When I suddenly snapped my eyes open, I was gasping for air in bed.
The cold, relentless pain of that final spear piercing my heart was still throbbing right in the middle of my chest, agonizingly real.
Trembling, I ran a hand through my hair; I was drenched in sweat from the sheer impact of the nightmare.
“Am I hallucinating?” I whispered to myself, trying to steady my breathing.
Right then, the large oak door of the room creaked open.
The person stepping inside was Luna.
She wore a pristine, spotless maid uniform.
Locking her eyes onto mine, she asked, “Master, are you alright?” There wasn’t a single tremor, nor a single trace of hatred in her voice.
“I heard a sudden shout from your room.
Did you have a nightmare?”
The moment I saw her standing before me, my shoulders and back instinctively tensed up like a drawn bow.
Driven by the impact of the fatal blow I had just received, my muscle memory was frantically sending alarm signals through my entire body, sensing danger.
I bolted up in bed and stared directly into her eyes.
I was about to speak to her in an icy, interrogative tone, but stopped the moment I parted my lips; my advanced mana sensitivity and intuition told me there was not a single shred of killing intent, malice, or betrayal in her aura.
The pure, worried aura of this elf girl standing before me completely contradicted the darkness of the woman who had just ruthlessly slaughtered me without blinking an eye.
This bizarre anomaly clouded my mind even further.
“What is going on, elf girl?” I asked, trying to mask the deep suspicion in my voice.
She looked at me in surprise.
Keeping that clear expression in her eyes, she was about to take an anxious step toward me, asking, “Master, are you truly alright?” when a familiar voice from behind her instantly shattered the heavy, tense atmosphere in the room.
Ermo cleared his throat slightly at the doorway, politely asking Luna to step aside.
As soon as he walked in, he threw himself onto the large leather armchair, lounging recklessly.
With his usual relaxed and nonchalant attitude, he complained in his old manner from Ameri, “Come on, bro, since when did you get this sluggish?
You’ve been wandering around alone outside for months since we parted ways.
This is the first time you’ve come to visit your bro at the palace, yet you’re still sleeping at midday.”
I stared at him, unable to believe my eyes.
“Ermo…” I said.
My voice came out of my throat as a faint, broken whisper.
In the first loop, the man who had been trapped in the fake siege at the northern fortress amidst that apocalyptic chaos, and whom I had never heard from again, was now sitting right in front of me, alive and well.
I swallowed hard to compose myself and avoid drawing suspicion.
Seeing the shocked expression on my face, Ermo straightened up, rushed to my side, and placed a friendly hand on my shoulder.
“Are you alright?” he asked, his tone genuinely panicked this time.
He immediately turned around and shouted outside, “Luna!
Run and call Velmora right now!”
Stopping myself from staring at my trembling hands, I shifted my entire focus to Ermo.
I needed to untangle this temporal confusion in my head as soon as possible.
“Ermo…
What is the date today?” I asked, locking my eyes onto his.
Ermo looked at my face, utterly baffled, unable to make sense of it.
“Brooo, we are exactly one week away from that grand gathering we’re holding for the first anniversary of our Fall…
What date, what did you miss?” Enjoying the story? Read on at g.com.
At that moment, Velmora entered the room with quick, anxious steps.
Bowing gracefully before me, she said, “Master Kaan,” and without losing any time, she placed her hands on my wrists.
I could feel her cool, immense mana seeping from my chakra points into my veins; she was checking my mana stabilization.
While she examined the flow in my wrists, I was doing that bitter, dark math in my head: I had returned to exactly 5 months before the war, before that great catastrophe.
To that clean place where everything was started and not yet tainted.
Velmora slowly withdrew her hands and took a step back.
“How are you feeling?” she asked, maintaining a forced calmness in her voice.
Without looking at her, I turned my head toward the window.
“It’s fine, I’m okay.
You may leave,” I said.
Since they were accustomed to my sudden, distant, and cold demeanor from the past, none of the three pressed the matter further; they silently walked out of the room.
Once left alone, I got out of bed and looked out the window at the vibrant, cheerful streets of the Sun City, which had not yet been stained with blood.
