Chapter 600: The One Beyond Time?

“Quiet,” she replied immediately. “This isn’t real. No, I refuse to believe it.”

“Did you borrow power or something?” Rael asked straight up. “You’re ancient, and yet you act like a child. Focus and look at it clearly.”

He pointed ahead.

“This happened, and you escaped. Your friends died, and if I were to guess, Aurelius escaped too. Now, I do have a few theories, but what do you think about Aurelius being Lucien?”

Her brows twitched in disbelief.

“You do know I’m his mother, right? Around this time, Aurelius and I were the same age.”

“Yeah, but what if you didn’t give birth to him?” Rael replied. “Let’s say one day, he found you vulnerable and then proceeded to convince you and Kareth that he’s your child. Naturally, Lucien’s abilities are really overpowered, and he can implant memories in people.”

Turning toward her, Rael let out a sigh.

“As unbelievable as it may sound, I’d say you don’t dismiss that Aurelius could be Lucien.”

Or maybe…

“That titan could’ve also shrunk and become Lucien. Not too far-fetched given how that thing was responsible for your friends’ deaths, huh?”

For a moment, she remained silent, watching him attentively. After that, she glanced back at the city, a calm look appearing on her face.

“Aurelius is not Lucien,” she said. “If… on the slim chance that Lucien is truly not my child, then I have a few candidates for who those people could be.”

Hearing that, Rael chimed in, “Don’t know if it helps, but I’m like 99% sure Lucien’s title is The One Beyond Time. He doesn’t seem to be bound to a timeline or to time at all. He can freely manipulate fate and even memories where I directly saw him. I’m sure you know that, though.”

Her expression darkened for a moment, then returned to normal.

She didn’t reply to Rael and instead continued to stare at the ruined city with a massive hand in it.

After a couple more minutes, Anastasia took a step forward, then another, and another.

It seemed like she planned on going toward the arm.

As reckless as it was, Rael was drawn to the drama like a moth to a flame, so he followed along.

When they reached the city and approached the hand, Anastasia stopped. A single finger of the hand was the size of two small castles. It was no surprise it managed to basically nuke the city in one go.

“The One Beyond Time is a being from the Divine Realm,” Anastasia suddenly said, catching him off guard.

“Real shit? Huh… so he was already aligned with Solenne?” Rael muttered, putting a hand over his chin. That would explain why Solenne was at someone’s beck and call, but could Lucien really be him?

After all, Lucien was only a Grade 2 Apocalypse Class. Sure, Rael was the same, but his stats were hundreds of times higher, and he was also immune to most of Lucien’s actual attacks.

Mental mind games were an issue, but the second time was the charm.

Unless…

Could he be an avatar? Rael froze. Wait, Solenne could become one at will, and she mentioned she got this idea from some soldier. Could that be when it all started?

What if that soldier was manipulated and given that information, and forced to act as a messenger?

What if that soldier literally was Lucien?

So many questions swirled around Rael’s mind, and yet, he had close to no answers.

Or at least, that was what he wanted to think until he glanced at the conflicted Anastasia.

“How close are you to Solenne?”

“It’s none of your—”

“Come on, do you want to know the truth or not?” Rael interjected with a sigh. “You holding out would make it much more difficult for me to actually get to the bottom of this. Clearly, you’ve got something wrong with your head.”

“Err… I mean, someone’s controlling your mind,” he quickly corrected himself before she squashed him like a bug.

Once again, that strange blank look appeared on Anastasia’s face.

She suddenly jumped up, using her barriers as footholds as she made her way up the titan’s finger, trying to get to its knuckles.

Rael followed after her, and after nearly ten minutes of climbing, they made it up. Unlike the fingers, which were pitch black, the knuckles were gray. Further up, the hand of the titan was completely white.

Though it seemed like Anastasia didn’t care much about it as she sat down and met his gaze.

“Solenne and I knew each other before the Shattering. We weren’t allies as you might expect. Instead, we were close friends at some point. That was until I found Kareth, and she found some kind of human. We parted ways after that.”

Glancing down, she let out an exhausted breath.

“We only got back in contact half a year ago. That, too, was because of Lucien connecting us.” Google seaʀᴄh novel✶fire.net

“Sounds pretty sketchy, no?” Rael threw that out there.

“Obviously.” She nodded. “We talked about old times, and then she relayed this plan of…”

Her brows scrunched up as she winced in pain. She held her forehead, rubbing it slightly.

“Sorry, looks like I can’t remember the plan. You might be right.”

“…”

He had overlooked it when he had just heard it, but she did mention six months.

It had been six months since he arrived in this world. Or rather, if he went by universal time. For him, it was obviously longer.

Nonetheless, if that plan involved Solenne, Anastasia, and somehow himself, then that could only mean Lucien knew about his return.

Rather, he knew about it in advance and set a whole plan around Rael’s return. As it so happened, that plan somehow coincided with the Hollow King’s succession trials.

But then came a bigger question. Just what exactly was his endgame?

If Lucien was who Rael thought he was, then was he seeking the revival of the Divine Realm? They shouldn’t even be dead since the universe was reset, so what even was the—

“Ah.” Anastasia’s eyes widened. “I think I understand it now.”

Her voice was calm, but it also contained a trace of excitement.

She immediately patted the spot beside her, urging him to sit down.

“I have something to tell you.”

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