The Stubborn Skill-Grinder In A Time Loop

If reversing time for a mere continent of Xuejin had been incredibly difficult, then undoing the destruction of the entire world was a truly monumental task. Orodan had to sit down and spend two entire hours doing the task slowly.

Time Reversal wasn’t as simple as just throwing more power into the task at hand. Even though it might’ve seemed like it whenever Orodan was involved, the reality was otherwise. Pulling the river of time backwards involved being aware of an object or a being and consciously pulling on it, affecting it with his soul energy. And while his experience and higher skill levels in the ability meant his efficiency was higher - that he could ‘grasp’ multiple things at once and group them together in patterns - the fact was that Time Reversal was a serious mental strain. He had to account for everything he was bringing back.

Trying to simply reverse time blindly was akin to pulling the entire river back. Something which was utterly impossible at his current level of power. It would involve reversing time for everything. Hells, he doubted even an Administrator could do it. The only being possibly capable of such a feat might be whoever was responsible for the time loops.

All this was to say that restoring the world of Xuejin wasn’t an easy affair. Previously, he’d been able to restore a destroyed continent and its slain inhabitants, but that was the limit of his mental capacity for the moment. And when a feat of Time Reversal that he didn’t have the mental capacity to do in one shot was called for, then the work took a while as Orodan had to take care not to mess up the time flows for objects while breaking the task into a piece-by-piece affair.

Still, it’d been done, and Orodan earned two more levels in both Time Reversal and Time Mastery as a result. Alongside much bleeding and bodily damage from the mental strain as he pushed every cell to think at its maximal capacity. Yes, his new Absolute Body Composition was the only reason he could restore such a complex world and all of its inhabitants at all. Each cell could pull the weight of a mind, and he could think with his feet, arms, legs, eyes and nose. It gave new meaning to sayings such as thinking on one’s feet.

Yet, despite its usefulness and the profound secret behind it, Orodan wasn’t sure how to go about advancing in the skill. Defying the natural order of matter-form composition, it was as though he’d stumbled onto a critical secret of the universe, however remained stuck there. Alongside his other skill, Reality Alteration - which had been an accidental by-product of focusing too deeply on the path of cleaning - he just didn’t know how to go about advancing either skill.

In regard to his own skill-set there was still plenty of work to be done.

To distract from it, he helped resurrect the fallen, cleanse the minds of people upon Xuejin who’d somehow survived yet were still under the sway of the Celestial Emperor’s Dao of Domination and Supremacy and just helped clean the planet.

Zhou Shan and the other two peak-Transcendents of the Unity and the Conclave had gone off to help rebuild and liaison with their respective armies, and Zaessythra had gone off to become acclimatized with her old body once more.

Which left Orodan sweeping a particularly sticky and grimy patch of mud with his horse-hair broom, his good friend W78 standing next to him, simply watching.

“Directive: Gather data on Orodan Wainwright. Hypothesis: anomalous abilities in cleaning,” it intoned.

“I wouldn’t call it anomalous…” Orodan muttered. Then again, he’d turned a piece of ethereal and immaterial rock into a very real thing. He’d also fundamentally altered the very nature of another being when cleansing the True Vampire a while ago. “Okay, maybe it’s anomalous, but surely there are other beings in the universe who have similar talents.”

“Information: Not enough data to answer query. Query: Why does subject cleanse earth with inefficient method?” it asked, the lights and glyphs upon its metallic frame periodically glowing as it did.

“What? This? It’s mud, and some kind of animal emptied its bowels upon this particular spot, and then another one came by and took a piss,” Orodan explained. “It helps clear my mind and lets me understand cleaning better.”

“Observation: Orodan Wainwright not deterred by task; biological lifeforms naturally repelled by urine and excreta,” it intoned.

“Huh? Who gets bothered by a bit of piss and nightsoil? Can’t do any real work unless you’re willing to get your hands dirty,” Orodan said. “We all engage in the natural bodily functions of life. Or well… us flesh and blood beings do.”

Until they got certain skills to a high enough level anyways. Even without Absolute Body Composition which removed the need for any of that, Eternal Soul Reactor would just burn everything, and he couldn’t remember the last time he ate something either.

“Information entered into database.”

