Time seemed to flow slowly for Basil and Iliana. However, in reality, time flowed normally. The amount of emotion conveyed by Basil's eyes in that brief moment was enough to overwhelm Iliana.
However, just like seasons, it leaves as fast as it comes. Basil's gaze calmed down. The previous emotion he had showed in his eyes were gone as if it had never been there in the very first place.
Iliana who had been entranced by Basil's eyes instantly regained herself back. She recoiled in surprise in the next moment, as she realized she had been dazzled by a stranger. What made it even stranger was that she didn't feel any repulsion toward it.
It felt like she had been reunited with an old friend, which was very strange considering her age. She frowned her forehead lightly. The stranger was still looking at her, but the gaze was different than before. She was about to call the stranger, when he turned his head away from her.
Tick!
She was irritated. How dare he to look away from her?! Still, she couldn't cause a scene. Her promotion to the next seat of the Head of Committee was close. If she were to cause a scene, she could kiss her promotion a goodbye.
"Hmph!" She snorted. With hands on her hips, she looked at the crowd gallantly, "Registration will be opened in the next five minutes. We hope the participants could register themselves on time!"
The surrounding people had their ears and eyes on her. They nodded their heads as a sign of agreement. She nodded her head in satisfaction at the reaction the people gave.
Unconsciously, her eyes searched for the stranger she had seen earlier. When her eyes landed upon him, her face contorted briefly. The stranger was busy talking to the people around him. He didn't even bat an eyelash at her words.
How dare he to ignore this lady?!
Surely, the monologue was done in her head. She had promised to not cause a scene, and she was determined to really do that. Therefore, she let the matter slide. Turning her back on the people, she left the scene valiantly.
"Woww... She is so beautiful.. and strong! Look at her posture!"
"Who is she? I wonder..."
"Uh.. am I the only one who thinks she is a bit... Eccentric?"
Julia, Clarissa, and Shirley said their opinions respectively. They were admiring Iliana who had just left the scene. Even without a keen sense, Iliana's sheer presence was enough to overwhelm people. Therefore, the girls were amazed.
It was rare to see an outstanding female Mage after all. Julia became even more excited on her quest to become the strongest female Mage. In the other hand, Clarissa was sincerely admiring Iliana as she couldn't be like her. Shirley was the only one who saw Iliana's rather 'unique' behavior.
Shirley glanced at Basil. The way Iliana carried herself, her presence, her speech, all of them reminded Clarissa of him. The resemblance was fairly apparent that it was uncanny.
Surely, that was how far they resembled. There were still some differences between them. Still, it was quite a peculiar experience for her.
"Were you thinking about something, Shirley?"
"Oh, nothing, Irene."
Irene nodded her head at Shirley who had managed to get out of her trance. She glanced at Shirley once again, then shook her head in the next second. Her Young Mistress had grown.
She had served Shirley as her Young Mistress for years. All of those years, she had seen her Young Mistress' rather slow mind development. However, just by being close to her Young Master, her Young Mistress matured faster than she had ever expected.
A few months ago, when her Young Master had declared herself as his mother, Shirley had quickly told her to stop calling her Young Mistress. She had denied Shirley at first, however the reasoning really struck to her core.
—I agree with Brother to call you Mother, as you are more of a Mother than our mother. If Brother calls you Mother, then I am your daughter too. No mother calls her daughter that way.
Since that day, she called her Young Mistress with her name as what her Young Mistress had wished. Sadly, Shirley wasn't yet aware that she wasn't blood related with Basil. However, Irene was touched by her words. Therefore, she had obeyed.
Blake threw his gaze at the entrance, then at Basil. He said, "Basil, the gate has been opened and it's time to register." Basil nodded his head in confirmation and responded, "Very well."
"Are you really sure you are going to take the Solo Category?"
"I am."
"I am not forcing you to impress those guys from the capital. By participating in this tournament alone is enough for me. Therefore, you don't have to push yourself."
Blake looked at Basil in slight worry. Basil merely smiled faintly at him. He was sure if Chester could have arrived there on time, the two of them would be fussing over him. Although it was quite annoying for the 'experienced' him, he still appreciated Blake's care over him.
