His voice echoed through the mind of all humans.
To show their allegiance and enter under Typhaon’s rule, humans would have to let Typhaon transform them into monsters willingly.
The news brought both terror and relief to the survivors.
Some wept, clutching their loved ones in fear, while others, broken by despair, considered surrendering to the darkness.
“So, all of you are alive?” Kronos asked.
He was having a meeting with the few remaining high-ranking Awakeners.
The atmosphere was grim.
The dimly lit room was filled with the scent of damp earth and the faint crackling of a dying hearth.
“Zeus, Kronos, Daniel, and me, that’s all?” Gaia asked. “Kronos, where are the other Titans? There is no way you two are the only Titan left.”
“A portal to another world with hostile aliens opened in the Bermuda Triangle.”
The air seemed to grow colder with his words.
“We had to divide our forces between Typhaon and the portals, which… dividing our forces weakened us, and we lost on both fronts.”
His words were no different from saying Kronos and Daniel were the last Titans left.
He sighed bitterly.
“What about Ares and Apollo?” Kronos asked. “Since Sunshine is still alive, I take it Apollo is alive too?”
“For now, yes,” Gaia replied quietly.
Apollo and Ares had been part of the reinforcements sent to rescue Emma and the others.
Emma was dead.
However, there was no news of Apollo and Ares.
“So, what’s the plan now?” Kronos asked.
He looked at everyone before his gaze stopped at Daniel. Daniel was in tatters.
His clothes were torn, and his face bore the marks of dried tears.
He had an unfocused look in his eyes.
While fighting Typhaon’s minions, he had come to realize something terrifying.
The monsters knew too much about Awakeners—their powers, weaknesses, and even effective counters.
It was why Typhaon’s army had overwhelmed them so easily.
They had an overwhelming advantage of information.
Information.
It was the domain the Child of Mana.
Clearly, Typhaon had extracted the information from Selene, the Child of Mana.
It meant Daniel’s sister was dead.
The System had been telling him the truth.
The truth Daniel had been trying to ignore for years had become too heavy to ignore.
He had caused the world’s end for a pointless rescue mission.
“It’s not your fault,” Zeus suddenly said.
His voice was calm yet it carried the weight.
He stared at Daniel with a calm, powerful gaze.
By now, all of the Awakeners understood Typhaon had woken up by collecting energy that was released from their battles.
The devastation around them was proof enough.
“B-but I hid the information from you all—that Typhaon was collecting energy—”
Daniel’s voice trembled.
His eyes were filled with guilt.
Zeus shook his head firmly.
“I’ll say it again. It’s not your fault.
“Typhaon could collect energy from the air and from the earth too.
“Even if you had warned us and we didn’t fight, he would’ve woken up a few years later.”
Zeus closed his eyes as he added,
“The fault is ours, for not being strong enough to protect the younger generation.”
His words made Kronos look away, his jaw tightening as he clenched his fists.
Gaia bit her lips.
Her emerald eyes were misty with sorrow.
None of the three present in the room blamed Daniel for what he did.
They knew the pain of losing someone close.
They understood why Daniel had made his choices.
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The one they blamed was themselves—for not being strong enough to stop this catastrophe.
Suddenly, Kronos broke the silence.
“There is a way,” he said.
He looked directly at Daniel.
“The World Time Spell. It’s barely 40% done, but if we can use it, we can go back to the past and change everything again.”
Daniel’s breath caught.
Hope flickered in his eyes, but doubt lingered.
“Are you sure it will work?” Gaia asked cautiously.
“I am.” Kronos nodded without hesitation.
“And if we fail?”
“It won’t be worse than what is happening right now.”
Kronos’ lips curled into a grim, weary smile.
For the first time in weeks, Gaia chuckled softly, though the sound was tinged with bitterness.
“Fine. We’ll help you complete the spell.”
Without another word, Kronos, Gaia, and Zeus divided the job among themselves.
“The original Spell sends people back 30 to 50 years.
“We need to go back only 8 years to the past to stop Typhaon.
“I will remake a new World-Spell diagram using the original as a base and decrease its performance.
“Since we decreased the performance, it will decrease the spell’s complexity and decrease the chances of its failure too.
“A simpler Spell will take less time and resources to be inscribed on the earth,” Kronos said.
“I will connect the Spell to the World Core for the energy supply,” Gaia said.
“I will take care of inscribing the Spell onto the earth,” Zeus spoke up. “Kronos, instead of sending me the complete Spell diagram, keep sending me the parts of the magic circle whenever you complete a part.
“It will save us time.”
“What about the materials? We need mana-conducting materials. Where will you get enough mana materials to cover the earth?” Kronos questioned
“I have my ways.”
A heavy silence followed.
Kronos stared at Zeus.
He seemed to have understood what Zeus was planning.
“Most of the monsters now were once human,” Kronos said.
“You don’t need to dirty your hands. I will do it,” Zeus replied.
Zeus left.
Daniel watched in confusion.
He didn’t understand what they were talking about, nor was he in the condition to understand.
His thoughts were in shambles.
Yet, he still spoke up.
“I-I will help too.”
“No, you won’t,” Kronos said firmly.
With a snap of his fingers, a green energy bullet shot from his hand and struck Daniel, freezing him in time.
The world seemed to halt for Daniel.
He could think, he could feel the passing moments, but he couldn’t move, speak, or even age.
He had been trapped in a stasis time prison by Kronos.
“Why did you do that?” Gaia asked with narrowed eyes.
“We need to protect him,” Kronos replied.
Gaia tilted her head.
Kronos noticed her confusion and explained.
“If we can complete the Spell, we need to choose who to send to the past.
“The natural choice is me since I have high time mastery and resistance.
“But I can’t survive a regression of 8 years. I’m not strong enough,” he admitted.