Chapter 66: Loop Drift

  I woke up on the all-too-familiar grass field.

  The moment I sat up, I saw Chronos pacing angrily in front of me. Pix and Balthor stood beside him, desperately trying to calm him down.

  “Young Master, you must rest.” Balthor urged.

  “Boss, please relax!” Pix added.

  Chronos shook his head, fuming. “I can’t believe he would do this!” He kept pacing, his frustration boiling over. “How many times do I have to tell him?!”

  I narrowed my eyes and butted in. “Tell me what?”

  All three of them turned their attention to me at once.

  Chronos’ blazing eyes locked onto mine. “I told you to stay away from Goren, didn’t I?!” His voice thundered around us. “You already made this mistake once, and that’s why we had to agree to that shitty deal with Dolos! And now you’re doing it again?!”

  Surprisingly, I remained calm despite his outburst.

  I rolled my eyes. “Here we go again…” I muttered. “I’m already tired of this. Just send me back.”

  “I won’t send you back until I’m certain we’re on the same page!” Chronos snapped. “The fate of your universe is on the line! Don’t belittle this!”

  I shook my head, voice hardening. “You’re wrong. We made that shitty deal with Dolos because of you. This is your fault.”

  “My fault?” Chronos stiffened, his expression shifting from anger to shock, then back to anger. “What the hell do you even know?!”

  I rose to my feet, the built-up anger inside bursting out.

  “I know little but I understand enough.” I shot back. “You’re a god, for crying out loud! You didn’t notice that your top assistant fell in love? That he needed help?” My voice continued rising. “You literally made him into what he is today by neglecting him! That’s why we had to agree to that shitty deal with him – because he despises you and wants to kill you!”

  Chronos’ face went blank. Pix and Balthor were just as stunned.

  For a brief second, I wondered if I had gone too far – if I had just sealed my fate by shouting accusations at a god who I knew could erase me from existence.

  But for some reason, I didn’t feel afraid.

  “Balthor, look at him. He has it...” Pix’s voice broke the tense silence. She pointed at me with one hand, tugging the butler’s sleeve with the other.

  Balthor’s eyes widened in horror. “Oh, my…”

  Chronos’ expression softened slightly. “Looks like he has a case of a Loop Drift.” He muttered, turning away. “Well, I can’t be mad at him if that’s the case.”

  “Loop Drift?” I echoed, confused.

  “Yes.” Balthor replied calmly. “It’s a term we use for when the Champion’s mind becomes too mentally fatigued. When the strain of repeated loops wears them down and they start to act without fear…without caution. Even going as far as to disrespect a god in his own realm.”

  I stared at him, my gut twisting.

  Bullshit.

  I wasn’t buying it.

  Of course, I felt mentally drained, but they so happened to have an actual term for it?

  Yeah, right.

  I scoffed. “Oh, yeah, totally. You definitely didn’t just make that term up right now to dismiss everything I said, right?” My gaze hardened. “Just like all the other manipulations you’ve put me through?”

  Chronos turned back to me sharply. “Other manipulations? What the hell are you even talking about, Aidan?”

  Pix jumped in between us, arms raised in a nervous attempt to diffuse the situation. “Boss, relax! He definitely has Loop Drift! There’s no way he would ever talk to you like this if he didn’t!”

  “Forget the damn Loop Drift!” I shouted, locking eyes with Chronos. “You knew I would get Yana involved, didn’t you? You wanted me to get her involved!”

  His gaze wavered for a moment – but it was enough for me. The momentary hesitation was all I needed to confirm my doubts.

  “That’s why you worded it that way, didn’t you?” My voice suddenly shook. “‘You are to speak about your mission to no one’.” I shook my head angrily. “And when I tried to work around the restriction and failed, you made me remember that I got her marked and killed! You wanted that to happen, didn’t you?!”

  Tears streamed down my cheeks without me even realizing.

  “And now I can’t feel anything anymore!” I snapped. “I pushed her so far away to keep her safe that I can’t feel anything anymore!”

  “Aidan…” Pix whispered, stepping toward me cautiously, her expression worried.

