Time is relative.

Who said those enlightening words again? Daela didn't know, but she vaguely remembered hearing them from Kaden once, when he was late to their usual meeting on top of the hill.

She didn't even know why those words suddenly resurfaced in her mind, but maybe she did after all. Because now, she finally understood why her brother had said them, and why he had said them to her.

To her, it felt like years had passed since the last time she saw her brother and yet, she knew it had only been months. She missed him dearly, longing to spend time with him again on that hill, where the wind whispered softly between them as he caressed her hair in that gentle, loving way only he could.

Even though Kaden now had two girls following him around like affectionate puppies, he had never once missed their meetings. He had never allowed anyone else to join them either.

That thought alone warmed and eased her doubting heart, reassuring her of where her brother's affection truly lay despite all the women orbiting around him. It reminded her of the simple thing he once told her:

"I only have one sister. You have all the love I could ever give to a sister of mine."

They were simple words, yet only the gods knew how much they meant to her. No, perhaps not even the gods could, for such a feeling would be too alien for them to grasp.

And yet, Daela managed to understand another meaning behind those simple words her brother had spoken to her.

Time is relative?

Daela's face hardened like carved stone, her crimson eyes lifeless and cold. She took a single step forward, only to blur from sight and reappear behind the confused elf. Her left sword glowed with an eerie white light as she swung it in one flawless motion, severing his head cleanly.

Green blood sprayed into the air, painting it in a strange, mesmerizing hue.

Before the body even hit the ground, thick roots erupted violently from the earth, each as wide as an ape's arm, lashing toward Daela from every direction.

She leaned forward on her left leg, twin swords in hand, and spun into a storm of slashes circling her body. Steel gleamed in the cold light as she splintered the roots apart, and with the backs of her blades, she sent the severed pieces flying toward the armored elves facing her, their green armor glinting under the pale light.

"Arghh!" Cries of pain echoed through the space thick with green trees.

Thud.

The dead body of the headless elf finally hit the ground, only for Daela to slam her leg down with a throbbing impact. The body bounced off the earth, and she spun viciously before kicking it to her left, echoes of cracking bones booming across the battlefield, followed by the sharp hiss of wind as the corpse was hurled through the air toward an elf woman raising her arms shrouded in green light.

Without bothering to look at the outcome, Daela dashed to her right briskly, she then halted mid-run, twisting her body sharply to the left to let a whistling arrow pass just beside her face.

BOOM!

The arrow struck the ground, creating a narrow pit and raising a cloud of dust that momentarily engulfed Daela, though the elves could still see her as clear as daylight.

Back to the left, the woman clutching the corpse in anguish suddenly froze. An invisible slash carved through the air, severing her head cleanly. It fell soundlessly, landing atop the body she had been holding moments ago.

An echo.

'Time is relative.' Daela repeated it inside her mind, feeling as though she stood on the cusp of enlightenment, her power stirring and trembling.

She continued her massacre, cutting down every elf who dared stand in her way, painting the forest floor with their remains as she advanced through her Grandmaster quest. The space was littered with splintered roots, shattered arrows, and the limbless, headless bodies of elves strewn like broken puppets.

The once-green carpet of grass was now drenched in a thick, slimy green liquid, shining with a sinister luster.

And yet, despite all of it, the elves remained persistent, encircling Daela in tight formations of dozen of them, as rangers loosed volleys of arrows, mages tangled the air with spells of roots and vines, and knights pressed her relentlessly in close combat.

Even so, her expression never wavered. Her mind didn't stop whispering the same words over and over again until, finally…

"Time is relative."

She said it aloud, and the elves shuddered.

"W-What?" one of them stammered.

Daela had stopped moving, standing straight like a blade amidst her enemies. But she didn't need to do anything anymore. The battle had started hours ago, and she had delivered countless slashes throughout its course.

But to her, in that instant, with her new understanding that the way she perceived time was completely subjective…

"Temporal Echo."

…then all those slashes she had made since the beginning were happening now.

And in that terrifying instant when her words escaped her lips, the world around her seemed to pause, only to be shattered by a fury of invisible, calamitous slashes. The ground was shredded, the trees rotted from their roots, and the bodies of the elves were torn apart in splintering waves of carnage.

Cries of pain and agony tore through the silence of the forest, yet Daela remained indifferent, her eyes as calm as the surface of a lake, watching the devastation unfold.

Green blood painted the sky, then fell upon the ruined earth below in a ghastly waterfall.

Daela didn't allow a single drop to touch her. Her body was cloaked in a thin layer of sword energy that slashed apart anything that dared come too close.

She spun on her heel and walked forward, leaving behind the snarls and slurs of elves dying from blood loss. Their whimpers of pain and hatred filled the silence, cursing and threatening her, but she paid them no mind.

The words of the dying were as worthless as the criticism of a man you would never ask for advice.

She stopped in her tracks, her gaze falling ahead. There, a massive door made of thick, intertwined branches stood before her. Tall, ancient, unmoved.

