I was at a loss for what to do as we seemed to have reach the end of the ordeal; elder Nil was bleeding heavily from the wound in his neck. Nox was motionless in Nez's arms who was weeping over him. What should I say? Azzeck looked torn between his brother and father, desperately looking between the two as he was coming to terms with the events of the day. I couldn't cast <Fate Reversal> without anything short of a miracle. Kron, any assistance? I doubted they would intervene even if Nyx pushed what she could do to the absolute limit. Nautilus morphed back into her humanoid form, bleeding heavily from several gashes <Automaton> Nil had inflicted. Younger Nil looked at me, clearly wondering why I hadn't turned back time already to save his grandfather. I looked at Nil, seeing his <Mana Reserve> was completely empty as his <Arcane Eye> had completely overheated; between the two of us there wasn't enough <Mana> to rewind time. I scanned around, seeing nearly everyone was completely out of <Mana> except Nez who was bawling over Nox, hugging him tight. Even then, we were short of the <Mana> required for the <Spell> needed to turn time back that far.

Krahinn! We need to turn back the clock! Nil pleaded with me. I fought the urge to sigh as I knew I couldn't help him.

I can't. I informed Nil. He looked at me like he didn't believe me.

Why not?! Nil cried at me, seeming desperate to heal him.

I'm out of <Mana>, and you are at your absolute limit. We don't have enough <Mana> to save him. You need to hope Senna can save him. I informed him regretfully.

I can use my <Arcane Eye> to restore my <Mana>! Nil pointed out, but he thankfully didn't try it immediately.

You can't. False Immortal's Serum is going to wear off here in a little bit, and you have no idea how far you've pushed it. I'm not sure you'll survive refilling your <Mana Reserve> let alone casting <Fate Reversal>. I explained to Nil.

There has to be something! He can't die! Nil begged me. Unfortunately, there was nothing. Nyx's malice had undeniably done immense damage like she wanted.

I can't think of anything; his life currently lies in Senna's hands. I told him, feeling guilty about telling him that.

How are you out of <Mana>? Nil challenged. I sighed, as I knew he didn't grasp what the problem was.

Dealing with a battalion of Rykers followed by having a <Spell> nullification and control battle with <Automaton> you and Luna took a massive toll on my <Mana>. I replied. Nil surprisingly was not breaking down from the weight of everything yet. It might not have hit him just yet.

Please Krahinn, there has to be something! Nil tried, clearly hoping I had some miracle in a bottle.

There isn't. There are limits of <Magic>, and here is one of them; False Immortal's Serum cannot help here either. I retorted. Nil looked on the verge of tears, trying to keep it together.

What can we do? Nil whimpered while he was struggling to remain on his feet.

Hope your mother can heal that wound and the damage is not too severe. I answered, knowing it was not very comforting.

I don't want to lose him too. Nil cried as it was clearly all beginning to sink in.

What should I say? It would be all right? I had no idea if elder Nil was going to make it, and that was an <Aqueous Formation> coated hand into his throat. Realistically, his chances of surviving this wound were not great. Senna had <Life Magic> and was a fantastic healer, but I still was not sure how great elder Nil's chances were. What should I do? I looked at Nez, knowing there was no saving Nox; all my skill and this was the best I could manage. The Ryker army ate up a good amount of our <Mana> and <Backlash>, but the <Automaton> copies did so much damage. That was eating at me too because replica Luna was not far above where I thought she ended up, but Nil? Nil vastly exceeded my most generous expectation of him. Was that a true copy? I wouldn't put it past Nyx to bolster the abilities of it to play the mental game against us; the grief was already going to wound Nil badly. The future ahead was going to be altered greatly from today, that was for sure. What should I say to Nil? Everything that came to mind just felt so hollow and fake or soul crushing and unhelpful.

Nil, I have no idea what to say. I admitted after a few more moments of thinking it over.

<Automaton> Nil was able to give me a massive challenge when it came to <Spell> control and nullification. His sheer ability to control the space around himself as well as cast stacked <Spells> or manipulate <Techniques> at once proved to be something truly monumental to overcome; I was not sure how he would've become that skilled. Something about it felt off. It was so off, it shouldn't have been possible. Why would he need to reset time if he was that skilled? Scius would not have known how to fight with time <Magic> because it was unique to Nil. I knew I was missing something; I simply had no idea what it was. There was some missing piece, some piece of information or manipulation Nyx had hidden in this mess. How did Nyx game the <Veil> to such a degree? I had more questions than answers, and I needed to figure them out. Was that Nyx's goal? Bogging me down temporarily while I researched into what she did today?

