The Stubborn Skill-Grinder In A Time Loop

And so, it began.

Orodan, Zaessythra and W78 were standing before the periphery of Shadowmoon City. He’d brought up the idea of going in alone. Of course that was immediately shot down. Without W78 camouflaging them, the trio would be almost instantly detected by one of the dozens of scans constantly running through the planet passively. Zaessythra held the fail-safe weapon and was the only one who could reliably kill Orodan before the Hegemony used the shard upon him.

The fail-safe provided by the Conclave - otherwise known as an Embodier’s Sacrifice - was a one-time use destructive weapon of unfathomable power. One that had even caused the Lord of Night - a Celestial skill bearer of level 149 - to immediately become serious. He’d done a bit of reading before they’d stepped onto Narictus in this reset, and knowledge of them was rather sparse. Although what records did say was that the weapon’s creation involved the death of a being at the Embodiment-level.

Lady Sujana, Knight Commander of the Conclave, had no issue with sharing a bit more about it. According to her, it was a gift from an ancient benefactor of theirs. Who the benefactor was, how they’d died and what their relation to the Conclave was, she didn’t say. Still, it was essentially the soul of a slain Embodier was all she’d revealed, and Orodan hadn’t pushed further past that.

He could infer that it was a soul detonation of ridiculous proportions.

Fail-safe aside, they were now stood before Shadowmoon City, and stealth was no longer necessary when they now knew the location of the shard and who held it. It was time to test his newfound skill in a practical capacity.

“The moment you begin using that skill the wards will detect us and any soul specialists they have will sense it too. This close to the city, there’s no way to remain undetected when wielding the quantities of soul energy that you possess,” Zaessythra said.

“Information: percentage chance of detection: one hundred,” W78 said. “Solution: subject advised to develop sense of self-preservation and reconsider planned actions.”

“Heh… you think so too, huh?” Orodan asked. “Mayhap someone smarter would plan and find a creative way through this hurdle, but I believe you’ve come to know me. If there’s a fire, the only way I know is through it.”

“Information added to database. Analysis: subject uniquely suited to producing improbable outcomes through unorthodox actions.”

Improbable, but not impossible.

Not when he had the time loops. Not when his unwavering will would never falter.

His eyes first began glowing white and then started blazing with power as soul energy coursed through his cells.

[Time Compression 3 → Time Compression 5]

Soul energy emanated from him with such intensity that Zaessythra had to look away, and it was all channelled into his new skill.

Everything was slow.

Zaessythra’s sluggish turning of her head and the shielding of her eyes. W78’s rhythmic blinking of the glyphs upon their frame, the bats in the sky and the werewolf guards in the distance whose shouts were all distorted.

And the immediate if distorted blaring of a city-wide alarm due to Orodan unleashing his soul energy.

This was all within expectations.

If he only had a limited amount of time from his detection to when the Hegemony would tear apart dimensional layers to use the shard against him… then he would compress time and create more of it for himself.

He channelled even more power into the skill.

[Time Compression 5 → Time Compression 7]

Time began slowing. The rhythmic blinks of runes upon W78’s frame became slow enough that Orodan could now see them gradually light up. Zaessythra’s speed became low enough that Orodan could see her blink, and the slow shifts in space were almost snail-like to his eyes.

Everything was slow, besides Orodan himself.

It wasn’t that he’d slowed anyone else down, rather simply himself. The rest of the universe’s timeframe ran normally, but it was his own time that Orodan had compressed and sped up. Compressing a second to play out at ten times the speed, this was Time Compression. Not for anyone else, the regular time flow wasn’t affected, but for Orodan only.

To those who saw him, it was as though every frame of time which impacted him was ten times faster. It was utterly addicting, it was supreme. No other chronomancer could manage such a feat, not when the energy costs were prohibitive enough that Orodan was nearing death.

He ramped down the compression, and still felt dramatically faster than everything else around him.

Still, this wasn’t perfect. He wasn’t all-powerful.

The sheer strain on his body was unbelievable as his own soul energy threatened to kill him. And most importantly…

…the existence of other chronomancers.

For a while everything was slow, and then, Orodan felt interference. Someone attempting to wrest control of time away from him. The source was behind the ripples in space appearing before him, even if the portal hadn’t fully materialized yet.

For thirty seconds of distorted time, Orodan resisted this unknown enemy chronomancer, until they finally realized that attempting to overpower a seemingly endless power source during chronomancy was a silly tactic. Instead, Orodan learned why quickening himself through chronomancy wasn’t the instant win he thought it would be.

Smooth skin in certain places, draconic scales in others, shimmering with silver power. This was the half-dragon that was giving Zaessythra a difficult time in the last long loop. And unlike everyone else, this half-dragon was moving at a normal speed in Orodan’s hastened time, and Orodan himself felt the increased expenditure of energy on his end as a result.

“Profound… such raw might with Time Compression, yet such an unrefined usage of it,” the half-dragon said. “Riding the wave of your Time Compression is trivially easy.”

“You’re moving as fast as I am… you’re hastening yourself too?” Orodan asked.

“Far from it. Simply riding the hastened time field you’ve created,” the half-dragon said. “Going so fast would be taxing for even my draconic reserves of power. Yet, to hitch a ride upon yours? Much nicer, and it negates your advantage as well.”

Orodan’s eyes glowed further, and he focused in on exactly what was occurring.

Time Compression on himself was essentially creating a separate time field and compressing it, allowing him to move very, very fast. It made everything he did far faster while the world around him moved at normal speed. However, as he was beginning to learn, enemy chronomancers could jump onto his compressed ‘field’ and experience the positive benefits for themselves. This also increased the energy cost of the skill as it involved speeding up another person, with the cost increasing the higher their energy reserves were.

[Time Compression 7 → Time Compression 8]

No more, he thought.

Soul energy erupted and the aim was to throw this half-dragon intruder out of his time field.

For a moment, the two of them tussled over control of time, and Orodan despite his inferior skill might have even won if that contest went on. His enemy wasn’t stupid however and the half-dragon Transcendent had already learned that Orodan’s energy reserves were bottomless.

Instead…

…even more unwanted people were dragged into his field of compressed time. Not the beneficial kind who might be of help to him, but the enemy. A glowing golden-furred werewolf God was hastened, as was a Transcendent moon-elf vampire. And the speed of the Time Compression naturally slowed as two more beings of great power were thrown onto the hastened time field. The energy costs for Time Compression were spiralling upwards as this half-dragon forcibly threw more people onto Orodan’s spell.

[Time Compression 8 → Time Compression 10]

“Such speed…! I feel invincible! The world shall know the might of Gregorios!” the golden werewolf God declared. “The first to die… shall be these slow allies of yours!”

Orodan’s eyes widened as he caught onto the implication. The enemies who had jumped onto his hastened time field were moving far faster than normal time. Yet, Zaessythra and W78 were not.

The sensible move would’ve been to drop it altogether and fight at regular speed. Yet, that wasn’t Orodan’s way. The way he saw it; in for a copper… in for a silver.

“You won’t win,” the half-dragon boasted. “I’ll simply keep adding more people to this hastened time field of yours. Your allies will die, and then you’ll be stuck fighting us all by yourself. Your talents in chronomancy are nothing compared to mine.”

“I admit, your grasp over time is far superior to mine. I won’t be stopping you from jumping onto my time fields any time soon,” Orodan professed. “Still, outskill me you might, but overpower me you won’t. Since you insist on dragging more people in here, let me join in on this game. Let’s see just how far I can push this Time Compression.”

