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

"How many times have I woken up like this?"

"The seventh time, and it's getting faster and faster."

Suddenly, a man's voice rang out in the room, and Iori's figure appeared, startling Alpha.

"Lord Aizen!"

"Sorry I didn't tell you beforehand."

"But you went to a social event..."

"One clone is enough to go to that kind of place, so of course I can't leave a member of the Hero Clan on the ship."

Iori nodded apologetically to the blonde girl, then smiled and spoke to Lecty.

"This is your seventh time waking up. From the moment you became aware of yourself to the moment you realized you were in a cycle of reincarnation, it took you two minutes and seventeen seconds... much faster than the first time."

"It wasn't my imagination after all... This is Elmandes' ability!"

Lecty's eyes widened as she looked at Iori with a mixture of confusion and shock: "Who are you?"

"Just a novice time traveler... As the price for treating prisoners well, I hope you will cooperate."

After Iori finished speaking, she snapped her fingers, and a fan-shaped halo appeared beneath her feet, with a dividing line extending from it.

"Return, Ermandes of Time!"

……

"Well……"

"you're awake?"

"here it is?"

"The Uranus, that's the ship you attacked before."

"Is that so? Not only did I not die, but I was also captured by the Black Iron Clan... Now, what about the contract with the Silver Clan... um?"

Lecty frowned slightly, looking at Alpha with a blank expression.

What's going on? This is clearly the first time I've seen this... What's with this strange sense of déjà vu?

Chapter 527 So time-based systems are just scoundrels.

"Unbelievable... It's power from our home planet! Can an individual life form communicate with the consciousness of a planet...?"

In a spacious reception room with a view of the vast starry sky, Iori sat in the main seat, with Alpha standing beside her, while opposite her was Nodos-Lexti, whose emotions were still running high and could not be calmed for a long time.

This elegant woman with long hair has a human-like appearance, and if she didn't introduce herself, probably no one would guess that she is a Noldus from another race.

As a superhuman capable of manipulating time, even though bound by a contract, Lekti's status is extraordinary. She is not only a representative of her native race, but also enjoys extremely good treatment among the Silver Clan.

For her, there were few things in this world that were surprising. Even if there were, they were nothing in the face of Elmandes' power.

By rewinding time and bringing the timeline together, she is "invincible" in a sense because she can reload her save at any time, even though she cannot go to the "future". This is because even the remaining members of the Hero Clan must abide by the laws of time.

But today she was unusually out of control; the ripples on the black tea she had placed on the table seemed to reflect her state of mind.

"Mr. Aizen, what you're saying is so bizarre that I can't accept it for the time being."

Lecty frowned slightly: "But there's no need to lie to me, and I do feel a very familiar sensation from you. Elmandes' soul is also restless... urging me to escape this place."

"It must be that he sensed the presence of his 'mother' and was afraid to face his past sins."

Iori confessed, "I only discovered the remnant consciousness of the Hero Clan's home planet by chance. I called her 'Gaia' and signed a contract with her."

"...Could you tell me the contents of the contract?"

Lecty asked cautiously, "Is it the same burden that we Nodos bear?"

"I've heard about your affairs. Each member of the Hero Clan has a different number of oaths, deeply imprinted on their souls and cannot be broken. Only by completing all of them can they gain freedom, right?"

But mine is slightly different; it doesn't have that domineering force, it's just a fair transaction.

"trade?"

Making a deal with planets?

This truly opened Lecti's eyes, and she couldn't help but listen attentively.

"I won't go into the specifics, but in short, I need to defeat five heroes and obtain something from each of them, while Gaia will grant me corresponding blessings."

"Defeat us?"

Lecty asked in surprise, "Why? Could it be...?"

Her expression darkened, her face calm yet tinged with a faint sadness and a touch of nostalgia—perhaps influenced by the presence of Elmandes within her.

"...Is it to avenge the children who hurt her?"

This is not incomprehensible. If planets possess souls and emotions, then she undoubtedly has the right to seek revenge against the heroic race… just like the countless other planets that were similarly destroyed.”

"No, it's simply for the sake of being reborn."

Iori shook her head slightly: "At least I didn't sense any resentment she might have towards the Hero Clan."

"……Yeah?"

"Because Gaia is not the original planetary consciousness. The previous one died along with the mother planet when it was destroyed, and it was it that issued the 'madness' curse to the Hero Race."

Gaia, however, was reborn during this long period of time... like a tender sprout emerging from the ashes after a wildfire; she did not possess clearly defined, personified emotions.

"That's right..."

Lecty breathed a sigh of relief, then remembered something and stared intently at Iori.

"So the power of time you displayed earlier was a blessing you received from Gaia?"

"Sorry, I might have used it a bit too often... but you probably won't remember anyway, so let's just pretend it never happened~"

Iori chuckled, genuinely feeling a little embarrassed.

"But thanks to you, I now have a general idea of ​​how this blessing is actually used and to what extent it can be done."

"...When you reversed time, even Elmandes within me didn't notice anything unusual. It was only the echoes of memories remaining in different timelines that made me aware of this cycle."

Lecty was somewhat puzzled and quite unconvinced: "The previous battle proved that your strength is above mine, there's nothing to say about that, I accept my defeat wholeheartedly."

However, the flow of time has nothing to do with the strength of one's abilities. Logically speaking, you and I possess powers of the same nature, so why can't I retain my memories when you use your abilities?

"This is a bit complicated to explain."

