The Balance of Time
The name of the technique she used on me, a very unique power that instead of gaining the opponent’s memories, transfers a portion of one’s own memories to the other.
However, the preparation process is complex, and it can only be used with a blessing from the Goddess of Time, making it a sort of miracle.
Suddenly, information about the mysterious power that just hit me forcefully pierces into my head.
Guhk!
When I lived in the Forest of the Demon Realm, breaking ribs was almost a joke, but this time, the pain felt strangely different.
There had been plenty of incidents and accidents, but a warning light was flashing in my relatively calm life compared to living in the Forest of the Demon Realm.
“Daniel! Are you okay?”
Tana rushed over, trying to use healing magic, but for some reason, the mana is destabilizing as it condenses in the air.
“I’m f-fine.”
I couldn’t breathe properly. The pain from the priestess’s heavy strike was more serious than having a broken bone.
“The gods are perfect. No, they must be perfect.”
The Priestess of Time forcefully pulled out the black minute and hour hand that hung from her ear and gripped them in both hands.
Those that dripped her blood began to grow larger and transformed into a longsword and dagger, becoming the priestess’s weapons.
“You’re just a blemish on the gods. You’re no special being. Just a tiny dot that emerged in the cycle of an unspeakable world.”
“Treat her immediately!”
The first to step forward was Elise. At her command, Bertia rushed forward with a potion she always carries for Elise.
Crack!
The dagger made from the hour hand pierces right through the bottle Bertia is holding. The potion spills onto the floor, unable to do its job, and the minute hand lands back in the priestess’s palm just like before.
“Is there anyone capable of using healing magic or possessing a potion?”
The priestess approaches. Bertia called out in urgency, but of course, nobles had potions on them for self-defense.
Yet, no one dared to step forward.
Because none of them properly understood the current situation.
An unidentified girl cuts off the finger of Prince Oliver, and the Priestess of Time rampages. That was all the information the people had.
Fortunately, due to her radiant blonde hair and appearance resembling royalty, a few sharp nobles realized belatedly that she was the third princess.
So they hurriedly took out their potions, but by then, the flying hour hand shattered all the bottles and spun around the hall.
“I won’t let anyone recover!”
Having read my memory, she must be clearly aware of my strength. Hence, even as a priestess, she ambushed and prevented anyone from treating their injuries.
“Ugh, you’re being difficult.”
I forced myself to place my hand on the chair beside me and stand up. With Tana helping me, I was able to rise more easily than expected.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
The priestess lunges at me. Before I can become accustomed to the pain of my injuries, her intent was certainly to finish me off, but a sword shaped like a golden branch blocks her way.
“You’re just rampaging without your master.”
“My master is, solely the Goddess of Time.”
Elise’s ring shines. Her physical abilities have vastly increased. In this state, Elise could beat anyone in the academy except Rin.
Also, with support from Apviel, the Ancient Beast, she would be able to hold her own.
Boom!
Yet she was thrown aside so easily. Rolling on the ground while still holding onto her sword was commendable, but she couldn’t even extend a moment against the Priestess of Time.
At that time, white-masked assassins began pouring down from the ceiling of the banquet hall.
Those nobles attending the banquet who recognized them started fleeing in panic, as they were practically walking death for the nobles.
The Chokugen Faction.
“W-Why are they here?”
A flustered Tana tightly grabbed my hand and murmured. Though I hadn’t wanted a specific answer, it became immediately clear.
“They’re not something we can take on! Kill them immediately!”
None other than the second prince, Alois. He fiercely commanded the Chokugen Faction, and they obeyed without hesitation.
Alois also took up his blue sword from a maid and, as the ring shone, he rushed forward.
Looks like he had some preparations in mind.
Judging by the fact he called the Chokugen Faction, I could say his preparations were thorough, and Alois’s swordsmanship was quite impressive too.
“O sinners who live by drinking blood, hiding in the shadows was your only way to survive.”
The Priestess of Time stomped her foot down forcefully.
Thud!
The entire banquet hall felt like it was shaking under her heavy weight, and the Chokugen Faction members rushing towards her stood still, as if they had turned into exhibition pieces.
“Looks like the God of Death is ripping its huge mouth open.”
The long minute hand flew wildly. Despite their bold entrance, the Chokugen Faction achieved nothing but creating a puddle of blood on the floor.
That’s a problem.
Since I had absorbed the priestess’s memories, I knew she could freeze time around her.
But I didn’t have enough time to grasp everything about her. The priestess had used the Balance of Time many times, so information flooded into her head in a split second, but not for me.
It felt like I had my brains replaced with some other gooey liquid, making me dizzy. I grimaced, forcing myself to sort through her violently pouring memories.
“You, prince who became ugly to survive, have you come to die?”
It wasn’t just the Chokugen Faction that had stopped. The priestess even tried to stab the motionless Alois with the minute hand as well.
Crack!
Once again, Elise’s sword swung from the side. The weapon was too bent to be called a sword, but it was swung fiercely, creating distance between her and the priestess.
As the priestess retreated significantly, Alois began to move again.
At that moment, knights entered from the entrance.
They aimed to evacuate the nobles at the banquet and headed straight for the Current King.
