A sudden rupture in space creates a rift, and an unexpected entity emerges from it.
"Tempus?!" I thought she had vanished, eradicated by Eleona, yet there she stood, undaunted before me.
"Don't be so surprised. Just know that simple means can't kill me." It's inconceivable... This development wasn't part of the game... But how is she alive and back? Despite having abandoned the idea that things would follow the game's script, this was beyond belief.
Amidst my overwhelming confusion, Tempus casually reveals her secret of immortality. "I am the God of Time... Merely ending the present moment changes nothing."
It's a truth hard to believe, yet plausible coming from her. But how can she be defeated then?
"Cough...!" Morione, caught off guard by Tempus' ambush, suffers a severe wound and coughs up blood.
"Didn't I tell you? Like a seed that endures winter to bloom beautifully, you must face this crisis and gain insight to truly annihilate me." She retrieves her double-edged sword and begins to walk slowly.
The atmosphere, as dark as the distorted sky, starts gnawing at me... because, in the current scenario, there's no one capable of facing Tempus.
"Morione, this wasn't part of the plan, was it?!"
"Ugh... This seems overwhelming...!" Luslia and Eleona appear worn out from the ongoing battle.
"Surely it was...!" Morione is critically injured from the recent ambush.
"Ugh... Harold, my body won't respond..." Eleona and the others, including me, are nearly incapacitated from Morione's subjugation. She was never an easy adversary, and now the only ones somewhat unscathed and capable of confronting Tempus are me, Ar'cia, Eleona...
"Damn... Injured as I am..."
"Ah..." The last bit of consciousness in Av'ne and Mir might be our only hope. However, despite our numerical advantage, considering each of our conditions, the situation was far from ideal to confront Tempus. The circumstances were dire.
"Morione... Do you think someone of similar mind like me would be easily anticipated?" Whether Ar'cia and the Goddess of Fate had planned something, it was clear that the current situation was beyond their expected range of problems.
"Now, if you don't engage, you'll all surely perish, so try to make a move." Whether it was out of consideration or a strategy to instill despair, Tempus waited leisurely for our move.
"Ugh!" Realizing we had a common enemy, Luslia momentarily ceased her battle with Eleona to unleash magic at Tempus.
Fwoosh! She employed various dark spells against Tempus, but...
"Not bad for an attack, despite the fierce battle you've been through." Tempus effortlessly blocked it while casually complimenting her effort.
"Time Bolt," Morione chanted briefly, and from her wand, she launched an object swirling with void in the midst of pure white light.
"Veil Beyond Death!" However, Tempus enveloped herself in an unfathomable darkness, successfully neutralizing the magic.
"Counterstrike of Time," Tempus announced an enigmatic technique, but...
"...?" Ironically, nothing happened.
"Void Beyond!" Despite the empty atmosphere, Ar'cia didn't hesitate and quickly launched her next attack. But...
Crack! "Aaah!!" To our shock, it was Ar'cia herself who ended up damaged by her attack on Tempus.
"Reflective magic...? Cough!" Ar'cia writhed in agony, twisted by her own attack.
"Such delightful chaos for me, Spatial Distortion." Tempus, mocking Ar'cia's deteriorating condition, introduced yet another unfamiliar technique.
"Ugh... Aaaaah!!!" Suddenly, space began to warp, and Ar'cia screamed in pain. In the midst of an indescribable phenomenon, blood erupted from Ar'cia's body in several places. As if pulled by an unseen force, she was drawn toward Tempus.
Thump! Tempus impaled her abdomen with his dual-bladed sword. "Pitiable, already weak and in the worst condition, this ends too easily," he remarked.
"Ah... Aaah...." Ar'cia writhed helplessly on the sword's tip, a tragic and pitiful sight.
"Next," Tempus coldly flicked Ar'cia off his blade, like shaking fruit off a knife's edge.
"If you don't come out, I will go after the man you all love." He threatened, seeing that his opponents weren't emerging.
"Ugh!" Eleona charged at him next.
"Sun Spear!" She gathered her magic and threw it, but it was futile.
"Weaker than before, but understandable given the lingering curse of debilitation," Tempus nonchalantly caught the Sun Spear with his bare hands and hurled it back at her.
"Kyah!" Though she managed to block it, the force of her own spell sent her flying.
"Spatial Distortion." "Ah...?!!" Once again, Tempus used the same magic to brutally incapacitate her.
The goddesses, who seemed never to show a sign of defeat, were now pitifully crumbling.
"Harold...?!" Ar'cia and Aris woke from their stupor.
"What in the world... That goddess was definitely defeated earlier!" Marika was baffled by the drastic change in the situation after her brief blackout.
"Brother...?" Yura regained consciousness, but the grim atmosphere twisted her expression.
"Ah, you don't understand the situation, do you?" Tempus gloated.
"To get to the point... I am your enemy, and if you don't kill me desperately, that man will die."
"?!?" Though still not fully grasping the situation, they hurriedly mustered their strength, battered and bruised.
"Ice Shower!" But would a few more eggs be enough to break a rock? The situation was dire, and their desperate attempts seemed almost futile against Tempus. "Ice King... Ice Shower!" Despite the combined efforts of the two goddesses with the same spell, it was ineffective.
"I'll protect you, brother!" Yura unleashed a remarkable barrage of fiery magic, but it caused no harm.
"Decent attack, but far from enough to stop me," Tempus remained unscathed despite directly receiving the attacks.
"Storm Ruler!" Marika's attempt, though valiant, was hardly worth mentioning.
Frustrated, I realized I couldn't just stand by. "Electr-"
"Not yet, your time hasn't come. Save your strength," Tempus interrupted, causing me to succumb to an overwhelming dizziness and collapse.
