You are very strong, but my painting style is better than yours!

"Humans are a race driven by emotions; their hatred will never diminish. Once they master the relevant technology, they will have the strength to challenge us—"

"Will it be 'revenge'?"

"I don't understand..."

“Revenge in kind, that’s what they’re after.”

"Why...in what form do those emblems function?"

Inside a certain silver-white warship, hundreds of members of the Silver Clan were exchanging opinions.

They are a race with powerful spiritual energy, capable of even forming spiritual avatars in distant starry skies, and communicating with each other through thought is a common occurrence.

You can't see anything with the naked eye, but if you have mind-reading or other spiritual abilities, you'll find that the Silver Clan is not a monolithic entity; on the contrary, there are many people with differing opinions.

They don't care about power or status; everyone speaks freely, and anyone can express their thoughts. However, despite so many opinions, a final implementation plan will still be decided through a process similar to a democratic vote.

The decision was made to use "Nordos," with the aim of capturing the enemy's golden warship and analyzing it to uncover unknown new technologies.

……

"Ok?"

Iori, who was sitting in a chair enjoying the interstellar war, suddenly stood up, drawing everyone's attention.

He didn't give Alpha and the others a chance to ask questions. With a slight frown, he disappeared from his spot, and the scenery around him transformed into a vast and boundless dark universe.

"Susanoh!"

The materialized energy burst forth, covering Iori's body with layers of bones and muscles, and finally an indestructible armor, constructing a majestic giant that was twenty or thirty meters tall in just a breath.

Compared to the previous "Heaven and Earth Formation" which was thousands or even tens of thousands of meters long, this warrior is undoubtedly somewhat miniature, but its power is no less, and it is even more concentrated because it has shrunk to such a size!

"Heavenly Cloud Slash!"

With no enemies in sight in the darkness, Iori didn't need to use his five senses to observe the world; instead, he unleashed a sword strike capable of severing the boundary with his "future vision"—

Clang!

Without warning, the phantom of the Kusanagi Cloud collided with the spear that exceeded the speed of light and the limits of space, instantly unleashing a heart-stopping wave.

"impossible!"

Inside a Silver Clan warship, a tall woman with her eyes closed and long hair flowing down her shoulders couldn't help but gasp in surprise, but she quickly resumed her "attack."

hum~

Beneath her long skirt, a straight line was drawn across the void—

Inside the Uranus, Iori, who had been watching the interstellar war, frowned slightly and suddenly stood up as if she had a premonition.

But just as he was about to teleport away, a rainbow flashed in his eyes, and he immediately looked dazed.

"This is the second time... Who's messing with the timeline?!"

No, there is only one answer: in the plot of "Heroic Age", only that woman can create a time loop!

In that case——

Iori's eyes turned cold. Although encountering the Hero Clan so early was unexpected, it didn't mean he had no way to deal with it.

With a flick of his wrist, a slender, thin golden dagger appeared in his hand:

The sword of judgment, bearing the consequences of karma!

Chapter 520 All kinds of karmic consequences will befall you.

Once, twice, three times... After "rebooting" more than double digits, Lektilek, whose appearance was extremely similar to that of an Earthling, opened his eyes with a grim expression.

This is a tall, elegant woman with a gentle and quiet temperament. Her fitted long dress makes her look like a delicate lily, and her overall impression is as comfortable as lavender.

If one didn't know the inside story, no one would guess that this was actually a "Nordos" whose body housed the soul of a hero.

"That ancient warrior wasn't Nodos, but he could deflect my attacks every time, and even from a much earlier point in time, he would still be detected... Just who is he?"

She was quite certain that the other party was not one of her kind. Apart from their appearance, if two heroes met on a narrow path, they would have some kind of connection, and even if they were complete strangers, they would feel the urge to fight each other.

However, the giant warrior who roamed the universe gave her only a sense of power and mystery, without any appeal from her bloodline.

On the contrary, there was a certain mental fluctuation inside the Golden Boat that she cared about a lot, and the hero Elmandes within her could not help but turn his attention to it.

"This is so strange. If he's not Nodos, how can he possess the power to fight against Elmandes? The power of time is clearly irresistible... Why!"

