Tonight, Alice joins the hunt.

The moment the female warrior named Lydia saw Alice appear at the gates of Morningstar City, a look of surprise mixed with a hint of relief crossed her face. A multitude of complex emotions seemed to be swirling within her, but in an instant, she made her decision. She immediately took a step towards Alice, blocking the latter's path as she left Morningstar City—

"Miss Alice, I—"

Time stops.

The air stopped flowing, the sunlight stopped falling, and the patterns of sound were sealed in the air, unable to function. In the world, all colors and things turned gray and white. Alice, who was in the time-stopped zone, slowly turned her head and looked at Sirin, who was staring at her as always, in this frozen space-time.

She looked at her, and Sirin, as always, was on high alert.

She didn't move, and neither did Xilin. In this gray and white sky, only Zheng Zha was making any move.

"Sirin, what should I do this time?" Just like the previous dozen or so times, Zheng Zha lightly pressed his crimson killing blade and asked in a low voice to his companion, with whom he had built a considerable degree of trust through their previous collaborations. "Should we go and kill those monsters again, clear out some nests, collect some alchemical materials, or search for some well-hidden treasure? Or perhaps..."

He looked at Celine beside him.

"...Is this time different from before?"

His doubts were answered in an instant—Cirin, still staring at Alice who stood motionless, explained to her companion in a low voice. Many complex events, like branches turning on a wheel, appeared in her eyes, and the time-space reversal, covering the entire Whitelands and even further down, encompassing Whiterun, Falklands, and many surrounding territories of Skyrim, was immediately activated.

"Yes, this time is different from before. The causal relationships between this woman and Alice are more than ten times more numerous than all the previous ones combined. If what we dealt with before in a normal role-playing game were just anonymous tasks placed in the extra list, then this woman's involvement is at least an important side quest, or even an important plot at the level of the main story."

Alice remained standing quietly, turning around to silently observe the silent exchange of wills between Sirin and Zheng Zha, a exchange transcending the mediums of sound and light. Behind her, the female warrior who had approached her and uttered her unfinished words retreated swiftly, just as she had arrived, vanishing without a trace in the blink of an eye. The reversal of time accelerated, reversing with even greater force than before!

The sun set in the direction it had risen, and in its place, a sky full of stars was obscured by snow clouds. Then the stars faded away, and the glow of the setting sun appeared on the distant horizon, and soon the twilight of the previous day arrived.

Before the night stars and moon, comes the twilight moon.

The girl named Alice watched the silent exchange between Sirin and Zheng Zha, witnessing the sky reverse and the sun and moon revolve. Memories from not far removed from this point in time inexplicably surfaced in her mind and quickly resurfaced.

Ah… she remembered the female warrior named Lydia. After leaving Helgen, burned by the black dragon, passing through the riverside town of Riverwood, and crossing the Coldfall Mountains, the first city she arrived at was Whiterun. She didn't linger long in that magnificent city, for a great calamity followed her arrival.

It was a dragon, a golden-red dragon resurrected from the distant past, named Minimenir. The dragon flew in from the south, burning watchtowers, destroying plains and woodlands, and then unleashing its undying dragonfire, setting ablaze wave after wave of scorching flames in the homes of Whiterun.

Many died, but what did it matter to her how many? No missions, no requests. She simply wandered silently through the scorching flames and crimson ruins, aimlessly moving from one burning district to another of charred wasteland—the dragonfire couldn't harm her, and the golden-red dragon paid her no heed. She just walked on, walked on, further and further away. Until, as she did today, when her feet touched the snow-covered city gates, a weak female voice reached her ears.

"Is there anyone... is there anyone who can kill that dragon?"

The words were strange. The woman who spoke at that moment was clearly mortally wounded, yet she didn't ask for rescue, but rather for the culprit who had plunged the city into flames. The former was clearly a thousand times, a hundred times, easier to achieve than the latter, but this dying woman didn't yearn for a truly achievable future; instead, she prayed for a miracle that seemed like a mirage.

She was a difficult person to understand, but a commission was a commission. Alice accepted the commission and killed the golden-red dragon, but there's no need to elaborate on the specific details of how it was carried out.

After that, the lord of Whiterun summoned Alice, the dragon-slaying heroine. He awarded her a medal, made her a minor lord, and gifted her a female warrior who had supposedly overcome numerous trials to become her squire. When Alice's gaze shifted, she was neither surprised nor surprised to see that familiar face.

Lydia, the female warrior who made the request to her at the gates of Whiterun. After the dragon scourge ended, this tenacious and resolute woman struggled to heal her wounds in the temple. In the days leading up to Alice's investiture, she volunteered for the selection of the Lord's squire, defeating all her rivals to stand before Alice.

—From this day forward, I will be your sword and your shield.

