Chapter 283
'An experiment to create an immortal?'
Most of Harvey West's experiments were related to strengthening the physical body—resuscitation, resurrection, human modification, and so on.
'Was Harvey the Madman's goal to create an immortal being?'
Zeke tried to view Harvey West's research data, but just as with Richmonde's, his access was restricted.
"Damn it... Come to think of it, if I find all three holy relics, I can receive Hoshigar-nim's title."
If he found all three holy relics, the chain quest reward was the title Aegis of the Archmage. If he obtained that title, he might gain administrator privileges for the Tower of Infinity.
'I'll have to look more into this Harvey West.'
The next day, Zeke left the Nirvana Central Branch to resume his journey. Before seeking out the druids of Aten, he planned to go to the Temple of Chronos to activate his mother's watch.
He traveled to the location of the temple marked on his map to update the authentication key.
The coordinates on the map pointed to a location in downtown Aten. When he arrived, he was surprised to find a museum.
'The Temple of Chronos is in a museum?'
Considering the Dragon Slayer's Sanctuary had been beneath the academy library and an authentication key had been in the Valhalla library, it wasn't entirely out of the question.
Zeke slowly entered the museum.
Aten was a city on the eastern peninsula of the northern continent, a place that had long been recognized as an autonomous duchy, even before the Holy Empire.
As such, Aten itself had a very long history, and its citizens were immensely proud of it. The museum was designed to display this long history at a glance.
Zeke wandered throughout the museum, trying to find a path to the Temple of Chronos.
'I thought the System would connect, but I'm not picking up anything.'
He searched from the upper floors to the basement, and even the adjacent restaurant and gift shop, but there was no reaction. He spent the entire day in the museum but still couldn't find the entrance to the temple. In the end, closing time arrived with no results.
"I thought finding the authentication key would be quick, but I didn't expect to get stuck here."
He double-checked the coordinates to see if they were wrong, but they were clearly pointing to this museum.
Frustrated, Zeke took out the watch. It remained still, showing no reaction.
'I wonder if anything will happen if I activate this.'
Sitting in a corner of the museum lobby, Zeke dripped a small drop of his blood onto the watch, just as he had the first time he'd activated it.
At that moment, a security guard approached him.
"It's closing time! All visitors, please exit the building!"
Resigned to coming back the next day, Zeke stood up. But just then, a message appeared before his eyes.
[Designated coordinates confirmed.]
[Initiating temporary activation.]
[Moving to the designated spatio-temporal coordinates.]
Startled, Zeke looked around and saw the approaching guard frozen stiffly in place.
He walked over and poked the guard. He was as hard as a statue.
"Don't tell me... has time stopped?"
Just then, the watch in Zeke's hand flashed. Simultaneously, its hands began to spin backward.
'What the?'
VWOOOOOONG!
The hands spun faster and faster, and soon, the world around Zeke began to move. But it wasn't normal movement—everything was flowing in reverse. Only Zeke remained still as the time around him rapidly rewound.
"My god..."
Zeke had vaguely thought that the power of Chronos was related to 'prophecy.' But the authority contained within the watch dealt with time itself.
Time rewound rapidly until the museum Zeke stood in reverted to its state before it had even been built. The backward-spinning hands of the watch gradually slowed and then stopped.
Plink.
A single drop of water fell from the ceiling in front of him. He stared blankly at the completely changed scenery for a moment.
'Is this another one of those holograms?'
Zeke used his Dragon Eye to scan his surroundings.
To his astonishment, the place where he now stood was not a hologram but stark reality. He had traveled back several decades to a time before the museum was even built.
With an expression of disbelief, Zeke walked out of the building. Outside, he saw the streets of Aten from decades ago.
"This is insane... The ability to travel back in time. What kind of power is this...?"
The astonished Zeke tried to walk toward the city, but it was as if an invisible wall blocked his path, preventing him from going any further.
[You cannot cross the permitted area of the timeline.]
[Forcibly crossing the boundary of the timeline may result in the annihilation of your existence due to the limitation of Karma.]
It seemed a power that could manipulate time had its restrictions.
"So I could be annihilated if I cross this boundary. It makes sense. If I were to wander around this time period talking about the future, it would twist the flow of time."
It appeared that Karma acted as a safeguard to prevent such incidents.
Zeke once again felt the sheer scale of Karma's power, which governed even the timelines, and was reminded of the Golden City of Blanca that had held Hades captive.
'It means the super-ancient civilizations could use this kind of Karma freely. At this point, I'm more curious about what they couldn't do, rather than what they could.'
The reason for the sudden disappearance of a super-ancient civilization that wielded such power was also a mystery. According to the holy scriptures, the Creator God had brought down a great punishment upon a deeply corrupted humanity, destroying their cities.
Since the scriptures were written by the Church during the Holy Empire era, it was impossible to know how much of it was true.
Zeke, who knew many stories the world was unaware of, could only guess that it was somehow related to the Constellations.
'Lady Arina, as a descendant of Lubern, might know something. I should ask her the next time we meet.'
Zeke went back inside the museum, activated his coordinates, and searched again for the entrance to the temple. He reasoned that if the watch had brought him to the past, the temple must exist in this timeline, not his own. But once again, the System could not find the entrance.
'What's going on?'
As Zeke was pondering, he sensed a presence behind him. He hid his body with Stealth and observed to see who had appeared. A black, shadowy figure wearing a robe that hid their face slowly walked into the museum lobby.
