Its All in The Past Now

The deep underground vault was thick with the scent of burning torch oil and stagnant moisture.

Inside the rusted cell, Suzuki Sawada clutched his bleeding back, his posture completely defeated.

"The library basement," Suzuki rasped, his voice bouncing off the damp stone blocks.

"The north-west shelf slides outward if you feed it mana. She is secured behind the false brick wall."

Toshio Tanaka nodded once, adjusting his spectacles without a single flicker of empathy. He raised his hand, delivering a precise order to his party.

"Luck, Kara. Look where he said immediately. Lily, Stacy. Keep an eye on him from here. We do not want him to do anything suspicious before we confirm the witch's whereabouts."

As the heavy footsteps of the two warriors faded down the corridor, a suffocating silence settled in the corridor.

Suzuki slumped against the damp stone wall, his breath coming in shallow, agonizing wheezes as the paralytic toxin slowly expanded through his lungs. His dark eyes darted up, locking onto the bard.

"You... really want to kill me, don't you?" Suzuki asked Zale, a bitter smile tugging at his lips.

Zale glared back at him, his face twisted into an expression of disgust.

"How do you know that? Did I kill you in one of your timelines?"

"Yeah," Suzuki muttered, staring down at the crimson puddles forming near his shoes.

"Dozens of times, actually. Even in the timelines where I tricked the rest of the party to death. You alone always found a way to drive a blade into my heart."

A grim, satisfying sense of victory flared within Zale's chest.

"You know... I already know everything I needed from you," Suzuki whispered, his voice trembling with exhaustion.

"In each of those lives, right before I died, I would use my final seconds to ask you one last question. A completely different query every single time. And you... you were always so honest. You answered every single one." The Perfect Prince coughed blood as he finished talking.

Zale’s blood ran completely cold. A violent fury surged through his veins as he realized the Prince had mined his entire past, his secrets, and his revenge across an endless graveyard of loops. He reached instinctively for the second dagger at his waist.

"Stand down, Zale," Toshio’s voice cut through the dark like a small lantern, stopping the bard directly at the cell door.

"Do not get agitated by his words. Maintain your position."

Zale forced his hands down, his knuckles turning white, but his glare remained lethal.

Suzuki let out a dry cough.

"This is probably going to sound like an excuse to your boss out there... but your parents... their death was entirely calculated. When the Hero Grace got angry, I ran the numbers. I had to choose between sacrificing them or letting the entire township get devoured. I chose the town."

"Shut your filthy mouth!" Zale roared, his voice echoing violently off the cellar walls.

"Do not talk about them ever again!"

Suzuki closed his eyes, sliding further down the wall, and went completely quiet.

Lily stood near the iron bars, watching the broken teenager with a deeply conflicted expression. As a born healer, the concept of a human soul enduring that many deaths was completely beyond her comprehension.

She couldn't help but step forward. "Perfect Prince... how many different futures have you actually lived through?"

Suzuki opened one heavy eyelid, looking at the curious girl.

"A lot... and honestly, you were always the kindest person in the party. No matter how many times I manipulated them, betrayed your trust, or left you behind, I could never find a timeline where I truly lived happily. But even when things went completely sideways... you always cried for me with the most genuine, honest expression."

Suzuki then shifted his gaze toward the silent salaryman standing under the flickering torchlight. Toshio stared back, his expression as unreadable as a blank spreadsheet.

"What about me?" Toshio asked flatly. "What did you find out about me with your tricks?"

Suzuki let out a weak chuckle. "Nothing. No matter which branch of the timeline I tried, your past remained an absolutely dark. You were a complete mystery to my skill system from the moment you arrived."

Before the conversation could dive deeper, the echoing sound of approaching footsteps signaled the vanguard's return.

Kara and Luck stepped out of the dark corridor, guiding the Great Witch Amber between them.

The witch’s robes were tattered, and her face bore light bruises from her confinement, but she walked with an upright, unyielding dignity.

Her sharp, ancient eyes immediately locked onto Suzuki Sawada. The Prince quickly turned his face away, unable to look her in the eye out of shame.

Amber ignored everything and walked straight toward Toshio, lowering her head in a thankful posture.

