Chapter 477 - Shinva
Like angry dragons trying to defy the heavens, the serpents rose from the water to pierce the sky. Their jaws unhinged as a beastly roar shook the world. Arthur realized that they were more than puppets created by the hydra, but living creatures who served it.
Arthur knew that he was not strong enough to fight against the hydra on his own. Furthermore, Arthur knew that he was still relatively weak despite his strength soaring after countless life and death situations.
Arthur was a jack of all trades but a master of none.
"A fight is not going to bring your child back," Arthur tried to convince the hydra. "Give me more time to find it. Then, I will bring it back."
"Your promises are worthless, human," said the hydra as the serpents on her back hissed. "Die for your lies," she waved her hand, commanding one of the water serpents to attack.
Arthur sighed as he realized that his efforts were futile. There was no way to change the mind of this creature, and he knew that it was his fault. Arthur had failed to retrieve the child.
"There is no other option for me," he said as his robes fluttered. The serpent unhinged its jaws to devour him as it descended. "The only to convince you is by defeating you."
Arthur did not wish for a full-on war against the Mernars. The kingdom of Freda would suffer, not only him. Instead, Arthur wanted to find peace because the alternative would be what Larza and the duke wanted.
The ancient flames of creation appeared, threatening to burn the world to nothingness. The vapor exploded as the fire met the water, and Arthur gathered the fire around his fist.
"There is always another way," said a voice from behind him. Arthur turned around to find the proud knight he had dismissed earlier, walking toward him slowly. "I fear that my interference is necessary."
"There is no time for this. Run from here now," Arthur said as he turned to strike the serpent, but he realized that the world had stopped moving. The monster had its jaws unhinged, but its descent had frozen. "What is this?"
"This is what you wanted me to use earlier," strode the woman, which Arthur recognized as his knight. "This is the power that I refuse to use."
Arthur looked at her stand beside him, looking at the serpent, and he turned to look at the hydra. However, the hydra has stopped moving as well. It was the same case for everything around them.
"You froze time?" Arthur turned back toward the knight. Her short brown hair looked the same as the Knight of Courage, giving her a boyish appearance. However, a pair of earrings hung from her ears now.
"Time cannot be stopped," she said. "I only slipped into the unforgiving second. The world is nothing but a continuation of moments, and I can slip into the gap between them."
"That is more absurd," Arthur heard himself say. "You are manipulating the fourth dimension, time."
"A fourth dimension," she smiled as if amused by his words. "Many tried to explain my powers, but I wonder if the answer is that important?"
"Who are you?" Arthur frowned as he took a step back from her.
"I am not an enemy, Seika," she said with a smile. "I am your knight, and I am also someone else."
"There is no way an ordinary person can wield such powers," Arthur was on full alert. "You lied about your identity. However, I interrogated you."
"You are too proud of that power of yours, and not without a cause. What a terrifying ability to rule over humans?" she muttered as she turned toward Arthur. Her eyes were numb as if she was nothing but a puppet. "It is only a simple matter to seal my memories. I did it countless times before, and I did it again before you tried to probe into my identity."
Arthur was quiet because it was true. His Art of Creator, Submission could not reveal what was not there. Arthur could only use the existence of others to force them into obeying him, and that was only against weaker targets.
"I can see that you need a name to trust me," she sighed. "I existed for a long time, and people call me a lot of names. However, I believe that you already know me as Shinva."
"The trickster?" Arthur was confused. "That is nothing more than a legend; a fairytale to scare children and to create games."
"I played that game before," she smiled. "I did everything I could to lead kingdoms away from war, but I realized that the only to do that is to weaken them. That is why I started stealing their possessions, replacing them with fakes ones to deliver a message."
"What kind of message?"
"I wanted them to think that their items have lost their powers because that is true to this world. Their gods have abandoned them, and I wanted them to know that it was true. However, I am the trickster who fools kings to steal their treasures."
Arthur was quiet. It was just a game they played long ago in the Runes Apprentices Cup, but it was based on a legend that had existed since ancient times. This made it hard to believe the person in front of him.
"I believe that we cannot stay here for long, so let me take you on a journey," Shinva smiled again. "You need to trust me before you follow me. Otherwise, you will lose yourself in the infinite moments that the world has."
"Where are you taking me?" Arthur frowned, and the woman raised her hand to reveal a spot of light. The light expanded, and Arthur could see countless images inside of it.
"I am taking you to the past."
Arthur heard her words, but he didn't reply. The world inside the light had all of the moments he lived and those he did not. Arthur looked toward the knight, who has now turned to be someone else, with a frown.
"I cannot trust you," he said. "You lied once before about being a knight. What makes me believe that you aren't trying to harm me?"
"I cannot harm anyone, Seika," she smiled. "I saw what happened in the capital. That fallen creature called you the outsider. If you are the outsider, then I am the observer."
"The observer," repeated Arthur before taking a moment to think about it. "What are you trying to show me?"
"A way out of this mess," she smiled. "I do not wish for war."
Arthur nodded after a while, and the light began to expand to cover them both. Then, the world disappeared, replaced by an array of moments. Arthur found himself in a tunnel, and Shinva grabbed his hand.
"Let us swim into the past," she said with a smile. Arthur nodded, and Shinva guided him throughout the tunnel. There were countless moments recorded within it, and Arthur felt that the journey took a moment and countless years. "We are here."
After she announced, the woman guided him toward a gap in the tunnel. Arthur and Shinva slipped through the opening to find themselves in a cave.
"This is where I found the child," muttered Arthur with surprise. However, there were no corpses around, only an empty cave. "Why did you bring me here?"
"I want you to end the war against the Mernars," she smiled. "This is an apology for deceiving you as well."
"Are we in the past?"
"We are in a record of the past," she announced. "We have no power to change anything, but we can observe anything."
"This is an absurd power," Arthur turned toward her. "This is omniscience."
"I do not know everything," she sighed. "I can only look at certain events in the past, but I cannot stay here for long. I tried to relive a moment once before, but it ended up devouring half of my soul."
"I guess there is a price to everything," sighed Arthur in relief. This woman would have been nothing less of a god if she could see everything in the past. "What are the conditions for using this power?"
"They are many," she smiled, "but that is a secret. You would not tell me your secrets, right?"
"You should already know them."
"Ahaha," she giggled at his upset face. However, she did not confirm no refute his claim. The cave lit up while they were standing there, and someone walked.
"This will be your new home," said Larza toward the sphere of light, which should be the child. "Until the time you give us the crystals, you will not leave this place."
Larza passed by Arthur, but she did not see him. Arthur tried touching her, but she walked through him as if he was a ghost, nothing but an image.
"I believe that the next moments are going to be quite gruesome," Shinva said with an uneasy frown.. "They are going to make the child witness hate and suffering until it cries."