‘Y… ess…’
A healing power, much stronger than before, burst forth from within Daniel.
A radiant golden energy surged through his body.
His heart regrew, followed by lungs, organs, muscles, and skin.
Each cell knitted back together with glowing threads of light.
“Activate Overclock!”
[Overclock Lv7 activated.]
[Host’s stats will be enhanced by 7 times for 20 minutes.]
Chrybdis’ surprise only increased when a red aura materialized around Daniel, crackling with raw, unstable energy.
empire
“Iai slash!”
Daniel returned his sword to its sheath.
The world seemed to slow as he drew the blade in a single, fluid motion.
The steel sliced through the air cleanly.
The blade landed on Chrybdis’ body and—
It shattered.
The fragments scattered like shards of glass, unable to break through the defenses of the Sovereign of Winds.
A barrier of wind rippled where the strike had landed, completely unscathed.
Daniel was stunned.
Yet, he quickly regained his calm.
He used the momentum of the slash to spin on his foot.
He twisted, aiming to land a kick on Chrybdis, but his body failed him.
His strength gave out, and he collapsed headfirst into the dirt.
‘What…?’
No matter what Daniel did, he couldn’t move.
The weight of exhaustion pressed down on his body like chains, pinning him to the ground.
His eyes started to droop.
‘Don’t fall asleep here… Not now…’
Having used two Healing Slips, Overclock, and the Iai Slash—all of which drained energy from his core—he had emptied himself completely.
He couldn’t move anymore.
His trembling fingers twitched feebly, and his breathing slowed.
“Oya, exhausted already?”
Chrybdis grinned
“Seems like you were using some kind of forbidden incantation to heal yourself, and now it backfired on you.”
The Sovereign of Winds lost interest in Daniel.
Self destructive abilites were nothing special.
He was about to stomp Daniel’s head into a pulp.
But he stopped when he felt a chill crawl up his spine.
An intense sense of bloodlust was locked on Charybdis, thick enough to make the air feel heavy.
The Sovereign swiftly looked around, searching for the source of the bloodlust.
The bloodlust was enough to make Charybdis tremble.
Clearly, it’s owner could defeat him easily.
‘Is it an SSS rank awakener? Kronos? What is he doing here?’
‘He must be after Child of Mana too.’
When he failed to find the source of bloodlust, he swiftly ran away before whoever was radiating the bloodlust could kill Charybdis.
“Sto…”
Daniel could only look at the monster as it took away his sister.
[Main Quest failed]
Moments later, Daniel lost consciousness.
Neo, who had been the source of the bloodlust, could only sigh.
He could’ve taken over Daniel’s body to rescue Selene, but he did not do it.
The ball of Intent had techniques but no energy source to use them.
Neo would’ve been forced to use Daniel’s mana.
The strain would’ve killed Daniel before Neo could use even one technique.
Even if Neo killed Charybdis at cost of Daniel’s life, it would’ve been useless.
Typhaon would keep sending more monsters if Charybdis failed today.
In other words, Neo had always known the Child of Mana would be kidnapped today.
And they had no way to stop it.
Although he had been strengthening Daniel, the speed wasn’t good enough.
‘Selene was kidnapped exactly when Jack and I arrived in this world.’
‘That means we have 8 hours to rescue her before Typhaon takes over her mind.’
Neo clicked his tongue.
It was impossible to save the Child of Mana now.
‘Jack and I won’t come to this timeline either.’
‘Jack already left the Shadow World, and I’m here.’
Since only one timeline could exist at one point in time, only one person could exist at any one point in time.
It meant something like future Neo and present Neo meeting would never happen.
If future Neo came to the past, either the actual Neo of the past would be erased, or the future Neo would take over the body of the past Neo.
This meant, Neo had only Daniel to make use of.
Daniel woke up a few days later.
He was in a dimly lit medical room set up inside a tent.
The scent of herbs and antiseptic lingered in the air.
The place was filled with the low hum of whispered conversations and the occasional groans of the wounded.
Rows of cots lined the tent, each occupied by the injured, some bandaged heavily, others unconscious.
“Don’t stand. Your injuries aren’t healed,” the nurse told Daniel, gently pressing a hand on his shoulder.
The woman wore a simple white tunic stained with blood.
Her expression was kind but firm.
“We are from the neighboring city. Our scouts came to your city when they detected the surge of mana, and then we found the city destroyed.”
Daniel was in no condition to listen to the nurse.
His mind felt foggy, and his body was weak, but the pain in his chest wasn’t from his injuries.
He looked around.
“Where… where is my sister?”
“Can you tell me her name?” the nurse asked while looking through a list of names they had rescued.
“Selene.”
The nurse flipped through the pages with a growing frown before shaking her head.
“I’m sorry. There is no one named Selene in the rescued people lis—”
“Amanda! What are you saying to a patient who just woke up!?”
The tent flap snapped open, and a tall doctor with graying hair stormed in.
His face was stern as he snatched the list from the nurse’s hands.
He looked at Daniel.
“Young man, you can ask about your sister later. For now, rest. Focus on yourself.”
Daniel didn’t answer.
His gaze was fixed on the glowing screen that had appeared before his eyes.
[Main Quest Failed]
[You have failed to protect the Child of Mana.]
[Emergency Main Quest Initiated]
[Quest Details: Join Awakener Association or Titans.]
[Reward: Knowledge of World-Time Spell]
‘World Time Spell?’ Daniel asked, blankly.
After losing Selene, his mind had become numbed.
It was as if he couldn’t feel pain.
He didn’t even ask System why his body had failed at the last moment during the battle with Sovereign of Winds.
Instead of dwelling on the past, all he thought about was how to rescue Selene.
[Host, it is a Spell that will allow you to return to the past.]
Daniel’s mind churned.
Only ‘special’ awakeners could join the Awakener Association and Titans.
You either had to have a powerful Trait or be at least B rank.
‘I need to grow stronger quickly.’
He tried to stand.
His legs trembled.
The doctor placed a firm hand on his shoulder.
“Where are you going?”
“Hunting.”
He had to level up.
The system’s reward meant Daniel couldn’t save his sister anymore.
It hinted he had to go back to the past to do that.
Daniel wouldn’t accept such a solution.
‘No.’ The doctor’s voice was firm.
When Daniel tried to move despite the doctor’s dismissal, the doctor spoke harshly,
“Young man, I know you must be feeling bad, but if you fight monsters in your current condition, you’ll die—”
“Then I’ll just die.”
The doctor frowned when he noticed the empty look in Daniel’s eyes.
It was clear Daniel was in a dangerous state of mind.
The doctor decided to use force.
Daniel couldn’t stand up when the doctor, an awakened, pressed his weakened body down.
He clenched his teeth.
“Use healing slip,” he muttered under his breath.
The doctor couldn’t stop him from leaving if he was healed.
Using a healing slip outside of battles or emergency was wasting them, but Daniel had to go out and hunt right now.
He had to use every moment if he wanted to be stronger.
Neo didn’t respond immediately.
Although Neo had used only a small portion of his techniques for Daniel, the fact remained Neo and Daniel were far apart in strength.
Neo’s techniques burned Daniel’s body, soul, Core, and Seed of Existence.
During the battle with Charybdis, Daniel’s Seed of Existence had almost burst apart.
If Daniel didn’t grow slowly, he wouldn’t have time to adjust to Neo’s powers, and it would cause his death due to being unable to handle the power.
“I said use the healing slip!”
Daniel shouted when the system didn’t respond to him.
Neo sighed.
[Using Healing Slip.]