Iori pondered for a moment, but instead of being mysterious, he openly told Lecti about his abilities and characteristics—he now had an absolute advantage in compatibility and was not afraid of this female Nodos turning against him.

"Do you remember how I escaped the time loop?"

"Well!"

Upon hearing this, Lecty immediately covered her head, revealing a pained expression.

"The sword... slender yet sharp, as easily as untangling a ball of thread... ugh!"

The more Lecty talked about it, the more unbelievable it seemed to her:

The timeline isn't a physical entity, and the magic circle beneath her feet is merely an external manifestation. In essence, it's an unfathomable and untouchable torrent of time... How exactly was it "cut" apart by the sword?

"I was just repeating what I did before."

Iori patiently explained, "The first few times, you did inherit the previous memories, and your understanding of the timeline was continuous and uninterrupted."

But after the fourth time, I tried to combine my abilities with this blessing, so—

I have severed the karmic ties binding you.

"……What's the meaning?"

Lecty was momentarily at a loss. Her race did not have a deep understanding of philosophy, and the word "cause and effect" used by Iori was not easy to understand in the common language of the current world.

"Simply put, I have severed your connection with the 'past'."

Iori spoke eloquently: "The reason you can remain conscious in the time loop is because you possess the power of Elmandes. The different loops are not parallel for you, but rather a continuous linear development."

What I do is sever your connection to the previous cycle after each iteration, essentially cutting a straight line into several parallel timelines. Each one is your 'first' cycle, so naturally, you can't inherit any memories.

"This kind of thing..."

"However, as expected, it is impossible to completely eliminate hidden dangers; there will still be inexplicable déjà vu in your mind."

Iori shrugged: "I don't strive for perfection. This level of achievement is enough. In this way, if I encounter an enemy who manipulates time again in the future, I will have another trump card."

Could it be that my own abilities, combined with the power of time, actually suppressed the original version of me?

Ordinary people could not conceive of, and absolutely could not do, such an outrageous combination of moves!

"...Who exactly are you?"

Lekti's throat bobbed: "It shouldn't be the [Black Iron Clan], right?"

"No, I am indeed a human evil, and I was born on Earth, so I am absolutely pure and innocent."

Iori smiled and said, "But the universe is so vast that it always gives birth to some miracles, doesn't it?"

He's in a really good mood right now!

Well, it wasn't until he actually tried it that he truly felt the incredible power of "Blessing of Correction"—it's like reloading a save and starting over!

Especially with the addition of the [Sword of Judgment and Karma], Iori can maintain a compatibility advantage even when facing Stands of the same type...

To take it even further, Iori could concentrate the cause and effect of multiple timelines into one explosion, which even a hero-race jinchūriki like Lekti (Nordos) couldn't withstand. How many of those who play with time-related abilities could withstand it?

If someone tries to use similar methods to scheme against him when he enters a high-energy world, then we'll have a good show to watch!

"……Um."

Lecty had nothing to say and could only nod in agreement.

The universe does indeed give birth to some super-powerful individual life forms, such as the Hero Race, almost all of whom are capable of destroying the world.

However, Iori claims to be human... Even if there are superpowered individuals among the human race, they couldn't possibly be this strong...

"Mr. Aizen, are you planning to keep me imprisoned indefinitely, or simply kill me?"

Lecti shook her head, composed herself, and decided to confront Iori: "I still have an unfulfilled contract with the Silver Clan, and I must fight for it. It is impossible for me to surrender to you."

"To be honest, I'm a pacifist and I don't have the habit of killing prisoners, but if necessary, I won't hesitate, you understand?"

Iori first warned her, then said, "The Hero Clan has strong regenerative abilities. Taking out only a part of their body shouldn't be a big problem. If I let you go back as their representative to negotiate... can the Silver Clan hand over the rest to me?"

If that's really the case, it will save a lot of trouble and save me the trouble of calling them one by one.

"That is impossible."

Without a second thought, Lecty refused: "If it were for atonement, no one would hesitate to sacrifice their own body, but we have all signed a pact with the Silver Clan, and it is impossible for us to cooperate with their enemies."

To achieve your goals, it seems the only option is force... Is the universe, which has been peaceful for so long, finally about to descend into chaos again?

"Peaceful? Humans have been fighting insects all along."

"..."

Lecty was speechless.

These Nodos were all born into a weak race and joined the Silver Clan to protect their home planet.

Faced with the same threat, humanity did not choose to succumb. Even though they could have continued to survive by simply giving up their desire to reclaim their home planet and escaping to the depths of the universe, they persisted in their struggle and passed down the concept of "home planet Earth" from generation to generation.

This is incomprehensible to many races, because there are countless similar planets in the universe, and the current human federation has many habitable planets with better environments... But only "Earth" can make all mankind put aside their prejudices and differences and unite to fight against an enemy far stronger than themselves.

Therefore, even though they had little chance of winning, the Human Federation enjoyed a fairly good reputation among the stars. Everyone respected humanity's ideals and perseverance, and admired their courage...

The same applies to Lecti.

Therefore, she couldn't bring herself to say something like, "Humanity's fate was already sealed."

"Although the Dark Iron Clan has not yet found their Noldor, with your help... you do indeed have the power to turn the tide."

A glimmer of light ignited deep within Lecty's eyes as she looked at Iori with a hint of expectation.

"If we could really overthrow the rule of the Silver Clan..."

“You’re wrong about one thing—humanity is about to find Nodos, and even if I don’t intervene, the course of this story will be forcibly changed.”

"What...Nodos? The last one?"

"Calculating the time, it should be almost there."