“You needn’t sound so amazed, I’m sure you’ve spoken to cultivators of cleaning, or a swordsman who talks of cutting raindrops in half, no?” Orodan asked. “Anyhow, I’m going to focus on cleaning this patch of filth.”

They were in the grimiest and most muddy swamp on the world of Xuejin. Officially, the planetary government had classified this area as off-limits, particularly due to the presence of Master and Grandmaster-level beasts and the danger they presented to the unwary traveller.

Of course, such beasts fled at the sight of Orodan. The days when he’d be threatened by Grandmasters were a bit behind him. The current patch of mud he was attempting to clean was the result of some majestic fiery-maned lion loosing its bowels at the sight of his approach. Convenient.

“Observation: Implement inefficient. 99% chance of fluid and excrement catching upon horsehair broom. Solution: Unit will demonstrate,” W78 said, and it then proceeded to produce a long metallic tube which appeared to suck things inside of it. “Vacuum unit deployed.”

“A nifty tool, but one that would doubtlessly make people lazy. Besides,” Orodan said and then snapped his fingers, drawing mud from a nearby trough towards him to be annihilated by a Draconic Fireball. “I can do that too, without the tool. It’s not efficiency I’m aiming for, but to advance my understanding of cleaning.”

“Information entered into database. Query: what does subject seek to understand?”

“I’ve cleaned water with a horse-hair broom before, but it’s slightly different when the subject is muddy,” Orodan answered. “I’ve been adjusting the broom head after each sweep, yet it feels as though I’m missing an obvious solution.”

In response, W78 began vacuuming up mud into its frame, and Orodan had no idea where it all went and decided not to ask. The machine was rather friendly and seemed to happily go along with whatever Orodan was doing. And as the unit’s vacuum pulled mud up, he noticed the minute vibrations of its metallic frame.

It wasn’t some great insight into his friend and the machine-beings of the Unity that he was stumbling upon, but rather…

“That’s it! Vibrations! How could I overlook something so obvious?” Orodan asked himself.

On the next sweep, the broom-head was adjusted beforehand, but during and after the sweep the broom was in a state of constant vibration. At Orodan’s current level of Physical Fitness, he was capable of making it tremble powerfully enough to cause a hurricane. Yet, that wasn’t the goal. The intent was to instead… clean with a single sweep.

A sweep went out…

…and the nightsoil, urine and mud were all swept away. The ground below turning green and the moss underneath growing suddenly.

[Domain Of Perfect Cleaning 90 → Domain Of Perfect Cleaning 91]

“Observation: subject tampering with local ecosystem to impose subjective pattern.”

“You’re right, W78. In fact, at heart, cleaning is about what the user perceives as cleanly and not about how reality should be. For example, with but a shift in perspective…” Orodan trailed off and then went for another sweep. The mossy and clear rock which stood in that singular patch he’d swept, suddenly became muddy once more, filled with excreta and urine. Yet… it also contained life and was part of the natural ecosystem of the swamp once more. “…what one sees as clean can be altered.”

[Reality Alteration 1 → Reality Alteration 5]

Even Orodan himself was surprised. He certainly hadn’t intended to do that, yet reality itself seemed to bend as he had such a profound desire and vision of what he considered ‘clean’ coming into being. That singular sweep had also cost a decent amount of soul energy.

“Critical information entered into database.”

“Hells… even I didn’t know that was possible, or at least, not so easily,” Orodan remarked. “I’ve done that before but didn’t know how to replicate the feat until now.”

“Query: how does subject intend to continue developing skill?” W78 asked.

“Honestly… right now my back is against the wall. I have all manner of enemies coming after me, many of whom are actively using the knowledge that I’m in a time loop against me,” he answered. “Don’t get me wrong, I love a good fight. Yet, I also enjoy savouring these little advancements and understandings from the simplest of things. One day, once things have calmed down, I wouldn’t mind taking it slow and closely examining the basics again. I feel that’s where the secret of truly ascending past the limits of reality lies.”

When was the last time he’d sat down to do some Woodworking? Or brew a potion? It had been a while, ever since he’d been caught up in the current situation he was in.

“Information: half-dragon hybrid approaching,” W78 said, and Orodan saw the familiar form of a winged humanoid approach.

