Uncle Nox slumped to the ground in an unnatural way, completely limp as he just collapsed onto the ground. No, no, no, no, no, no. I needed to rewind time! There was a barrage of shimmers around replica Nil as multiple <Rifts> manifested in front of us which Krahinn used plates of <Dark Nebula> to block them. The entire area looked almost underwater, the air was shimmering so much. What was going on? Uncle Nox! He wasn't moving as blood just seeped out of him. Uncle Nox wasn't moving at all; he just laid there on the ground motionless.

Krahinn! Please turn back time! I pleaded with him. There was a limited window to save him.

I'm trying to. <Automaton> you is completely choking out all time <Magic>. Krahinn shot back. That was possible? How?

He's going to die! I snapped, wanting to save my uncle.

Nil, I can't forcefully turn back time when the clone you is oppressing all other forms of time <Magic>. Brace for the worst. I understand this is difficult and upsetting but now is not the time to be feeling these emotions. Krahinn warned me. Why would I develop some kind of time lock <Spell>?

How is he jamming it? I wondered, knowing we had moments left to turn back the clock.

The fact he has pure <Spacetime Affinity> with all his <Mana> makes it hard when he's actively stopping it. Krahinn retorted as the shimmering intensified.

Is there something you can do to defeat <Automaton> me? I asked desperately, knowing the chance to save Uncle Nox was almost over.

I'm trying, wasting some of my <Backlash> because I was not expecting this follow up is making it quite difficult. Krahinn informed me quickly.

How did Nyx even do this? I snapped as I saw Uncle Nox on the ground.

She inlaid the work into the copies of Ryker because no way could she make this flat out because of how destructive and lethal it is. I'm not sure how she made something this monstrous without violating the <Veil>. Krahinn explained in a heavy tone. The air was difficult to see through it was shimmering so much now.

Before we could react, the world seemed to vanish as all around us was now gray. How did he pull us into a <Null Space>? Wait, he only pulled copy Luna, Papa, Mama, Dad, Uncle Nez, Duke Dawnsfield, and me into the <Null Space>. Uncle Nez looked like his soul was crushed as he kind of just collapsed to the ground shell shocked; there was no time to mourn as the <Automatons> had no intention of slowing down their attacks. The two of them continued their assault as <Automaton> me seemed to be moving even faster as he seemed to just be wherever he wanted to be in the space. Attacks were appearing out of nowhere as a deluge of <Spells> and sword strikes rained from behind him as he was able to attack everyone all at once. How was he able to conjure so many attacks simultaneously?

Dilating time and queuing the attacks to then release them all at once. Krahinn informed me as he created an array of <Magic> to deflect the attacks.

Can you separate from me to fight them? I inquired, hoping to do something to change the tide.

It wouldn't help as much as you'd think, having access to your <Arcane Eye> and <Spacetime Affinity> are helpful. I'm also not sure I can without you dying, and if I have to pick on who to keep alive it is going to be you. Krahinn answered in a frustrated tone.

Is it the strain from what I did to Ryker? I checked trying to bury the dark sensation boiling up.

Partially. We need to focus on the problem in front of us not what decisions we made. Krahinn replied as another maelstrom of attacks launched towards us.

My family resumed their defense and trying to counterattack the <Automatons>. I could feel Krahinn mentally refine our approach on dealing with the nightmare in front of us. Krahinn was heavily debating something with a bit of dread. What could we do to turn this around? To turn the tide in our favor? Krahinn seemed to have some idea that he was debating the efficacy of. I was willing to try about anything at this point; I didn't want this to get any worse. What was giving Krahinn pause? What idea would Krahinn dread? He generally had no qualms with most of his ideas which made the one that gave him pause weigh on my mind a bit.

Hey Nil, how much do you trust me? Krahinn checked after a few moments of thinking. That was not a reassuring question.

Quite a bit, why? I answered as I wondered what prompted that question.

I need a more concrete answer than that. I have a dangerous gamble that might work, but you need to not panic. Krahinn clarified for me. If Krahinn called it dangerous, that meant this idea was something truly risky.

I won't panic. I assured him. What qualified as dangerous to Krahinn?

Remember, remain calm. Krahinn stressed as I saw <Automaton> me slashing down on my dad.

Before I could ask follow up questions, I suddenly was in front of the swinging sword. Krahinn used my <Lord's Eye> to dilate our perception of time as I could see the full speed swing slashing down towards me with two soulless eyes boring into me. I clenched my teeth as the lightning-fast sword froze in the air less than a millimeter from my skull. The <Automaton> pivoted into a kick to my head and launching several spears of <Void Magic> at the others, where I learned how rapidly Krahinn could move me around. With time dilating he managed to put me in the path of nearly all of them close enough to force the <Automaton> to stop the attacks. This was definitely an idea of all time.

The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

"What are you doing Krahinn?!" Dad snapped at him.

"Slowly down the assault; they are not allowed to hurt Nil." Krahinn replied calmly, sounding a bit relieved.

How did you know the attack would stop? I checked as I was steeling myself for what was about to happen.

I didn't. It was a guess. That attack might've caved your skull in if not killed you. It was a last ditch attempt to see if it would remotely slow them down because it would maim me and probably kill you if they didn't. Krahinn answered which was not comforting.

Why didn't you try it sooner? I wondered as Krahinn moved me in the way of as many attacks as he could.

