Olivia and Jay were deep in conversation about the future of the Grand Duchy of Augustus. Tribios watched them with a gentle expression, occasionally nodding and murmuring a soft "hmm." Tide sat beside them, quietly eating his meal, the entire scene radiating harmony and warmth.
Evernight stood silently beside the group, a black umbrella inexplicably appearing in her hand, already unfurled. She remained like an invisible shadow, unnoticed by anyone present.
In truth, if Evernight wished, she could reveal herself, even speak with Tribios and the others. But there was no point.
Everything unfolding before her eyes was merely a memory. Even if she told Tribios about the Seven Heroes, revealed the future of the Grand Duchy of Augustus, or even took matters into her own hands and preemptively eliminated all seven Heroes, it would be futile. It wouldn't alter history.
The only thing that might change would be Tribios' own past memories—or, more accurately, Evernight's own memories.
"Sigh..." She sighed softly, cast one last glance at Olivia, then turned and left. Just as she had vanished moments before in the normal timeline, Evernight reappeared out of thin air before Tribios, in exactly the same way.
Leaving aside other considerations, this ability to enter past memories was incredibly useful. Evernight's first thought was of the Origin World of the Magic Cube. Melly and Heinrich had already deduced the coordinates of that world, and reaching it by Magic Ship would be effortless.
Normally, this would undoubtedly be a desolate, utterly destroyed world, offering no clues even if visited. But Evernight could simply use her ability to enter the world's past memories upon arrival. Wouldn't she then be able to witness the world as it existed before its destruction?
At that point, whether she communicated with the world's past memories or personally witnessed the Mother of Flesh's annihilation of it, Evernight would gain a deeper understanding of the Mother of Flesh. And the prerequisite for defeating an enemy was understanding them.
Time passed swiftly, and before long, dawn broke on the second day. Evernight woke early and glanced outside. The sun still rose as usual, but unlike before, she could clearly sense that its rays were significantly weaker. Though it was still early morning, the light gave off an almost twilight-like atmosphere.
"Looks like we don't have much time left," she murmured to herself. As she spoke, a Century Gate materialized before her. Stepping through, she immediately found herself in Tribios's office. Besides Evernight, Heinrich was already there, ready to accompany her on this journey.
The reason was simple: the Magic Ship was quite complex, and Evernight had no idea how to operate it. Currently, only Melly and Heinrich in all of Okhema knew how to pilot the vessel. Since Melly needed to stay behind to handle her own affairs, Heinrich was the only choice.
While Anaxa could have learned to operate the ship in a short time, Evernight ultimately decided to bring Heinrich instead. At least they could chat along the way and avoid boredom. If it were Anaxa and Evernight together, it would have been nothing but her talking to herself the entire time.
Before Evernight arrived, Heinrich asked skeptically, "Is it really necessary to go to that destroyed world? It should be overrun with monsters. How can we gather any useful information there?"
Tribios reassured him, "Don't worry. Okhema has gained another Demigod. With her abilities, you won't have to confront the monsters left behind after the world's destruction. You can safely investigate for intel."
Heinrich remained skeptical, pondering what kind of Authority or power could allow them to bypass the monsters entirely.
"Could I ask what that... Demigod's epithet is?" he asked.
"The Demigod of Time," Tribios replied.
"Time...?" Heinrich was stunned. Could a god with Authority over time truly exist?
The very concept seemed absurdly overpowered. If I couldn't defeat you now, I could simply go back in time to when you were just a child and eliminate you then. How could anyone possibly withstand that?
Everything comes at a cost. If such a thing were truly done, it would inevitably cause catastrophic damage to the timeline. Normally, the timeline should be locked in place, absolutely unalterable. For instance, when Tribios used the Magic Circle to travel back three hundred years, it might seem like she was changing history. But in reality, her actions were merely a part of the historical process itself.
If a time-related god were to truly attempt to disrupt history, they would face immense resistance. The world itself would resist, and all the other gods of that world would surely rally to stop them with all their might.
As Heinrich pondered this, a Century Gate materialized in his office, and Evernight slowly stepped through.
The instant their eyes met—or rather, the moment Evernight's gaze fell upon him—Heinrich felt his hackles rise. His brain frantically sent warning signals: This person is extremely dangerous!
Heinrich stiffened, instinctively taking a half-step back. Evernight, however, merely tilted his head slightly, offering an ordinary smile. "Hello~"
"You... hello," Heinrich said, taking a deep breath and dismissing all his previous assumptions. Upon meeting Evernight, he realized she was nothing like he had imagined—or rather, unlike any other Demigod of Okhema he had ever encountered.
While other Demigods, such as Tribios, radiated an immediate sense of gentleness, reliability, and trustworthiness, Evernight's first impression was one of chaos, terror, and bone-chilling dread.
Heinrich couldn't quite pinpoint the source of this feeling; he simply sensed immense danger emanating from the person before him.
Tribios interjected, "This is Evernight, the Demigod of Time. For the time being, I entrust you two with investigating the destroyed world."
Perhaps noticing Heinrich's worried and wary demeanor, Tribios added, "Don't worry, Evernight isn't a bad person."