At the very least, this would be excellent training.

With a look of utter concentration, Orodan drew Zaessythra and W78 into the hastened time field too. W78 wasn’t so bad, and neither was Zaessythra, yet the Embodier’s Sacrifice she carried was utterly monstrous in the amount of energy it contained and pulling it into the time field nearly overwhelmed Orodan with how much the energy expenditure spiked.

[Time Compression 10 → Time Compression 12]

Zaessythra popped into the hastened time and immediately acclimated, as did W78.

“Analysis: energy usage matching average output of small world core,” W78 said.

“You think? I’ve gotten better at withstanding my own soul energy, but this is straining even me,” Orodan growled as his body crackled with power.

The enemy half-dragon didn’t look too happy at the development either.

“Do you think dragging your allies into the Time Compression will do anything? Perhaps you feel your endless soul gives you free reign to do as you wish?” the half-dragon vampire asked. “I have heard of you, Orodan Wainwright. They speak in hushed whispers of the time looper as though you’re more legend than man, yet everything has its limits, even you. Just how many more people can you hold aloft in this hastened time field of yours? How much soul energy will you expend till you either give up and stop or your physical form burns out entirely?”

“Why don’t you help me test that then?” Orodan asked. “After all, if you’re so high and mighty, how about we determine which is superior… your control over time, or my raw power to affect it?”

“A banal taunt which will not work. My master has instructed me to avoid putting you in situations where you might rapidly gain power,” the half-dragon vampire said even as its silvery scales shimmered with the power of time. “Do you think me a fool? That I’d simply allow you to gain strength? We have been told of your proclivity for gaining skills through death.”

A shame, Orodan was hoping the half-dragon would be easy to taunt, but that wasn’t going to be the case. At high levels, once his enemies knew of the loop… they were unwilling to allow him free reign to take advantage of it.

“That’s fine. You’ve at least put the idea into my head and that’s what matters,” Orodan said. “And if you’re not going to pull more people into this Time Compression of mine… then I’ll simply do so myself.”

His eyes began glowing, overflowing with soul energy as he threw more and more power into the Time Compression. Long ago, Eternal Soul Reactor was a painful skill to draw upon, nowadays though, it was just a rush of exhilaration as he brought his willpower to bear upon his soul and demanded it churn harder and harder while he denied its explosion.

Unlike the finesse of this enemy chronomancer, Orodan couldn’t easily drag select individuals into his Time Compression from a distance, not yet at least. Instead, his method of expanding the range of his hastened time field… was to slowly push it outwards, enveloping everything it touched.

His body began to tear itself apart, his cells began suffering destruction and Orodan neared death as the energy costs of Time Compression dramatically increased as he slowly began pulling more and more of the environment into it.

[Time Compression 12 → Time Compression 13]

[Time Mastery 73 → Time Mastery 74]

This was excellent training, even if he was nearing death as he did so.

His enemy really didn’t seem to like it though.

“That time field is expanding as we speak! The energy expenditure will kill him!” the half-dragon vampire roared. “Do not allow the time looper to kill himself!”

Thus began the most curious battle he’d been in to date, where Orodan was expanding his chronomantic spell to cover an ever-growing area, and the enemy was fleeing as he did so.

Who knew that chronomancy was such a convenient way of forcing them to gain some distance lest they cause Orodan to kill himself through excessive soul energy channelling?

Immediately, the half-dragon vampire threw the werewolf God and the moon-elf Transcendent out of the time field. This had the subsequent effect of lowering the pressure upon Orodan. Less burden, however, this meant not as much gains.

Following this, the next card they played was the familiar mental assault. An enemy True Vampire tried drilling into his mind with a psionic attack, yet it failed with W78 moving to engage it, and the time field simply kept expanding.

Of course, the enemy half-dragon’s retreat didn’t mean that it had left Orodan alone entirely. Rather, it was simply preparing its next move. A tactic which involved dragging mass numbers of lower level chronomancers into Orodan’s Time Compression.

[Time Compression 13 → Time Compression 14]

The strain upon his body increased noticeably, yet it wasn’t as much as it would be if a God or Transcendent had been dragged in for a ride. Instead, a force of roughly two-hundred Grandmaster-level chronomancers had been brought in. And how did he know they were such? Because the second they came in, they began alleviating the pressure on Orodan, taking a good portion of the burden of the Time Compression onto themselves.

“Hey! That’s mine!” Orodan yelled. “You can’t just… take control of my skill!”

“They can, and they’re smart to do so,” Zaessythra said. “Counter-chronomancy will always be something you have to worry about, and the forces of the Hegemony are rather good at it.”

It was as though Orodan had created a gigantic storm, one he was powering, only to have these interlopers now come in and begin powering it themselves thereby reducing the pressure on him. As though he were pressing a heavy log above his chest and someone else was pulling upwards at the same time. Easier for him, yet it robbed him of the strain needed to grow. In any other situation it might’ve been good, but not in a time loop where he was trying to gain skill levels and better himself.

Yet not all control of the spell had been wrested from him. He could still influence just how fast it went. And if these vampires thought they could empower his Time Compression themselves… then perhaps it was time to ramp it up even faster.

“Fine, just try and keep up then,” Orodan challenged.

[Eternal Soul Reactor 96 → Eternal Soul Reactor 97]

He was reduced to a handful of cells as he pushed Eternal Soul Reactor hard. Yet, he was confident that death wouldn’t come just yet, mainly because…

…they really wanted him alive.

“My lord… it’s too much! Our reserve batteries have been drained dry and if we go any further, we risk soul explosion ourselves!” one of the enemy Grandmaster chronomancers exclaimed.

“Then do so! We cannot afford the time looper dying! How long until the ritual is prepared?!” the half-dragon vampire asked.

“Another second of real time my lord!”

Everything not caught in the ever-expanding field of greatly hastened time looked almost frozen, for that was just how compressed the time field was. Both sides were attempting to direct the speed of the time field, yet Orodan had decided to drive it off a cliff and ramp it up to insanity.

Just as a few of the enemy chronomancers began dying as their souls exploded from the strain, a new addition made itself known. In the form of a familiar four-armed aberration which was a mockery of his old foe.

It was exceedingly strange to see someone practically grapple with a time field and somehow slow it down, yet this was exactly what Agathor was doing. Four arms wrapped around the time field and somehow physically interacting with something that should’ve been intangible. It was an expression of the Mythical skill the Inuanan God of War had told Orodan about long ago, in the long loop in which he’d tried possessing him.

Most Mythical skills weren’t quite as apparent, often working in the background, yet this one rather clearly demarcated itself as Mythical with how it affected reality and broke the conventions on what should be possible. Whether it was Agathor piloting the skill or the Transcendent who wore the God of War like a foul divine suit, it was a reminder that Orodan wasn’t the only one in the universe with Mythical skills.

“Orodan Wainwright! I have come to exact my revenge!” Agathor roared.

The time compression was dramatically slowed down, the enemy half-dragon and the force of Grandmaster-level chronomancers that had been ferried in were relieved, and Agathor held two spears in each under arm, and a great sword and warhammer in the others.

Orodan’s weapons were already in hand the moment he saw the Inuanan War God, and the two met in the middle for a titanic clash. Unlike last time where he’d been forced back, this time he was still on the losing end but maintained his footing far easier. The small improvements mattered, and eventually they would add up.

The shockwave emanated throughout the time field, causing it to ripple unsteadily. Likely the expression of Agathor’s Mythical skill which allowed the God of War to affect the intangible with his physical form.