"Worry not. I always know what I am doing."
"Very well... Chester will be coming in an hour. Therefore, you have to do your best, so he could see you on the match."
Blake looked at Basil heatedly. His expression was free from worry. Since Basil had decided that to challenge himself, he would support Basil as much as he could. Thus, the encouragement.
Basil smirked faintly and nodded his head.
"The registration is open! We wish the participants to line up and register themselves!"
This time, the announcer was a young man with glasses. Judging by his appearance, he must be in his early twenties. The people from the surrounding nodded their heads as a response. With a determined expression, they moved their feet toward the entrance to line up.
"I wish you for absolute win, Brother!
"Senior, wipe the arena with your opponents!"
"Good luck with the match, Brother!"
Before Basil lined himself up, Shirley, Julia, and Clarissa respectively wished him luck. Basil nodded his head faintly and patted each of their heads. None of them was surprised as Basil had done that to them many times. They enjoyed it instead.
"I believe you can take the world by storm. Therefore, I am sure it will be an easy ride for you. Right?" Danzel looked at Basil with the same heat Blake had showed him. Basil chuckled a little before saying, "No doubt, pops."
Danzel nodded passionately and patted Basil's shoulder in pride. Danzel retreated himself as his turn to say his encouragement was done. Irene stepped forward. This time, no words were exchanged.
They merely looked into each other's eyes before settling with a hug. Irene's feelings were perfectly conveyed to Basil. His heart warmed. Over the past months, his frozen solid heart regained its warmth little by little. It was thanks to Irene and the people who cared for him.
Letting go of his hug, Basil looked at his family once again. He thanked in his heart that he could enjoy this kind of priceless luxury in his second chance of life. His past life had been miserable. He had no one to trust or anyone to care. Therefore, he hadn't been that bitter over his death.
However, now was different. He had his family, the people he could trust, and the people he cared. He needed to become far stronger to protect them better. He needed to be invincible to protect his one and only life.
Second chance may come, but third chance is stretching it.
He had died once, therefore he would make sure there would be no second death. The world had been in peace for the eight months since he had returned to the past.
However, he knew it was temporary. That peace would be shattered in no time as he had changed many things this time.
'Guide, how much time left untill the Obelisk of Goap's outbreak?'
[Ding!]
[Answering the Host's ignorance....]
[Rough calculation of the time left untill the Obelisk of Goap's outbreak: 6 months, 16 days, 7 hours, and 23 seconds]
'What is the probability of timeline change this time?'
[Up to 97%]
Basil stopped his questions. He had changed so many things ever since he had returned to the past. His soul's possession over his body, his rise of power, the people he had met earlier than he should, all of them were enough to disturb the timeline.
This time, he had triggered an event that shouldn't have happened for the next three years to happen in six months. And worse, the time would be shortened yet again today.
Taking a deep breath, he touched the middle of his forehead with his index finger and middle finger.
I am the strongest, for I never tremble in the face of crisis.
He chanted in his heart. He put his fingers away from his forehead, before smiling softly at the people he aimed to protect. Turning his back in the next moment, he moved his feet toward the entrance.
"Calamity, it is our reunion." He muttered to himself.
...
{Cobham Manor, Cobham Viscountcy}
A man with a blonde hair and a handsome moustache was working on his desk. He was still in his mid thirties, however the distress he felt made him look older.
Scratch. Scratch. Scratch.
Quickly scribbling on his papers, his focus was solely on the paper. He didn't pay any attention to anything. Not even the shadow that weirdly grew closer to him —
Boom!
— or maybe not.
The place where the shadow had slowly approached him was scorched. The man stood from his seat and looked at the scorch floor coldly.
"A mere Assassin dare to target this me? Ludicrous!"
The man was about to swipe the room clean with his Magic when he felt something cold on his neck. His eyes widened and his pupils shrunk. Cold sweat started to pour down his forehead.
"I would never lower my guard in the vicinity of an Assassin if I were you, silly."