I fell deep into thought.
If I were to openly tell the others about what I had experienced, about the great betrayals that awaited us in the future, Ermo and Scatroj would ruthlessly slaughter everyone they deemed suspicious, including Luna, that very second.
Especially for Ermo, the thought of his family and loved ones being harmed in the future would drive him utterly insane, turning him into an uncontrollable monster.
I had to handle this matter silently and all on my own, without involving them at all.
My decision was final.
I rang the silver bell on the desk.
Within seconds, the door opened, and Luna walked in.
“Yes, master,” she said respectfully.
With my back still turned to her, I delivered my cold command without a single tremor in my voice: “Pack your things, we are going on a long journey.”
Flustered, she paused where she stood.
“Master…
Are you certain you want to leave right before Western Emperor Scatroj and Elf King Enwoybi arrive here at the palace?
You used to mention at every opportunity how much of a monumental importance this meeting held for you.”
I slowly turned toward her.
Ensuring she saw the uncompromising sternness in my eyes, I said, “I do not like to be questioned.
Make all the preparations.
We leave at midnight.”
She bowed her head softly.
“As you command,” she said, and left the room.
Without wasting any time, I went down to the palace garden to join Ermo.
He was sitting peacefully amidst the greenery alongside Velmora.
To avoid breaking the facade of my inner state and drawing suspicion, I assumed my usual sarcastic demeanor as I approached them: “I’m going to buy Ermo a pair of high heels as a birthday gift.
That way, maybe you can finally match Velmora’s height, bro, what do you say?”
As I reached them laughing, Velmora immediately stood up and gave a graceful bow.
Ermo, on the other hand, threw his arm over Velmora’s shoulder, crossed his legs, and grumbled, “You’re breaking my heart, bro.”
When my laughter subsided, I cleared my throat slightly and hardened my expression.
It won’t take long.”
Velmora caught on to the situation instantly and politely walked away from us.
Ermo, meanwhile, was looking at me, giving me a knowing, curious look.
I sat down in the empty space beside him.
“Ermo, I’m leaving the city for a short while.”
The moment he heard it, he bolted to his feet.
“What the hell are you talking about?
The others are arriving soon, there’s a meeting!”
Pushing off my knees, I leaned back and fixed my eyes on the sky.
“This is a necessity, Ermo.
For all of us…
I’ll try to make it back in time.”
Seeing that I had turned completely serious, Ermo leaned down, placed his hand on my back, and whispered close to my ear, checking his surroundings at the same time, “There isn’t a problem, is there, bro?”
Laughing, I gave his back a light, friendly flick.
“Who on earth could cause a problem for me in this world?
It’s just…
I want to spend some private, quality time alone with Luna, that’s all.”
The tension on Ermo’s face vanished instantly, transforming completely.
He stood up straight again and let out a loud, boisterous laugh.
“Haaa!
Why didn’t you just say so, bro!
Everyone will understand, don’t you worry.
Just don’t forget the meeting, be here on time.”
Leaving his side, I went up to my room, lay down on the bed, and went to sleep.
Amidst the pitch-black, heavy burden that the future brought, this peaceful sleep felt like a remedy to my soul, which longed for tranquility.
When midnight struck, there was a soft knock on the door.
Right after came Luna’s soft voice: “Master, everything has been prepared as you wished.”
Yawning, I got out of bed and secured my katana to my waist.
“Alright, I’m coming,” I said.
Before I could even open the door, she had quickly rushed downstairs.
When I stepped out into the palace garden behind her, I saw two saddled horses waiting for us below.
I scanned the horses for a moment and then turned to Luna: “Can’t we just fly?”
Her cheeks flushed slightly, and she averted her eyes from me in embarrassment.
“Master…
I don’t know how to fly.”
A faint smile appeared on my face.
With a slight snap of my fingers in the air, I placed a powerful barrier woven from pure mana around her, protecting her from external elements.
“I do,” I said softly.
At that exact moment, my feet lifted completely off the marble ground.
As I soared rapidly toward the sky, Luna began to glide into the heavens along with me, floating into the darkness of the clouds inside the transparent barrier I had created.