“Long have I waited to meet you once more! There shall be no retreat today, no surrender! This shall end with either your death or mine!” Agathor declared. “The foul seed you planted within my mind has not left my thoughts since-”

Agathor roared suddenly, and the divine glow left his eyes.

“Annoying fool… his hatred for you actually allowed him to overpower me for a while,” the voice spoke. It came from the mouth of Agathor, yet it wasn’t Orodan’s hated foe. “Greetings, time looper.”

“It’s rude to intrude on a meeting between old friends,” Orodan said as his sword and shield locked against the weapons of ‘Agathor’, barely holding even in the deadlock.

“Friends? If that’s how your friends feel about you, I don’t wish to meet your enemies,” the Crusader said. “I am-

A headbutt from Orodan interrupted the Crusader and made his nose crunch inwards in a most satisfying manner.

“Save it. I’ve been meeting enough people whose names are irrelevant. I have a rather thorny history with those who like possessing and wielding the bodies of others,” Orodan said. He’d been the victim of it once, never again. “To me, you’re simply the Crusader, Agathor’s jailor, that’s all you are and all you will be when I kill you.”

“If. If you kill me,” the Crusader said.

Orodan had grown slightly stronger since the last attempt. And his Unarmed Combat Mastery was now at the Master level.

Still, against a monstrously skilled warrior like Agathor, his own skill was more than a bit wanting. He really wasn’t sure which skill Agathor had divinity in, or whether it was the Crusader who wore the War God like a suit, but Orodan was almost certain someone inhabiting the body had a Combat Mastery above 100. It was an exceedingly difficult skill to achieve Transcendence in, and people pushing Combat Mastery past 100 were considered powerhouses who could hit above their weight class in a fight.

Still, it wasn’t an insurmountable difference.

Agathor, or this Crusader, whoever it was; they fought with crisp combat technique, impeccable timing and a level of finesse and agility that was just incredible. On Alastaia, teachers of the martial path would point to them as the shining example of skill and Combat Mastery.

However, Orodan had been in the time loops for a little bit now. And he knew that people could have the same skill at the exact same level as someone else and still have different outcomes with it due to perspective. The goal then, was to hone his own unique perspective on Combat Mastery, for he knew that he saw fighting differently to Agathor or this Crusader.

Unfortunately, it would be an endeavor taking more than a few loops, as Agathor’s wrestling of time had allowed for further intrusions.

“Warning: additional enemy ritualists detected,” W78 said.

True enough, more beings entered the time field, courtesy of the half-dragon chronomancer who Zaessythra was failing to keep pinned down. And as Agathor kept Orodan occupied, the Grandmaster-level mages and ritualists of the Midnight Court got to work in drawing ritual circles and finally establishing a tether.

This tether went from Orodan’s Time Compression… towards the world core of Narictus itself. A titanic amount of energy to fuel Time Compression at whatever speed Orodan wanted to have time compressed at. He suspected he wouldn’t be causing a drain upon it so easily by spinning his hastened time field faster.

And with that, the familiar Vakan Almante stepped into the time field, a shimmering silver necklace around his neck glowing. Orodan suspected that attempts at manipulating the Lord of Night through chronomancy would be harder than expected.

“Time looper. You have caused quite some destruction and forced us to bring forth rituals and tactics meant to stop the coordinated chronomantic maneuvers of entire armies,” the leader of Narictus spoke. “Your raw power is impressive. Even the vaunted Avraxas was not capable of such raw might in his younger years. I admire your might, I say this sincerely. Enough so that I feel the need to join in myself.”

One moment, Orodan was locking blades with the Crusader.

And the next… a jarring impact took him right off his feet.

He was on the ground, a sword through his chest and the Lord of Night causing blood to flow from a slit vein on his wrist to the blade of the sword which then reached Orodan himself.

Vakan Almante, was attempting to convert Orodan into a vampire.

“You have no heart… no real blood or veins, such a strange and curious body. Yet, it will suffice, for Vampirism starts from the soul… and from what the Celestial Emperor has told us, damage and changes to your soul are retained throughout these time loops, are they not?” the Lord of Night asked. “In case our main method of dealing with you fails… this should serve as a form of insurance. You saw fit to violate one of our own, stripping the gift from them, then it is only fair that you receive it in his place. Now then, Orodan Wainwright… embrace the hunger.”

The Lord of Night’s blood flowing down the sword finally reached the open wound, and Orodan felt a touch of it… the hunger. The desire to gnaw.

He felt it…

…and promptly laughed at it as his cells and soul utterly burned it away.

[Domain Of Perfect Cleaning 93 → Domain Of Perfect Cleaning 94]

The Lord of Night’s eyes took on a serious edge as he focused and Orodan felt the flow of blood between the sword and his chest get faster, and the blood itself grow more potent.

This wasn’t simply blood from another True Vampire, this was the blood of the Lord of Night, a vampire rumored to be the progenitor of them all and one of the Hegemony’s mightiest beings. In a straight fight, Orodan stood no chance against this being.

And yet, the curse of vampirism from the progenitor himself was failing to take root within Orodan.

“…how? Your body resists… no. Rather, your very cells are incorruptible, your soul… pure.”

“It’s not even my soul,” Orodan explained. “It’s just that your curse of vampirism… is dirty. And now that I’ve seen your blood and its impurities, allow me to give it a good scrubbing.”

The blood that had already entered through the sword was Orodan’s first target.

It was tough, utterly resisting change of any sort. Vampirism was part of its essence down to the smallest level, a fact grounded in reality. No other True Vampire could compare.

Domain Of Perfect Cleaning struggled at first… for this was a challenge even it would find daunting.

Yet, what was the Domain Of Perfect Cleaning if not a extension of Orodan’s own understanding of cleaning? When it came to cleaning things, there was no insight Orodan could not find, no trick he was incapable of developing… no filth he failed to clean.

The Time Compression was let go and Orodan funnelled every bit of soul energy he had into Domain Of Perfect Cleaning…

…towards the blood and body of Vakan Almante, the Lord of Night and the first vampire.

[Domain Of Perfect Cleaning 94 → Domain Of Perfect Cleaning 95]

Agony, disbelief, impossibility.

The wail that came forth from the ancient being’s lips contained all of these and many more unfathomable emotions. As Orodan’s Domain progressed, targeting not only the blood, but the skin, the flesh, the very soul, the Lord of Night reacted accordingly…

…and a wave of blood and darkness capable of destroying an entire world was the last thing Orodan saw.

As the darkness took him, it was interesting to note that when pushed to such an extent, the Lord of Night would throw all notion of keeping Orodan alive out the window. Zaessythra hadn’t even needed to activate the fail-safe weapon for that one.

Who knew that the thought of having his vampirism scoured would terrify the Lord of Night so?

Time loop or not, everyone had their triggers and buttons. And not everyone was okay with the notion of sacrificing themselves simply to deal a time looper a permanent blow. After all, he was in the time loop, they weren’t.

Then perhaps, it was simply a matter of finding which buttons to press in order to attain maximal benefits for himself.

#

The next twenty-five checkpoint loops went along in similar fashion.

Orodan rose, made way for Shadowmoon City and then promptly assaulted the Palace of the Eternal Moon with his full power once he got close enough.

All throughout, his combat skills and mastery of chronomancy began to slowly grow.

“Profound… such ludicrous might with Time Compression, yet an amateur usage of it,” the half-dragon said. “However, riding the wave of your Time Compression isn’t too difficult.”