  But I ignored her, my gaze locking onto Chronos again. “Well?! Tell me the truth! Tell me that’s not the case!”

  “What about some personal responsibility?” he replied, his tone harsh. “Take accountability for your own actions!”

  “Of course I take accountability! It was my fault in the end, but you pushed me there!” I replied. “And that wasn't the only time! It’s the same thing that happened with Goren. How did you expect me to just ignore him when he was that far stronger and already suspicious of me? How could’ve I deny his attempts to help me?!” I shook my head again. “Tell me the truth! Tell me you wanted all of this to happen!”

  Chronos eyes flared, and he finally snapped. “Of course I did it on purpose! Is that what you wanted to hear?!”

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  Despite wanting to know the truth, his confirmation shook me.

  “You think I like doing this?” He shook his head, eyes blazing, voice filled with frustration. “You think I enjoy manipulating you and all the others before you?"

  He continued. “I can’t have my champions retain their memories without getting them marked and constantly killed by Erebus. But I also can’t just leave them to their own devices and watch them repeat every loop exactly the same way, making zero progress and wasting our time.

  “So yes, I knew you would try telling Yana about what was going on. That’s why I left you that supposed loophole. But getting Yana marked was the only way to push you in the direction you needed to go.

  “Think about it!” He pressed. “Without Yana being marked, would you ever have considered leaving her behind? Would you ever have explored the dungeon on your own? Would you have reached Kaelstrife and found the Darknessbound Core? It was necessary! And I won’t apologize for that.”

  At that moment, something inside me snapped, and I lunged at him. “You son of a bitch!”

  But Pix intercepted me, stopping me far too easily for a girl her size. Her grip was unbreakable.

  “Relax, Aidan.” She whispered, trying to calm me down, straining slightly but holding firm. “Don’t do anything foolish. Chronos is on your side.”

  I struggled against her grip. “He made me remember I had her killed just to mess with my mind!”

  “Mr. Dar, you must understand that Master Chronos has no choice in the matter.” Balthor attempted to calm me down as well. "It's the only way he can intervene within the boundaries of our challenge."

  I ignored him, turning my furious gaze back to Chronos. “Do you even realize how hard it was on me?!”

  “It made you understand the stakes.” Chronos replied harshly. “It made you realize the full reality of what would happen if you failed!”

  “You could have done it differently!” I shouted.

  “How, exactly?!” he snapped back. “I can’t tell my champions what to do! That’s direct interference – it’s against the rules and would only empower Erebus! Manipulating you all is the only way I have to save you.”

  I growled in frustration, my hands clenched so hard my nails dug into my palms.

  Pix finally let me go, and I turned away from them.

  “You say you want to save us but you don't treat us like we're worth saving.” My voice grew quitter now, but no less sharp. "'A Pawn' - wasn't that how Pix called me the first time you had called me here? That's all we are to you, huh? Pawns..." I shook my head. "Instead of trying to discuss things with your champions, working as true partners, you manipulate them to progress in the way you see fit. Is it because you think we're stupid monkeys compared to a godly entity like you, or is it because you just don't understand humans at all?"

  I turned sharply before he could respond, finishing what I had to say. "I can understand why Dolos hates you so much.”

  A tense silence followed before Balthor approached me, handing out a small flask filled with a shimmering liquid.

  “Take it, Mr. Dar.” His voice was gentle. “This is a bit of Essence of Time. It will help with your Loop Drift. Yours is quite severe.”

  I shook my head. “I don’t want anything. Just send me back.”

  “I’m not sending you – “ Chronos began.

  “Send me back!” I cut him off sharply.

  I took a deep breath to steady myself, then spoke again.

  “I’ll deal with this. I’ll save my world. And I’ll do it how I see fit.” I turned back to face him. “I don’t know Goren that well, but I know one thing – we’re both caught in the crossfire between three gods and I’m done playing this game your way.”

  I shook my head. “Me and him – we’ll end this together. And I don’t want to see you again until Erebus is finally imprisoned in that damn Core and you take him away or whatever."

  The silence that followed was loud. For a long moment, no one opened their mouths.

  Then, Chronos finally spoke, his voice tired – even annoyed.

