-Whhshh!!
For the umpteenth time, Alvine's sword stabs his target's heart,
-Craack!
... And breaks it into pieces after her light tap on its blade.
And when Alvine realizes that he does not have the slightest chance of defeating his enemy with his current level and tries to leave her behind, the latter stops time, preventing him from leaving.
This cycle that seemed eternal, unless his enemy got tired of it, continued smoothly, endlessly, without obstacles, and finally, without Alvine realizing that he had fallen into a trap that he had never faced.
.....
....
...
..
.
-Tac---tic, Tac--tic, Tac-tic,...
"I stopped counting time by dint of living alone in this field that is out of time and space without getting bored. But I must honestly admit that having a source of entertainment is different from my millennia spent alone. Especially if the entertainment in question is this famous Kayra!" She commented as she watched Alvine join him at the table while walking in steps back.
"He's different from the others. Despite the valuable numbers, he always remains healthy on his decision and does not hesitate for a second to attack me despite the fact that he knows that he can do nothing against me." Following these words, she approached Alvine, frozen on his chair like a sculpture, and start at him with cold eyes
"What exactly do you want?" She asked with confused eyes that scrutinized every part of Alvine's face.
"..."
"Sigh, I forgot that you can't hear me. But despite everything, I can't help but want to know everything you're hiding. Why be so decisive while knowing you are not qualified to face me? There's really something wrong with this story. And I'd soon know what it is!" She continued in her rambling while trying to touch Alvine's cheek with her trembling fingers.
"How could such a weak and emotional person be such a scourge in the future?" But by asking himself this question, she restrained her curiosity and went to sit on her chair.
-Tac...
"You really plan to go all the way, huh?" She asked while imitating her coldness as she was angry with him.
"Yes, that's my decision." He retorted with a frown.
--
Meanwhile, Alvine's subordinates were nowhere but in the dimension.
Unlike Alvine, who found himself in the empty and endless hall, he had ordered Luna and the others to return to the dimension to invoke them in case of need.
That's why, from the moment their enemies' portals swallowed up the four, they, at the same time, teleported themselves into the dimension before reaching Alvine's spot.
Unlike Alvine, who had let himself be trapped with an enemy more powerful than all he had met, Luna and the others had arrived safe and sound in the dimension where Dalvine and Heepha were still kneeling, waiting for their lord's return.
But contrary to what they had expected, and seeing Luna and the others coming without their lord, Dalvine and Heepha looked at them with questioning eyes.
"Where's the Lord?" Dalvine asked in a monotonous voice.
"... He's currently talking with the transcendent. And his last orders were to stay on hold until he needed us." Darka responds in a roque voice as he looks at the two kneeling with doubting eyes.
"What?! Did you really leave him alone with this woman?!" He asked with skeptical eyes, almost getting up on his knees.
"The Lord's orders are absolute, General Shadow," Luna coldly replied when she saw the agitation of her superior, who still did not trust their lord.
"Who are you still talking about?!" Heepha asked with confused eyes that always had traces of her rage.
"... Renia Raylka, the little girl who had recently reached the transcendent tier before our disappearance." He briefly explains to Heepha by seeing her curious eyes.
"Ah, are you talking about this girl? Sigh, even if she's a little more powerful, she's not crazy enough to attack the lord; that's what you say; I'm wrong?"
"Hm? Isn't that the case?" Dalvine asked with confused eyes when he saw Heepha frown towards him.
"Huh?! Shadow, did you have brainwashing when you were asleep?" She asked with a bitter smile.
"Think for a second! This girl is a talent when it comes to manipulating time and space. Do you believe physically attacking is the only way to harm someone?" Heepha asked with her teenage voice, which coldly echoed in the room.
"... Sigh, I have already taken these factors into account. It is not powerful enough to play with the lord, even in his current state. Don't forget that she's a transcendent only by name. Her power is so low that she won't be able to--!!
Suddenly, Dalvine stopped without being interrupted by anyone. But interrupted by the sudden hypothesis that had just intruded into his spiritual sea.
And when he looked at Heepha, he realized that she was looking at him as if she was looking at another person in front of her.
"Tell me one thing, shadow. Did you really have memory lapses?" She asked with a serious tone.
"... I'm seriously starting to ask myself this question." Dalvine himself retorts in a shaky voice.