If he didn’t know her, it would be easy to mistake her half-dragon self for some kind of demon. Her scales were lustrous, she had draconic horns jutting backwards from her head, and her mismatched eyes gave off a sinister look at times. Yet, to him she was still the same arrogant and haughty book, simply in a different form.

“Re-training the muscle-memory again?” Orodan asked. “Saw you zipping through the air, shattering the sound barrier and terrifying the wildlife earlier.”

“Apologies, when a dragon needs to spread her wings, the local fauna must simply kneel before our majesty,” Zaessythra said.

“Oh? Dragon now, are we? I can recall one particularly grouchy dragon we fought earlier that’d disagree,” Orodan replied.

“And he’ll die for what he dared to do half-bloods like me,” she angrily said. “The pure-blooded of dragonkind have always hated half-breeds like us and the spider dragons.”

“But aren’t the spider dragons going around killing dragons?” Orodan asked. “On Alastaia at least.”

“Driven to that by desperation and genocide by the pure-bloods no doubt,” she spat. “Let me guess, the rumor is that the spider dragons were created by some fell God interfering and running experiments, isn’t it?”

“Among a host of other rumors which paint them in a bad light, and the dragons in a good one, yes,” Orodan answered.

“Of course they do. The dragons’ notorious secrecy is really just a guise for being spreaders of rumors and propaganda,” she clarified. “The spider dragons, half-human dragons like myself, and other species of half-dragon are a result of none other than the experiments of the pure-bloods themselves.”

This was the part where Orodan would’ve been shocked, for it truly was a conspiratorial reveal. Yet, he’d often suspected from the beginning that the dragons weren’t as benevolent as they seemed. The carvings in the ruins of Vylrystia had also told the story of Zaessythra’s war of liberation against the tyrannical pure-blooded dragons on behalf of half-dragonkind.

“Anyhow, care to properly stretch those wings?” Orodan asked.

“I’ve been itching for a proper fight in ages… now that I have access to my System back, I have yet to really cut loose,” she said with a feral grin. Much as she liked to act otherwise at times, this woman was the former World-Queen of Vylrystia. It wasn’t a position one acquired without bloodshed and the love for it. “Orodan Wainwright, will you fight me?”

“Why Zaessythra,” Orodan replied with a feral smirk. “I’d love nothing more.”

“Directive: evacuate Xuejin. Calculation: 90% chance of planetary destruction from battle.”

“We’re not about to fight here,” she said. “Not after you so dutifully reversed time for this entire planet.”

Orodan agreed, and the two of them went about moving to a nearby barren moon through one of his Spatial Folds.

“Observation: moon unoccupied, chance of collateral damage to life, nil.”

“Thank you, W78, I wouldn’t have known that otherwise,” Orodan said.

“Observation: subject utilizing tone of speech - sarcasm. Solution: remind subject of poor decision-making capabilities.”

This machine…!

“In other words, you’re an idiot, but that’s nothing new,” Zaessythra said.

“I’ve been waiting a long time for the chance to bully you,” Orodan said as he drew his weapons. “I’d have felt bad about throwing you around or threatening to use you as kindling before, but now… now you’ll get to face me head-to-head.”

In response, Zaessythra simply smiled and drew her world-sword. Through his crown, Orodan could sense the tether of world energy going from it to the world she held dominion over.

“Whenever you’re ready Orodan,” she called out.

His eyes narrowed, but he gladly accepted the challenge and sallied forth with a Flash Strike.

He’d always wondered just how powerful Zaessythra was in her normal form. They’d met in the mindscape a few times, usually during sessions where he’d try to help repair her mind and soul. Yet, to fight her in the flesh was a different thing.

Was it raw might? Furious draconic power?

The answer, as Orodan learned the hard way. Was both. Alongside a healthy dose of brutality and ruthlessness. Just the kind of battle he loved.

His Flash Strike was intercepted by her wings, and immediately in their clash of blows Orodan mentally put her at the mid-120s as a Transcendent. Powerful, but perhaps around his level in raw battle power. Which was utterly shocking given that she was supposed to have been a newly advanced Transcendent when tragedy befell her. Perhaps there was a reason why the Hegemony had used its horrific weapon upon her.