'Looks like a woman. A mage, perhaps?'
She certainly didn't look like one of the workers building this museum. As Zeke watched the suspicious figure who had appeared in the unopened museum, something suddenly flew past him.
THWIP!
An arrow struck the pillar Zeke was hiding behind. He pushed off the ground and rolled away.
'They saw through my Stealth?'
Only the Evil Eye of the Abyss should have been able to see through his Stealth. Considering the possibility that these people were mages from the Abyss of the past, Zeke drew his daggers and moved quickly.
FWOOSH!
His plan was to first capture the female mage and interrogate her to find out who they were. But as he moved to approach her, the empty space beside her shimmered, and another black figure appeared. This one wore a black mask and brandished a sword.
CLANG!
An unconventional sword, shorter than an arming sword, clashed with Zeke's dagger.
WHOOSH!
Zeke retreated and threw a dagger at the black-clad person.
TING!
The figure, now holding another sword in their other hand, deflected Zeke's dagger. The black-clad person took a stance with their dual swords, wary of Zeke.
'They're no ordinary opponent. From their movements... a Northern Ranger?'
Zeke took a stance, holding Annexie's Daggers in both hands.
Suddenly, the black-clad person threw their dual swords into the air, spun, and threw hidden weapons at Zeke.
Zeke swung his daggers to deflect the weapons and slid forward in a rush. Seeing the fighter trying to protect the female mage, he decided to capture her first.
However, the fighter immediately caught their swords in mid-air, changed direction with nimble movements, and dove toward Zeke.
The fighter's swords descended in an arc, aiming for Zeke.
CRASH!
Zeke parried the swords with his daggers, then drew the Chain of Souls and threw it at his opponent.
SWISH!
The Chain of Souls flew like a snake to ensnare the black-clad person. But just like before, the space around their body shimmered, and they vanished, reappearing behind Zeke.
SHING!
Zeke took the blow directly on his back.
CLANG!
He activated his Dragon Scale Armor, repelling the sword with the hard dragon skin. As the surprised fighter retreated, Zeke seized the opening and activated Dragon's Claw.
SHRRRIP!
The Dragon's Claw slashed across the black-clad person's chest. They staggered back, bleeding.
It was then.
VWOOOONG!
The female mage, who had only been watching the fight from behind, began to cast her magic. A white light rose from her body.
'Is that a flash spell?'
But just as Zeke was about to turn and dodge, the female mage extended her hand and threw the light at the black-clad fighter.
'Huh?'
Zeke was confused, seeing her throw the light at her own ally. But the fighter, after being hit by the light, was instantly healed and stood up, completely recovered.
Zeke was stunned.
'Don't tell me that's healing?'
It looked like Healing, a type of Lubern's light magic, but its effect was several times more powerful than a normal healing spell.
'She's using light magic. Is she from the Lubern clan?'
As the astonished Zeke watched, the female mage extended her hand toward him and muttered.
"Debuff."
Zeke felt his body grow heavy. In that instant, he remembered feeling something similar before—the sensation he'd had in the Inverted Tower when his skills were sealed.
'My Infinite Stamina is gone. Healing Factor, too.'
Zeke dodged the charging fighter's attack with a somersault and retreated.
The female mage was surprised to see him evade the attack with normal movements.
"He's clearly been debuffed, so why are his movements the same?"
She glanced in a certain direction, and another arrow flew toward Zeke.
SHWIP!
Zeke swung Annexie's Daggers and deflected the arrow. Their movements were perfectly coordinated.
'If I just test them, I'll be the one who gets taken down.'
Zeke put away Annexie's Daggers and drew Bahamut. The moment he gripped the sword, the air around him changed. The female mage grew tense and activated her magic.
The black-clad fighter's body flashed with light.
"Don't kill him. He must be captured."
The fighter nodded and approached Zeke with their dual swords. Buffed, their senses, stamina, and recovery were now enhanced. And yet, standing before Zeke and his sword, their body froze.
Zeke took a single step forward, sword in hand.
THUD!
The fighter, overwhelmed by the pressure of that single step, retreated. Under their mask, their face was slick with a cold sweat.
Zeke raised his sword and pointed it at him.
An invisible, formless energy enveloped not only the fighter but also the female mage behind him and the hidden archer. Now that they were within the domain of Zeke's Astral Sword, there was no escape.
The fighter's hand, gripping their sword, trembled slightly. They spoke to the female mage behind them.
"My lady, please escape while I hold him off."
Their voice was resigned to death. The female mage shouted back at him.
"Don't be ridiculous!"
Zeke spoke to them both,
"Don't waste your time with pointless resistance."
At his words, the fighter grew even more tense. Zeke then addressed the female mage.
"Take off your hood and show me your face."
The female mage gritted her teeth and muttered,
"I knew it... he was sent by the Abyss."
She had mistaken Zeke for an agent of the Abyss.
Just then, Zeke extended his hand and unleashed his Sacred Fire.
FWOOSH!
The female mage was shocked at the appearance of Sacred Fire, one of the highest forms of light magic.
"Th-That's...?"
Zeke spoke to her,
"I am not from the Abyss. I have revealed my identity, so you should show me your face as well."
After seeing the Sacred Fire, the female mage hesitated for a moment before slowly removing her robe. When Zeke saw her face, he felt his heart stop.
'That person is...'
The female mage looked at Zeke and said,
"My name is Laura Agamemnon. I am the eastern branch manager of the Dawn Society."