Rygar felt his stomach churn when he heard those words.
A feeling of anxiety took hold of his chest, as if an invisible hand were squeezing his heart.
Even without knowing exactly what had gone wrong in the future, he had a bad feeling about it.
"What do you mean… you failed?" he asked cautiously.
The green-haired elf sighed softly, tilting her head slightly to the side.
Her tone was casual, in contrast with the serious matter she was speaking about.
"Well… it's considered a failure, but the truth is that it won't be long before we from the future are erased from reality."
She crossed her fingers over her lap, swinging her legs calmly.
"Our entire existence and the existence of our world will be denied… because of some details we let slip."
Rygar widened his eyes, perplexed.
'Erased from reality?! What kind of thing was my future self facing to get to that point?'
The elf noticed his bewilderment and began to explain immediately:
"Look, I can't share exactly how things happened, because that can change the future in undesirable ways. Even in the book, only the things that are truly important for you to know are recorded."
She made a brief pause, her golden eyes shining. "But the main thing, for you, who were from Earth, is relatively simple to understand… according to your future self."
Rygar leaned forward slightly, wondering how this had evolved to such a level.
"Dragon God Orsted... is under the effect of a Transcendental Continuous-Loop Spell. That means that, as long as he doesn't complete a specific Objective, his loop activates within a time limit… and he returns several years into the past. The loop also activates with his death. When that happens, the entire reality Orsted lived is erased back to the point of origin, and simply ceases to exist."
The words hit Rygar's mind like thunder.
'Temporal loop… activated by his death? So my goal of killing him… was always useless?!'
His head spun at high speed. With his Demon Eyes, he accelerated his perception even more, but that only increased the torrent of thoughts.
Questions trampled over each other inside him. In the end, he managed to formulate only one, the most immediate:
"What do you mean by changing the future in undesirable ways? Since you went back in time, doesn't everything almost completely change because of the butterfly effect?"
The elf crossed one leg over the other, her relaxed posture at odds with the weight of the matter.
"In the future, I, you, Aisha… and someone else I won't mention… researched extensively about Space-Time and how it interacts with this world. We prepared a lot for this attempt."
She closed her eyes for a moment, as if remembering the many discussions she had about the subject.
"The rule is more or less the following: as long as names of things, events and people are not mentioned directly, the pull of fate will make everything eventually happen in a similar way. It's hard to explain in simple terms, but fate exists. And although there are certain things we want to change radically, it's also vital that some events remain exactly the same. There are certain events… and certain births… that need to be preserved."
Rygar processed everything with the acceleration from his Demon Eyes. Even so, he felt he was only grazing the surface of something far greater than himself.
His future self was dealing with concepts of fate, time and space at a level he couldn't yet imagine reaching.
But there was no time to lose in reflection. He needed to go straight to the heart of the matter.
What Objective was so difficult to achieve that his future self discarded such a possibility?
"What is the Dragon God's Objective?" he asked, curious.
The elf opened a soft smile, as if she had been expecting exactly that question.
"To kill the God-Man."
Rygar blinked, surprised.
"Hm? Then why didn't my future self kill the God-Man first?"
The elf's smile turned into something sadder, laden with resignation. Her golden eyes lost some of their earlier cheerful gleam.
"That's no longer possible… not in the time we have left. That is one of the Events that must be altered at all costs. In the future, your self ended up destroying two of the Sacred Treasures necessary to reach Hitogami."
She sighed, her shoulders relaxing in defeat.
"It's impossible to create a new method in the short period of time we have until the Loop restarts… We discovered all this information too late."
Silence settled between the two for a moment.
The green-haired elf looked away beyond the anomalous clearing, where the torrential rain still lashed the Great Forest.
Her expression was serious and melancholic.
"Believe it or not… if the warriors under your command unite, killing Orsted is currently feasible, in our time."
She looked back at Rygar.
"Your own strength, dad, in the future… is immeasurable. It's unknown who would come out victorious between you two. Even with all the allies Orsted acquired over the Loop, he would probably lose."
She sighed deeply; Rygar could feel her complex feelings on the subject.
"But once we know that killing him will simply restart a Loop… how can we do that? Wouldn't it be like erasing everyone we love? All friends, all family… everything we fought and achieved… would become nothing. Everything would be denied, swept from reality, as if it had never existed."
As she spoke, Rygar watched her mana burning at an enormous rate. It was as if time itself was rejecting it.
Even possessing a mana capacity capable of rewriting the world, interfering with Space-Time did not seem so simple.
Suddenly, her voice rose a tone, a tone of fury and indignation:
"The God-Man… he brought us countless disasters, countless calamities. He is, without a doubt, the most hateful being that exists. But even he joined us against Orsted when he learned of this ability. It was out of convenience, of course… we were only using each other, but even Hitogami understood he was fated to be defeated by Orsted, so he helped us in our research on Space-Time, hoping to stop the Dragon God from continuing his Loop."
Rygar could feel the restrained fury of his daughter.