[Time Compression 34 → Time Compression 35]

[Time Mastery 77 → Time Mastery 78]

Orodan simply smiled.

“Analysis: energy usage matching output of medium world core,” W78 said.

“Thank you, my friend,” Orodan replied and then looked to the half-dragon who was wisely staying out of melee range against him. “Now then, go ahead, add some more people to this Time Compression field, why don’t you?”

“Do you think I would rise to such taunts? We know what you’re capable of, time looper,” the half-dragon vampire said.

“Fine by me, I’ll simply bring everything into my Time Compression myself.”

Following this, Orodan began dragging the surrounding environment and beings into his time field at a shockingly fast pace. Quick enough that the half-dragon chronomancer didn’t even have time to bark orders and simply had a grim look on his face as he immediately summoned all available Grandmaster-level chronomancers into the field of hastened time created by Time Compression.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

That was another thing that had begun occurring. Around the time Orodan reached the Apprentice level with Time Compression, the enemy had begun sending all the chronomancers they had on hand to deal with him. Chronomancers from other settlements, cities and forts were constantly streaming in as the seconds of compressed time ticked on, all in an effort to reinforce in the battle to wrest control of time from Orodan Wainwright.

The subsequent arrival of Agathor and his illogical show of wrestling the time field into moving slower put a slight damper on things and gave the ever-growing army of chronomancers some breathing room, yet even the God of War looked more worn out than usual this time.

Wrestling against Orodan’s Time Compression at level 35 was perhaps a bit more strenuous.

He had to respect his enemies’ attempts to stop him from gaining strength, yet the result was inevitable across the loops. They’d tried fleeing far away, mind magic users from all over Narictus had come in droves, spatiomancers had attempted to lock him down, and all manner of physically oriented warriors, werewolves and gravity specialists had tried to keep him suppressed until the shard struck. Yet, it was to no avail.

Whether they attempted to suppress him or not, Orodan would simply come to them. They couldn’t flee outright as they were defending the shard, and they also wanted to pin him down and utilize the shard upon him if they could.

It was as Agrimon said in their last encounter, the Hegemony were forced to rely upon the arrival of the Reject. Anything they attempted in-between was just the desperate thrashing of a dying beast. Hoping something would connect.

Two times, the Lord of Night had caught onto the fact that Orodan had been through this fight before, yet even then Vakan Almante reacted naturally, with violence, when Orodan used the Domain of Perfect Cleaning upon him.

It was an unfair match up to begin with. He had time loops on his side, and they didn’t. And no matter how well the Hegemony planned their attempts to prevent his natural death and hit him with the shard, it just didn’t erase the fact that beings who were millions of years old were expected to place the plan above their own self interests. Expecting the Lord of Night to not kill Orodan in immediate retaliation upon being cleaned was just something the Hegemony couldn’t plan for.

Everyone had their own interests, their triggers, things which made them tick. And the knowledge that Orodan Wainwright was a time looper didn’t suddenly push those things to the bottom.

And trying a situation over and over allowed for Orodan to discover some interesting methods of influencing the battle.

“Orodan Wainwright! I have come to exact my r-”

“Shut up and fight me before that Crusader takes over,” Orodan interrupted. “Even with this new form you’re naught but a coward. Subservient to the commands of your better, your divine form, wielded like a cheap puppet. I’d rather strike the killing blow against you, and not the whip-cracking puppet master who possesses you.”

A howl of utter rage and agony echoed throughout the shattered remains of the Palace.

Agathor’s eyes lost their glow.

“Stop riling him up, he does not have control. I do, and you’ll reg-”

One more scream of pain echoed throughout, and the divine glow returned once more.

“No… it is I who shall remain in control! None but I shall be responsible for killing Orodan Wainwright!” Agathor screamed, utter madness evident in the God of War’s wild eyes.

“Good, if I’m to kill you, it’s only fitting that I look into the eyes of Agathor, God of War and the mightiest of the Prime Five as I do so,” Orodan said.

They clashed. The shockwave barely caused a ripple in Orodan’s improved Time Compression. Orodan’s muscles rippled, flexed and caused gales of wind to erupt throughout the Palace… and this time he was the one pushing Agathor back even as their weapons were caught in a deadlock.

[Physical Fitness 89 → Physical Fitness 90]

[New Title → Physical Master]

Even Agathor seemed taken aback by his newfound Master level physical might. Orodan however said nothing more and

Unfortunately, Vakan Almante, Lord of Night, arrived shortly after and brought an end to that loop. Yet, it was proof that Orodan had made gains. All he needed was time, something he was working on acquiring more of.

He fought, compressed time and raged against the enemy upon Narictus.

And in the end, the one hundred and fiftieth checkpoint loop of this was where Orodan saw results.

#

[C$h@ec(kp*oi#nt R#es%to&red]

[U@ses Re^ma#in@ing - 2047]

“The passage will take you to the wilderness farthest away from any locations of enemy strength. We shall await your return,” Zhou Shan said. “The enemy can normally detect the presence of a Celestial skill bearer, to that end, Lady Sujana and I will be working to weave the ripples you produce and misdirect our foes into thinking you’re elsewhere.”

The air went silent, the earth still and the very world itself utterly quiet as Orodan’s eyes crackled with an apocalyptic amount of soul energy. It was the very maximal amount he could pour in at the moment without killing himself.

Time was frozen around him.

He wasn’t sure just how powerful the compression was, but he estimated a 1:300 ratio. Over ten times higher than the greatest time dilation chamber he’d ever been in on Alastaia.

Visually, everything around him looked to be practically frozen. However, in actuality time simply flowed as normal, rather, it was him moving at three hundred times the speed of the regular flow that stood out.

1:300, it was an utterly insane number. Time dilation chambers did the same thing, except through complicated wards, enchantments and a massive expenditure of energy typically provided by a tethered mana battery or the energy reserves of an entire city.

The previous highest ratio he’d experienced in a time dilation chamber was 1:20, and that was in Novar’s Peak. It was a closely guarded secret lest the Time Wind dragon flight catch wind of it and take offense. Yet, when Time Mastery, the control of time through the usage of soul energy, was acquired by an individual who had a skill capable of generating an endless amount of it?

The end result could only be utterly monstrous and beyond all reason.

At the Transcendent and above level of combat, certain beings with specialized skill sets were already approaching a tenth or even a third of the speed of light itself. Orodan didn’t have travel skills which allowed him to do this, nor was his actual travel speed anywhere near that, yet in terms of reaction time and combat speed, Orodan could contest such people in a melee. To then create a localized time field around himself which moved three hundred times faster? Frankly, it was utterly ridiculous.

For even the most monstrous chronomancer, Time Compression was meant to be a skill which provided a burst of swiftness at key moments. Perhaps a few times faster for a little while, after all, the more energy a being possessed, the costlier it was to use Time Compression upon themselves. Rather, speeding up an arrow mid-flight or causing a low-energy spell to travel faster were common uses of Time Compression.

Alastaia was too small a world and the civilization upon it too young, yet in other parts of the galaxy Time Compression was also used to aid in crafting, the growth of plants and animals and other miscellaneous things. It wasn’t completely unheard of, and chronomancers used the skill and enchantments could be designed to replicate the effect.

Time Compression wasn’t an instant victory weapon. It was balanced by the energy expenditure, and the fact that enemy chronomancers could either hop onto the localized time field, counter it through uncompressing time, or simply have anti-chronomancy wards or enchantments in place which made it very costly or interfered with it.

What wasn’t fair or balanced in any way, was when such a spell entered the hands of Orodan Wainwright.