He actually felt himself physically stronger, the few times they clashed. Likely due to raw physicality not being her specialty. She was ten feet tall and physically imposing without a doubt, but raw might was what he focused on, and his Body Tempering and Absolute Body Composition gave him the advantage.

He even thought he’d score an easy win.

That was, until she decided to start using her wings, sword, fists and legs all in one synchronized fighting style. Alongside periodic casts and uses of soul magic and something most unpleasant.

[Pain Resistance 90 → Pain Resistance 91]

Orodan’s entire world was raw and nearly unbearable pain. Being stung by her in book form was one thing, but in the flesh, when she was at the height of her power, it was another matter entirely.

Rage and battle-lust took over, and he began wildly pressing forward with raw aggression to fight through the haze. It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that despite his Pain Resistance, nothing had hurt as much before. It was as though his entire mind, soul and body were being subject to the worst torture imaginable.

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He’d fought people who could hit far above their weight class, but Zaessythra was the first among Transcendents that he’d seen capable of showing strength beyond her supposed level.

“Of course, you still push forward despite that,” Zaessythra said as she deflected an All-Strike that would’ve destroyed his home nation of the Republic in one blow. “I forgot what a masochist you are for a moment.”

“What the hells is that?” Orodan asked. “What skill are you using?”

“Beat me and I might consider telling you,” she teased.

Fine.

Pain was nothing new to Orodan, and this sort of battle favored him more than it did her. Shield to sword, fist to knee, he fought her for every little inch even as his mind desperately craved an end to the raw pain and anguish he was going through. It was utterly insidious.

At first, it was only physical, yet as the battle dragged on, the pain began to spread to his mind and emotions too.

[Pain Resistance 91 → Pain Resistance 92]

His anger burned hotter than ever. Simply existing was beginning to hurt, and the fear of failure, the pain of loss and grief, it all began to get amplified. Without even meaning to, his face was red with anger while tears began running down his face. It was utterly contradictory, the pain he was subject to made no sense.

All he saw was red, and his combat style began to deteriorate as he bit on feints and aggressively pursued openings which weren’t really meant to be such.

[Pain Resistance 92 → Pain Resistance 93]

Taunts from Zaessythra had him aggressively attacking far too hard. He was being drawn into her trap, which was no doubt exactly what she wanted. Yet, he simply didn’t care.

Her combat style was one of feints, taunts, and drawing the opponent into a world of pure pain and rage which forced them to make mistakes and pursue her. It was effective, it was brutal.

And it unfortunately wasn’t designed to account for an opponent that would keep coming endlessly and cared not to end the pain. Her own tolerance of pain was decent, fantastic even, yet even her face was beginning to scrunch up as Warrior’s Reciprocity made her feel the horrid effects of her own pain.

The first thirty minutes passed as Orodan was hacked, slashed and carved right up as he bit on every little feint and taunt she had. Her attacks weren’t powerful enough to threaten him with death, but they left minor wounds at the very least. Wounds which were healed in an instant. It was then that Zaessythra opened her mouth for the first time.

“You don’t stop do you?” she asked, panting heavily and beginning to snarl like a rabid animal. “Seeing you fight is one thing… but actually facing you… it’s hopeless… this is madness!”

In response, a mad laugh of anger, joy and sorrow erupted from Orodan’s mouth. To anyone watching he’d have seemed an utter lunatic.

“I think… I’m beginning to get the hang of this, Zaessythra,” Orodan said. “This has been some excellent training. Truly, my mind feels sharper and my willpower even tougher. But I believe you owe me an answer.”

“That… that involves you beating me first.”

[Pain Resistance 93 → Pain Resistance 94]

“Say no more,” Orodan replied.

One of his old mentors from Alastaia, Arvayne Firesword, had once told him that he fought like a rabid animal. Pure aggression, no defense, just unrelenting intent to kill. This, Orodan felt, was a compliment. He’d embraced it and turned it into his own style. And here and now, Zaessythra was beginning to feel the effects of it as Orodan began outright overpowering her guard as his rage continued to reach new heights.

The All-Consuming Rage portion of his Celestial skill had absorbed enough mana and vitality from her to begin significantly empowering him by now.

