Chương 34: 034

For the first time since Silas revealed the truth of my actions, something fragile bloomed in my chest. Hope. I seized it with both hands before it could vanish. The sheer scope of Time's power, and the unsettling implication that other spirits like him existed, threatened to short-circuit my brain entirely. I shoved that spiral aside for later, when I could curl up somewhere quiet and process the existential terror properly. Instead, I focused on him. On what he was offering.

"So you can…" I swallowed.

"You can bring us back? To when I first arrived?" Time inclined his head.

"Yes. Though rewinding the entirety of Nexus will be… taxing." So it was possible, but not effortless. That was oddly comforting. Even beings like him had limits. The universe still demanded payment. Time grimaced and shot me a reproachful look.

"Yes, and pay for it I shall. I may perform such a feat only once per year. Afterward, I will require rest." His gaze swept the battlefield, unreadable.

"Given that your lack of knowledge contributed to this outcome, I will take mortal form during that rest and travel with you. To ensure this does not occur again." Heat crept up my neck.

"I don't need a babysitter." I wouldn't make the same mistake twice. I'd learned my lesson, painfully. I didn't need someone constantly over my shoulder. Time hummed.

"Debatable. Regardless, there is no alternative. We still do not understand how this king's machinations led to the extinction of the spirits themselves. We can investigate that more later." I perked up, happy to have some information on that front, even if it wasn't as much as I'd like.

"All I managed to uncover was that he's been summoning otherworlders for years. If they don't cooperate, he takes control of them." I nodded toward Dominicus.

"Like him." Time tipped his head, considering.

"Then perhaps the catalyst was not the king himself, but one he summoned." He dismissed the thought with a breath.

"Later. First, the reset." Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation. He met my eyes.

"During the rewind, you will be removed from Nexus so your memories remain intact. When I return you, it will be to the precise moment you arrived. At that time, you will kill the king immediately using Fast Forward." His tone never wavered.

"Afterward, I will remove the spell from you." My brain stalled.

"…I'm sorry," I said faintly.

"I think my ears are clogged. You want me to use the spell that destroyed my arm and wiped out an army?" My stomach churned as the memory flashed, bone turning brittle, flesh crumbling to ash. Time shrugged, as if he were asking me to get him a snack, not potentially kill myself.

"Your concern is reasonable. I would never grant a mortal such power under normal circumstances. However, I lack the energy to give you an alternative, and he can control you with a touch." His gaze hardened.

"Therefore, he must die before he has the chance." It sounded horrifyingly simple when he said it.

"I'm a doctor," I said quietly.

"I didn't come here to kill." That didn't stop you before. I flinched and shoved the thought away.

"And you will not have killed anyone," Time replied.

"When I rewind Nexus, the army will live again." I gestured to Silas.

"He's a slime, but he still qualifies as living." And so did thousands of others, resistance fighters, civilians, the orc woman he'd murdered without hesitation. Any one of them could do this instead of me. After feeling hundreds of lives vanish under my hand, even imagining killing again made my stomach roll. Time's gaze settled on me, heavy with centuries. I resisted the urge to squirm under his stare. He wasn't angry or disapproving, but the sheer weight of it… I'd never felt smaller. At last, he blinked.

"The king has imprisoned and broken thousands. Including the child you are trying to save. If he lives, he will continue summoning others with dangerous powers." His voice hardened.

"Any one of them could trigger the end you were sent to prevent. He must be stopped. You cannot wait for the resistance. You need to do this." The weight of his gaze lightened, if only a bit.

"Hesitating to take a life is a good trait; one should never be hasty with such things. But his death will save millions." I swallowed my frustration. Snapping at Time would accomplish nothing, and he was offering to expend tremendous power to undo my failure. Still.

"Why don't you do it?" I asked, exhaustion bleeding through.

"If it's that important." He raised a brow.

"You have seen how fiercely I protect my wife and Silas is a threat to her. If I were capable of killing him, he would already be dead." His voice dropped.

"Spirits cannot take life. Even Death only guides those already lost." His eyes met mine.

"It must be you." Before I could respond, he raised his arms. Magic surged, crushing and absolute. The world locked in place as Time rose into the air, his eyes blazing bright enough to cleave the night itself. Silas, Dominicus, and Maya stayed frozen. His voice echoed inside my skull, layered and vast.

"My wife spoke highly of you, Nikolas. Show me what she saw, and that she was not wrong to choose you." Then, the world vanished.