It was the same unique advantage he exploited when it came to spells such as Spatial Fold and Time Reversal. Spatial Fold was meant to allow for quick shifts and the compression of distances in small area combat. Time Reversal could, even in the hands of a monstrous Transcendent, perhaps wind back a year or two.

Neither of those two skills were supposed to be capable of folding space to the moon or reversing time for hundreds of thousands of years. He turned the usage of even the most basic spell into a matter of galactic notice. It was madness, it was utter lunacy. And that was what Orodan Wainwright brought to the table with Time Compression too.

Zhou Shan and Lady Sujana both had silvery rings on their fingers, yet only the High Sovereign’s ring seemingly had any effect. Lady Sujana appeared utterly frozen in time to Orodan. Her reaction and catching onto what was happening, comically slow.

“What in the heavens’ name… Orodan? Are you compressing time?” Zhou Shan asked.

“Yes, I haven’t tested it here in since my first loop acquiring it, but I figured I’d give it a go,” Orodan answered. “How come your ring protects against it while her’s doesn’t?”

“A number of Transcendent cultivators worked together to forge this ring, yet unlike the standard chronomancy protections which simply protect against direct time manipulation, this ring instead has a range and scans and detects for the most compressed field of time near me and automatically allows me to hitch a ride upon it,” Zhou Shan explained. “Prevents any chronomancy-enhanced assassins from getting an advantage in the event of a sneak attack. No matter how fast someone goes through time compression, this ring ensures that I’ll be on even footing if I’m in range.”

It was essentially what that half-dragon chronomancer did on Narictus, intruding upon Orodan’s time field and dragging other unwanted parties in as well. A nifty enchanted item to have.

“No wonder the Lord of Night hasn’t been affected…” Orodan muttered. “Though, wouldn’t that also interfere with any time dilation chambers you happen to be near?”

“It does indeed. Hence, I need to be mindful of not visiting any sects which focus on the Dao of Time, I broke a time dilation chamber once when it ran out of power attempting to compress time, treating me as though I was part of the time field,” Zhou Shan explained. “Speaking of, what ratio are you capable of going up to? Given how slow Lady Sujana’s blinks are… perhaps 1:100? If so, utterly monstrous and as expected of you… I am not even surprised. The greatest dilation I’ve ever seen was 1:70 and that was powered by the world core of Xian itself.”

“In truth, my ratio is actually beyond 1:300. Once I increase my self-healing abilities and strengthen my body, I can push that upwards too,” Orodan answered.

The High Sovereign’s jaw simply dropped and hung there for a few moments.

“I see… 1:300 you say?” he asked, and Orodan nodded. “That is… simply unfathomable. I’ve seen some instances of it and heard more rumors of the rest, but how can you channel so much power? Even the slim records we have of Embodiers are not so far-fetched.”

“My Mythical skill, Eternal Soul Reactor, helps. As does my ability to heal myself and the toughness of my body,” Orodan answered. “Anyhow, this experiment has been fun and more than a bit informative, but I don’t want to panic Lady Sujana any more than necessary. And I can already see the beginnings of a glare on Zaessythra’s face.”

“Good. My ring’s bindings were on the verge of coming undone entirely… jumping onto a time field with a 1:300 compression ratio can’t be good for it,” Zhou Shan said.

Without any further fanfare, Orodan dropped the Time Compression entirely.

The first reaction he got was the shaking of Zaessythra’s head.

“If you wanted to broadcast your location across the galaxy, you’ve done fine work,” she said. “You’re on Xian now but try not to do that elsewhere lest you want all sorts of attention. Any chronomancer of passing skill likely sensed that.”

Orodan could only shrug. What would come next this loop would draw even more attention, that was for certain.

This loop, he felt success was imminent.

#

Shadowmoon City, and within, the Palace of the Eternal Moon.

Orodan had ventured within and fought to his death inside this city enough times already. No more. This loop, he knew success would be his.

“They are plenty of methods to counter Time Compression and a powerful chronomancer,” Zaessythra said. “You’re confident you can best them all?”

“Frankly, the chronomancy isn’t even of great concern, the bigger problem is how strong the foes we face are… and I’m confident that I’m on the verge of making a breakthrough in that regard,” Orodan said.

She could only nod, and W78 was pliant and happy to go along with whatever he did as usual.

Then… it was time to move forward.

The world itself stilled as titanic amounts of soul energy were channelled into one thing.

An utterly overpowered Time Compression.

[Time Compression 48 → Time Compression 49]

[Time Mastery 80 → Time Mastery 81]

Everything was frozen, or at least it appeared so. And Orodan strode forward towards the Palace of the Eternal Moon.

It took a decent while for the interfering half-dragon chronomancer to take notice. As the loops progressed onwards, the enemy chronomancer was taking longer and longer to react to Orodan’s Time Compression, which was a good sign and indicator of his growing abilities.

Still, react he did. And rather than even bother trying to reverse course and directly interfere against the Time Compression backed by a bottomless source of power, the half-dragon simply appeared through a shimmering silver portal and jumped onto Orodan’s Time Compression.

“Impossible… such boundless power with Time Compression and with decent technique too… our information is severely outdated on you, time looper. Or… have you perhaps been using the time loops to gain in strength?” the half-dragon said. “Even the almighty Avraxas, dragon Crusader of the Hegemony, cannot rival the sheer amount of power you generate. This… this battle is hopeless, isn’t it?”

The half-dragon looked downwards, his fist clenched, his eyes full of anger.

This was new.

“Now hold on… aren’t you supposed to now drag your allies into my time field?” Orodan asked.

“What would be the point? If you truly have looped over and over, then you know this battle by now,” the half-dragon said. “Dragging any of them into a time dilation of such intensity might cause grievous injuries. Even I struggled a decent bit in safely merging with the faster flow of your time field.”

“…what do you intend to do then?” Orodan asked.

“I… I surrender,” the half-dragon said. “I merely beg clemency and that you do not perform upon me that accursed cleansing which you afflicted upon Ragamul.”

Just like that, a troublesome foe, taken out of the equation.

It was unexpected. Yet, it made sense.

Everyone had their own interests, aspirations and fears. Just because Orodan was in a time loop didn’t mean everyone else’s desires stopped mattering. Even if the enemy knew of his true nature, when pressed into a corner what else could someone with self-preservation instincts do but surrender?

“I can’t say I have a good opinion of you vampires, but you’ve surrendered, and I’ll treat you with the due courtesy and honor you’ve earned,” Orodan said. “I haven’t seen you butcher anyone or torture them in front of me, so as long as you stay out of the fighting, we’ll simply capture you as a prisoner on our way out. Attempt to escape and I’ll happily loop again to hunt you down.”

“I would not, I can see when I’m outmatched,” the half-dragon said. “The information we were given on your capabilities is wildly out of date with what stands before me. They said you were a chronomancer capable of mighty feats but with poor skill and technique. I might have contributed to a victory against you if the reports were accurate… but when you can manipulate time like an almighty Embodier, what use am I?”

“Alright, and call your units of supporting chronomancers off too,” Orodan said.

“I will not bother getting them killed,” the half-dragon promised.

As they finished their conversation, the next foe made his presence known.

Four arms attempted to grapple the time field and subdue it,

“Orodan Wainwright! I have c-”

Words were unnecessary between the two of them. Orodan simply met his hated foe with a Flash Strike and got to work in melee.

Around the eightieth loop or so, Agathor was no longer capable of wrestling Orodan’s Time Compression fields and altering their speed in any noticeable way.