"I will never forget this help, Master Tanaka."

"I feel this is least I should do," Toshio countered smoothly, scratching his head.

"Your abduction was most likely a direct result of my actions. The Prince captured you because you helped me in some timelines..."

"What?" Amber shouted, confused. "I don't understand a word."

From inside the dirt floor, Suzuki rasped out the confirmation.

"He’s right. In the very first timeline where this man approached the valley, he successfully found your hidden hut. I had to quickly kidnap you in the next loop just to lure him into my perfect town."

A terrifying wave of ancient magic erupted from Amber's body. The air in the corridor violently superheated as glowing, crimson runes materialized around her fingers. "You absolute piece of trash-!"

She thrust her hand forward, preparing to unleash a catastrophic hellfire spell directly into the cell to vaporize the boy. The bars started to heat up, slowly changing their colors from grey to crimson.

But before the flames could spark, Toshio stepped directly into the line of fire, blocking the cell with his own body. The sudden, intense heat blasted against his suit jacket, but his expression didn't waver.

"Can you stop? It's kind of a costly suit," Toshio commanded calmly.

"We cannot kill him. If he dies while his skill is active, the entire timeline resets and forces us back to the starting point. We have to do something about his skill first."

Amber's eyes blazed with fury, but looking at the man who had just broken her out of the hidden vault, she slowly lowered her hands.

The blazing runes dissolved into smoke. "Fine. I will not end this brat's life. But I will ensure he never uses his wicked skill again."

Behind her, Stacy rushed forward, tears streaming down her face as she threw her arms around her master's waist.

"Master!" The old witch’s stern expression softened slightly as she patted her apprentice's head, calming her down.

Amber stepped up to the iron bars, her eyes suddenly glowing blinding white. A massive, overwhelming flow of pressurized mana flooded out of her palms, completely enveloping Suzuki's trembling frame.

The sheer weight of the magical pressure made the stone floor crack.

"Do you agree to forever seal your skill in exchange for your life?" Amber announced, her voice carrying the grand resonance of a wise master.

Suzuki was completely tired. His mind, body, and soul had been ground into dust over hundreds of thousands of failures. He closed his eyes and let out a long, exhausted sigh.

"Yeah... just do it."

For the first time across the millions of unseen timelines, the Perfect Prince officially signed off his own retirement.

*BOOM*

A loud, thunderous crack echoed through the underground levels as a glowing, circular binding contract wrapped around Suzuki’s chest, sinking deep into his soul and permanently locking away his time-loop skill forever.

"The seal is absolute," Amber pronounced, her eyes returning to normal.

Toshio checked his pocket watch. "Kara, unlock the cell gate."

The heavy iron door swung open with a loud noise.

Lily immediately rushed into the cell to mend the dagger wound, while Stacy assisted in neutralizing the paralytic poison.


Within minutes, the physical damage was repaired, but the logic-breaking divinity that once protected Suzuki Sawada was gone forever. He was now an entirely powerless high schooler.

Slowly, the former Prince staggered out of the cell, trembling on his legs.

"Regretting your decision?" Toshio asked as Suzuki stumbled out of the cell.

"It feels scary," Suzuki said, tightly clutching his shirt. "If I die now, I'm dead for real."

"Everyone is like that. You were just special," Zale said, a faint bitter resentment coating his words.

Suzuki stepped out of the cell and into the corridor. But the moment his eyes landed on Kara’s towering, armored frame, he violently flinched.

A look of genuine terror washed over his face, and he practically tried to hide himself behind Toshio, shaking like a leaf.

Toshio looked down at the terrified boy, a bit confused by the sudden psychological breakdown.

"What is the meaning of this?"

Suzuki’s teeth chattered as he pointed a shaking finger at the silent female knight.

"S-She... in the previous cycles... I was executed by this specific person 1,00,029 times alone. She has torn my physical form apart in ways my brain can't even comprehend..."

Kara innocently pointed at herself, tilting her head as if to ask, Me? Are you talking about me?

Toshio let out a brief, dry chuckle.

"Well, look at the bright side. It is all in the past now."

Suzuki stared at the salaryman, completely speechless for a second.

"Man, you have no chill," Zale chuckled from behind.