The warrior named Lydia spoke these words to Alice at that moment, and this could perhaps be considered a pact between them. Alice then took this as a commission, truly using Lydia as her sword and shield in the days that followed.

Sadly, a person of intellect can never become a heartless weapon—the lady-in-waiting named Lydia may be courageous against the beasts and bandits of the wasteland, and may even muster courage against slumbering ghouls and undead. However, if the enemy is replaced by mortals, by the foolish guards who get in Alice's way while she completes her quest, or by Brotherhood assassins disguised as ordinary people—the sword becomes dull, and the shield loses its steadfastness.

Alice needs no emotions; everything she does is as detached and indifferent as a judge controlling the scales of justice. But her servants still possess flesh and blood—Ledya's oath of loyalty is built upon the moral principles she has cultivated over twenty years of life. And when the two conflict violently, she, being human, naturally chooses the latter after a complex struggle and internal conflict.

So, as Alice battled the resurrected dragons and Brotherhood assassins hired by her enemies in a small town called Loristed, witnessing Alice's utter disregard for the town's inhabitants, allowing the aftermath of the battle to slaughter these innocents, her servant, Lydia, finally made her final judgment.

She unilaterally broke off her agreement with Alice. She abandoned Alice when Alice needed—or seemed to need—help the most, leaving her to fight the dragon that had risen from the dragon tomb near the town while she was contaminated with the deadly poison injected by the Brotherhood assassins.

Is this betrayal?

No, in the minds of ordinary people, such behavior should be considered "abandoning darkness for light" or "returning from a wrong path." And perhaps it was for this reason that Alice suffered quite serious injuries in that battle. After leaving the razed town alone, it took her a full half month to barely recover in a city called "Mosar."

The rewind of memories ends here. The same events are also conveyed to Zheng Zha by Xilin, who has the ability to glimpse history. The flow of time has reached a crucial juncture. What was originally deep winter has transformed into late autumn.

Time rewound to three months prior, and the rewind covered the entire province of Skyrim. This rewind consumed far more 'time' and energy than any previous one. Even the holy spirits and demon gods in the heavens tacitly approved of her actions, and this continent was not lacking in powerful spellcasters who had touched upon the truths of spacetime.

They were strong, but Sirin was even stronger. The Time-Space Hound, now fully restored, pounced on every direction of resistance across the land as it flowed back. Whether it was a renowned magic academy, a rural village, or a mysterious hermit in ruins, all resistance was suppressed by Sirin. While suppressing these unexpected variables, she still managed to find time to inform Zheng Zha of this crucial information and assign him a task.

"...That's basically the situation, Zheng Zha. This 'Ledia' wants to re-establish a contract with Alice. She has recognized Alice's true nature and wants to guide her onto the 'right path' so she can eliminate the calamity of the dragon's resurgence. The causal relationships involved in this matter are simply too enormous; this is what is meant by historical inertia. Unless we stop all of this at its root, and prevent Alice from being seen as a 'hero' or a 'failed hero,' similar things will inevitably happen again sooner or later. So!"

Time rewind stops, then begins anew. Past events are about to be modified and corrected. And then a brand new future is destined to arrive.

Sirin said in a deep voice, "You need to go back to the time when the dragon Minimenir attacked Whiterun, kill the dragon before Alice, and save the city's residents, especially the female warrior named Lydia, so that Miss Alice will not be seen as a dragonborn in the first place!"

Chapter Sixty-Nine: Alice's Changes

Zheng Zha nodded solemnly, but did not simply disappear into the air as he had done in the past. He took a light breath, his gaze sweeping over Xilin and the still motionless Alice before turning back.

"A whole line of operations... Even for me now, this isn't exactly 'different from before.' Sirin, tell me if there's anything else you haven't told me. I can handle it."

“This time is different from before. Before, we only had a half-day time loop in the Morning Star territory. During that time, Miss Alice was just sleeping in the hotel. So we didn’t receive any interference from her. But this time you will encounter her from the past in that city.”

Zheng Zha's pupils suddenly contracted.

“Margot Lloyd!? Wait, isn’t she right here!?” His neck cracked violently. He then stared intently at Alice, who remained motionless in place. “You mean she existed in this timeline too!? She didn’t exist independently of this timeline?”

"No, at least not now. Although the past and present cannot meet, the past her definitely exists at this point in time."

"...I can't beat Margot Lloyd." Zheng Zha didn't bother with any pretense with Sirin and bluntly stated the fact that he was not capable enough. After experiencing so much, the only opponent he wanted to defeat but knew he couldn't defeat at this point in time was Alice.

This isn't a shameful fact; if you can't beat her, you can't beat her. Past experiences and Sirin's explanations have completely proven this—he certainly wanted to defeat Alice to prove himself. But even with Zheng Zha's brains, he wouldn't do something as foolish as fighting Alice on Alice's home turf. And although the current situation of standing in front of Alice and seriously discussing how to deal with her is quite strange, none of the people here are normal, so naturally they won't be as awkward and ambiguous as normal people.