  “Have it your way, ungrateful brat.”

  “Wait, no!” Balthor and Pix called out in unison, but it was too late.

  Everything turned black.

  ***

  [Déjà vu System: Level 53]

  [Loop Count: 56]

  [Experience Points (XP): 9,376 / 77,000]

  “Wakey, wakey, Spellsword.”

  A voice pulled me out of sleep.

  I blinked awake to find Goren hunched over me.

  Instinct took over and I immediately conjured a Fireball and aimed at him.

  He raised his hands in a calming gesture. “Oh, wow – chill, Spellsword! We’re on the same side!”

  Wait. I recognized him. Even without the System.

  I could recall our agreement to team up in the last run – and only it.

  How?

  Chronos…

  Seeing how he manipulated me before, I couldn’t shake the feeling that leaving me with this memory was yet another one of his manipulations in the making.

  I exhaled, shaking off the tension. “My bad.” I sat up. “The hell are you doing in my house, though?”

  Goren chuckled. “Don’t worry, I just got here. I figured we should start the day earlier than usual. Together.”

  I frowned. “Earlier?”

  Then, I glanced out the window and realized what he meant.

  It was still so, so dark outside. “What time is it?”

  “Just an hour past midnight, give or take.” Goren replied casually, grinning. “Come. We should get ready for the big day ahead. I have a good feeling about this run.”

  “Really?” I asked, cautious.

  He nodded eagerly. “That ice wench was something. We need to find her.”

  “Ice wench?” I repeated, confused.

  Goren raised an eyebrow. “Did you forget already? Gods, your System is something else…”

  “…second inventory…” an Echo of my own voice rang in my ears.

  Goren was about to say something else, but I stopped him with a raised hand.

  “Wait.”

  He tilted his head. “What?”

  "Before you say anything, I need to check something.”

  I opened my second inventory, surprised to see all those Memory Fragments and Vestiges of Time. I watched them all, reliving the memories. Slowly, together with Déjà vu, I reminded myself of what my past selves had learned.

  Eventually, I landed on a Personal Vestige of Time - the one I had created. I watched it only to see how I made Yana mad in the morning and how she ran away from me. My heart twisted at the memory, but I reminded myself that I was doing this for her.

  Goren couldn’t keep quiet anymore and broke the silence. “So, I thought we should go to my village – Eastwell. Our blacksmith is one of the best around. We need to get you some new armor. Not this low-level shit you have now.”

  I barely heard him, focusing instead on the Key Items in my inventory.

  The Darknessbound Core – I knew it from my conversations with Chronos.

  But the Eye of Axul and Essence of Darkness orb? Those were a riddle.

  And then, there was the Sword of Radiance. I recognized it and its purpose from my conversation with Pix and Balthor that one time.

  I summoned it and the sword materialized in my hands, glowing brightly.

  [Sword of Radiance: Not allowed to use weapon. Must be “Chosen of the Light”]

  “Wow.” Goren’s voice cut through my thoughts. “I didn’t know Gaelith gave you his sword.”

  I froze, my eyes widening in surprise. “What?”

  Goren blinked. “What what?” He pointed at the sword. “That’s Gaelith’s blade.”

  His expression shifted – realization dawning. “Oh. Right. You and your System...”

  But before he could elaborate, I saw it – a faint purple aura surrounding the blade.

  [Temporal Trace: Vestige of Time #15 - Available]

  How long was this blade in my inventory? How did I not see this Vestige until now?!

  I plunged into the memory immediately.

  But instead of reliving a distant past, I relived one of my past loops.

  How I found Gaelith in an empty chamber.

  How he offered his help to fight Erebus.

  How we fought together against Kelltins - Dark Axul - and his Scorpion companion, Stinger.

  I saw the truth of Gaelith’s Darkness – Gaelith's other, corrupted self – the true vessel of Erebus.

  And I saw him leaving me his sword to protect me from Darkness – leaving himself exposed for the loops to come.

  I gasped as the memory ended, the weight of it hitting me all at once.

  He sacrificed his safety for me and I forgot about him completely.

  “Gaelith…” I whispered, turning to Goren with urgency. “We must find him. Quickly!”