"Of course, we deceived the God-Man about this, it's impossible to find a method to stop a Transcendental Spell in so little time… besides, Orsted has such a deep obsession with killing the God-Man that he doesn't care about destroying everything in the process. No matter how many bonds of comradeship he has formed, no matter how many allies he wins over… his obsession will always be above everything. Always."
The elf drew a deep breath, and continued in a more rational tone:
"According to our information… you, the Mage God Rudeus, and a young lady named Nanahoshi… the three of you never appeared in previous Loops. You are variables. Anomalies. Perhaps you will never appear again in future Loops. That makes you utterly unpredictable pieces on the board."
Rygar clenched his fists as he gradually understood the situation he was in.
Finally he began to understand the reasons that led his future self to venture into something as unstable as time.
This was not despair. It was a race against the extinction of existence itself.
More than that, he began to perceive the true threat Orsted represented.
It was not only his crushing strength, nor even his knowledge.
The accumulation of countless experiences, battles and information in each of his Loops. He probably knew more than anyone.
And his presence, like that of Rudeus and Nanahoshi, was an anomaly that would inevitably attract the Dragon God's attention.
But there was the most important thing, the greatest danger.
If Orsted restarted his Loop… what would happen to them? Would they continue to live? Would the timeline proceed as if nothing had happened?
His future self, as well as his daughter and Aisha, had already given him the answer.
Nothing would continue. Everything would be erased. As if it had never existed.
The world he knew, the memories, the laughter, the tears, the children… everything would be lost to the void, reduced to just one of the countless discarded possibilities in Orsted's Loops.
Rygar closed his eyes for a moment.
The image of his family came to mind: Diana idly looking at the sky, Verdia studying Healing Magic, Perseu sleeping peacefully in Ghislaine's lap, as well as Eris and Leo sprawled on the couch.
The idea of all that disappearing… of never having existed… awakened uncontrollable fury within him.
His future self's situation was even worse.
One could not kill Orsted, because that would only bring about the immediate restart of the Loop.
Fulfilling his objective — eliminating Hitogami — was impossible in that future, because the method had been destroyed by him, when he still didn't know the truth.
He could only imagine the anguish, the despair and the fury of his future self. Knowing he had condemned everyone, that he had destroyed, unknowingly, the only plank of salvation.
Even if it wasn't directly his fault, the weight would still be there.
Rygar could feel it… and it was such a deep feeling that he couldn't even begin to comprehend it.
But one thing was certain: he would not allow this to happen again. No matter the cost.
He needed to avoid that future.
He needed to crush everything that stood in his way.
Her time was running out.
Rygar could see clearly through his Demon Eyes how the green-haired elf's mana drained away in a constant, irreversible flow, burning like a flame that had already reached the end of the wick.
Then, as he glanced at the book resting on the branch of the tree, Rygar felt a thought cross his mind.
He imagined the terrible future that would have fallen upon him and everyone he loved, had that warning not reached him.
It was his future self — together with allies who fought alongside him — who had dedicated themselves to sending that message through time.
Rygar felt deeply grateful.
He took a deep breath, and simply said:
"Thank you… but you…? What will happen when you return?"
The elf remained silent for a few moments, just looking at him.
Rygar could see the final exhaustion of her energy, but even so, she smiled softly, with an air of resignation.
"You, in the future…" she began, her voice now weaker but still clear, "decided to wage a final fight. When I return, the version of you in my timeline will probably have already departed for battle. Your objective is to subdue Orsted… without killing him. And then, to leave the Six-Faced World with him, walking into an endless, unknown void. In the hope… that by abandoning this world, his ability… will become null."
Rygar felt a suffocating sadness exhale from her intention.
Still, she remained serious, even as a single tear ran down her face.
She smiled one last time.
"We already diverged in our timeline from the moment I used this magic. Time is a funny thing… That's why even if we don't succeed… at least you will continue our will."
Her image began to lose shape, becoming increasingly translucent.
"Don't worry about Hitogami seeing this conversation, I used the Celestial Sealing to conceal his Sight… you'll understand what that is when you read the book."
Her body shimmered, while the rain falling outside seemed to approach that isolated space again.
She needed to deactivate the magic before her mana ran out completely, otherwise there would be no way to return.
As she vanished, she spoke one last time:
"I believe you will succeed, dad. You used to tell us constantly a phrase from your previous world, from Yōzan Uesugi: You can accomplish anything simply by doing it. Nothing will be done unless you do it. If something wasn't achieved, it's because no one did it… or simply…"
Her voice faded completely, along with her form, which disappeared into the air.
"Where there is will, there is a way…"
And then, there was nothing more.
The rain finally fell again on that isolated spot in the forest, soaking and drenching everything as if trying to wipe away any trace of the elf's presence.
Only the book remained.
Rygar stood still, motionless, staring into nothingness for long minutes.
When he finally moved, it was to retrieve the book, putting it away carefully.
Then his eyes began to glow intensely. His pupils narrowed until they became a thin vertical slit.
At that moment, a determination cold as the ocean, yet at the same time hotter than hell, grew within his chest.
He refused. He refused to accept being merely a pawn in a game between two deities.
If they were all just pieces on a board manipulated by forces beyond comprehension…
Then he would turn the board upside down.
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