The more he heard about it, the more Aion couldn't help but think that he was more than a little bit outmatched. No wonder Arlana was so eager to sacrifice herself to give him a chance to win that battle, she didn't have anything to lose anymore, and she knew that she couldn't do anything else. The real enemies were true monsters beyond human understanding…
Aion was only alive because their notion of time probably was so deviated that decades for him were like seconds for them. Still, once he begins to use the relics more and more, they will feel the need to get rid of him.
"What is your ability specifically?" Aion asked after thinking for a second.
"I can communicate with other people and objects in the past, and if they have less mana than me, I can check all the information that they have," Arlana said and then smiled. "As you can imagine from that, I am totally useless when it comes to combat. That being said, if you make relics using my blood, then you will obtain the power to gather information from anything and everyone since your magic is almost unrivaled, and you can become even stronger."
"So, my own magic power would amplify yours? This doesn't work with Malon's relics, right?" Aion asked.
"It does. If you weren't a Millerian, you wouldn't be able to move freely between the timelines either. Still, since you are, you can move as much as us," Arlana replied.
Aion wondered why that was the case… it wasn't like his magic power was high most of the time. He used the relics sometimes when he was using melee classes, and the relics worked properly. Or maybe mana was just a single parameter that the relics considered.
If Aion gets stronger, perhaps he can move even further in the past and be able to see things that even the Heradins clan wouldn't be able to with their power.
"You said that they came for me… the enemies… but how far in the future are we?" Aion asked.
"Five hundred years in the future… you were able to live a long life since you had a strong body and a powerful spirit," Arlana replied. "Come to think of it, I need to tell your history in this timeline. The Zaera kingdom was attacked many times, but you defended it for fifty years. Your mother was also blessed with a long life. Still, she grew weary of worrying about you constantly fighting and being unable to have a family of your own. She eventually passed away due to a sickness… a simple one since her body had been weakened. After that…"
"... I stopped holding back and then went on a world conquest to make sure that no one would bother me again, and I became a tyrant," Aion said after he gulped since he was indirectly the cause of his mother's death.
"That is right… at first, you ruled with an iron hand, but the world prospered under you, and your brothers also helped you and then their descendants…" Arlana said. "Maybe you don't know yourself that much."
"It is alright. You don't have to lie," Aion shrugged.
"I am not, though," Arlana said. "I can't give you more details since it might change the timeline you came from, but you were forced to use the relics a few times since some enemies suddenly emerged, and you felt annoyed while dealing with them in the present. Since most of them had help from the past, you went to get rid of them… that happened many times, and then they came."
"What do you know about them?" Aion asked.
"Well, this is the first timeline they killed everyone and everything, and I wasn't born at the time, so…" Arlana replied while forcing a tired smile. "With your power, abilities, and resources, you will probably learn more once you get my relic. My job is done, and I can finally rest. You should use my relic with all those books before returning, though. My guess is that you won't be able to return once I am gone."
"I guess so…" Aion rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Anyway, in a weird and suspicious way, you helped me, so I am not going to sacrifice you. You are coming with me in order to help. As if I would carry the burden of the whole world by myself. I will make you and your ancestors work your asses off to make my job easier."
"I don't think that it is a good idea… nothing good ever happened when someone traveled to the past and tried to live there," Arlana said. "Also, I am tired, and I really don't want to work that much anymore."
"I see… then you can take your own life," Aion replied and then began to store the books in his inventory. "I guess this is for the best since I don't trust liars. You said that you wanted to save your family from other timelines, but that is clearly a lie."
"It isn't… I just… what else can I do?" Arlana asked. "Do you have any idea how it was to live here for this long? I want to forget all of this."
"Once you leave this place, you won't be able to return, so why would you care?" Aion asked. "Anyway, I am not going to kill or sacrifice anyone. Do what you want."
Arlana began to bite her lips in exasperation. She waited for so long for her mission to end… while she had planned all that to happen, she didn't think that Aion would come. That would be the final step on her journey, and then she would be able to rest easy knowing that she would be able to rest and still be able to help the other timelines. Now she didn't know what she should do…
Meanwhile, Aion couldn't help but think about Seris a bit. He said those things to her, imagining that she would show some resolve. Still, it looked like things didn't work out in the end… putting aside what she said at first, Aion thought that she was probably his best match, but he would only accept it if she stopped working for her family. He didn't want his descendants to become tools for them.
"I will have to think of another solution… I can't risk letting mom die like that," Aion thought.
This content is taken from (f)reewe(b)novel.𝗰𝗼𝐦