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At this point, Nil was staggering as the weight of it all hit him. Could I even open a <Portal> right now? I felt my body, feeling how drained I was. Technically, I can but only one way safely. For now, that was going to get shelved until I recovered a bit more; I felt so useless as I was recovering my <Mana>. It was an act of malice from a Lord, of course she was going to get some result. It was not a reassuring fact trying to console myself with the fact it was the plan of a Lord. It felt so pathetic. I wish I could recover my <Mana> faster, but I can't refill my <Mana Reserve> faster than the increased drain required from <Fate Reversal> for increasing the time. I took a massive sigh of irritation, knowing we were biding our time until the end. Focusing on the end of defeating and killing Scius does not do much right now. It was hardly any form of comfort, nor was I stupid enough to vocalize that thought. My mind was racing with many thoughts of what I needed to do, think over, or research a bit in the next few days. None of that mattered currently, it did nothing to change where we currently were.

As I was lost in thought, I felt the <Veil> shift nearby as Ryker was dropped right next to us. Nil instantly locked onto him, walking towards him with his sword in hand. I supported Nil with the little <Mana> I had left as everyone seemed stunned that child Ryker was there. I felt a dark, eerie sensation emanating from Nil. Ryker looked at Nil, standing slowly to his feet. Ryker doesn't have any <Mana> overly left; Nyx left him out to dry. Not that I was feeling any sympathy for him at all; his endless grudge is part of what caused this disaster. I noticed Nil was refilling his <Mana Reserve>, not forcefully filling it with his <Lord's Eye>, but was still clearly actively making sure to fight Ryker. Ryker saw the non-occupied members of the Imperial Family all giving him death stares. The dark, wrathful sensation began boiling over in Nil as he approached Ryker, with his eyes glowing hatefully.

Ryker summoned his sword and shield combo to fight against Nil. Nil, despite running on fumes, was able to keep marching forward. His <Lord's Eye> sparked a little bit before Nil realized his eyes were unusable currently. Ryker tried running away from him, from the family, but Nil rushed after him. In his exhausted state, he was using the bare minimum amount of <Mana> he needed as I helped make sure Ryker was not getting away. I imagined Nyx was laughing maniacally at Ryker's misfortune as she hung him out to dry, but this was a point I didn't feel like we needed to concern ourselves with what Nyx was up to. Ryker realized that Nil was descending upon him faster than he was running away. He turned to face Nil, raising his shield to deflect the incoming sword.

Nil made the <Aqueous Formation> on his sword quite sharp, slicing through the shield and almost cutting off Ryker's hand. Blood gushed out as Ryker tried pivoting and fight back. Nil rapidly shifted, using his sword to slice Rykers as Nil was heavily abusing the higher quality of the metal and <Mana> to ruin his sword. Ryker looked desperate, trying to get distance, but I put a stop to that. No, no you don't. Today was going to be the last day he breathed. I hope Nil doesn't think something stupid like working past his grudge. Granted, Nil looked utterly furious, creating a <Marionette String> from his hand to Ryker's fleeing leg, pulling it hard to topple him over. Ryker scrambled on the ground, trying to get back to his feet, but Nil was on top of him in an instant, slamming his boot into his chest to slam Ryker into the ground, cracking a few stones with the force.

"I was tricked by Lord Nyx! It w-" Ryker began, but Nil slugged him to interrupt him, bouncing his skull off the ground.

"I do not forling care." Nil snarled at Ryker, looking at him furiously.

"We can work pa-" Ryker tried which was summarily cut short by Nil's sword.

"Not a chance; make your excuses to Lord Utol." Nil cut him off as he beheaded Ryker, showering the surrounding area and himself with his blood.

Nil was panting heavily, looking furious at the corpse of Ryker. He stomped his body a couple of times, desecrating the corpse in anger. Nil punted the body away, before collapsing in tears. I gently patted his shoulder as I knew Nil was struggling to process his emotions, weeping as he mourned everything he lost today. I wished I could tell him it might be better, but I could tell by Senna's expression that elder Nil was likely not going to make it. I felt awful seeing Nez bawling, Poam looking resigned, and Nil weeping next to me. What could I do? I am sorry Nez, I couldn't save your husband. I couldn't save elder Nil either. He was a good demon. Was? I shouldn't be that pessimistic, even if I was relatively confident from Poam's and Senna's expressions that elder Nil was passing away today. Nil's sword was buried in the stone as Nil leaned against it, crying harder and harder. How long did he have until False Immortal's Serum wore off? That was only going to be salt on the wounds of today when that finally happened.

I gently moved Nil with his sword to the side of his grandfather as he kept crying. Azzeck looked at the scene, looking internally destroyed as he saw what he also lost. Today exacted a heavy toll. I summoned a chair, sitting on it as I put my head in my hands. Nothing, there was nothing I could do to make this better. I'm a King and this was the best I could do. I felt like a complete and utter failure given the outcome of today. How was this the best I could do? All my skill, all my experience, and all of my abilities felt like they did so little. What more could I do? What could I have done better? I dreaded what the fallout of all of this was going to be. Please not be as grim as I think it is going to be. Grief was a fickle monster, and I knew this was going to be tumultuous going forward. As I was lost in thought, I felt elder Nil let out his final breath as his body went limp. I'm so sorry.

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