บท 90: Identical world, different storyline
(Third POV)
Time traveling. Many remember that term from movies in which a character goes back in time to prevent a dark future from happening by preventing documented events or people from doing the things that would lead to said future.
However, some do not know that there is a scientific contradiction in such action.
If a person were to go back in time in an attempt to erase the events that led to the future they were coming from, then they wouldn't go back because said future would cease to exist, creating a paradox with unforeseeable results.
A method that avoids such an outcome is Orsted's time loop, which reverts the six-faced world's time instead of the fabric of time itself, excluding his memories of the previous loops.
However, a theory proposes that if one were to travel back in time and alter past events, the universe would split into a different timeline, branching off from the course of history it originally would follow.
And such a procedure was done with the soul of the Rudeus with the Demon Dragon curse.
The Rudeus, whose death caused the end of the world, was put to the test by causing such a branch timeline.
The Point in time that was selected for Rudeus to resume was the moment he and Eris finished teleporting on the Demon continent, the night when they both would meet Ruijerd for the first time.
This time, before being contacted by Hitogami, Rudeus awoke only seconds after landing to an uncomfortable and painful sensation that befell his entire body, inside and outside.
His eyes snapped open, his body convulsing, and his teeth gritting.
After a few seconds, he started to bleed from his mouth, choking on his blood as it flowed down to the ground, where it was almost guided into certain patterns.
It was a Magic Circle drawn with his blood.
His blood developed to be highly mana-conductive due to the body's manapool that exceeds Demon God Laplace's. However, because of the low accessible amount and quick expiration, the conductivity will slowly decrease once it leaves the body.
But for this Magic Circle, seconds were all that was needed for what it was meant for. This was a Summoning Circle meant to give the 'Game Master' a body to act more on the outside of things.
As the two-meter wide complex circle with four separate ones inside was finished, as if being controlled by a puppet string, Rudeus's left hand was placed on a designated spot where the summoner's mana was meant to insert his mana.
A tremendous amount of mana went into the circle, illuminating the night sky with identical coloration as the Metastasis Event once did but on a dimmer level.
In the distance, a certain green-haired warrior became alerted by the light in the distance.
Ruijerd, utilizing his tribe's radar, noticed another individual's sudden appearance. This prompted him to question whether it was related to the light he observed in the far-off sky. Consequently, he approached carefully as he drew nearer to the three individuals.
Meanwhile, the summoning from Rudeus finished.
Standing in the center, where the complex Magic Circle once was, stood a creature as pitch black as the night itself. It was skinny as if having more bones than flesh but still tall, its face comprised of swirly lines for a slat-eyed smiley face, and droplets from the top of his head escaped upwards until they separated from the body and vanished in the air almost immediately.
"Hmmm… not bad. Not bad at all," it said, its mouth not moving at all to the words it spoke.
Looking at what was its own hands, it complimented its finished work on the body. It previously only had blueprints, half expecting some difficulties in the assembly.
"Now," it said, holding up its hand before saying, "should I get you to help him or not?"
A transparent egg floated above the palm of his hand, its content only known to the being holding it.
"I only revived you on the spur of the moment because little Rudy gave you back. There is no telling how much havoc you may cause."
The creature, its expression unchanged, was completely untethered by the suffering Rudeus behind him and continued talking to itself and the egg.
Putting its other hand on its chin, it swayed its upper body left and right, humming to itself as it thought about the idea for several seconds before it noticed Ruijerd approaching dangerously close.
"Eh. You know what they say. Consequences be damned!"
Swinging the hand that held the egg upwards, the creature released the restraints it had placed on it, allowing the monster inside to head to its future vessel.
"Ohohohoho~… this is going to be fun."
*Cough*
The torturous adaption of his new power finally decreased a bit; Rudeus managed to get his body up just a little, his mouth and frontside stained with his own blood, his hair had turned white, and even more, blood coming from his eyes.
"Let's see how this is developing."
Turning around and crouching before the bleeding boy, it grabbed Rudeus by the face with one hand and used the other to separate the eyelids of Rudeus's left eye.
Beneath the blood stains and enlarged vessels, the iris was reverting to its former dark blue hue, akin to the previous Rudeus.
"Oh, shit," the creature said with a hint of being upset.