The God of War’s four weapons met Orodan’s sword and shield, and with a mighty roar…

[War Cry 40 → War Cry 41]

…and an explosion of all the might contained with Orodan’s body…

[Physical Fitness 91 → Physical Fitness 92]

…Agathor was utterly battered and thrown backwards like a sack of flour caught in a tornado. The sheer difference in physical might was apparent. On the side of the enemy, none save the Lord of Night could match Orodan’s brute strength now.

“How…?! How?! Even with this new power, with the union of God and Transcendent, I still cannot win?” Agathor asked, and then a frenzied look overtook his eyes. “I care not! Orodan Wainwright! Either you die… or I do!”

“Prove it then, Agathor. Stand and face me, and don’t go running away and giving control of your body back to your master,” Orodan mocked.

And it worked.

There was a brief flickering of the divine orange glow within the War God’s eyes, but Agathor never gave up control from that point onwards.

They fought for a while longer, and Agathor’s fluid skills and techniques were a good matchup against Orodan’s far superior physical strength and toughness.

Still, the God of War was a slippery foe and was likely one of the most skilled combatants Orodan had ever faced. Either Agathor or the Crusader controlling him had Combat Mastery past 100, and it made them very elusive to fight.

Yet, at the end of the day, what was Combat Mastery?

Two people could have the same level in it, but different outlooks.

His old mentor Arvayne Firesword had tried to hammer skills and techniques into Orodan, and the time loops and multiple level gains had in fact succeeded in teaching such things… to an extent. Still, it was like trying to teach an ogre how to dance delicately. It went against the animal’s nature.

And Orodan had never been one for fancy moves or flowery techniques.

As Agathor performed one more fancy flourish and evaded his brutal flurry, Orodan reassessed the situation.

On the next pass, instead of locking blades, rather than attempting to line shield against warhammer… Orodan simply let both his weapons go and grabbed onto Agathor’s wrists.

Fighting was vicious. It was brutal…

…and it was violent.

Combat then, was about violence, pure and simple. The goal was to inflict as much of it upon the other party as possible until they were dead. And for far too long had Orodan subscribed to a conventional mindset regarding combat, which involved parries, dodges, blocking, counterattacks and a pattern.

Violence had no pattern; it had no structure.

And all Orodan wanted to do right now, was hurt this War God who’d caused him such suffering in the past.

His hands squeezed with full force, and the two arms he was holding onto were crushed into pulp at the wrist.

It wasn’t just the county militia that’d taught him how to battle. He recalled breaking the face of another street rat when they’d tried stealing his tattered sandals, driving a brick into their nose.

A headbutt landed upon Agathor’s nose and following that… a vicious lunge forward where Orodan’s teeth found the War God’s neck and tore a chunk out, spitting it into his opponent’s eyes right after.

The Demonic Berserker had taught him of true savagery.

And finally… the Eldritch Avatar had taught him of the hopeless frustration, the rage against all odds even when there was no chance of victory. It taught him of loss, and that desperate and brutal scramble to avoid it.

His knee rose upwards as he simultaneously pulled Agathor’s head downwards, and the connection crumpled the War God’s skull. His fingers gouged his foe’s eyes, and both hands gripped around the enemy’s neck to slam him to the ground and lay him low with Orodan on top.

The only thing left to do, was kill.

[Combat Mastery 89 → Combat Mastery 90]

Bloodlust and the promise of settling one of the longest standing grudges he had drove him onwards, unfortunately, the arrival of the familiar Lord of Night interrupted his moment.

The movements were far too fast for Orodan to keep up with. He was thrown off of Agathor and slammed onto the ground.

This was a level 149 Celestial skill bearer. Orodan stood no chance in a direct fight, and even wasting all 2057 of his remaining checkpoint uses wouldn’t get him to the level where he’d win a toe to toe battle.

The Lord of Night’s amulet was glowing with a shimmering silver, the same kind of chronomantic amulet which Zhou Shan wore which allowed one to hop onto any faster time fields within a certain range.

A sword was buried in his chest where there was none previously.

“Time looper. Your might is inexplicable. How many times have you been through this fight? How many times have you died at my hands?” the leader of Narictus spoke. “I must have tried to convert you in the past as well, yet I can only assume it failed. Troubling. But no more. Now you will remain until your final fate comes for you.”

“I’ve died to you many times,” Orodan said. “Unfortunately for you, this was determined the moment we started fighting for the very first time.”

“How so?”

“You shouldn’t have tried to convert me into a vampire… all you did was give me ample reason to purify you.”

Vakan Almante recoiled as though hearing something heinous, yet it was too late.

Orodan channelled a near fatal amount of soul energy immediately, past the point where he would die. Yet, not towards Domain of Perfect Cleaning. Instead, it all went towards Time Compression.

[Harmony of Vitality 97 → Harmony of Vitality 98]

The additional level gave Orodan some much needed breathing room, all for the aim of drawing upon and funnelling even more soul energy into his chronomancy.

He was on his last handful of cells until…

[Time Compression 49 → Time Compression 50]

[Dimensionalism 21 → Dimensionalism 23]

…the Lord of Night’s shimmering silver amulet finally came undone. And the atmosphere around Orodan felt very, very strange. The energy expenditure of his Time Compression had increased by a massive margin, and it was only the upgrade into the Adept level which allowed him to barely bear the cost.

Still, the enemy ritualists who’d set up the tether from Orodan’s Time Compression to Narictus all fled in terror as the connection between the world core and Orodan’s spell practically exploded.

In the brief moments of time before the Time Compression was pulled back towards only himself, Orodan heard W78.

“Analysis: energy usage matching average output of large world core,”

The world core of Narictus… was unable to keep up with the output of Orodan’s soul energy.

Everything around Orodan appeared to practically freeze again. Including Vakan Almante, as the Time Compression now affected only Orodan once more.

A True Vampire who was almost a peak-Transcendent with a Celestial rarity skill. Frankly, Orodan hadn’t even gotten to experience his true combat power in a toe-to-toe battle. Still, the ever-burning soul of Orodan Wainwright when combined with something like Time Compression could lead to results such as this.

And yet, despite all that. Vakan Almante was moving, not fast, it was a very slow speed. Yet it was a functional speed all the same. The vampire progenitor’s pores and soul erupted with volatile and deadly blood, and Orodan knew that at such a close range if even a bit of it touched him, he would die.

He could attack the Lord of Night for a whole year under the effect of this Time Compression and still not succeed in killing him. The difference in power between them was simply that great. And he couldn’t even use Domain Of Perfect Cleaning without letting up on Time Compression as that was devouring practically all the soul energy he was producing.

But it wasn’t killing Orodan was after.

With the extra time he now had, he cancelled the Time Compression and threw all his power into his bread-and-butter skill. The Domain of Perfect Cleaning.

With time resumed, the blood came for him, and yet Orodan’s Domain pulsed out even quicker.

“No!”

A wail of pure horror and agony rang out from the Lord of Night, and Orodan’s Celestial skill scoured the vampire progenitor all the way to the soul core.

[Domain Of Perfect Cleaning 95 → Domain Of Perfect Cleaning 96]

Everything was scoured of vampirism, the blood coming for him, the very nearby air, the soul of Vakan Almante and the vampire’s adornments and enchanted regalia. It was all cleaned.

Despite this, the cleaned blood was still quite volatile, and it continued on its course despite Orodan’s cleaning. And given his current state as a handful of cells… it would kill him.

Well, it had been a good checkpoint loop.

Or so Orodan thought until he noticed the shimmering blue shield protecting him.