“Quickly escort His Majesty! Use the remaining forces to hold back that priestess!”
Isabel, the Queen, who had liberated herself from her constrained state, shouted vehemently while still supporting the not yet fully conscious Current King.
Additionally, she earnestly shouted to her children to leave the fighting to the knights and step back, but Elise had no intention of retreating.
“Brother, if you’re scared, just step back! That girl is mine to kill.”
“It’s dangerous. It would be wise to heed Mother’s words and leave it to the knights.”
Then Elise pointedly glanced at Alois.
“While the ring’s magic is active, we’re stronger than most knights. When else would we bear the duties of royalty?”
“……And you say that while telling me to step back?”
Alois looked down at the ring on his finger. It still shone brilliantly. He took a deep breath and gripped his sword.
Before the approaching knights could say anything, Elise interjected.
“Everyone stay alert! If you approach, your movements will stop. However, it seems she can’t use it continuously, so we attack in sequence.”
If she could keep using it, when Elise rushed in for a second time, she too would have frozen.
Seeing her agile mind working quickly, Alois let out an admiring breath. He had only been thinking of quickly blocking the attacks, while his younger sister was analyzing the battle.
“Alignment!”
A man who appeared to be the captain of the knights shouted loudly, and the knights quickly took position, getting ready to charge.
Judging by the way they split into three rows as Elise mentioned, it was a pretty effective tactic, but…
“Not enough.”
Knowing the priestess’s power through memory, I could state that with certainty.
That woman is comparable to the Ancient Beasts that live in the Forest of the Demon Realm. Not some mediocre beast like Apviel, but one capable of truly surviving among the real ones.
Rushing in without knowing anything was no different from stepping onto the waiting tongue of a roaring tiger.
“D-Daniel!”
“I have to go.”
Even with knights and royalty blocking her path, the priestess’s eyes were still fixed on me.
As my mind started to clear up, I began to realize the reason she was so excited.
That I hadn’t killed Rin, the Earliest Apocalypse?
That having experienced the end, I hadn’t said a word?
That I had lived as a magical beast enduring through the Forest of the Demon Realm?
For her, all those were just supplementary reasons.
The real reason to erase me from this world.
The existence of me itself was proof that the Goddess of Time had failed.
To the Priestess of Time, gods are perfect beings. Absolute authorities that know all the answers to problems and guide towards the right path.
But the reality is different.
All of humanity was defeated, and the Goddess of Time failed and turned back time. She challenges calamity once again.
The moment the belief the priestess had built her whole life around began to waver, she had to make a choice. To doubt the god she had believed in, or to maintain her stubbornness and erase the problem that had caused this chaos from anyone’s view.
For the priestess who clamors to be with the god, her dilemma was short-lived.
Killing the man she had just met days ago was easier than questioning the god to whom she had devoted her body and soul.
About my regression.
Even the conclusion that was still unclear within me was instantly discarded by her.
‘Does that mean she judged my regression isn’t related to the Goddess of Time?’
In fact, it was also the first time I learned that there was a god known as the Goddess of Time.
The moment I heard that name, I thought it was connected to me, and seeing how the priestess approached me calling me a special being made me think it was a god related to regression.
Yet, I couldn’t shake off the feeling that I was strangely moving further away from the answer.
“Hey! What are you thinking!”
In the midst of the whirlwind of thoughts mixed with the priestess’s memories, I snapped back to reality at the sharp voice piercing through.
Aini’s small fist, which holds a ring, was violently striking against my chest, and it began to emanate a bright light.
“This is……”
“I may not fight like Elise or Brother Alois, but I can do this.”
Healing light.
Not just healing wounds, but a green light that fills the body from physical fatigue to stabilizing the mind enveloped me warmly.
“Where do you think you’re going!”
The priestess, surrounded by the knights, broke free with a fierce force, and in a single leap, she reached above our heads.
“No!”
Elise’s anguished scream rang out.
Though her healing was not yet complete, if I stayed still now, I would die.
Just as I was about to push Ainis aside to respond…
Another blonde girl flew through the air.
Determined to sacrifice her life, she stood in front of us and the priestess, but no matter her resolve, she couldn’t hold on for too long against the will.
It was truly a split second.
She made just enough of a gap for the priestess to swing the minute hand from her left hand, and the girl ended up bleeding as she rolled on the ground.
“Tana!”
I called her name without thinking, but Ainis gestured to me with her eyes to not worry.
Crack!
Whether the priestess meant to kill both Ainis and me or simply didn’t care about the princess…
She swung down the minute hand harshly.
With a little mana concentrated at the tip of my fist, I swung my punch out of desperation.
It barely scratched the surface of her skin, but my leg had already charged towards her abdomen.
Puh-wak!
For the first time, the priestess widened her eyes as she stepped back, letting me land a blow. She glared at me with self-reproaching fury, realizing she couldn’t stop me after seeing me completely healed.
The knights quickly surrounded her again, but the priestess did not divert her gaze from me.
“Gods are perfect and omnipotent, you devil that distorts and sullies that truth.”
With a desperate mumble, the priestess asserted herself.
“Those who are that amazing aren’t all that.”
Provoking her with words she would detest,
The priestess immediately kicked off the ground and charged at me.