The so-called "Nodos" is a product of the Golden Clan sealing the remaining five members of the Hero Clan into the bodies of a weaker race after they suppressed the Hero Clan.

This is a punishment for the heroes. Each of them carries a certain number of "contracts." Obeying these contracts is their way of atonement, and only by fulfilling all the contracts can Nodos gain his freedom.

Of these five Nodos (heroes), one who belongs to humanity has not yet appeared; the others have each signed contracts with one of the four races.

However, Lekti is not a Nodos of the Silver Clan, but rather comes from another weaker race.

After the departure of the Gold Race, the Silver Race saw themselves as their successors and naturally assumed control of the universe, including the control of the North.

In terms of individual strength, Nodos has no need to care about the Silver Race's thoughts. The heroes within them are invincible in the universe unless they fight to the death with their own kind. Destroying planets is as easy as they can do!

However, the power of the Heroes race also has limitations, namely that they can only destroy but not protect—otherwise they wouldn't have destroyed their home planet.

The three "Nordos," including Lekti, all came from a very weak race, far inferior in size and development to humans, not to mention the gap between them and the Silver Race.

Nodos might be able to kill a hundred, a thousand Silver Race members, or even destroy their homeworld, but it would be of no consequence to this race in its "nomadic mode."

On the contrary, the Silver Clan only needs to send a few people to completely wipe out the race from which Nodos originated!

Unfortunately, all of these chosen Nodos were kind and gentle by nature...

This is why, despite possessing immense power as heroes, they had no choice but to submit to the Silver Clan and sign a pact with them.

(The Silver Clan itself possesses the strongest individual hero among the clans, which is a key reason why they were able to subdue the other three.)

In other words, the Silver Clan had a total of four Hero Clan members from the very beginning!

Add to that their advanced technology and the Bronze Clan's auxiliary army... that's why Iori said that the reason humanity has survived until now is simply because the Silver Clan hasn't put in their full strength.

In the original work, if the Golden Clan hadn't done the same thing as Hashirama Senju, leaving the most overpowered Hero Clan to the Black Iron Clan, humanity would never have been able to turn the tide!

In conclusion, the number of Nodos is fixed; they cannot just pop out from somewhere randomly. Moreover, Lecty is quite certain that what she has encountered is not one of their kind.

However, besides the Heroes, what other races possess the power to resist the flow of time?

"No, no one can escape the pursuit of time forever—jump, Elmandes!"

A head of smooth, long hair floated up under the strange pressure, and rays of light appeared beneath its feet, resembling a constantly segmenting fan-shaped diagram.

This is the manifestation of the "timeline".

Elmandes, the hero residing within a woman's body, is somewhat inferior to his kind in physical strength, but possesses a unique ability to continuously rewind time, allowing him to grasp even the smallest possibilities.

Jumping between different timelines and freely choosing when to act, there's nothing it can't do as long as there's a theoretical probability of success!

Lecty believed that even if Iori managed to escape the pursuit ahead, as long as they kept going, they would eventually find his weakness!

And so, time was rewound once again, this time much earlier than before.

When Iori shattered the spear once again and fired a beam of light at the hidden heroes, she was momentarily disoriented. When she regained her senses, she was back inside the Uranus.

However, "at this moment," they are still in the chaotic star field, have not yet escaped the danger zone, and have not encountered the Silver Clan's warship fleet.

"Was the callback made all the way back at once?"

Iori sat comfortably in her swivel chair, calmly gazing at the dazzling nebula in the distance through the video window, completely unconcerned about the enemy's next move.

Time rewind, also known as "loading a save," is indeed a terrifying and extremely unfair skill. Its most hateful aspect is that it is "unsolvable." Moreover, most people are completely unaware that they have already started over several times after experiencing a time rewind.

In other words, the person who gets caught is always the one who "meets for the first time," while the other side always has the intelligence advantage and the absolute initiative!

Gamers should be able to understand how overpowered this is... No matter how ridiculous the boss is, you can always beat it by memorizing the mechanics.

Some light novel protagonists, even if they are weak in combat, can still beat the game by reloading saves, not to mention the hero race whose individual strength can destroy a planet.

