Like angry dragons trying to defy the heavens, the serpents rose from the water to pierce the sky. Their jaws unhinged as a beastly roar shook the world. Arthur realized that they were more than puppets created by the hydra, but living creatures who served it.
Arthur knew that he was not strong enough to fight against the hydra on his own. Furthermore, Arthur knew that he was still relatively weak despite his strength soaring after countless life and death situations.
Arthur was a jack of all trades but a master of none.
"A fight is not going to bring your child back," Arthur tried to convince the hydra. "Give more ti to find it. Then, I will bring it back."
"Your promises are worthless, human," said the hydra as the serpents on her back hissed. "Die for your lies," she waved her hand, commanding one of the water serpents to attack.
Arthur sighed as he realized that his efforts were futile. There was no way to change the mind of this creature, and he knew that it was his fault. Arthur had failed to retrieve the child.
"There is no other option for ," he said as his robes fluttered. The serpent unhinged its jaws to devour him as it descended. "The only to convince you is by defeating you."
Arthur did not wish for a full-on war against the rnars. The kingdom of Freda would suffer, not only him. Instead, Arthur wanted to find peace because the alternative would be what Larza and the duke wanted.
The ancient flas of creation appeared, threatening to burn the world to nothingness. The vapor exploded as the fire t the water, and Arthur gathered the fire around his fist.
"There is always another way," said a voice from behind him. Arthur turned around to find the proud knight he had dismissed earlier, walking toward him slowly. "I fear that my interference is necessary."
"There is no ti for this. Run from here now," Arthur said as he turned to strike the serpent, but he realized that the world had stopped moving. The monster had its jaws unhinged, but its descent had frozen. "What is this?"
"This is what you wanted to use earlier," strode the woman, which Arthur recognized as his knight. "This is the power that I refuse to use."
Arthur looked at her stand beside him, looking at the serpent, and he turned to look at the hydra. However, the hydra has stopped moving as well. It was the sa case for everything around them.
"You froze ti?" Arthur turned back toward the knight. Her short brown hair looked the sa as the Knight of Courage, giving her a boyish appearance. However, a pair of earrings hung from her ears now.
"Ti cannot be stopped," she said. "I only slipped into the unforgiving second. The world is nothing but a continuation of monts, and I can slip into the gap between them."
"That is more absurd," Arthur heard himself say. "You are manipulating the fourth dinsion, ti."
"A fourth dinsion," she smiled as if amused by his words. "Many tried to explain my powers, but I wonder if the answer is that important?"
"Who are you?" Arthur frowned as he took a step back from her.
"I am not an enemy, Seika," she said with a smile. "I am your knight, and I am also soone else."
"There is no way an ordinary person can wield such powers," Arthur was on full alert. "You lied about your identity. However, I interrogated you."
"You are too proud of that power of yours, and not without a cause. What a terrifying ability to rule over humans?" she muttered as she turned toward Arthur. Her eyes were numb as if she was nothing but a puppet. "It is only a simple matter to seal my mories. I did it countless tis before, and I did it again before you tried to probe into my identity."
Arthur was quiet because it was true. His Art of Creator, Submission could not reveal what was not there. Arthur could only use the existence of others to force them into obeying him, and that was only against weaker targets.
"I can see that you need a na to trust ," she sighed. "I existed for a long ti, and people call a lot of nas. However, I believe that you already know as Shinva."
"The trickster?" Arthur was confused. "That is nothing more than a legend; a fairytale to scare children and to create gas."
"I played that ga before," she smiled. "I did everything I could to lead kingdoms away from war, but I realized that the only to do that is to weaken them. That is why I started stealing their possessions, replacing them with fakes ones to deliver a ssage."
"What kind of ssage?"
"I wanted them to think that their items have lost their powers because that is true to this world. Their gods have abandoned them, and I wanted them to know that it was true. However, I am the trickster who fools kings to steal their treasures."
Arthur was quiet. It was just a ga they played long ago in the Runes Apprentices Cup, but it was based on a legend that had existed since ancient tis. This made it hard to believe the person in front of him.
"I believe that we cannot stay here for long, so let take you on a journey," Shinva smiled again. "You need to trust before you follow . Otherwise, you will lose yourself in the infinite monts that the world has."
"Where are you taking ?" Arthur frowned, and the woman raised her hand to reveal a spot of light. The light expanded, and Arthur could see countless images inside of it.
"I am taking you to the past."
Arthur heard her words, but he didn't reply. The world inside the light had all of the monts he lived and those he did not. Arthur looked toward the knight, who has now turned to be soone else, with a frown.
"I cannot trust you," he said. "You lied once before about being a knight. What makes believe that you aren't trying to harm ?"
"I cannot harm anyone, Seika," she smiled. "I saw what happened in the capital. That fallen creature called you the outsider. If you are the outsider, then I am the observer."
"The observer," repeated Arthur before taking a mont to think about it. "What are you trying to show ?"
"A way out of this ss," she smiled. "I do not wish for war."
Arthur nodded after a while, and the light began to expand to cover them both. Then, the world disappeared, replaced by an array of monts. Arthur found himself in a tunnel, and Shinva grabbed his hand.
"Let us swim into the past," she said with a smile. Arthur nodded, and Shinva guided him throughout the tunnel. There were countless monts recorded within it, and Arthur felt that the journey took a mont and countless years. "We are here."
After she announced, the woman guided him toward a gap in the tunnel. Arthur and Shinva slipped through the opening to find themselves in a cave.
"This is where I found the child," muttered Arthur with surprise. However, there were no corpses around, only an empty cave. "Why did you bring here?"
"I want you to end the war against the rnars," she smiled. "This is an apology for deceiving you as well."
"Are we in the past?"
"We are in a record of the past," she announced. "We have no power to change anything, but we can observe anything."
"This is an absurd power," Arthur turned toward her. "This is omniscience."
"I do not know everything," she sighed. "I can only look at certain events in the past, but I cannot stay here for long. I tried to relive a mont once before, but it ended up devouring half of my soul."
"I guess there is a price to everything," sighed Arthur in relief. This woman would have been nothing less of a god if she could see everything in the past. "What are the conditions for using this power?"
"They are many," she smiled, "but that is a secret. You would not tell your secrets, right?"
"You should already know them."
"Ahaha," she giggled at his upset face. However, she did not confirm no refute his claim. The cave lit up while they were standing there, and soone walked.
"This will be your new ho," said Larza toward the sphere of light, which should be the child. "Until the ti you give us the crystals, you will not leave this place."
Larza passed by Arthur, but she did not see him. Arthur tried touching her, but she walked through him as if he was a ghost, nothing but an image.
"I believe that the next monts are going to be quite grueso," Shinva said with an uneasy frown.. "They are going to make the child witness hate and suffering until it cries."
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