What?

Orodan reformed almost immediately. Vision Of Purity caught absolutely nothing, so he frantically spun his head about all ways. Everyone else on the battlefield was accounted for, but none of them had cast the shield.

“Humans, always looking down at their feet. Try looking upwards.”

The voice came from directly above his head and he looked upwards to be greeted by a face…

…most bored.

Flowing white beard, a rather plain-looking tunic, and a pointy wizard’s hat, wielding a walking stick covered in cloth. He was turned upside down, floating in the air and looking directly at Orodan. Somehow, this old man’s glasses didn’t fall off. And he was reading a book while speaking, peering over the top to occasionally make eye contact.

“You aren’t even casting a shadow… how” Orodan asked.

The man, perhaps a few inches above Orodan’s head, cast no shadow whatsoever. Vision Of Purity could detect absolutely nothing, the only evidence of his existence, what he could see with his own eyes.

“I’m not in this dimension,” the man said. “Not fully.”

Was that why Dimensionalism had gone up?

“Who are you?” Orodan asked.

“Someone who was enjoying a nice break from maintaining a hastened time field until you decided to let up,” the elderly man said. “Care to cast that Time Compression again?”

Orodan’s eyebrow quirked up and he was considering refusal until he noticed that everything else around him was completely frozen, and this was without him using Time Compression.

His eyes took on a serious edge, and he immediately cast a full power Time Compression of his own.

“Excellent. That’s quite refreshing, not often I meet someone who can match my compression rate. So much reading to do, so little time, wouldn’t you agree?” the elderly wizard asked. “Then again, I’m told you had a poor attitude towards books until you learned better.”

Orodan’s eyes narrowed in suspicion.

“You still haven’t told me who you are,” Orodan said. “A bit impolite, isn’t it?”

“Of course, where are my manners. My colleague has a rather uncivil run-in with you and you’re due for an execution in less than a month and here I am adding more stress to your already short life,” the elderly man said. “I still don’t know why it goes around anointing you time loopers. Every single one of your kind inevitably meets a most horrid end when they realize the impossibility of the task before them.”

Orodan remained silent for a time as he digested what this man just said.

Time loopers? His kind? Colleague?

It?

“Hold on… who the hells are you? Are you perhaps…”

“An Administrator? That’s what the job title is I suppose.”

“Truly? And you’re just… descending to see me?”

“Given the large ripples through the river of time that you caused recently, it wasn’t hard to find you,” the Administrator said. “Then again, no wonder that armored lunk likes you. You both have a fondness for creating a mess, don’t you?”

“Who?”

“Never mind, you’ll be dying soon anyhow,” the man said.

“Yes, that’s rather what tends to happen when one is in a time loop,” Orodan remarked. “Anyhow, this has been interesting, but unless you’re planning on telling me more about the situation I’m in, I have things to be doing.”

“Now hold on a moment… you’re not going to ask for my help? Beg for advice and tutelage?”

“Why would I do that? I intend to confront that colleague of yours by myself,” Orodan said. “We have a fight that was interrupted.”

The Administrator stared at Orodan for a solid five seconds before speaking again.

“Hmm… you actually mean those words too… crazier than the Reject…” he muttered.

“I prefer the term motivated.”

“Motivated to die. Well, there are worse things to be described as,” the Administrator said.

Orodan shook his head.

“We’re getting off topic. Which Administrator are you? What’s your relation to the time loops? Who put me in them? And what’s expected of me?”

“I’m afraid I’m not willing to answer the question of who put you in the loops. The true knowledge of that can be a bit volatile and… infectious. And what they expect of you is impossible, so I won’t shatter your spirit by telling you. Though… I suppose if any among your kind have come closest to acting in the spirit of it, it would be you,” the Administrator said. “As for me, you can call me The Mage.”

The Mage.

He’d heard of the Reject, the Warrior and the Custodian. And now the Mage.

“Is the Reject an enemy of yours?” Orodan asked.

“In a very long-term manner of speaking one might say we share similar goals. Our methods of achieving them are a bit divergent though,” the Mage answered. “I won’t be fighting him on your behalf if that’s what you’re asking. Far too many agreements and accords in place, and we’ve done that enough times over the years on behalf of one time looper or another.”

“There are other time loopers then?” Orodan asked.

The Mage merely gave him a look of pity.

“Yes, there were, no there are not. The less you know of it the better, and the less I interfere the easier for me. I don’t need the Reject and the Prophet grumbling at me.”

“Fair enough. Then, if that’s all, I suppose I’ll be off,” Orodan proclaimed.

“Really? You’re just going to leave?” the Mage asked.

“Well, it’s not like you’re very forthcoming with answers or offers for assistance, so what else am I to do? Get on my hands and knees to beg?” Orodan asked.

“It would be a heartfelt plea at least.”

“It would be a waste of my time. I’ll either succeed through my own strength and hard work, or I’ll die,” Orodan said. “The Mage, was it? Thank you for your time and for answering some questions. I have work to do, farewell.”

He made way for the prone body of the Lord of Night when the Mage spoke once more.

“You’re no fun…” the Administrator muttered. “Look, if you want to live and get out of this situation, just make way for the black hole at the center of your galaxy, they all have one. I can even conjure you a portal to one right now, consider it a bit of pity for the situation you’re in.”

“And what does getting out of this situation entail?” Orodan asked.

“Losing access to the time loops,” the Mage said.

“Then I’ll pass. I like fighting too much to take you up on the offer,” he answered. “Although… how about taking that annoying half-dragon companion of mine with you? She seems to keep finding trouble for herself and could use it more than me.”

“I’m afraid the offer only extends to those who are willing. And from a scan of her mind and soul… she would definitely not be willing,” the Mage said.

“I see. Then, we’re done here. Thank you, Mage.”

“Orodan Wainwright… I was asked to offer you a way out by the Warrior,” the Mage said. “I might normally disagree with that tin can, but we both mutually agreed that your induction into the time loops was nothing short of cruel. Should you wish it, you can escape your impending doom.”

“I don’t want to sound ungrateful, because I’m not. I appreciate the offer of help,” Orodan said. “But, without the time loops I’d simply remain as that one foolish county militia man who charged a Master-level foe and died. Fatal bravery and a suicidal thirst for battle, that’s all I had. Yet now… I can fight whoever I want, as many times as needed. Why would I want to give that up? And if I can learn more about this time loop along the way, why not? I’m a warrior, battle is all I was made for, it’s all I ever wanted.”

The Mage shook his head and turned around, slowly beginning to fade out of the material plane. Yet, before he did, he had parting words.

“I will not interfere with one’s free will. Just know this: when the time comes, avoid provoking the Reject’s ire. He is merciful to those who resist, but if you push it… some fates are worse than death…”

With those final words, the Mage faded out of reality, and Orodan dropped his own Time Compression.

Zaessythra immediately ran up to his side.

“Orodan… what did you do?” she asked.

“A meeting with an Administrator. They call him the Mage,” Orodan said. “He froze time, and we spoke for a bit. He offered me a way out of the time loops, but I refused. I asked him to offer you a path to safety and he said you’d naturally refuse it too.”

“I… what?” she asked. “We’ll talk about that later. For now, the Lord of Night, what did you even do to him?”

“What else? I cleaned him of the vampirism altogether,” Orodan said. “No more blood sucker’s curse for him. Rather pale for an elf underneath isn’t he?”

Zaessythra said nothing yet had a grimace upon her face.

“What’s the matter?” Orodan asked.

