“There is a Space-Time Lock here, but everyone who came here was Stage -3 or weaker, and only one was Stage-4, which still isn’t enough to create a Space-Time Lock.”
“Maybe it’s a Heavenbreaker?” the six-armed giant said.
“If it’s a Heavenbreaker, the ripples in the fabric of Fate would’ve been ginormous,” the lean man replied.
He carefully read the tapestry of Fate but he could not locate the person who created the Space-Time Lock.
It was as if that person did not exist.
“Do you think Julie hid this person’s Fate?”
“That could be it.”
The lean man decided to investigate carefully.
It was weird why Julie came to such a remote location. If she was purposefully hiding someone, then they had to search who it was.
“Let me check it.”
The six-armed giant raised his hand, as if he was placing them on the tree that once existed on the island.
Time Elementals began to appear around him, and suddenly—
Bang!
His hands bounced back as if an explosion had taken place.
The six-armed giant and the lean man’s expression became grave.
“This reaction…”
“It’s an Ashborn.” The lean man frowned.
The six-armed giant tried again. This time, there was no explosion. His eyes moved rapidly behind the closed eyelids.
After several moments, the six-armed giant pulled his hand back.
“Tartarus. Eon Strand 05. Escaped the Forbidden Lands several millennia ago. Though he seemed to have lost his memories, which was why he didn’t realize he was in a different Eon Strand.”
“So this was why Julie visited this place,” the lean man said. “She must have tried to recruit this ‘Tartarus.'”
Clicking his tongue, the lean man questioned, “Is there an Eonshade of his in this Eon Strand?”
“Yes,” the six-armed giant nodded. “His name is Typhaon. Born nearly three thousand years ago.”
“Dammit, these statues just can’t stop creating problems,” the lean man muttered then turned to the six-armed giant. “Prune Tartarus.”
“Tartarus influenced the Fate of several worlds and billions of other world people too. If he is pruned, his absence would create too many variables in the timeline.”
“Then prune those worlds and people too,” the lean man said. “It’s better to nip the bud before it festers into a disease.”
The six-armed man nodded and placed his arms on the ground.
A titanic amount of Time Elementals materialized.
Blood Sea began to boil. It attacked the two of them to stop them.
The lean man waved his hand and froze the Blood Sea.
At the same time, the six-armed giant continued to prune everything.
…
Sphinx’s Layer, Luminera, Earth
“Current Reincarnation?” the Sphinx asked, its tone laced with surprise.
It stared at Neo, and began to piece the clues together.
“So the two people Henry brought to the house are your parents’ reincarnation,” the Sphinx said.
Neo was about to answer when he suddenly froze.
He looked around.
“When did I return to Luminera?”
“Neo Hargraves?” the Sphinx questioned. “Is there a problem?”
“Yes, I was in the Nethership right now. We had taken care of Tartarus and were on our way back. I…” Neo frowned. “I don’t remember what happened after I talked with Nicolas until this moment, where I’m somehow back to Luminera.”
“Neo Hargraves, what are you talking about?”
The Sphinx stared at him, unable to understand if this was some kind of ploy by Neo.
“Why would you use Nethership to return from Shadow World?”
“Huh?”
Neo’s brows creased. He was starting to realize something was weird.
“Why are you talking about Shadow World? I just said I came back from Tartarus where I was sent by you.”
The Sphinx tilted its head.
“This is the first time I’m hearing the name Tartarus.”
“You were the one who—”
Suddenly, Neo stopped speaking.
He grew quiet. His mind became numbed and his eyes became hazy.
“Why are you silent now?” the Sphinx questioned. “And who is this Tartarus?”
“Tartarus is…”
Neo opened his mouth and closed it.
“Tartarus… Tartarus…”
It was as if a foreign power was invading his mind, and tampering with his memories.
“I don’t know who Tartarus is—”
A sharp pain tore Neo’s mind.
He clutched his head.
“Neo Hargraves?” The Sphinx realized something was wrong. “What is happening to you?”
Neo was in no condition to answer.
His focus was on the memories that were slipping through his fingers, and disappearing forever.
Tartarus, the Dragon Clan Leaders, the Nine Zones, the Nightmare Tree…
He was losing every memory.
‘Don’t…. fuck with me…’
Titanic amount of energy began to slip out from Neo.
The whole Luminera shook.
‘Don’t you… dare…. fucking mess with my memories….’
It seemed Time had been turned back. So he tried usign the Time Ripple Spell.
But it was not working. He couldn’t retain his memories.
Although Neo did not understand why he had not lost his powers despite the time being turned back by someone else, that was not something he could focus on for now.
He recalled how he had stopped Time Erosion.
Covering your own body with World Energy.
It marked his body as his part of Cosmos. And since his body then technically in a different Cosmos, Time Elementals could not erode him.
That should stop his from losing memories, or so Neo hoped.
He warped himself in condense World Energy.
The sky of Luminera began to crack.
His sheer presence terrified the people of Luminera and majority of them lost consiousness.
The Senators and the God Clan Leaders were terrified. Despite knowing that this unknown presence was a threat, they could not move.
Their bodies were frozen in fear.
His World Energy wasn’t pure enough. It had to be purer, and condensed more.
He shuddered when he realized he had already forgotten about half of the people he met in Tartarus.
Those people had entrusted him with their memories, and life experiences, but now Neo was forgetting everything.
Neo refused to let that happen.
Consiousness.
He needed to strengthen it.
He could think about what was happening and why later.
First, he had to make sure he did not lose those precious memories.