“You don’t need to beat her, just make sure to avoid her. Remember, you don’t have many chances, so don’t hold back when you make your move.” Celine waved her hand, her gaze focused—even though Alice hadn’t made any move during these numerous time rewinds, her gaze never wavered from Alice. She had anticipated this situation long ago, and had been preparing for it for some time.

She gestured to Zheng Zha to "go quickly and come back quickly".

“This world is indeed Miss Alice’s home turf, but I did some testing beforehand, and at any given point in time, only one entity can receive home turf support. At the same time, when the past and future selves exist simultaneously, only one side can exert its full power. I will be here to ensure that she does not merge with her past, and that her past does not take advantage of her home turf. The rest is up to you to handle.”

“Understood.” Zheng Zha nodded, without asking when or how Xilin conducted the test. The next moment, a massive amount of magical energy erupted from his body, causing him to disappear into the horizon in an instant.

Only then did Sirin turn her gaze to Alice, who was still standing quietly in place.

"While I would love for you to stand here doing nothing again, just like before... I think that's impossible," the purple-clad girl said calmly, a rift leading to the imaginary space silently unfolding behind her. "Of course, this isn't a request, nor a commission. I haven't asked you to do anything, and you won't find your purpose in me."

Alice watched her quietly, slowly tilting her head to the left.

“Very well, it probably won’t make sense to you right now.” Miss Sirin sighed slightly, but a confident smile played on her lips. “Even if multiple individuals exist at the same point in time, only one can unleash its full power—this is a combat experience I’ve gained as a spacetime interferator. And I think you’re probably no exception. So—”

She also moved her neck slightly, just like Alice.

"Although I have virtually no chance of winning against you, who are on home turf, I still have to do this pointless and foolish thing to ensure the smooth operation of the mission over there. As long as you give it your all, I'm sure we can cover up any mistakes that Zheng Zha might make."

Alice looked at her quietly, without saying a word.

“I have quite a bit of experience in surviving, Miss Alice,” Sirin said with a smile. “Anyway, once time flows back, the reason for us to fight will disappear. So at least for now, please stay here with me.”

Alice continued to watch her silently, uttering a single word.

"Is this a commission?" she asked casually.

“No,” Celine shook her finger. “I didn’t commission you, and I won’t let just anyone submit a commission to you—I already know how you work. You only accept tasks in response to desires, and you only retaliate in response to malice. And other than that, the only thing you do is wander around aimlessly.”

“I won’t be your enemy, Miss Alice.” Sirin stretched out her hand and pointed to the sky. The next moment, the top of the sky turned crimson, and countless huge meteorites crashed down with the sudden opening of one spatial portal after another! Scorching magma, sulfur, and fire poured down towards the two of them as if they were connected directly to the earth’s core!

"I will only bring disaster, causing natural calamities to fall like a torrential rain on the land where you and I live. There is no limit to the scale and power, but even at this level, it is enough for beings that have not yet reached the transcendent to use all their strength to deal with it."

“It’s not convenient to do this in front of Zheng Zha, who is still bound by the rules and morals of the mortal world. So I’ve chosen a time that’s at a suitable distance. So next—” She stretched and looked at Alice in front of her.

"Although I didn't invite you, you'll probably have to stay here with me from now on."

Meanwhile, on the other side of the earth...

Zheng Zha tried hard not to think about the crimson sky behind him, instead focusing his attention on the city before him. The time of his arrival, arranged by Sirin, was a few minutes earlier than the dragonfire attack on Whiterun. And at this moment, standing atop the heavens, he could clearly see the entire city below.

He spotted Alice at that moment immediately, her slender figure wandering aimlessly through the streets. Those once wise eyes held no emotion in that instant. Though walking amidst the bustling traffic, Zheng Zha, watching her from the sky, felt as if she were surrounded by pure nothingness, as if she were the only permanent resident of the entire city, detached from the world.

His second glance revealed his mission target: the female warrior who was not yet a servant.

At the same time, the sound of dragon wings flapping came from afar.

Chapter Seventy: Alice's Perspective

Alice blinked, looked up at the flames falling from the sky. Her perspective subtly shifted to three at that moment. One was her here, another was her in this era in Whiterun, and yet another strange perspective soared through the sky, witnessing the young man named Zheng Zha wielding a crimson greatsword, slashing towards her forehead.

One is Alice here, another is Alice then, and the last perspective is that of the current dragon Minimenir—the Minimenir before she devoured her dragon soul and became a part of her.

The past and the future seemed to be intertwined in a strange way, and she was stunned—perhaps now truly the right word—astonished—to find that her mind seemed to have undergone subtle changes in these repeated rewinds through time. The past and the future seemed to be connected into a whole on some level, and she felt that if she wanted, she could now overwrite her past self and achieve unity of soul.