"... You will really have to take the time to think about this issue. Because the more I look at you, the more I am convinced that something is wrong with you. And it will really be a disaster if that's the case." Heepha stammered these words with dark eyes.
The next moment, she and Dalvine get up on the rugged and icy ground.
"You can't intervene, General Shadow, nor can you, General Heepha," Luna repeated these words in a deep voice, guessing the intentions of her two superiors.
"Sigh, don't forget who you're talking to, cap--
"I know very well who I'm talking to. Currently, apart from being subordinates, you both are nothing more. You have no rank since the lord has not accepted your loyalty oath. And without your former titles, you remain low-scale subordinates. Will you dare to disobey not only your superior that I am now but also the orders of your lord, who ordered us all to remain retired until he appealed to us?" She asked before Dalvine finished his words.
"..."
Hearing her questions and audacity, the two looked at each other with incredulous eyes. But they realized that they couldn't say anything to defend themselves.
"... Sigh, you're right. But think for a second; this woman was weak only before we disappeared. But how many years, centuries, or millions of millennia have passed since? Her power will have nothing to do with what she had then." Heepha tried to convince Luna with her strange expression, not believing that she must one day lower her tone in front of one of the simple captains.
Hearing Heepha's assertions, Luna and the other three looked at each other momentarily without changing their expression.
"Hm? Why are you always undecided?" She frowns, noticing the strange cold blood of the four in front of her.
"Well, we had already taken all these things into account. But you forget something more crucial, just like Shadow. We are talking about our lord. He had voluntarily allowed himself to be fooled by this woman. So I have absolute confidence in his plans. If you run there and try to help him, I believe all you will do is cause him more harm than good." Darka announced by speaking strangely more than usual.
"... Sigh, I guess you're right. In addition to everything, if we help him to get by against a simple transcendent, how will he progress? People are progressing faster as they face tough trials." Heepha nods his head with impassive eyes while curbing his impulsivity.
Dalvine, on his side, was no different from her.
But he looked at Luna with mischievous eyes. "As you are our superiors, do you intend to give us any orders?"
"... Sigh, it's not us, the problem, General Shadow, but you. If you want advice, I think it's better to go and help our lord's subordinates on his planet. Staying here without doing anything would not earn our lord's trust." After saying these words, she teleported to the upper floor with the other three, leaving Dalvine and Heepha in the hall.
"I don't know why, but these three seem to know the lord better than you, Shadow. Anyway, I think it's better to follow his advice."
"... For my part, I'm going to check something on my side."
"Hm? Is it your pride that prevents you from--
"My pride? What is left for me as pride? I want to be sure that my memory has not been altered by someone else. It was only a hypothesis initially, but the more time passes, the more I become sure that something is wrong with me." Dalvine replied with a cruel smile.
"... What makes you sure of that?" Heepha asked with a frown.
"Well, if I told you, you don't believe me."
"... I can't be sure without hearing what you want to tell me; come on." Heepha's expression became darker and darker as she listened to Dalvine's words, which had a seriousness that he only showed a few times.
"..."
Seeing Dalvine's silence, Heepha sighed but no longer insisted on it, believing that Dalvine did not want to talk about it.
But before she leaves, Dalvine's cold voice resounds in the hall.
"And if I told you I didn't find my envelope where I left it, would you believe me?"
"?! Impossible!"
"Yes, it's true. I looked in my apartment, but he wasn't there. That's why I have shaped this spiritual body so that only you and the Lord can know that it's not my true body. Anyway, I must know who is bold enough to break into my transcendent domain." He said with fierce eyes that could not hide his rage.
"... Indeed, you have a problem!" Heepha retorted with a dark frown.
"Yes, and not just a little."
"No, I'm not talking about your body, but your mind has a problem." She continued seeing Dalvine not understand the meaning of her words.
As for the latter, he looked at Heepha with confused eyes, not knowing at all what she was talking about.
"Your body? But what kind of shit are you telling me about? Since when have we had bodies?"
"... I don't see what you're talking about." He asked with even more confused eyes than before.
"Sigh, I thought you just wanted to find excuses to justify your mistakes, but from your expression, I can see that this is not the case."
"Hey, tell me exactly what you want without turning around!" He curtly asked when he saw the suspicious look that Heepha threw at him.
"... Sigh; for now, do what you want. But keep your distance from the lord."
"What the fucking right do you have to order me?!"