A playful yet cold voice was reverberating in his ears. He couldn't do anything as the Assassin had perfectly gotten him. Gulping his saliva once, the man dared himself to speak.
"What do you want? Who sent you? How much were you paid? I can—!"
"Shush. I need not any of them, Mr. Nicholas. Per my Master's order, I am here to deliver you something. Ku-ku-ku!"
The man who was revealed to be Nicholas got his breath hitched. The laughter he heard from the Assassin chilled his spine badly. Slowly nodding his head, he said toward the Assassin, "Very well. Show me the mail."
"Ku-ku-ku. Not so fast. I will seal your Magic Circles first."
"What did you— Kuhak!"
A painful groan was heard from Nicholas as the Assassin had smashed his chest with something earlier. Kneeling on the ground, Nicholas grabbed his chest to ease the burning pain in his chest.
"Ahh! What.. did you do.. to me?!"
"Relax. Stop using your Mana, and the pain will be gone."
As he was left no choice, Nicholas followed the Assassin's advice. True to his words, the pain really stopped when Nicholas stopped the flow of Mana to his Magic Circles.
"Now, let's do the business civilly. Here's the mail, and I want you to look at the content VERY carefully. Ah, don't worry about the seal, it will vanish in three hours!"
"Very well..."
Contrary to the cheerful Assassin, Nicholas could only respond in grimace. He took the envelope from the Assassin and slowly peered inside the content. He could only find a cheap looking Spatial Ring inside.
Looking at the Assassin in confusion, he was about to ask what did it mean, when the Assassin quickly said, "Just drop a tiny bit of your blood on it, and boom! An amazing thing would happen!"
Nodding his head at the weird Assassin's instructions, he did what he was told.
Drip.
Nothing happened for a quite some time. However, not long after, the ring started to glow before two things came out of it.
"Photograph Talisman and Visual Orb?"
"Congratulations! You are correct!" The Assassin quipped in a sickeningly bright voice before it turned into a deadpan, "Everybody knows of that crap. Just see the content!"
Nicholas quickly nodded his head as he was afraid he would lose his head in the next moment. Quickly taking the Photograph Talisman in his hands, he looked at the content inside.
He recoiled in surprise as the photograph he saw inside belonged to his wife, Catherine. An uneasy feeling was budding in his heart. Still, he continued.
The more he checked into the content, the uglier his expression became. The more he looked at the photographs, the colder his eyes became. Tossing away the Photograph Talisman, he took the Visual Orb.
Inside it was a recorded scene, a moving image complete with the sound, of his wife. His previously freezing cold eyes, lose their coldness. His eyes were empty as he gazed at the Assassin.
"Thank you for the delivery."
"Nope. Don't mind! I'm getting paid after all."
Nicholas nodded his head faintly. Grasping the Visual Orb tightly in his hand, his forcefully suppressed emotion was poured into it.
Crack!
The Visual Orb cracked before it shattered into pieces. The Assassin whistled in amazement. He had sealed Nicholas' Magic Circles earlier, therefore Nicholas had been using his natural strength since then.
For a Mage to have that kind of strength was certainly impressive.
"Haha! Now that my job is done, it's time to leave. Adiós!"
Just like that, the Assassin was gone. He didn't make any sound. He didn't disturb the surrounding air. He just disappeared. It was something to marvel at, however Nicholas' attention wasn't on that.
He was looking at the ceiling with his scary empty eyes. His mouth trembled, before a maniacal laugh emerged from it.
"Kuhaha.. kuhahaha... KUHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Good.. good. Ku-ku-ku... So, the world is finally going gainst me, huh?!"
Clenching his fist tight, Nicholas gazed at the void heatedly.
"I have been holding back myself from acting irrationally. Now, I have had enough. Absurd things have happened to me, and acting irrationally is not different than acting rationally."
He was reminded of the things he had seen earlier. He had never expected nor had he imagined that kind of thing would happen to him. However, just like he had said, absurd things did happen to him.
Laughing maniacally once again, he grinned savagely, "HAHAHAHAHA! Very well... I will do it my way. It's been a long time since that day.. But, I meet you once again. Betrayal, it's our reunion!"