Feints began to lose effectiveness as she had no time to perform them. Taunts were useless as they required one to have some space and time to perform them. Evasions? How could one dodge when they were subject to constant, unending assault?

Five more minutes of furious melee passed as Orodan began weaving his own Unarmed Combat Mastery into the fight. Pummelling her with fist, knee and even a headbutt while he continued employing his sword and shield.

Until at last a parry was overpowered, a block crushed, and Zaessythra sent sprawling onto the ground with a crisp elbow strike followed by a shield bash in the same motion.

She hit the ground with a titanic collision which destroyed the remaining half of the moon which had shattered within the first fifteen minutes of their fight. And Orodan leapt to land beside her and hold his sword to her neck.

“You’re… insane…” she said in-between pained grunts and groans. “I know you have a Celestial skill, but you’re still at just the Master-level.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment,” Orodan said as his own body finally began to let go of the horrid pain that was spreading all throughout. His mind, his soul, his very emotions just hurt. “If you thought to make some grand debut and remind me of my place in the pecking order, you’ll be sorely disappointed. Fighting is all I do, if I wasn’t good at it, I’d be a little ashamed of myself.”

Orodan removed his blade from her neck and sat down next to her. They both sat there in silence for a while.

“Torture Mastery.”

“I figured… I’ve never been hurt like that by anything else I’ve fought,” he replied. “What level is it? You hit so much harder than I thought… how?”

“Level 110, mostly gained during my life and death struggle against the Hegemony. You’re not the only one who’s a prodigy. I’ll take that as a compliment though,” she said. “Think I’ll be useful on the field of battle now?”

He raised an eyebrow at her.

“You know I didn’t give you your body back simply so you could fight beside me, right?”

“Yes, but I tire of being the damsel-in-distress who needs the mighty warrior to protect her,” she replied. “I was World-Queen until the Hegemony took everything I knew and loved. I admit, my rise to power and the liberation war against the pure-blooded was neither righteous nor pretty, but it was necessary. To sit here and have someone else seek revenge on my behalf, it goes against all I’ve done, everything I’ve aspired to.”

“Well, don’t expect me to give you some noble promise about how I’ll be the pillar you can lean upon,” Orodan said. “I love fighting, and I certainly won’t deny a fellow warrior their desire to fight in battle if they want. You’re not stupid, you know what the risks are.”

Her shoulders sagged with relief.

“I see… and Orodan?” she asked.

“Yes?”

“Thank you… for this.”

She meant more than just the fight, Orodan realized.

He grunted in affirmation and the two simply sat there for a bit, basking in the companionable silence.

At least, until a familiar voice chimed in.

“Observation: 80% of lunar mass has been eliminated. Solution: encourage subject to use Time Reversal.

#

The siege of Xian wasn’t as problematic an affair as Orodan thought it would be. With the Celestial Emperor gone, most of the Sovereigns and Transcendents who’d sided with the Emperor simply surrendered upon the arrival of the allied force led by Prince Zhou Shan.

The presence of one of the Conclave’s holy knight commanders and the Unity’s prime combat unit helped, yet those were mere reinforcement to the fact that Zhou Shan offered clemency and was the Ascendent Sword Cluster’s only hope for the continuation of a stable and functional government. Being invaded by a foreign force would’ve raised more resistance, but having the Prince himself approach was a different thing which the defenders found much more palatable.

Jian Song had already been taken prisoner, and Jian Yixia and Jian Ren simply turned themselves in.

All in all, it was less dramatic than many in the allied forces thought it’d be. Artillery weapons had been prepared and troops mobilized in preparation for the inevitable storming of Xian, but thankfully it’d been bloodless and the transition to a new government smooth.

The Puppet Sovereign’s forces had been annihilated by the Hegemony and both he and the Thousand Broom Sovereign had been killed. However, with control of the soul nexus, their resurrection had gone about smoothly enough. Their enemies hadn’t deemed them worth putting any sort of timeline protections upon. In tandem with the Puppet Sovereign, Thousand Broom Sovereign and a few other loyal sons and daughters of the Ascendent Sword Cluster, Prince Zhou Shan declared himself High Sovereign Zhou Shan and changed the Celestial Court to one without an Emperor. Ruled instead by a council of Sovereigns at whose head would preside the High Sovereign.

