, a light and slightly hurried footstep emerged from the nearby bushes, carrying a few drops of dew that sprinkled onto the ground where the firelight had not yet touched.

"I want to hear it too." Lia's voice seemed to carry the freshness of the night breeze, or the tinkling sound of a mountain spring just emerging from a crack in the rocks.

She had already approached, her cloak still on, her steps light yet somewhat casual, as if she hadn't walked over, but rather drifted over drawn by some innate curiosity about the unknown.

She was still young, a few years younger than Eileen and Eric. Although her eyes already possessed a sharp and spirited air, in this twilight when the night was ending and the fires had not yet been lit, she still radiated a kind of innocent brilliance, like a pebble that had not yet been dulled, rolling in the mountains and making a clear sound.

"After all, you know," Leah said matter-of-factly, her tone a mix of disdain and barely suppressed excitement, "that I've always had no resistance to stories."

Eric raised an eyebrow, a smirk playing on his lips. "Didn't you always say that books are an escape for lazy people?"

"I'm talking about those didactic books that go on and on without getting to the point," Leah retorted without mincing words. "Eileen talks about epic heritage, the origins of the elements, and is a hundred times more interesting than the tactical diagrams you're reading."

"Alright, alright, you win." Eric smiled and raised his hands in surrender, his voice softening as if he too was infected by her cheerfulness.

Eileen watched them quietly. Only when Leah approached did she smile and reach out to gently ruffle her hair. The gesture was both tender and carried a touch of sisterly affection.

"What's the rush? Let's set up camp first."

She spoke softly, her tone like a soothing incantation carried on a thin mist, gradually softening the previously wary atmosphere.

As she spoke, she bent down and took the tool bag from the horse's back. Inside, camping gear, tarpaulins, nails, and kerosene bottles were neatly folded. Eric immediately got to work as well, setting up wooden frames and unfolding ground sheets. The three of them worked efficiently, clearly accustomed to making their home wherever they could on their journey.

Leah was in charge of gathering firewood, and she worked quickly, soon carrying back a large bundle of dry branches. Eric then built a crescent-shaped fire pit around the perimeter with stones to protect it from the wind and dew. Eileen lit the fire, which was made from a few strands of spell silk she had taken from the inside of her robes. These strands had a very low ignition point and would not go out in the wind; they were the special kind of campfire medium used by traveler mages.

The flames finally rose.

The crimson flames licked at the night, the campfire crackling as if echoing a sound long silenced in this wilderness. The three sat down around the fire, the sky gradually darkening, with sparse stars beginning to appear in the heavens, and a crescent moon faintly visible, hanging gently on the ridge of the distant mountains.

Eric sat to the right of the fire, gnawing on a small piece of dried meat, but his eyes were already wandering. He wasn't hungry; he was just unaccustomed to the tranquility that preceded this silence.

Leah had already set her staff aside, and sat down beside Eileen like a curled-up little animal, stuffing dried nuts she'd pulled from her bundle into her mouth while urging her on:

"Tell me already, don't keep me in suspense." Leah turned to look at Eileen, her voice softening slightly. "Eileen, please tell me."

The firelight illuminated Eileen's face, tinging her blonde hair with a soft red, like a wisp of light kissed by flames. Her gaze remained serene, but deep within her eyes, a turbulent undercurrent was stirring.

She didn't speak immediately, but slowly unfolded the "Twilight Tower Fragment" onto her lap. The mottled animal hide cover gleamed faintly in the campfire, and the pages rustled gently in the night breeze, as if awakening from a deep sleep.

Then, she spoke slowly, her voice not loud, yet it seemed to penetrate the trees and rocks, flowing gently between the firelight and the night wind.

Eileen gently closed her eyes, as if recalling a past she hadn't personally experienced, yet which flowed in her veins. Her voice rose softly by the campfire, like a low murmur, or the opening line of an ancient poem:

"It all began on the night the heavenly fire fell."

