Arden wasn't the only one who thought that their second chance at life was wasted. When Sya and Kepler joined the group again, Arden learned that everyone in the group thought that their time had come, for real.

  Waking up back where they had been a second time made all four of them realize the gravity of the situation. They weren't just given a second chance to survive. Time would loop until they got it right.

  The problem was that none of them knew how to make it right.

  “Lodi will always end up as a host for the beetle," Arden said, sensory veil blocking any prying eyes. “The picture was in my inventory, and she suddenly had it. How are we supposed to fight against something that can ignore the soul's inviolability?”

  “We also can't wait the time loop out,” Sya pointed out. “We pretty much did that last time, and will probably do it this time as well, thinking about it. If we wait too long, the universe gets mad and just gives Lodi the picture. Then we all die again.”

  “A-again…”

  “What was the order we died in this time?” Arden asked.

  “You and Vera were the first ones. It was almost back to back,” Sya said. “Then it was me. That makes Kepler the last one standing.”

  “D-does knowing the order help us?” Kepler asked.

  “At this point, we have to know everything we can,” Arden replied. “We have next to no information. Only that Lodi will keep getting fucked even if we dont show her the picture, and we will get fucked alongside her.”

  Kepler was silent for a few seconds. The rest of the party watched as she struggled with an internal conflict. Hesitantly, she spoke again.

  “W-what if we don't give it to L-Lodi?”

  “Then she'll still turn into a monster and kill us,” Arden answered. “That's what happened last time.”

  “No,” she shook her head. “That's not what I mean. What if we gave the bug to someone else? Someone weaker who we can actually kill?”

  No one expected Kepler to give that suggestion. Thus far, she had been timid and meek, scared of fighting even ants or roaches. Now she was suggesting to sacrifice someone.

  Sya looked into the eyes of the alchemist they unwittingly involved in another paradox. They looked to have lost some of their luster.

  ‘She's already died twice. And one of those times she watched as all of us died in front of her. It'd be weirder if she didn't go through some changes.’

  “That's… actually not a bad idea,” Vera said, nodding after some thought. “Actually, it's a really good idea. Guilt not withstanding.”

  “I'd rather not be responsible for sentencing someone innocent to death by a paradox bug,” Sya muttered.

  Arden stood up as a snake-like smile appeared on his face.

  “What if we chose someone who isn't innocent?”

  “You have a candidate?” Sya asked.

  “As a matter of fact I do.”

  Arden was about to reveal his target when a monstrous Lodi walked through the fog, already transfigured. It appeared that the discussion ran a bit overlong.

  “Aw crap,” Arden said.

  *****

  The fourth iteration began much differently from the previous three. Now that they were aware that they were stuck in a loop, Arden and Vera wasted no time on an emotional reunion. When Volis asked the question they had both grown accustomed to, Arden only answered that he had to kill a hemorrhage hornet.

  They apologized to Volis and Kralis and raced away from the campfire, leaving the cuts of venison to cook under the watchful eyes of the pair of guild princes.

  Arden and Vera reached their destination a few seconds before Sya and Kepler did. Kepler rested her hands on her knees while Arden took the initiative.

  “Instructor, what did you do with Schrell?”

  Lodi looked at the group of Starborn, confused. All of them had a war weary look along with body language that screamed they were annoyed, tired, and resigned. Stranger than all of that was the question that Arden asked.

  “...If you wish for revenge, you will not get it,” Lodi said, putting her tablet down and moving her blond hair behind her ear.

  “We're not looking for revenge,” Arden said. “What if I told you that the fate of reality hinged upon us finding and talking to him?”

  Lodi gave him a flat look.

  “Then I'd call you either the world's worst liar or a raving lunatic.”

  “I've been called both of those things before. Where is Schrell?”

  If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  Her orange-tier aura brought him to his knees. He was kind of sad to only be subject to the auras of Starborn and Celestials now. As much as it sucked in the moment having Domah and the Stargazer shut him down with their infinite pressure, at least he knew that it would be highly, highly improbable that something else could exert as much of a presence as those two deity-like bullshit entities.

  Now though, Arden was being subject to mainly orange-tier auras, so he had begun to forget what it was like to be God's doormat, which while good for his survival, was less good in terms of being able to tank higher tier auras.

  “I don't like your attitude, participant.”

  Arden expanded his own aura to try and mitigate the effects of Lodi’s. Sya and Vera both tried to support him with their own auras, while Kepler who hadn't been trained in the art of aura after her four day tenure of being Starborn could only watch.

  Lodi’s eyes narrowed.

  “I expected you to act up, Arden, but I didn't expect you to rope in the other two.”

  “I didn't rope them in,” Arden said, breathing heavily between each word. “They're victims of circumstance just like me.”

  “And what circumstance is that?”

  “You won't believe us,” Vera said, cutting into the conversation. “We need Schrell. Believe that, and believe that we will do whatever it takes to get to him.”

  “It won't matter if you detain us,” Sya said. “We'll be dead in the next few minutes anyway.”

  “What?” Lodi asked. “Schrell is not going to escape and kill you guys. I doubt he even can.”

  “Trust me,” Arden said. “We're not worried about being killed by him. That's kind of why we need to find him.”

  “...What are you planning?”

