A Villain's Will to Survive novel Chapter 309

Chapter 309: Why Is My Time the Only One That’s Messed Up (4)

... Tick, tock. ... Tick, tock.

Epherene's eyes opened at a ticking sound as she looked around and found herself in a strange place—a cabin or log house with a wooden ceiling and floor—and then she pushed herself upright.

"Are you awake?" Quay said.

Epherene flinched and turned to Quay.

"This is interesting," Quay muttered, reading Caasi's science. "Photoelectric effect, Brownian motion, theory of relativity, gravitational waves, quantum mechanics, black holes... These books expressed the principles of nature and the universe through human scholarship."

Whip—

"... Where are we?" Epherene asked, snatching the manuscripts with telekinesis and stuffing them all into her robes.

"It's a temple," Quay replied.

“Temple?”

"Yes, the temple where I served God for ten thousand years," Quay said, a smile gracing his lips.

"Then, was it you who brought me here?" Epherene asked in a curt tone.

"You could say that. Why, don’t you like it? Deculein wanted to come here, you know."

“... Professor?”

“Yes.”

This place is too modest and peaceful for Deculein to want to come here, Epherene thought.

Anyway, Epherene glared at Quay in silence.

"Are you asking where we are?" Quay said, raising his eyebrows.

“... Yes.”

“It is the outer edge of the world.”

The outer edge of the world was, by its very definition, outside the human world.

“It is not the afterlife. The place where souls reside is distinctly within the world. This is neither the afterlife nor the living world and it is a space outside of the world—a place where I always exist.”

“... Why only by yourself?”

Epherene found Quay suspicious because, though he now wore a kind and gentle face, he was after all a being with the insane ambition of resetting the continent.

"I have resided here for ten thousand years—perhaps even longer. I repeated prayers within a meaningless stretch of time, and when I regained my senses, I found myself here."

Ten thousand years was a span of time too distant even for Epherene, a period that humans, at the very least, could not withstand.

"So, you’re saying you’re the cause of this space, this outer edge, are you?" Epherene asked.

"Yes, my prayers reached God. He gave me purpose instead of death," Quay replied, a bright smile gracing his lips. "So this place is a space arranged only for me and my God. I am here, and the body and puppets I made are in your Phenomenal Realm."

For reference, the Phenomenal Realm was a term encompassing both the living world and the afterlife.

"And Epherene, you are no different from me. You will wander infinitely through time from this moment forward, for time can no longer contain you."

Epherene instinctively tightened her hand into a fist.

"Let's see... if this were your life," Quay continued, drawing a horizontal line with mana.

Through the center of the horizontal line, a vertical line was drawn straight down, serving as a central reference point.

"From the moment you received Sophien's regression, until the day you live on."

There was, for some reason, a questionable aspect to Quay's words—why, of all times, since Sophien's regression.

"You went to the past with Sophien before, didn’t you?" Quay added, a smile gracing his lips as he sensed Epherene’s confusion.

Epherene opened her eyes wide.

"Epherene, it's impossible for just anyone to time travel with you," Quay concluded.

At that moment, Epherene's mind recalled her journey into the past, Deculein's death, the words he left for Epherene, the wand, his kind and warm appearance, and... the falling shooting star.

"The comet fell. With that, time travel ended," Epherene replied.

"Were you in that future?" Quay asked.

"I, along with everyone who knows me, must not encounter the version of myself who has slipped from time," Epherene replied, shaking her head.

... Because from now on, I am no longer a person of that timeline. If anyone meets me like that, a time paradox will happen, Epherene thought.

"Yes, that's right. You are alone," Quay replied.

Time paradoxes would generate tremendous energy, causing mana exhaustion and posing a threat to life. This would apply to both Epherene and her opponent, unless in a unique space like Lokralen—a magical space that perfectly acknowledged the coexistence of paradoxes.

"... Are you asking me to combine my strength with yours, then?" Epherene asked, arching an eyebrow in a mocking tone.

"You won’t lend your strength to me now, will you? But you will eventually come back here—to me," Quay replied, his expression unchanged as he looked at Epherene.

"One can only know by trying."

"Do you believe you can withstand it? A single year for humans might stretch into a decade for you, repeating over and over."

The blind spot of the time slip lay in the illusion that a day once lived would never repeat. However, Epherene’s time stretched without anchor or reference, allowing her to experience the same moments dozens, even hundreds of times.

“I know.”

"But will you be alright with that?"