Her right hand rose. A white slash.

The door split into two perfect halves.

They fell to the ground with a thunderous crash, sending up a cloud of dust that briefly obscured her vision, only to be blown away a heartbeat later by a violent wave of mental force that slammed against her head with wrenching pain.

Daela staggered, biting her lip as she steadied herself, eyes locked forward.

And there, deep within the grove, she saw it…a colossal black tree whose barren branches stretched high enough to blot out the sky. The tree bore no fruits, instead, hanging from its branches were shriveled bodies of…

Humans?

Daela's eyes grew colder.

At the base of the tree stood a woman, her body woven from the same blackened wood, her smile wicked and gleeful, as if rejoicing that Daela had broken her cage.

Daela recalled the content of her quest:

{Kill the Mind Devouring Tree sealed by the Kingdom of Elves in the south of the kingdom, and obtain her Mind Root.}

{Time limit: 3 months.}

Wordless, her twin swords flared with a radiant white light. Her intent sharpened to a lethality never heard of before.

She took a step forward, her mind repeating the same words, steady and unshaken:

'Time is relative.'

And then…

'I am coming home soon, little brother.'

Daela dashed toward the Mind Devouring Tree, leaving behind a single flickering reflection of herself, her eyes colder than they had ever been, as her blades struck, and the air erupted with the deafening clash of steel against steel.

…

Time is relative.

'Did I ever say those words?' Kaden couldn't help but wonder as he slowly took one step forward into the thick golden fog.

He didn't know if he truly had, but he couldn't help but accept the truth behind them.

How much time had he spent in this fog-covered realm? Kaden wouldn't be able to tell. And how many times had he died in the process of walking through it?

That, too, he couldn't say.

His mind had been splintered by the madness of this intent, leaving him with nothing except sheer will to continue and the encouraging whisper of his sword.

But even though he didn't know how many times he had died, he knew he had died enough to accumulate 860 stat points, which meant he was ready to surpass his limits.

And yet, for some foolish reason, Kaden refused to do so until he reached his destination. Because going beyond his limit would make this process easier, and he didn't want it easier.

A mad smile graced his blood-soaked face. He liked this pain for some reason, because he knew it was all part of the process…a process for something too great, edging at the corner of his mind.

He was learning so much…ah, so damn bloody much.

Both his intents had grown sharper, their proficiency far beyond what he could once imagine. Now, Kaden was able to weave clothes made of intent itself, able to seam down his intents within his mind to shield it more effectively.

With his Intent of Blood, he ensured his blood vessels didn't convulse and balloon. With his Intent of Death, he made those same vessels more resilient, using his blood mastery to heal them at the same time.

It was excruciatingly difficult, but Kaden managed. And with that, he succeeded in reaching halfway through the golden fog.

Here, he could finally see the paintings more clearly and yet he couldn't admire them, as the intent's lethality and density had grown unbearable.

He couldn't go any further, he realized.

His intents had increased in mastery but had not yet reached the next stage. Kaden had gone through enough deaths to begin to grasp it, but something was missing.

He took one step beyond the halfway point, and without any surprise, his knees met the frozen floor sharply, sending a wave of pain through his nerves.

Death was coming for him once again.

This time, though…

'R-Reditha…' Kaden whispered through his mind, causing Reditha to appear behind him and wrap her arms around his neck.

"Why do you always like to shoulder all the pain and leave me with nothing?" Reditha asked, her voice soft and sweet. She knew her master would soon die at this rate, but strangely, she felt no fear.

For some reason, something deep within her knew he wouldn't truly die. That belief came from Kaden himself, and Reditha would never doubt her lord, her master, her friend, her companion.

Kaden smiled through the searing pain. "I'll need you to bridge the gap in my understanding… and help me reach the next stage," he whispered, blood spilling from his eyes and lips, his skin cracking like dried stone. "Can you do that?"

Reditha smiled lovingly, her fingers tracing his fractured skin with a tenderness that defied the moment. "Of course."

Because she didn't feel any pain, Kaden had chosen to shoulder it all, she was able to focus entirely on deepening their shared understanding of death and blood.

And by combining their two insights into one…

Reditha's smile widened, her lips curling against his ear as her voice echoed deep within his mind.

"You've already realized it, haven't you?" she murmured. "Or do you want me to ask you the questions to clear that fog of useless overthinking clouding your head?"

She didn't wait for an answer.

"Is death the end for you, Kaden Warborn?"

Kaden's mind instantly expanded at the question. A light began to bloom inside, faint at first, then blinding. His eyes grew hazy, unfocused, staring blankly into the golden fog before him.

But Reditha wasn't done.

"And don't you know me, Kaden?" she whispered. "I am your intent, your Crimson Sword. You should have never remained trapped in this state for so long. Think, Kaden and remember…"

She paused briefly, then…

"Who am I?"

BOOOOM!

Enlightenment burst inside his mind like a sunflower unfurling beneath its first touch of sunlight.

—End of Chapter 299—

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