Funny enough, it’d been an off-hand suggestion from Orodan himself during a conversation he’d had with the Prince where he recounted the Republic of his home world. In honor of Orodan’s assistance in the reclamation of the Ascendent Sword Cluster, they’d decided to go along with it. The Court’s current system of government simply wasn’t palatable to many, especially the rebels who were the worst victims of Jian Huangdi’s tyrannical Dao.

Xian had been cleansed of any Dao-controlled loyalists of the Celestial Emperor, a coronation had been held in the main palace, and now Orodan stood upon ground that was sacred to Xian and any child of the Ascendent Sword Cluster.

Cultivator’s Peak. Where an important meeting was taking place between the leaders of the three factions and people of note.

“Orodan Wainwright, I would like to once again thank you for bringing my sworn man back from your home world,” High Sovereign Zhou Shan said. “Ever since he gave his life defending mine, I’ve been wracked with guilt. Worst still when I discovered that his soul wasn’t present in the cycle of reincarnation.”

“It’s of no concern,” Orodan replied. “If anything, I owe Jian Yixia a great debt for keeping the location of my home world hidden through an obscuration formation.”

“Indeed… yet I’m afraid the formation will not last very long at all,” Jian Yixia said, her voice almost supernaturally calm and melodic. “With the formation under my control, none but I can find Alastaia’s exact location in space. It scrambles the location both spatially and dimensionally. However, the price is its sheer expense.”

It was an obscuring formation that operated on similar principles to the space-interference formation. Space was scattered and rippled about like the waves of the ocean, and even if someone had been to Alastaia once, they couldn’t return without the owner of the formation allowing them to. Any attempts to find his home world would simply lead to the seeker being led to some random section of the void instead.

It was convenient. However, it wouldn’t last.

“What’s more, we’ve caught sight of something approaching our galaxy at extreme speeds,” the knight commander of the Conclave said. She’d lowered the intensity of the luminous radiance by a substantial amount but was still almost blinding to look at. She was one of the Conclave’s strongest combatants, second only to the knight general himself. Her contributions during the battle had caused Agrimon, the leader of the Hegemony, to remain occupied and even begin losing. “It’s still roughly three weeks away and that’s quite the distance, but preliminary calculations by our astronomers suggest that it’s heading for your home world.”

Which meant the obscuring formation, even if it was somehow re-fuelled, would be useless. The letter from the other time looper had also warned that the Reject - this Administrator descending towards the galaxy - was capable of somehow marking people it touched. And he’d certainly gotten to know it up close and personal.

“All the same, thank you for what you did, Jian Yixia,” Orodan said. “Although, I still find myself pondering on the fact that you and your siblings were left untouched by your eldest brother’s Dao.”

Jian Yixia looked apprehensive for a moment, then she mustered the courage to speak up.

“I know that asking for clemency here when I’m surrounded by victims of my brother’s tyranny is just outrageous,” Jian Yixia said and immediately the clamoring began from the rebel Sovereigns who were part of the newly formed council. “Yet, I must implore you at least try to capture Jian Huangdi. My brother was not always like this… it was only after that black day where he led the expedition to the black hole at the center of our galaxy. He returned as the sole survivor and ever since then he has been acting erratically. Foreign visitors were rejected until the discovery of the time looper and any purity and cleaning cultivators who discovered the Eldritch taint were put under the control of his Dao or killed. Yet, he always maintained enough of himself to never raise his Dao against his siblings.”

“But not enough to avoid killing his own son!” the Puppet Sovereign angrily exclaimed, standing up to shout. The man had the most reason to utterly detest Jian Huangdi, after all, he’d been turned into a mind slave and traumatized.

“Enough,” Zhou Shan said, and the man quietened down. “This is an incredibly difficult topic to broach, and it isn’t foremost on our minds. Jian Huangdi has caused a great deal of suffering to many of his people, and even his own family. Minimizing it to the Eldritch taint leaves a foul taste in the mouths of those who’ve been most affected by him.”

The Puppet Sovereign gave an angry nod of vehement agreement in response to Zhou Shan’s words.

“At the very least,” Orodan said. “I was close to cleansing him during the latest battle we had. If I’d had a bit more time and no interference, then I believe I could’ve succeeded. Of course, it’s also contingent on him respecting the threat I pose and actively avoiding killing me.”