"... Whether I will be alright or not, humans only know by trying. You wouldn’t know that, though," Epherene replied.

"Yes, it is foolish," Quay said, nodding.

"No, we are challenging," Epherene replied, shaking her head.

At that moment... the panorama transformed, and a clear blue sky filled her vision.

Tick, tock— Tick, tock—

Epherene’s eyes fell upon the ticking pocket watch.

"... Hello?" Epherene called, speaking to the wooden pocket watch. "You can hear me, right?"

Tick, tock—

Anyone watching Epherene talk to the merely ticking pocket watch would have considered her insane. Yet, Epherene resolutely addressed the watch—no, the old man—as she pushed herself upright.

"I know it's you. It's old man Rohakan, isn't it?"

Tick, tock.

At that moment, the ticking sound from the pocket watch stopped.

"Originally, you gave this to me, old man Rohakan, through Murkan, didn’t you?"

How could a mere pocket watch, without intellect, read my mind and show Deculein’s past? When I think about it, it’s nonsense—though Wood Steel was made that way by Deculein in the first place, Epherene thought.

"... Now that I think about it, perhaps I have always wanted to lean on something, to rely on something," Epherene muttered, her words barely a breath. "I think I have always hated being alone."

Perhaps even the properties of Curios are due to that habit of mine. I am lacking and incomplete, so I need Curios. I need my father’s help—the bracelet...

"It's not needed anymore," Epherene muttered, staring blankly into the pocket watch. "So you don't need to overexert yourself now—oh, my tongue’s getting twisted. Why is it so cold?"

The cold was immense, a clear indication that winter had indeed arrived.

Whoosh—

At the mountain peak, the wind whistled, and the rustling of mountain beasts could be heard in the distance.

A-e-i-o-u.

"You really needn’t overexert yourself, old man Rohakan, but might I ask for just one thing?" Epherene asked, loosening her lips as she spoke.

Tick, tock—

The watch ticked, as if to answer in the affirmative.

"Then..." Epherene muttered, a smile escaping her lips.

***

Rustle— Rustle—

I was walking through the Imperial University campus, where flower petals drifted down, signaling the approach of winter. I had just heard from Allen that Yulie had awakened, and at the same time, that Epherene had disappeared.

“Professor.”

From behind, a familiar voice suddenly called my name. As I turned to look, I saw her—her hood pulled low, a bright smile on her face—and I was completely at a loss for words.

“... Epherene,” I replied.

"Would you like to share some Roahawk with me?" Epherene asked.

Though out of context, Epherene’s proposition came suddenly, but she approached with confident steps, holding out a thick envelope.

"Here you are, Professor, the selection exam answer sheet."

With a glare at Epherene, I broke the seal and found the contents to be one hundred sheets of magic paper.

“What do you think?”

I silently reviewed the contents, but the moment I saw the first sentence, I knew that the process—and indeed the answer—would be perfect.

As I read through her homework, superfluous details were strangely absent, and all the logic fit together perfectly. I wondered whether she had become so intelligent all at once or if it was due to that phenomenon I had recently experienced.

"Epherene, time had briefly stopped," I said, placing the answer sheet into an envelope.

However, Epherene showed no reaction, smiling calmly as if our eyes had met.

"Really? How do you know?"

"... There is such a thing as flow. For a moment, I recognized that the flow of time had been severed."

"Hmm~ I see. But that's not what's important right now."

"What?" I replied, my brow furrowing.

“Roahawk. R.o.a.h.a.w.k,” Epherene said.

***

Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle—

Sizzle, sizzle—

Sizzle—

"It is now ready for you to eat. P-Please, enjoy your meal."

The moment we entered Flower of the Pig, the owner led us to the uppermost floor, reserved exclusively for nobles.

"What? The meat’s color is different?" Epherene muttered, her eyes widening at the meat sizzling on the grill. "... Oh, there’s no way. All this time, they’ve been giving me just a medium grade or something like that? Wow, don’t they know how much money I’ve spent here?"

Without a word, I looked at Epherene.

Epherene trembled with disappointment, but in truth, this was my doing, for I had imbued the Roahawk meat with Midas Touch. It was my first time using it on food, and it showed no obvious sign of change, though perhaps something would be different when eaten.

Prick—

“Wow... Julia.”

Tremble, tremble—

Nom, nom— Nom, nom—

Whirrrrrrrrrr...

Gulp—

Click—

“Haha.”

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