"Did I mess up the eyes again? Wait, no, the Demon Eyes are accessible this time, but my first mishap seems to have become more permanent than I thought."
Letting go of the young boy's face and standing up again, it put its hands on its sides as it looked down at the poor boy, shaking from keeping himself up.
"Well, that just means as a sacrifice, you will have to look like a freak as much as you are from the inside... okay, maybe not as much, but you know what I mean, right?"
The creature awaited an answer, only to get gurgling as an answer before Rudeus spat out another batch of blood.
"What? Curse got your tongue. Well, then start speaking in rice ball ingredients if you don't want to hurt people close to you. Ahahahahahah- why aren't you laughing?"
Acting benevolently toward the suffering boy's condition, it felt offended that it had not received the anticipated reaction.
"Eh, whatever," it said, shrugging its shoulders. "Times up anyway."
Looking at the distance a little, it saw that Ruijerd got close enough as it was.
From the back of the creature, a pair of bat wings sprouted; inside of them, what seemed to be veins letting mana course through them.
As the creature crouched down to grab Rudeus, Eris began waking up, only to cast her sleepy eyes upon the sight of a bleeding Rudeus on the ground and a creepy creature right next to him.
"Uh oh," the creature said, startled by this small, overlooked scenario.
Because of the simple yet unnatural face it had, the redheaded girl started to panic, but the creature thought of something on the spur of the moment.
Albeit, it knew how ridiculous it was.
"This is all a dream," It said in a monotone voice. "None of this is real. Sooooo… go back to sleep."
The reaction hoped to calm the young lady down failed, which already had a low chance of success; the creature just bailed on any further interaction and quickly grabbed both Rudeus and his staff [Aqua Heartia].
Spreading its wings, it went off flying, leaving Eris behind for her to meet with Ruijerd alone.
With that, a new branch in history has already been set, but further adjustments were to be made for it to reach its intended goal.
***
Soaring through the night sky at top speed, the creature took only half an hour to bring Rudeus to the targeted location.
Above the fresh and newly established nest of a Black Dragon colony in a small mountain range, several days away north from the city of Rikarisu, it grabbed Rudeus by his right wrist and hung him above one of the mountain entrances that went straight down.
Holding [Aqua Heartia] with the other hand, the winged creature tapped Rudeus's head with it, checking if he was still alive.
"Hey~ Wakey wakey. Time to get up, buddy."
Twitching a little, the young Magician woke up with the taste of blood still lingering in his mouth.
"Ah, good. The minimal immortal factor kicked in just in time."
"Wha-… wh-where am I?"
"The place where your first test will commence."
Surprised by the unfamiliar voice speaking to him, his eyes darted around the darkness before the whistling of wind made him flail in panic.
He paused briefly before glancing at the man-like figure gripping his hand, its facial features unsettling him slightly as the image of a smiley-faced killer from a horror movie surfaced in his thoughts.
Rudeus's eyes have already become the same shade of green and blue as his future version received, but earlier than him.
"Here, take this," the man said as he handed him his staff.
Complying to take back what already belonged to him, Rudeus took his staff with his free hand, keeping a side eye on the person holding it.
"Who are you?"
"You may call me… Kagami. And my mission is to make a true god out of you."
Two points made Rudeus uncomfortable about this. Three, if you count in the unsettling face, which possibly could be a mask.
For one, he had no recollection as to where he was or what had happened before he lost consciousness.
Part of that lies with the incomplete memory transfer that was deliberately unfinished.
His mind would need a little more time to sort out the fractions of memories that haven't happened yet, and so the current Rudeus's head was a bit of a mess.
As for the other point, the intentions that the creature holding him told him confused him even more.
"Well, let's get to the test. Location: Black Dragon nest. Objective: Survive and Learn. Good luck."
Once these words were said, the creature abruptly let go of the boy's arm and let him fall into the entrance.
"AAAAAAAAAAAA-"
Screaming from the top of his lungs, the poor Magician was dropped down to a place where few could survive, the sound of his voice waking up the beasts inside.
"Welp, off I go."
Calmly and without any remorse for his action nor the possibility of failure, the creature went off, doing his separate work to prepare for the second test.
As for the young boy, he would come to realize that the years of training were not enough to prepare him for the dangers of this world.
///
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