“You too?! He tried controlling your mind when you first entered the Ascendent Sword Cluster!” the Puppet Sovereign shouted. “By the heavens, knowing that Yixia wasn’t under control of his Dao makes it even worse! She knowingly led you to Swordmist City to face enslavement at his hands!”

The Puppet Sovereign had a point, Orodan wouldn’t deny it. And even Yixia looked utterly cowed and ashamed of herself at the accusation.

Orodan raised his hands placatingly.

“I won’t deny that you were done grievous harm, but how about this?” he posed. “If I cleanse him, I’ll deliver him to you for justice. It’s not as though I’ll cleanse the Eldritch and simply give him a pat on the back after. He’ll still have to answer for all he’s done. And whether it was him or the corruption will be a matter decided fairly I hope.”

The Puppet Sovereign still didn’t look happy, but at the very least the man had no further protests at this planned course of action.

“Regardless, we can discuss Jian Huangdi afterwards, particularly once we actually have him captured,” Zhou Shan said. “For now, the true issue we face is the alliance of our mutual enemies. Jian Huangdi is the lesser part of this alliance. It is the Hegemony and their armies which are of concern.”

The gigantic moon-sized mass of metal in the sky above had sent a small droid down to converse on its behalf, but it was still commanding whenever it spoke for the entire mass of metal above would have its glyphs and frame pulse.

“Directive: Friendship with Orodan Wainwright. Solution: Alliance with Celestial Court and Conclave,” A1, the prime combat unit of the Unity spoke. In the back of his mind, he didn’t know how he was supposed to begin fighting such a thing. Yes, the destructive after-effect of his compressed Spatial Fold might be a good method of delivering large area damage, but who knew if it had countermeasures? It would be a good battle though. Perhaps if he got inside of it like he had with other gigantic creatures he’d fought?

“I concur. The Conclave stands with the Celestial Court and the Unity in opposing our mutual enemies,” the holy knight commander said. “However, we cannot guarantee our siding with Orodan Wainwright himself. We mean no offense, we wish to make no enemy of you, however we also cannot afford to make an enemy of the Administrator that comes for you.”

“Fair enough. I wouldn’t ask anyone to join me or fight my battles for me,” Orodan said. “Although, can you tell me more about this Administrator? I believe they call it the Reject. What is it? And why does it not simply use spatiomancy to travel to us?”

“The Administrators are the stewards of the System itself, each given some part of its stewardship. Even we do not know much about them, save for the fact that the Reject which pursues you is known to be quite… eccentric. It originates from this very world if the ancient legends are true, right here upon Cultivator’s Peak,” the knight commander explained. “As for why the Reject cannot travel… we do not know, although there are rumors which only our knight general and perhaps Agrimon the Wise, our foe, might know of.”

Orodan nodded. He’d now heard of the Warrior and the Custodian among the Administrators as well. Although who knew where these beings even were? Right here and now, the Reject was his problem, and there wasn’t any help he could rely on against it.

“Then, in the interim, we’re agreed that we must unite to face the Hegemony and Jian Huangdi,” Zhou Shan posed, and the people around the table all nodded.

“The Overking of the Hells and his Devil Kings are also a wildcard of concern,” the Knight Commander brought up. “They detest us and will no doubt join in on the side of the Hegemony in a bid to strike against the Light.”

“Directive: Ascertain political affiliation of the hells. Solution: scheduled diplomatic meeting,” A1 said as the metal giant above glowed and pulsed.

“What is there to ascertain? They are our foes!” the Knight Commander shouted.

“Well… not quite… at least, if our time looping friend here has anything to say about it,” Zhou Shan said.

What followed was an explanation rife with plenty of interjections in the form of shouting and accusations by the Knight Commander. She wasn’t exactly happy to hear that Orodan had come to an agreement with a Devil King during the battle for the soul nexus.

“You would make a deal with our sworn enemy? They are vile scum! Nothing good can come from them and their destructive ways!”

“We made a deal, he kept his end of it, and I didn’t think he was too much of a vile beast from what he told me,” Orodan said. “And if I see he’s an irredeemable monster once I meet him again, then I’ll happily shove my sword into his chest. Until then, who I make agreements with is my own business.”

