Chapter 5

A realization hit me like a bolt of lightning as I looked back on my memories. Fergus noticed the shock on my face.

“It feels strange to you, doesn’t it? You keep seeing places that shouldn’t look the way they do. And people around you who… maybe shouldn’t even exist?”

I turned pale. At first, I couldn’t form a proper response, so I simply nodded. After a brief pause, Fergus focused on me again. He explained that he had recognized me the very first time we met, though he didn’t know from where. Then his memories began to return. According to him, I had appeared near the abandoned building where they performed the spacetime ritual. He had no idea why I might have been wandering around such a remote area.

Something began to rise from deep within my mind.

“I vaguely remember… I went to visit a sick student council member who lived around there. And on my way home, I saw strange lights coming from one of those old factory buildings. I got curious and went closer…”

Fergus fell into thought. He recalled that he and Olivia were practically dead when he saw me. But the next second, the timeline overwrite happened — and they survived. He and Olivia awakened in this new timeline. Unlike me and Kaori, they did not become organic parts of this world. They retained no memories of this timeline’s past. To them, it felt more like a jump into a parallel world. Because of that, they remembered the previous timeline far more clearly — not just blurry flashes or fragments. They were still tied to it.

“This is insane… I can’t even follow…”

My confusion didn’t surprise him. He tried to keep the explanation short. According to him, although the spacetime rewrite succeeded, such a massive spell had consequences. It caused a magical mutation in their physical appearance. That was why their hair turned black and their eyes purple. Fergus believed that my Seraph power was also tied to the temporal distortion. Since I had been too close to the ritual’s core, I had been caught directly in its effects — even more than they were.

I swallowed hard, unable to find the right words. He could have been lying, but everything he said fit disturbingly well.

I glanced at Kaori, then turned back to Fergus with a question.

“And what does all this have to do with Kaori? Your partner called her an anomaly.”

Fergus didn’t rush to answer. He chose his words carefully. Even so, what he revealed chilled us both. He said that Olivia was correct. In the world before the spacetime modification, Kaori had never existed. She was a byproduct of the intervention.

Kaori covered her mouth in horror as her body trembled. I could hardly believe my ears.

Fergus then spoke more urgently. This, he claimed, was why letting Kaori live was so dangerous. If the Kali Yuga sensed, through her existence, that humanity had tampered with time — that people were not living in harmony with each other and the planet by their own will — it would erase this seventh civilization just like the previous six. The Magistras created the utopia primarily to deceive the Kali Yuga. But Kaori’s mere existence could make the entire plan meaningless.

Fergus quieted down, then spoke more gently.

“I don’t take pleasure in expecting the death of a young girl… but there is no other choice. I’m begging you both…”

Kaori trembled, struggling to speak, while I burst out angrily.

“This is madness! How would killing Kaori fix anything?!”

Fergus sighed.

“Her presence draws the Kali Yuga here more quickly. I can feel it. It’s getting closer.”

I couldn’t restrain my anger any longer. The way he spoke so casually about killing a schoolgirl made my blood boil.

“You’re not killing Kaori. End of discussion. There has to be another way—”

Kaori gently tugged at my sleeve.

“But… if what he’s saying is true—”

I snapped at her immediately. I told her I didn’t want to hear a single word about sacrificing her own life. Seeing he couldn’t convince us, Fergus readied himself for battle. A few nearby pedestrians froze as usual, trapped in temporal stasis. Fergus raised his pendant-like clock, beginning another summoning ritual.

“In this upturned time, I carve a chaotic space! Come, Clockster!”

His clock glowed as the sound of ticking filled the air. A purple, clock-shaped magic circle formed on the ground, and particles gathered above it. Another Clockster materialized — this time, its right arm ended in a gray whip.

I stepped forward with determination. I knew exactly what I had to do.

“You can summon as many of these things as you want. You’ll lose every time.”

My heart glowed deep blue, and I recited:

“Creation of Time Link! Transfiguration!”

Sea-blue light engulfed me. White stars appeared around my body as silver rays illuminated my form. An idol-like uniform mirroring the night sky materialized on me, shimmering brightly. My elegant gloves and boots formed the same way. My hair rearranged slightly, turning dark blue, and my eyes gleamed ocean-blue. A golden crescent moon shone at the hem of my skirt.

With the transformation complete, I struck a noble pose.

“I am the mysterious mist that blankets the night. The Seraph of Night — Nightmist!”

The creature lashed out with its whip, and I avoided it with quick footwork. The concrete split apart where I had been standing. The Clockster launched more attacks, its weapon striking from bizarre and unpredictable angles. After several rapid evasions, I widened the distance — and spotted a parked motorcycle nearby.

“Sorry to the owner… but I’m borrowing this!”

I lifted the motorcycle with ease and hurled it at the creature.

But it was pointless. The Clockster’s whip sliced it in half as if it were paper. I knew I needed to vanish and strike from an unexpected angle.

“Hide me — Shadow Mist!”

The mist rose around me, which the creature attacked repeatedly with its whip. Not once did it hit me.

Fergus suddenly got an idea.

“I’ll drag her out!”

A glowing purple sphere formed in his hand — it resembled a pocket watch made of light. He immediately aimed at Kaori. The moment he threw it, I burst from the mist and blocked the attack with my crescent shield. I snapped at Kaori for staying here when she should’ve run, but she refused to leave me.

Taking advantage of my momentary distraction, the Clockster flicked its whip around my ankle.

With a violent pull, it hurled me through the air and slammed me into a metal container. My face hit it first, leaving a deep dent in the metal. As I tried to rise to my hands and knees, brutal strikes rained down on my back. I screamed in pain before collapsing, half-conscious.

Kaori cried out in terror.

“Reina!!”