Chapter 612: Luring Danger

"Then, do you mean that Diana is here?" asked Oriole with a frown. "How can a normal demihuman survive that time gap between Alka and Earth?"

"How about we discuss that fissure?" smiled Gala. "I don't think that even Arthur has figured that one out. I have worked to understand how Alka and Earth have been intertwined in terms of space and time for a long time, and the answer was the prophet."

"Seref Silvera..."

"My master was not an almighty creator like my beloved," said Gala with a smile before she coughed. "Excuse me, I mean Arthur. Instead, Seref had to employ the knowledge he gained from his guardian, the God of Artifacts, to manipulate the timeline."

"Are you saying he was using the temporal fissures?"

"Oh my," smirked the witch. "You are as smart as I saw you in my beloved's memories. Anyway, that is correct. The Scholar Vessel uses his knowledge of the split to navigate through the timelines. There are temporal fissures and there are spatial gates. The former is what brought Arthur and you to Alka, and the latter are the dungeons."

"And that douchebag father was using this to jump through timelines and fabricate the suffering Arthur had to go through," Oriole could see his knuckles turning white. "How is this related to Diana?"

"Diana had no memory of Arthur," revealed Gala. "I waited for her to receive an epiphany, but she did not. I have no idea what the reason is until now."

"No memory?" Oriole almost shouted as his face crumbled. "No, that cannot be true. The merge projected everyone's memories as long as there was an alteration and soul power."

"The projection happened at that moment," muttered Gala. "For example, my memories are until I entered the Spirits Realm. Arthur did not align the two timelines and merge them but distributed every memory across the timeline."

"That doesn't make sense. If that was the case, why would Diana have no memories of him? Wait... is it because of what happened at that time?"

"At that time?"

Oriole retold the story of how Diana brought Arthur back and how she lost control over her powers in that process. His theory was that she didn't remember because of the state of her soul when the timeline collapsed.

"This sounds like an absurd lie to live," said Gala as she let out a hollow lie. "Timelines and memories, all because of one decision. A normal person would choose to retain what they have and accept it instead of making do with it."

"Arthur couldn't accept their plan, nor could he compromise. It turns out that his powers were why our friend betrayed us."

"...is that friend still there?"

"We changed the past to save her, but things have been weird between them," said Oriole. "It has hard to forget what she did, even if it did not happen."

"There is no one to see what happened and what did not because that timeline did not exist. I explained that to Diana, and she told me that there must be many such collapsed timelines that we don't know about, so why should she care about this one?"

Oriole gnashed his teeth together as he listened to those words. This was the fate that Arthur chose and accepted, but it still hurt to know his love was unreciprocated.

"Don't carry that face," smiled Gala. "I convinced her to let me awaken those memories within her using what my beloved gave me. But, then, she remembered."

"You used what Arthur gave you?" asked Oriole in confusion.

"According to your story, it seems I received a portion of his powers when he helped me reincarnate. In a twisted fate, I reincarnated into a different timeline indeed. We all did. I fused a bit of my soul with her, and it worked. The memories streamed into her, and she became the princess we knew."

"That is great!"

"It was not great for her," answered Gala with a headshake. "I regretted what I did the moment it succeeded. I have never seen a human... so broken. It tore her apart from that she might never be reunited with the one she loves."

Oriole was silent as he felt conflicted. A few moments ago, he felt hurt that she did not remember Arthur. However, the real nightmares are the sweetest dreams we see because they are so different from reality.

"I understand that feeling, somehow," said Oriole as he stared at the ground. "I don't know if you know, but I had a child in that timeline. I created a child using my soul and knowledge, and one I loved so dearly."

"Did you not resent Arthur for taking that away?"

"I knew that he was sacrificing everything too. I knew him for a short while on Earth, but I knew that Runera became a home to him. Furthermore, he sacrificed the only thing that made him feel human."

"Arthur has a good friend," smiled Gala. "I am now sure that it's alright for me to tell you this. Diana did not weep forever. Instead, she rose like the morning sun and embarked on a certain journey."

"A journey for what?"

"She asked me how to time travel. Her kingdom, family, or mother did not matter anymore. All she wanted was to find Arthur and... I made another mistake. I told her about the only time-traveler I know."

"...Seref Silvera," muttered Oriole as he fell to the ground. "I cannot believe she wanted to find the prophet. I met that man before, and he is terrifying, as much as awe-inspiring."

"I understand that you have a complicated past with him, but I assumed you had a good image of him," said Gala. "Yet, you called him a douchebag earlier."

"That man helped us a lot, but I got sick when I realized his reasons. We were used as puppets for his sick delusion of his son conquering the world."

"And it makes me laugh that he ended up raising Arthur," laughed Gala, "the most unambitious person I have ever met. I still remember our banters, and I miss them. Yet, I admit he drove me crazy with his reluctance to be selfish."

"I gave him potions to enhance feelings because of that cursed power, but he refused to use them. I think he knew that someone who can feel can never control the power he has."

"A vessel of infinite power... what a terrible fate."

"Did the princess find him? I mean the prophet," asked Oriole.

"I was her teammate, but it was rough to see her like that. The time traveler left no marks, and not even I can find them. It was still within reason until the princess had the craziest idea: to lure The Scholar Vessel."

"Lure him how?"

"She assumed that the Scholar Guardian would have different plans without Arthur in that timeline. This is why she wanted to recreate that timeline to mess things up for him. Runera was hard to build, but she did it in two years. It was... fascinating."

"And did her plan work?"

"Against my wishes, it did," sighed the witch. "Her actions attracted the attention of the whole continent, including the calamities and Kar, to be specific. However, this time, Seref Silvera was there as well."

"I guess it did not end well when your master learned you betrayed him," said Oriole. "Since Runera is still here, that means her plan worked, and this retained the original structure of the timeline."

"As for what you said earlier, Seref did not care about me but what I did.  There were some incidents before I sought Diana, and I may have... stole the Isotox from the prophet."

Oriole stared at her, speechless. Even though the witch in front of him acted playfully, her words were mind-blowing. The Isotox was a part of their plan to bring Runera to Earth, and it was one of the few artifacts created by the scholar guardian.

"You, my lady, are a badass," said Oriole with sincerity. "How did you manage to pull it off?"

"That is a story for another time," grinned the witch. "However, I ended up making an enemy of him. I was fortunate enough to remain hidden in both location and time, but the moment Diana decided on her plan, the world turned upside down."

"I can only imagine what he did to reclaim the Isotox," frowned Oriole. "Runera must have turned into a battlefield before it came to this world."

"That battle was exactly what sent it to this world," said the witch. "I wanted to tell Arthur all of this, but I need you to do that for me. But, unfortunately, I failed to foresee the arrival of a vessel, and their interference has disturbed my realm."

"I made... a contract," frowned Oriole. "I made a contract to let Arthur leave this city in return for joining that very same vessel. I don't think that I can tell him all of this."

"There is no one else to do that," said Gala. "You are a smart kid. I'm sure you will find a way. These ruins are enormous, and entering the final layer will be difficult even for Arthur. However, I need him to do that."

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