(There's someone else in the River of Time? No, perhaps this place is more accurately called the Time Tunnel.)
With that thought in mind, Charlie turned toward the source of the voice.
In the distance, he instantly recognized that the other party was a god at first glance.
The god possessed the appearance of a tall, slender yet broad-shouldered man with fair skin, red eyes, thin eyebrows, and long, messy red hair reaching his shoulders.
His hair was divided into three sections: the top section was styled into several irregular strands resembling feathers; the middle section included several sharp strands falling downward, with two main strands atop his head shaped like bird wings that crossed down beneath his eyes; and the bottom section separated into two tails flowing past his shoulders, while the rest of his rather thick hair spread across his upper back.
Overall, his hair structure was strongly reminiscent of the mythical Phoenix.
As for his attire, the god wore an elegant buttoned long-sleeved shirt with a sharp, standing collar. The inner layer of the shirt bore the image of a Crimson Bird, left slightly unbuttoned to reveal a portion of his muscular chest. On his left wrist circled a gold bracelet, while his left middle finger was adorned with a ring bearing a wing symbol. He paired this with pink jeans secured by a belt, and a pair of moccasin shoes.
(There is only one logical explanation as to why a god would reside in a place like this... A Time God.)
Out of curiosity, Charlie decided to investigate the other party's identity using Senrigan.
With his current power, he was capable of peering back into the past starting from hundreds of millions of years ago all the way to the earliest point of the planet's birth in the World of Danmachi.
(Oh? This is quite surprising. I thought it would be the famous Chronos. It turns out the Time God here is Zurvan from Persian Zoroastrian mythology.)
The World of Danmachi did indeed merge various mythologies of the world into a single universe. Even so, the vast majority of gods and major factions in Orario were dominated by Greek mythology, followed by Norse mythology and Japanese mythology.
This was the very first time Charlie had come face-to-face with a god from Persian mythology.
"..."
On the other hand, Zurvan was in a foul mood upon seeing the silent posture of the unfamiliar man before him.
"Your face is unfamiliar. I have never seen you here before." Zurvan stated coldly. "Leave. Out of my mercy, I will treat this incident as if it never happened. Never step foot in the Time Tunnel again."
As he uttered the threat, Zurvan flicked his hand, making a dismissing gesture.
"I'm sorry."
"Hm?"
Before Zurvan could grasp the meaning behind that apology, Charlie repeated the exact same action he had performed on Hades not long ago.
*SWISH!* *SWISH!* *SWISH!*
Ripples of golden waves akin to Gilgamesh's Gate of Babylon bloomed around Zurvan. In a fraction of a second, Adamantine Sealing Chains shot out like raging pythons, coiling around and binding the body of the Time God!
"What on earth is this?!"
The gap in strength between the two of them was simply too vast. Facing Charlie's execution, Zurvan was completely powerless to resist. He could only watch with a gaze of horror as his body was fettered by mysterious chains that instantly locked and paralyzed his Arcanum.
"Stay here. Once all my affairs are concluded, I will set you free."
"You—!!!"
Paying no mind to Zurvan, who glares with utter rage, Charlie turned away and resumed his journey across the River of Time.
Finally, he located the temporal coordinates he was searching for. Without a single shred of hesitation, he stepped through that bubble fragment of the past.
In the process, Charlie collided with the raging World Will that attempted to reject and expel his existence.
After all, he was not a protagonist like Bell who was fortunate enough to be thrown into the past through a natural scenario.
Regrettably, no matter how powerful the rejection marshaled by the World Will was, Charlie brushed it aside with supreme ease, as though merely swatting away a tiny insect.
Forget a single world—even if the entire multiverse combined conceptual attacks from countless worlds, Charlie would never flinch.
In the presence of the true power of the 3-Digit tier, the multiverse was nothing at all.
◆━⊰✿✧✿⊱━◆
Inside a dense forest situated far from the hustle and bustle of Orario City, sixteen-year-old Ais Wallenstein took a deep breath, filling her lungs with the fresh scent of green leaves.
Her decision to take a solitary vacation this time had been at Charlie's suggestion.
Surrounding Ais right now were only lush trees, a small tent, and the warmth of a burning campfire.
There were no dangerous monsters roaming about, nor were there gazes from men ogling her beautiful face and lovely body with desire-filled eyes.
Ais, who usually wore a silver protective coat with an open back, now appeared different in an elegant white blouse and a black miniskirt. Her long, slender legs were clad in alluring black stockings.
The girl stared blankly at the tongues of the campfire, engaged in no activity whatsoever and holding no specific thoughts in her mind.
*RUSTLE—!*
However, something slowly crept out from behind the darkness behind the girl, who was currently not in a battle-ready guard stance.
The creature gradually extended its body from behind a tree trunk roughly ten meters behind Ais, then slithered closer without a sound.
As its position drew nearer to the slender, white nape of her neck peeking out from beneath her fine blonde hair, the snake-like creature suddenly whipped forward and coiled around Ais's neck with extreme precision!
*SWISH!*
"Agh...!"
Yanked abruptly by her neck, Ais was thrown backward and dragged across the ground. Yet, with her battle-honed reflexes, she quickly recovered her balance, twisted her body, squeezed the part coiling around her neck with both hands, and struggled to stand upright.
"This is... a Garouz...!"
Feeling sticky slime coating her palms, Ais uttered the monster's name in a shocked tone.
A cold sweat began to pour down her back. Her cherished sword, Desperate, was inside the tent beyond her reach.
Offensive skills like Avenger, as well as wind manipulation magic like Ariel, were entirely useless in an emergency situation where she was being strangled.
Ais struggled to draw a breath amidst the tightening grip.
"Is anyone there?!"
In the original timeline, that quiet forest had answered Ais's desperate cry with nothing but a chilling silence until her life was taken away.
However, the current situation had been revised. A Time Traveler responded to that plea for help.
"Yes. I'm here."
Before Ais could understand what was happening, the Garouz wrapped around her neck abruptly crumbled into dust and drifted away on the wind.
Ais, who lost her balance in midair, was instantly caught and wrapped in a warm embrace by a handsome, broad-shouldered young man with silver-white hair.
Squinting her eyes against the glare of sunlight filtering through the gaps in the leaves, it took Ais several seconds to recognize the figure who had just saved her.
"Charlie... It's you."
A look of happiness radiated across Ais's usually expressionless, calm face.
"I've come, Ais. This time... I'm not too late."
For the first time in a long while since returning from the Quest, Charlie offered a genuine smile from the bottom of his heart.
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