Intentionally trying to put you in the path of an attack that would likely incapacitate me temporarily and has a good chance of killing you is a horrible idea but as we got forced into a <Null Space> it was time for desperate ideas. Krahinn informed me. This was such an awful idea.

For the first time since the attacking began, <Automaton> Nil finally stopped attacking as it mulled over how to keep attacking. My family realized the clones finally gave a small pause which they released their own attacks to put pressure back on them. The downside of the strategy was made readily apparent when rushing towards the copy of me because it was difficult to put me between them when the gap between my family and the <Automaton> was less than an inch. Unfortunately, replica me was able to rapidly rotate and pivot in its defense which sounded like thunderclaps from how hard it was hitting my family. Copy Luna assisted in defending against the family counterattack while <Automaton> Nil adjusted to a more compact fighting style, not using the more arcing sword swings and keeping distance for <Magic> to wielding the sword by the blade as the gauntlets of the armor stopped the blade from cutting him with compact swings. I almost questioned how that could possibly work until I heard the sound from it connecting with Mama.

Her eyes went wide as she got launched by the force, struggling to stand back up as her breathing became shallow. Her chest plate was crushed in like the strike was done by a hammer with a center more caved in where the pommel was. How is he hitting so hard? By massively accelerating the swing and dilating the space the sword is in so when it connects it is moving at a massive rate of speed. Just how many subtle things was I missing? A lot. I winced a bit as Krahinn was correct because I was struggling to grasp just how much <Magic> was occurring in front of me. This is over two decades of practice and dedication you are witnessing, but that is not important right now. Papa and Duke Dawnsfield kept fighting the <Automaton> of me while Dad took the chance to fight the copy of Luna. Krahinn put me between the two of them, using our <Magic> to keep him from intervening. Unfortunately, Uncle Nez was completely still as he seemed to be reeling from Uncle Nox sacrificing himself to save him.

<Automaton> Nil was getting visibly annoyed that he could not protect Luna while Mama finally recovered and joined the fray against copy Luna. Copy Nil began shimmering heavily making the <Null Space> begin distorting from his <Magic> which made Krahinn enshroud him with <Dark Nebula> plates to try and keep him contained. They all shattered as I felt my face explode. My ears were ringing while the world began spinning around me as Krahinn moved me out of the way of the follow up attack. I was seeing multiple copies of replica Nil again, but they were different this time because my head was ringing. I then noticed a new sensation: pain. I could feel pain slowly slipping back into the numbness I had felt with previously as my body was screaming at me. Did he hit me hard enough to make False Immortals Serum wear off? What was that? I didn't even see when he attacked me. I realized Dad was bleeding profusely as well as Duke Dawnsfield from large slashes that appeared from nowhere; my vision was slowly coming back into focus from whatever hit me. Mama and Papa were battling the copies still while Krahinn moved me into the fray as the damage was piling up on both sides.

Krahinn was activating my <Arcane Eye>, finally succeeding in unraveling the <Null Space> to drop us all back in Tenebrae. The city was still bent in a massive sphere before I noticed I felt unparalleled wrath; I felt the world begin to shake as all the water in the city seemed to be gathering in a massive ocean in the sky. Actually, more water seemed to be pouring out of nowhere as I saw something. What was I seeing? In the city was a monstrous, scaled beast larger than the castle rushing to bite the <Automaton> Nil in half. There was a massive sea creature with numerous rows of serrated teeth with a copper-colored map, six silvery blue eyes, large tendrils on their chin, two massive dragon like arms that went into large claws, several serpent tails, two massive sets of fin like wings, and a row of dorsal spines that were webbed with something resembling fins. It was bleeding a bit, and I noticed the blood was green which contrasted greatly against the platinum scales. Wait. My mind instantly flashed back to the fact Nautilus had green blood.

Correct, Nautilus is a <Deep Sea Leviathan>. Krahinn informed me as her <Anima Magic> was shaking the city hard enough to make the buildings crumple.

Her entire body was covered with projected armor, dragon arms, and her buffing hymns stacked so high the air vibrated hard enough for me to feel it in my bones. She unleashed on copy Nil, unleashing a maelstrom of dragon arms, water jets, ice spikes, and spectral chains trying to rip him apart. Papa, Duke Dawnsfield, and Krahinn began assisting Nautilus in her assault of <Automaton> Nil while Mama and Dad resumed with their efforts to get rid of the Luna replica. My copy tried getting near her which Nautilus retaliated with blocking his entire vision with her dragon-like claws to swat him back. The sound made my ears nearly feel like they were bleeding as several buildings shattered from the shockwave that erupted from her swing. Unlike before, I noticed he dilated the space to give him time to stop as he recovered and made an <Air Step> to catch himself. Nautilus rushed towards the <Automaton> instantly, stabbing at him with tails, swinging her fist, and projecting countless projections to give him nowhere to dodge. He appeared in front of her, swinging his sword with enough force to try and cleave Nautilus in half. Her <Anima Magic> caught the blade, but the force of the swing was strong enough to lift Nautilus up. Papa came from behind, for the first time actually connecting with the <Automaton>.

Progress! I cheered mentally, seeing <Ichor> seep from where it was stabbed.

Don't celebrate yet, there's a long way to go. Krahinn sighed as the replica turned around and swung like the sword in the shoulder was a scratch.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.