"Then I will!" Mira focused, seemingly trying to transform into a dragon form.
"Sorry, but I can't let that happen, not on this appropriate stage," Tempus easily thwarted Mira's effort before it could even begin.
Mira's attempt ended abruptly as she, like Eleona and Aris before her, screamed in agony, blood and vomit bursting forth.
"What do you want?!" Abravene unleashed a torrent of cosmic light to intercept Tempus.
His fingertips emitted a vast light, effortlessly blocking Abravene's magic.
"Ugh!" Overpowered, Abravene was hit head-on by the counterattack and collapsed, barely able to emit a small groan.
"Don't worry, it's not lethal... yet." The inner turmoil within Abravene was clear.
She closed her eyes tightly, trying to withstand the pain.
The power imbalance was stark; we were completely outmatched. Tempus's overwhelming strength was beyond our collective capacity. "As things have settled... Spatial distortion." Tempus murmurs to herself and suddenly vanishes.
Pop!
She reappears right in front of me, instilling fear even in my battered state.
"Now, receive it." Tempus extends her hand towards me.
"Harold!!!" Seeing me in danger, Eleona, despite her severe injuries, bravely rushes towards Tempus.
"Stop." With a flick of her dual-bladed sword, Tempus effortlessly sends Eleona flying again.
"Brother!" The others try to protect me by launching a barrage of spells at Tempus.
But Tempus, with an unknown power, easily overpowers them. The sound of breaking bones fills the air, increasing my sense of despair.
"All the girls who loved you have fallen... Now only you remain." Did she savor this moment for last? After easily neutralizing everyone else, she now turns her attention to me, lifting the dizziness.
"Ugh...!!" I'm surrounded by negativity.
"Ash Coal! Purple Arrow!" I desperately cast all the magic I know, but it's futile.
"Hmm... this is not it." Tempus sighs disappointingly, then says, "This is not what I want."
Thump!
She strikes my solar plexus, expelling the air from my lungs.
"Can't you do it properly? You could have killed me." Tempus's foot continuously strikes me, each hit crushing my bones like stepping on an ant. Unable to even scream, I writhed in excruciating pain. I realized I was truly facing death, my survival instincts screaming in alarm.
"Do you not realize the danger to your life?" Tempus, suddenly halting her assault, seemed lost in thought amid her cryptic words. "Is the approach wrong? Then, what about this..."
"Spatial distortion."
With her spell, the battered figure of Eleona appears before me.
"Eleona?!"
"Ha... Harold..."
"If you can't stop me, your goddess will die." Tempus steps over Eleona's broken body, raising her weapon. The thought of Eleona's impending doom ignited something within me.
Despite facing her own end, Eleona tried to reassure me with a final smile.
"Then, I'll strike down."
No, I silently pleaded, powerless to intervene.
"If you don't stop me quickly, starting with this goddess, the others will gradually perish."
Hearing this, something surged within me.
"Ready... now..."
As the blade poised to sever Eleona's neck, my heart raced uncontrollably.
Despite my previous ineffectiveness and self-loathing, I now had to accept reality and protect what I loved. I mustered all my strength.
"He... my man..."
Please... no...
"I love you..."
My heart pounded fiercely as if driven by the overwhelming need to save Eleona and the others. "At last, have I failed...?" As the blade was mere inches from Eleona's neck...
"!!!"
Time seemed to slow to a crawl.
"Harold..."
"Stop ―――!!!"
I finally accepted reality.
"What is this...?"
A visitor in her solitary prison.
"Your vanished father almost killed me with this power, didn't he? Didn't he permanently obliterate the goddess of love, Luceria, in one of his tales?"
"It's a pendant, crafted from the magic left behind after her disappearance."
A young girl, before being sent to the past, received a gift.
"But why this, all of a sudden...?"
"Give it to your father when the time comes in the past. When that moment is, you'll realize when it's time."
The girl carefully stored the potentially useful item, a gift to ensure her father remained the strongest among humans.
"Love, steadfastness, and various wills can be transformed into power through this item. I believe your father will need it more than anything at some point."
After these words, the girl with black hair was sent to the past.
Left alone again, Tempus gazed into the void. What past was she contemplating?
"Harold..."
She murmured the name of the man who could give her peace.
"May you face me squarely and realize... and..."
"Do not show mercy for my cruelty."
She prayed earnestly, smiling faintly.
"It seems like a success...."
The distorted sky cleared, bringing dawn after night. A bright light encouraged me, transforming the pendant I'd cherished into a sword, my weapon.
"You've finally realized."
Whoosh!
Koo ― Woong ―!!!
The sound resonated as I grasped the newly transformed weapon, a symbol of newfound understanding and resolve. Swinging the sword lightly, the blow rewrites the very fabric of reality.
"Do you act because they are in danger... because you want to protect them? Why... How do you feel?"
"Because I love them, isn't it?"
Let's admit it... I've finally come to realize...
I confess to myself the truth I've long ignored.
"Yes."
I love all the women who love me. They may sometimes be fearful, stern, or exhausting, but I cherish them. They're all precious to me, and despite this, my desire to possess them shows the depth of my love.
I won't deny my feelings any longer, holding no more faint justifications.
I proclaim it boldly...
Just as they endlessly yearned for me... I too desire them.
"Ugh...!"
With power that feels boundless and a clarity in confidence, I acknowledge my immense potential.
"That's it, my boy."
The power to grant Tempus a true demise...
Yes... I can do this...
"Now spread your wings with that power, and dance with me one last time!"
Let's give it a try.