Before these people could continue their interrogation or whatever game they were playing, I decided to cut in.
"Saint Shijian, I would like to answer your question," I said, keeping my voice steady, "but unfortunately I don’t have the context for what’s happening here. If you could enlighten me, I would be grateful."
I tried to be as polite as possible to someone of Saint rank. Not like I had any experience in addressing Saints, but when in doubt, a little extra respect never hurt.
To my surprise, the man didn’t sneer or dismiss me. He simply replied, his tone calm and without a hint of irritation.
"Yes, apologies. Your arrival here is an anomaly we could not predict, and that concerns us, because prediction is what we pride ourselves on. Allow me to properly introduce who we are."
I kept my eyes locked on him as his faintly flickering figure straightened, his words carrying pride that seemed to sink into the very air.
"We belong to the Order of Time. An order formed specifically for those who touch, study, and command the Laws of Time. The greatest minds and talents of every age gather here. We never have more than fifty members at once, and across the entire universe, you will not find anyone who surpasses us in the understanding of Time."
His presence seemed to grow heavier with every sentence.
"And the Order of Time always holds twelve seats. The highest authority rests with the one who holds the twelfth seat."
He paused then, his gaze unwavering as he said, "I was the twelfth seat of the Order of Time."
I blinked, forcing myself not to leap forward and declare him my long-lost grandfather.
The Laws of Time.
I wanted them. Badly. I had no doubt that with enough effort I could one day comprehend them on my own, but to have insights from a Saint who had walked that path? That was on a whole other level.
He didn’t give me time to daydream.
"We were the ones who predicted the arrival of the Eternals, the calamity of the Phantoms and Abominations, the creation of soul slaves, everything."
He let out a heavy sigh, his voice thick with old regret.
"But despite all that... we could not stop a single calamity. Every tragedy unfolded as if our predictions were chains rather than warnings. A failure... and a wound we still carry."
The other images around him flickered more violently at his words, their unstable forms threatening to collapse. Shijian tapped his flickering foot once, and the projections steadied like ripples calming on water.
"And one of the reasons we failed," he continued, "was because of a traitor among us. The seventh seat of the Order of Time betrayed us, joining hands with the Eternals at the height of the first clash."
My eyes immediately darted to the second row. The first chair there, the only empty one.
"We still carry that wound," he said softly. "What is worse, no one alive today knows the truth."
I narrowed my eyes. "What do you mean?"
"The seventh seat still lives," Shijian said, every word like a hammer on stone. "Not only lives... but now stands as the head of the Order of Time. No one in the Prime Galaxy knows that we fell and died because of him."
His words made my thoughts spin. A traitor at the heart of one of the most powerful Orders? Still alive? And no one knew?
"Even the System?" I asked, a mix of disbelief and suspicion cutting through my tone.
"Yes," he said without hesitation. "Even the System."
I froze.
"But... how is that possible?" This time, I couldn’t hide the shock in my voice.
"That," he said, lowering his voice, "is something I cannot tell you right now. But as I said, no one knows."
His words echoed in my head like a bell. I didn’t even know how to respond. I had no clue about this Prime Galaxy, its power structure, or who this mysterious Seventh Seat was. For all I knew, everything he was saying could have been a story he made up on the spot. I had no proof either way.
Shijian continued before I could gather my thoughts.
"But there was one thing the Seventh Seat did not know. Something only I, as the Twelfth Seat and the highest authority in the Order of Time, had access to. A link... directly to the Ancestor of the Order of Time."
"Ancestor? You mean the founder?" I asked.
He replied instantly.
"No. In the Prime Galaxy, the title of Ancestor is not given to a mere founder.
It is reserved for someone who brings about a new dawn, a new age. The Order of Time was formed long ago, but the Ancestor was the one who truly changed everything, not just the Order, but even the Prime Galaxy itself.
Because of her comprehension of Time. She was the only being to ever touch the River of Time in our universe."
"Wait, there’s a River of Time?" I blurted before I could stop myself.
Shijian chuckled softly. "Yes. That was the same reaction the entire universe had when she revealed its existence."
"She was a Saint too?" I asked, still trying to catch up.
"No," he said calmly. "She was a Demi-God."
I closed my eyes at those words, and for the first time since this conversation began, I felt a strange relief wash over me.
When Arkas had explained the higher ranks Saint, Demi-God, God, and beyond, he had warned me that some of them were little more than legends. Ever since then, I had carried a quiet fear inside me.
A fear that I would reach a ceiling one day, that my path would end before I ever reached that faraway peak.
But now... now it seemed Demi-God was not just possible, it had already been reached. And if it had been done once, then I could reach it too.
Shijian’s voice pulled me back from my thoughts.
"When we were betrayed by the Seventh Seat, and our destruction was almost certain, I tapped into the power she left behind.
I wanted the truth to reach the Prime Galaxy. But I knew he would never allow it. He was one of the few who could tap into Laws of Time. He could see countless futures. He could predict and stop anything we tried. Delivering our message was nearly impossible."
His gaze swept across the hall.
"So we created this castle. We scattered billions of fragments of ourselves across the universe, tiny preserved moments in the River of Time. Each one carrying the same message, waiting for someone to stumble upon it. What you see now is not real stone or space. You are not in a physical place at all. You are standing in a moment, caught in the River of Time. And the instant you leave... this moment will be erased."
A chill ran through me. "I’m inside the River of Time?" I asked, my voice cracking slightly.
"Not exactly," he replied, almost amused by my reaction. "But for now... you could say yes."