A familiar voice, followed by a familiar red portal. Even before I could see her face, I already realized the identity of the one who saved us.
"Namia!"
I raised my voice, turning around as soon as we reached the other side of the portal. There, a familiar little girl was standing imposingly, hands crossed, before her nonexistent chest.
"You brat... You were thinking of something rude just now, weren't you?"
Her voice, tinged with irritation and exasperation, echoed lightly as she shook her head.
"Anyway, stay in here for now. At least you wouldn't need to be on guard against God-level demons here."
"Right! Everyone...!"
I tried to stand up, forcing myself, supported by Fatima, who was seemingly unable to catch up with the events, and staring at Namia with wariness and suspicion. When I gazed around, I quickly checked if all the girls were present.
Ember was on all fours, panting heavily as she used up almost all of her energy. Fang and Igni were the same in that they were so tired they couldn't even bother to speak.
Fina, with Judy and Yorm, was soothing the backs of Minerva and Hekate, who overworked themselves by adding barriers beyond their limits. Only Threya and her pug seemed a little bit better since they were a level higher than the others.
'Still, in just that short moment of defense, we were all pushed to our limits...'
I analyzed it in retrospect.
Without Namia bailing us out of that place, we would all be dead by now. We were just too weak to face multiple god-level demons simultaneously. When my gaze landed on Namia, who was gazing at us with an unreadable expression, a question popped into my head.
"Right, why did you save us? Also, how did you know where we are?"
She did become my tamed monster for a short while, but even then, I knew that her personality wasn't something that would make her save us on a whim. Hearing my question, she turned to gaze at me sharply before frowning.
"It's not my intention to save you all. I was just forced. That's all I can say."
"Forced? Who can force someone as strong as—Ugh!"
At that moment, the pain suddenly attacked my nerves, almost taking out my consciousness completely. I did turn off Lifeblood before using the two flames, but I guess the toll on my body was still too large. It feels like all the muscles and bones inside me have turned to dust.
"You... Just how reckless were you guys to barge in here with such meager power? If you just want to commit suicide, then do it somewhere else. You ruined my little vacation."
It's not like it was our intention to come here anyway... Well, no use explaining that now, I guess. I released all the tension in my body, leaning fully against Fatima. Without her supporting my lethargic body, I guess I would've been face-down on the ground right now.
"... It's no fun if you don't even have the energy to rebut my words."
Namia sighed before clapping her hands twice. Red particles of light flew around each and every one of us, healing all of our wounds and other injuries. It was not the same type as Void Powers that heal by returning the body to its previous healthy state, but more like regeneration.
"This..."
I opened and closed my hand, checking my body's functions. In just that short instant, my body was completely healed!
"I recovered your injuries, but you still need to restore your lost energy. Go into the castle; there are rooms you can use there to rest."
"Castle?"
I followed her dainty fingers, pointing at something far behind us. There, a large castle stood, more majestic than any castle I've ever seen. It was of a rare design, painted all black, with spires all over the place. It was something like a typical vampire's castle, like the one Dracula would live in.
I'm thankful she's offering us help in recovering our energy, but...
"... That's too far..."
Just from a glance, it should be over a kilometer away from us. It was even hanging on a steep cliff, meaning we would need to hike all the way up there. With all of us running out of gas, it'll be impossible to reach that place any time soon.
"..."
Namia stared at me, her eyebrows twitching lightly in irritation. She then held her temples, chanting to herself, "It's her request; endure it."
"Alright, I'll send you all to your rooms. For now, sleep and recover."
Namia muttered before she waved her hand, summoning several red portals for each of us. It wasn't placed under our feet but rather stood vertically to our side.
"Go. Each one of them is connected to one sleeping quarter. Use them as you see fit."
As she said that, she turned around and entered a portal of her own, vanishing from the place as if running away. I shrugged my shoulders before trying to move to one of the portals, but I fumbled my steps immediately.
"Will! Let me help you to your room first..."
Fatima said, worriedly.
"Thanks, that helps."
Just as we were about to enter the portal, a voice echoed from the side, stopping us from entering.
"Wait, Will. How can you trust someone as shady as that little girl?"
Threya asked, grabbing her pug, which returned to its portable size.
"In the first place, is that girl an ally? Do you even know her enough to trust her [Help]?"
"..."
Well, her worries were normal, I guess. Namia is someone that we knew only because she was a part of our team for a short while. However, before that, she appeared as an enemy to us. I guess Threya knew of her background, probably through Zeshion or the King, making her doubt the support given to us.
However, I just shrugged my shoulders and smiled lightly.
"Well, if she wanted us dead, she wouldn't have saved us in the first place."
Threya reeled back a little, realizing the validity of my words. It was a little doubtful if there were benefits to her by keeping us alive, after all. Seeing that she turned silent, I signaled for Fatima to head on to the portal, leaving the others behind.
As soon as we entered, a single bed welcomed us. It was a little dusty, obviously lacking maintenance, but well, it's still better than nothing. Ignoring all the dust, I just lay down and closed my eyes, trying to rest.
As soon as I did, I could feel Fatima returning to the portal, leaving me alone here. She must've gone to her own room, trying to rest. About a few minutes later, I heard the whizzing sound of the portal vanishing, making me feel a little lonely now that I'm all.
"...?"
But then another whizzing sound echoed, making me open my eyes in doubt. Before the door where the portal from before was opened, another red portal appeared. From there, Namia's figure popped out.
"Will, let's talk."
Her voice was flat and her face neutral, but I could feel an inexplicable weight behind her words. I quickly sat up, careful not to kick up a lot of dust from the bed, and turned to her with a serious face of my own.
"Alright, what's wrong?"
Namia didn't sit down but rather remained standing, only crossing her arms and leaning against the wall.
"That girl told me you know something about the singularity. Is that true?"
"...!"
The singularity! How did she know about that? It's supposedly an event for the future, so there should be no way for her to learn of it!
"How did you know about that?"
I asked, sharpening my gaze and observing her every gesture. However, she just smiled and raised her shoulders lightly.
"Why do you think only you have the ability to return to the past? Beings of our level aren't much affected by time-space distortions, especially that girl."
"That girl? You mean... the system?"
"Yes. You've met a part of her already, right? Then it shouldn't be difficult for you to understand. She's something that exists beyond our current timeline, so she knows what'll happen in the future or what's happening in the past."
A being transcending our current timeline... A literal god? No, if she were a god, then why would she need to leave a part of herself to watch over all those with the taming system? She could just do it by herself!
"Anyway, answer my question. How long is it until the singularity this time?"
Namia asked once more, throwing the topic back to the beginning. I think there's no problem with letting her know anyway, so I just sighed before explaining everything to her. In every loop, the time limit is halved, and this time it was down to 28 years.
"... So a decade from now? That's too soon..."
Namia placed her hand on her chin, thinking hard. Her eyes released sparkles as she used some sort of skill before she narrowed her eyes and leaned with her entire weight against the wall, as if tired.
"Unfortunately, it seems like it's not that accurate anymore."
"You mean...?"
Namia opened her eyes, starlight still circling inside them, as she slowly mouthed the words that sent my blood running cold.
"You tampered with the past, saving your lover. However, the world isn't fond of such things breaking the normal flow..."
She took a deep breath, closing her eyes and massaging her nosebridge, saying words that I wish I would never hear.
"... Due to that, the singularity is arriving faster. There's only five years left."
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