Eric narrowed his eyes, his fingers tracing the hilt of his sword. A strange emotion flickered in his eyes. He had never believed in gods or fate, but he knew that what Eileen was saying was not a legend, but some real and dangerous knowledge.

Lia, like a cat, nestled by the fire, her eyes sparkling, completely absorbed in the conversation, so engrossed that she didn't even notice the dried fruit she was holding had fallen.

Eileen slowly turned the pages of the book. In the center of that page was an illustration that had been blurred by time: a fireball fell from the sky, tearing the night apart, causing the mountains to tremble, and countless figures on the earth looked up at that moment, as if they were watching a torch thrown down by the gods.

She gently stroked the surface of the painting with her fingertips, her voice like a chant:

"In the early years of the Origin Era, an alien star fell in the northwest of the present-day continent, and that land is now known as the Aisano Plain."

"But back then, it was just a place of exile. Wild, cold, tribes hunting each other, and on the night it fell, it was dark for three days, snowstorms cut off the mountains and rivers, wild beasts went out of control, and fires burned in the fields for three whole weeks."

She paused, seemingly waiting for them to absorb the information.

Eric frowned: "Isn't this a myth?"

Eileen gently shook her head: "No, this is marked in the geographer's 'Old Map of the Broken Zone'. There is still a type of metal in that area that cannot get close to magnets, which is said to be the residual effect of the meteorite."

Leah blinked. "What does that have to do with magic?"

Eileen lowered her head and turned to the next page: "After the meteorite struck the earth, some people from several nearby tribes changed after touching it. They did not die, nor were they burned. Instead, their bodies emitted light. Their eyes began to see the trajectory of the wind and hear the whispers of the trees growing. They mastered power, mastered magic, and became the earliest mages."

"Tuha Maryar means 'the one who gives the word of the star'."

"Those people began to use their power to grow food for their people, drive away wild beasts, and heal the sick. They were no longer hunters or warriors, but beings whose words and deeds became power. That was the origin of magic."

Eric stared at the fire, the flames reflected in his eyes. He couldn't imagine that kind of power, without incantations or magical artifacts, that could bend the world to your will simply by its very existence.

Eileen continued, "The mages helped humanity. The different tribes no longer fought for water, but gathered around the group of the first awakened one, a fire-speaker named Sirius. He was the first and most powerful mage. Legend has it that he could summon ten miles of fire serpents with just his finger and drive away the snow that had lingered for three years."

"He was elected king by all the tribes and established the Kingdom of Asra. It was the first kingdom on the continent, with mages as its pillars and magic as its law."

Leah tilted her head back: "It sounds like a great era."

Eileen didn't answer immediately. Instead, she closed the book for a moment and sighed.

"Yes, that was the most glorious era. But people's hearts are not only inclined towards good, but also towards fanaticism."

She turned to the next page: "Seven generations later, the kingdom prospered, and magic developed into various schools and structures, including Fire Speakers, Stone Masters, Wind Riders, Pulse Healers, and even the Thought Speaker school, which specializes in manipulating memories."

"The seventh king, Valon Sirius II, was an extremely powerful pyromancer. Unlike his predecessors, who were dedicated to protecting peace, he was ambitious. He believed that if magic could benefit a city or a country, why couldn't it unify the entire continent? Why should humans, dwarves, and elves each rule their own kingdom?"

Eric said softly, "So he started a war."

"Yes," Eileen nodded.

"He conquered the elven woodlands with fire and sealed the dwarven crypts with lava. Within ten years, the entire continent was unified."

"And that power, there is only one place where it may still have traces."

Her tone shifted, her voice as dark as the night:

"That meteorite."

Eric paused slightly, and Leah instinctively hugged her knees.

Eileen's voice echoed slowly in the firelight:

"He ordered his men to dig into the deepest part of the original site of Aizano and retrieve the remaining meteorite. He then used magic and soul blood to forge a pendant. That was the Primal Starfall."

She looked up at Eric, her gaze complex.

"It not only enabled his magical power to surpass all the limits of any mage, but it also completely changed him."

"He is no longer human. He has become a demon king."