The Knight Commander’s eyes narrowed, but she didn’t press the matter.

“In any case, the Devil King you fought, Saathmaraz, is the leader of a decently powerful faction among the hells. Simply speaking to him wouldn’t be the worst idea. The Unity has offered to host a meeting two weeks from now,” Zhou Shan said. “We shall journey to X2, a world of theirs, and meet on neutral dimensional ground.”

“And what about now? Surely, we aren’t going to sit around and wait for two weeks?” Orodan asked.

“Not at all. In fact, one of the key strategic weapons the Hegemony possesses is that strange focusing device which you were spared from being on the receiving end of,” Zhou Shan explained, and Orodan clearly recalled what might’ve been his end. Even if a small part of him wanted to test himself against it. “It can destroy the absolute inner core of a soul. Something utterly forbidden by the System, and which will cause the descent of the Administrators. However, when dealing with a time looper, from their perspective, it’s better to act first and beg for forgiveness later.”

“We’re going to destroy this weapon then? A shame, I was hoping to get some training in against it,” Orodan said, and to the side, Zaessythra who’d remained silent all this time, gave him a look of utter bafflement as though he was mad.

Even Zhou Shan’s palm met his face, and the High Sovereign shook his head.

“Orodan… please focus. That thing will permanently end anyone if it lands a clean hit on an unprotected soul,” Zhou Shan said. “Our spy network suggests that they have one of them on Narictus.”

“Alright, alright. So, what, you want me to go to the world of vampires and furry beasts and rampage for a bit before grabbing it?”

“And have half the Hegemony and its military immediately descend on your head?” Zhou Shan asked, although Orodan didn’t see what was wrong with the idea. Hells, he hadn’t even gotten to use any checkpoint loops in the latest big battle, so they were long overdue for some use in grinding.

“Then what do you want me to do?”

“Simple, we plan on outfitting you, Zaessythra, and your friend W78 in disguises. You’ll infiltrate Narictus and steal the Hegemony’s weapon.”

Orodan’s jaw dropped.

“You can’t be serious!”

“This buffoon can’t be trusted to hold a disguise!” Zaessythra immediately protested.

“Directive: Infiltrate Narictus and steal enemy war asset. Solution: solo operation without Orodan Wainwright recommended.”

What manner of rag-tag and motley crew was this?! Orodan would do better alone in this situation!

Zhou Shan himself laughed at their stupidity and then calmed himself.

“My friends, it will be fine… the enemy weapon is something that takes a decent amount of wind-up to prepare,” Zhou Shan explained. “In fact, it takes a week to prepare. Which means…”

“I have as many tries as it takes to get this right,” Orodan said.

A feral smile popped up on his face even as Zaessythra was cursing her luck.

Donning a disguise? In his opinion he was pretty good at it, even if the System and everyone else didn’t agree.

Battering his head against the wall that was a break-in and robbery, however?

That he could do.

#

It was later that night, as he sat poring over a book on Dimensionalism and Zaessythra sat across from him reading a text on transformations or some nonsense, that another ‘messenger’ entered the room.

Orodan sensed it as the ‘woman’ entered and simply took the letter from the illusion’s hands.

‘Dear time looper,

I see you’ve narrowly avoided disaster yet again. I do not know how you continually manage to defy the odds in such a manner, but you’ve greatly intrigued me. Might I remind you that your permanent doom approaches in roughly three weeks? The advice to flee and seek refuge in a nearby galaxy still stands. Still, if you can’t manage that, do come by the Vystaxium Galaxy, specifically, to the Yellow Moon Cluster. There, within the Colodon System, you’ll find the help you need.

Also, your actions in the river of time have caused trembles enough to be felt by me from a distance. You nearly ruined a spell of mine. Please try to be considerate and keep it down.

Signed, Someone In A Similar Situation’

“Would it kill you to be considerate?” Zaessythra asked. “You’re bothering your neighbor.”

“I reversed the river for you, you annoying dragon!”

“Excuses for your rude behavior,” she said with an irksome and smug smirk.

Just for that, he would give her as many headaches as possible tomorrow.

After all, it was time to break and enter.