Such an opponent can always launch the first attack and has the freedom to choose when to attack—it's no exaggeration to call them "invincible"!

However, Iori happens to possess this kind of resistance, which allows him to realize that the timeline has been altered. Therefore, instead of being killed by Ermandes, he gains enough information in each encounter.

In these two or three attacks, Iori had become quite adept, completely understanding his opponent's patterns of action (because he was naturally good at stats, he didn't need to put much effort into technique). If he wanted, he could easily break through the attack and counterattack in an instant.

However, in order to lull the opponent into a false sense of security, Iori always acted as if he was "unaware that time had been reversed and was only relying on superhuman reflexes."

"They deliberately chose this time... I see."

In a split second, Iori guessed the opponent's battle plan, and with a slight thought, he unleashed a massive amount of magical power—a smile playing on his lips.

hum!

The Uranus, entirely made of gold, suddenly disappeared through the spatial portal and was sucked into the dock world of the [Map of Mountains and Rivers].

The sudden loss of such a massive object caused the previously dispersed chaotic energy to surge up, like flames devouring each other, immediately triggering a series of upheavals and explosions. Heat capable of easily incinerating planets washed over everything around them like a tide.

Iori's body was completely unprotected, yet she remained unperturbed amidst the stellar core-level heat.

Just then, a harpoon-shaped spear flew through the air, passing the original position of the Uranus. It was seen by Iori, who had just turned around, and she showed a surprised expression as she dodged to the side.

The next moment, the familiar giant warrior was born again in the universe. A long sword cleaved through the layers of heat waves, and his seemingly huge and clumsy body transformed into a bolt of lightning, instantly traversing ten thousand meters along the passage to arrive in front of the attacker.

It was a humanoid creature, its sturdy carapace perfectly integrated with its flesh, its entire body a bluish-black color, with fin-like structures growing from its back. If it weren't for its exaggerated size, it would have resembled a "fish-man."

"—!"

Elmandes seemed surprised as well, not expecting Iori to have such a sharp reaction and speed, but it still recalled its spear and swiftly thrust it at the giant warrior.

Clang!

When the sword collided with the spear, a blinding golden light suddenly emanated from the blade, slicing the spear in two!

……

call!

"No way!"

Lecty knelt on the ground, completely exhausted, her face covered in sweat. She was physically and mentally drained.

While Nodos can freely control the power of the Hero Race within him, like a Jinchūriki, he is influenced by the Hero Race's soul during transformation, and it also depletes his stamina. If his willpower isn't strong enough, he could easily be corrupted by the Hero Race's powerful spirit—after all, their souls are on a completely different level from those of ordinary races!

Lecty is a veteran Nodos, and the Elmandes within her is not a particularly violent individual, which is why they have been able to coexist peacefully.

But no matter how stable it is, it can't withstand repeated time travel!

Now, Lecty is nearing her limit; if she can't defeat Iori by now...

"Could it be that he realized I've set my sights on that golden ship? But that shouldn't be the case. He looked like he was seeing a hero for the first time... And where did the ship go?"

Without time to think, Lecty took a deep breath and forced herself to stand up on the ring that was cut by more than twenty world lines.

"Once again, we must find that point in time when he has no way to avoid it!"

Fly, Elmandes!

……

"Aren't you giving up yet?"

Iori returned indoors, surrounded by the Death Girls working quietly. A playful smile curled at the corner of his lips.

Since the opponent was not confident of defeating him, they attacked the Uranus, causing Iori to be distracted and reveal his weakness!

However, the other party did not expect that what was originally a sure thing would be discovered by Iori.

"I admire such a resilient person, but unfortunately, according to the contract, I need a pair of eyes..."

The Golden Boat was put away again, just like the previous time. The spears of the Hero Clan were still fired, the only difference being the timing of the two attacks.

Bang!

The giant warriors and the heroes were locked in a struggle, and Iori's expression turned serious, unusually focused.

"Jump!"

"Fly!"

“...Elmandes!”

And so, Lecty continued to jump between world lines, the ring beneath her feet growing brighter and brighter, and all of the dozens of world lines were perfectly straight.

But this time she seemed somewhat uneasy...

Do you know which kind of 'line' is the most dangerous?