  “Agh! You're so frustrating! We don't have time for this!” Arden snapped. “Just tell us where he is! I'll promise on my existence as the Archon of Evolution that this won't lead back to you!”

  Vera and Sya looked at him like he was insane, which he might well have been, but he didn't care. This was not the time for subtlety. They needed answers, and fast. His heartbeat started to beat faster, all too aware of how little time they had left before the fifth run.

  “What's an Archon?” Lodi asked.

  “It’s not important,” he said. “Just, please, tell us.”

  Lodi didn’t react beyond putting her tablet on the ground and boring a hole into him with her glare.

  “This is bigger than all of us,” Vera said, pleading with Lodi.

  She still didn’t react. Time ticked onwards. Arden estimated that there was less than five minutes before the picture found its way to her. He growled and summoned his mundane sword, and held its point against his throat.

  That got Lodi’s attention. That was a threat she couldn’t ignore. He had proved to her once before that he was not above self-mutilation, but this looked to be far more morbid than last time. He wouldn’t just stab himself, he would pierce his brain with the sword as well. Even if he had a healing ability, he was only red-tier. There would be no saving him.

  “...Why are you willing to go this far?” Lodi asked.

  “I told you already,” Arden whispered. “Reality is hinging on us getting to Schrell.”

  Lodi looked into his crimson eyes. They weren’t shaking at all. He wasn’t worried about his death at all. He was determined to do anything to get the answer he needed. She wasn’t sure whether to be impressed or scared of his resolve. What tipped the scales in Arden’s direction was the shock on the faces of those in his party when they saw that he was willing to kill himself if he didn't get what he wanted. Vera in particular looked furious.

  Lodi relented when the sword pushed into Arden’s neck, drawing blood.

  “Okay! Fine! Stop!” She sighed, looking at him hatefully. “Gettle’s taking him back to the Association right now.”

  “Who?”

  “My coworker from the interview. The one who looks like he does modeling work.”

  “I remember him,” Arden nodded, taking the sword away from his throat. “How far out is he?”

  “He was here at this camp when we arrived. As soon as everyone started to relax, he headed back out the way we came with Schrell. That was twenty minutes ago.”

  Arden ran the numbers in his head.

  ‘Twenty minutes ago. That would be ten minutes before the loop began. He has a ten minute head start on us.’

  “He’s orange-tier too, right?” Sya asked.

  “Correct. If you want to get to Schrell, you better head out fast.”

  The group of Starborn turned around and started sprinting the way they came from that day. They took a few steps when Lodi called out to Arden. He turned around.

  “You dropped this,” Lodi said, holding a picture between her fingers.

  *****

  “What’s your second target?” Volis asked.

  Instead of giving an answer, Arden was knocked to the ground by a furious Vera’s slap across the face. He felt his cheek burn in pain from the slap infused with stellar essence. She grabbed him by the collar and pulled his face close to hers so he could see her ire up close. Before Volis or Kralis could intervene, she threw down the sensory veil.

  “Don’t ever do that again!” Vera yelled.

  Arden’s eyes didn’t shake even when threatening to kill himself, but in front of his girlfriend who’s fury burned with the heat of a thousand suns his whole body trembled. If there was one thing he never wanted to do, it was disappointing her, and just like during the interview, he had done just that.

  “I’ve already seen you die several times!” She continued. “I know we can’t avoid it if Lodi goes ape again, but don’t you dare throw away your life like that!”

  Arden defended himself.

  “Vera, we’re stuck in a loop! We needed that information! We need to try everything we can! Even if it goes nowhere! Putting my life at risk was the only way!”

  “What if it does go somewhere, huh!? What if the timeloop ended because you killed yourself trying to test out a theory!? You would be gone, and we would still be here! Do you know how much we rely on you!? How much I rely on you!? You’re the most important person in the world to me!”

  Angry tears fell from Vera’s face, immediately dousing the fire within her and Arden. She buried her face in his shoulder and wrapped her arms around him.

  “I don’t care that we’re stuck in a time loop,” she said. “Life still has value. Especially your life. To me at least.”

  She pulled her face out of his shoulder and looked deep into his eyes with her own wet ones. She continued speaking, still absent of anger.

  “I know you’re worried about losing your humanity. I know you’re horrified that the description of your Constellation will come true. If you want to stay human, don’t show off how little your own death- your own suicide- affects you.”

  The words cut into Arden like knives. Without even realizing it, he started crying as well. Once again, Vera was completely right about him. Someone who completely disregarded human life was about as far from human as one could possibly be. He remembered back to the night years ago when he yelled at Sya for believing that her own death would make his life better. He felt like such a hypocrite.

  “I’m sorry,” he said, holding onto Vera. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”

  *****

  The sensory veil came down and Arden and Vera stepped out of it with their hands intertwined. Sya and Kepler were waiting for them. Sya looked at the pair and nodded to herself. Both of their eyes looked much clearer.

  “We were already ten minutes behind Gettle,” she said, looking far off into the dimly lit cave. Somewhere out there was an orange-tier Starborn Association member, a half-rogue Starborn, and the corpses of Celestials that were killed before the time loop went into effect. “Now we have even less time.”

  “We’ll make it work,” Arden said confidently. “We have all the time in the world.”