“Are you truly capable of altering who someone is at base?” she asked.

“Of course, my Celestial skill functions off of my conception of what’s considered clean,” Orodan said. “Purifying a vampire or a Devil King is possible once I have them in range.”

“And what about half-dragons? Would you purify them too?” she asked.

Orodan gave her a look of offense that she’d even ask such a question.

“Of course not, we’ve been through much together Zaessythra, what manner of question is that?”

“I’m no stranger to war and combat; don’t take this as me lecturing you on morality,” she said. “You did what you had to do in order to overcome a grossly superior foe. But now that it’s done… just kill him.”

The transformed body of the Lord of Night was a pitiful looking one. The progenitor of the vampires was some sort of moon elf. It lent credence to the fable that Narictus had two white moons and a yellow moon until a dark ritual occurred and one of the white ones became red, leading to the creation of the vampires as a species. Vakan Almante looked utterly pitiful as a moon elf, however. Frail of body, skin stretched tight against the rib cage… it was a morbid sight.

Orodan’s cleaning transformations could go either way. In the case of Aherozam, the gate guardian of Alastaia who he’d cleansed, the True Vampire rejected its heritage and wished to become human. Hence, it had gone well. But to come in and rip the very essence of a being from its body against its consent? The results were far more detrimental. In a sense, the cleaning had entirely stripped the Lord of Night of his power.

It wasn’t right to leave Vakan Almante laying here. Death would be the least of the mercies Orodan could offer.

His sword plunged into the head of the man, and the leader of Narictus would rise no more.

Orodan was about to turn and walk away if not for Zaessythra stopping him.

“What?”

“There’s one more,” she said.

“No. He’s the lowest sort of scum. He isn’t fit to be considered a man let alone a God,” Orodan venomously spat.

“What manner of conduct is this? Is this how a true warrior acts? Allowing a defeated foe to languish, broken and possessed?” Zaessythra asked.

It would’ve been all too easy to lash out. To return the blame and point a finger at her own dark past. Yet… that wasn’t right.

“A whole year. I was under possession as the thrall of him and his two crony Gods for an entire year,” Orodan gritted out. “Why should I not allow him to live with the suffering that he inflicted upon me?”

Zaessythra said nothing at first, instead her hand came up and gave his shoulder a reassuring squeeze. Only then did she speak.

“Because Orodan… even if he’s the sort of scum who doesn’t deserve a fitting end, what you’re doing will leave a black mark upon your honor. There’s nothing wrong with vengeance, I’ve indulged in it enough during my time. There’s nothing wrong with killing a hated foe either. Yet to forcibly violate his mind and then allow him to live as a possessed thrall when you’ve been subject to the same? It would only dirty your own hands and conscience.”

He looked downward and considered her words.

She was right.

The battle had been won. Without the Transcendent half-dragon Zaessythra and W78 had worked together to eliminate a good portion of their elite forces. The rest had fled after seeing Vakan Almante fall. Narictus and the forces of the Hegemony had been dealt a heavy blow with the loss of their leader and a number of their Gods and Transcendents. And the only one remaining, was the Crusader, Agathor. Forcibly bonded to a Transcendent for the sake of remaining in the material plane without cost.

Orodan walked up to him.

“Orodan Wainwright… end my suffering. I am no coward… I came to face you, and I stood, and I fought,” Agathor said.

“You did. Agathor… once upon a time you were Prince of Hasmathor, and your cowardice doomed your family and nation,” Orodan said. “Yet… perhaps such cowardice is only natural. Mayhap it is I, who is the odd one.”

Orodan reached in with Domain Of Perfect Cleaning and removed the intrusive thought which he’d empowered with Incorruptible Being in the past. It was only right to talk to Agathor without any influences upon the God’s mind in his final moments.

“Tch… at last you understand… they speak of you and your death-seeking bravery yet what part of that is normal? You would chide me for a moment of weakness when you are an anomaly among anomalies,” Agathor said.

“You’re right. I will not apologize to you nor seek your clemency. You who would make thralls of people aren’t worthy of it,” Orodan declared. “Yet… I suppose I must seek forgiveness from myself and the principles I’ve gone against in seeking vengeance against you.”

“Bandy not words with me, Orodan Wainwright,” Agathor said. “Will you kill me?”

“Yes, I will. You’re my enemy, one I’ve hated for a very long time,” Orodan said. “I’m sorry for inflicting a fate worse than death upon you. Now, I intend to rectify this.”

“Do it then… let me die and pass into the next life.”

Orodan picked up Agathor’s weapon and handed it to him even as the God of War lay upon the ground. And then, with Time Reversal, healed the War God to full health.

“Orodan… we have perhaps five minutes until the Hegemony arrives, Zhou Shan is waiting to open the dimensional passage for us,” Zaessythra said.

“Information: dimensional layer parting imminent,” W78 said.

“It’s fine. One minute will be enough,” Orodan said, and then looked at Agathor. “At the very least… the God of War should be allowed to die on his feet, weapon in hand. Like a warrior.”

The subsequent battle was brief. Agathor fought well, but Prince Agathor of the Hasmathorian Empire had grown up differently than Orodan. The finest of tutors, the richest of luxuries, the man had never known true struggle and pain, and consequently he’d fled when the critical moment came. As a Combat Master Orodan was finally able to bridge the skill gap even easier with his unique outlook on violence.

As he plunged his empowered sword into Agathor’s chest, Orodan never broke eye contact. He continued looking even as the divine light faded from the eyes of his sworn enemy.

[New Title → God Slayer]

The title wasn’t as satisfying as Orodan had thought it would be.

#

“Incredible… you actually managed to kill Vakan Almante… how? I’d have expected a pitched battle or perhaps guerilla warfare in which you slew many of their conventional forces. Even that would’ve helped us,” Zhou Shan said. “But to kill the Lord of Night himself? You’ve tipped the war balance very noticeably in our favor. Still, I suspect you’re not at the level of strength where you can challenge peak or near-peak Transcendents yet.”

“I won’t deny this. I only won due to my Celestial skill interacting very unfavorably with the curse of vampirism he bore,” Orodan said. “It was difficult, but there’s naught I’ve seen that I’m unable to clean. And once purged of the blood curse, he was terribly weakened.”

“Fascinating… with that, we’ve dealt a grievous blow to Narictus and the Hegemony, as well as ensuring that vampirism across our galaxy has been weakened. We’ve also secured the half-dragon vampire as prisoner and he’s willing to tell us some things he is privy to,” Lady Sujana said. “The Knight Commander must be informed of this; I’ll have to report back to him.”

“Which means we’ll have at least some time until our trip to the hells to hopefully negotiate their non-participation,” Zaessythra said.

Orodan understood the implication there.

They had yet to really discuss his encounter with the Mage and all the strange answers that Administrator had given. Just who had put Orodan in the time loops? What did they want?

And then, there was the experimentation upon the shard he’d brought back. Frankly, just looking at the thing made him feel uneasy to the core.

“Indeed, some time to get our bearings, experiment with the shard and perhaps even take another trip in-between and…” Orodan said, his eyes glued to the map of the entire universe on the table. “…maybe even secure new allies.”

The records of the universe and other galaxies were sparse and typically only known to high-level individuals within the major factions of the galaxy. Typically, Transcendents and Gods. Still, what little information they had was now on the table.

And Orodan’s eyes were glued to a particular section.

If their coalition needed more allies, then what better place to look than the Yellow Moon Cluster of the Vystaxium Galaxy?

The contents of the last letter he’d received from this alleged other time looper had indicated as such.

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