Is this meaningful? — I don't know.

The subtle changes in the flow of time around her were clearly visible to her. In fact, from the moment Sirin first interfered with time to rewrite the past, she knew that she could easily interrupt her spellcasting and make the past return to its previous natural state. Sirin's constant vigilance towards her was actually very necessary, because Sirin knew that Alice in front of her, even in terms of the level of interference in the field of time, was on par with her.

However, Alice simply watched quietly from beginning to end.

[Should I interfere with her spellcasting?] — I don't know.

Confusion piled upon confusion, and the final result was that she simply stayed where she was, watching quietly. She saw herself in Whiterun casually walk out of the city gates. She watched as the dragon Minimenir, who would become a part of her in the future, died under Zheng Zha's blade after a few simple turns.

She saw the residents of Whiterun cheering loudly, saw Lydia, the warrior who had once been her loyal servant, cast an astonished gaze at Zheng Zha, who was hovering in mid-air, and saw the figure who had slain the dragon soar through the air without hesitation and vanish into the horizon in an instant.

The lightning and fire from the heavens fell, and Sirin, who had been watching her from a short distance away, had already erected a protective barrier. But she remained blind and deaf to this mere force of nature. Even as the flames burned the surrounding mountains and forests to ashes, turning towns and plains into a real-life inferno, it was all the same.

[Should I do something? Should I not do something?] — I don't know.

A meteorite weighing hundreds of tons crashed down with immense force, landing precisely at the tip of her nose as she looked up. The shadow in her field of vision expanded rapidly in an instant, transforming into an unparalleled and powerful impact. In that instant, she felt as if the ground beneath her feet had melted into butter. The intense heat and immense pressure of the impact slammed her into the ground.

[Should we do something? Should we not do something?] — I don't know.

More meteorites continued to bombard the land above, accompanied by continuous thunder and fire, as Alice's form sank deeper into the earth.

Falling, falling, falling deeper and deeper.

Until the rocks behind her turned into cavities, and the oppressive feeling of the rocks transformed into an abyss-like void—she found herself falling from the surface of the continent to the bottom of the earth, from the bright earth inhabited by mortals into a nearly eternally dark underground void.

She knew where she was; this was Blackfall, the remnant of the ancient dwarves, or rather, the deep elves, who inhabited Tamriel. Many fantasy worlds have similar locations, such as the Underdark of Faerûn, or the Deep of the Lord of the Rings. And this place, Blackfall, for example.

She watched herself plummet from the highest point of the earth to the lowest, observing the subterranean creatures scattering in terror at the sight of the falling fire and rocks from the dome. Her gaze shifted, and she could vaguely make out a colossal ancient city on the distant edge of darkness, above which hung a celestial body resembling an underground sun.

A familiar feeling, the feeling of a dragon.

There are things related to her in that celestial body, and a sleeping dragon dwells in that celestial body.

【What should I do? Do nothing at all?】—“…”

She silently extended her finger, disrupting the flow of time and space before her eyes.

Meanwhile, on the surface, Sirin immediately initiated a time-space reversal, rushing towards the future.

..............................

Rewind a moment—when Zheng Zha slayed the dragon and returned to Xilin's location, a land already devastated by meteors and lightning, fertile soil transformed into barren wasteland. Xilin then abruptly raised her hands. Instead of using time rewind, she directly used physical means to sever the meteors and lightning falling from the sky. A massive resurrection ritual immediately commenced, activating the secret resurrection technique on all mortals who had just perished in the meteors and lightning.

The principle is self-evident, but the mortals who had died tragically just a minute or two earlier were indeed brought back to life at a visible speed. The massive fissure in the earth, shattered by the lightning and fire that Sirin had unleashed, was also filled back up by her using spells such as mud and stone transformation. And after that, the city that Sirin had destroyed not long ago was also restored to near its original state at a visible speed.

There might be some minor errors in the details, but the main points wouldn't differ significantly. It wasn't until Xilin completed this series of actions with dazzling speed that Zheng Zha landed on the ground beside her, completely bewildered. The admonition he was about to utter about Xilin's disregard for the lives of innocent mortals was abruptly stuck in his throat. After awkwardly swallowing a large breath, he managed to utter words completely unrelated to his original thoughts.

“Cirin, you…” He shook his head vigorously. “Where’s Margot Lloyd?”

"Do you think I'm the kind of person who does things and then doesn't finish them off? Don't worry, everyone who dies will come back to life, and they won't even know they've died once." Sirin shook her head, casually answering Zheng Zha's first unspoken question and naturally skipping over the second question about Alice. She gazed at the wasteland and the distant city, which had largely returned to their original state, and breathed a slight sigh of relief while activating the reversal of time.