Chapter 1092: POV of a Girl Loved by the Time She Hates.
’I hate Time.’
It’s one of my strongest powers, and my affinity for it is only a bit lower than my spatial affinity.
But despite the fact that it isn’t my strongest affinity, the damn thing acts like it is.
It’s the one power of mine that has messed with me more than any other, and the one I’ve considered abandoning the most, only to back out each time because of how absurdly useful it is when it’s not actively trying to drive me crazy.
No matter how much I despise Time, it seems to feel nothing but affection for me.
’Time loves me.’
It reveals to me both what I long to see and what I desperately wish I never knew.
I’ve lost track of the number of nights I’ve fallen asleep, dreading the possibility that Time will show me something I never asked for in my dreams.
Something that would go on to haunt me for years.
And the stronger I grow, the deeper Time’s love with me becomes, while my hatred only festers further.
I’ve tried again and again to rein it in, to assert some form of control over it, but my ability only extends to manipulating a limited portion of the vastness that is Time.
It’s not something I can fully control, so all my efforts have been in vain, as no matter what I do or try, Time still goes ahead and does whatever it wants with my life.
It goes ahead to plague my dreams with the nightmare fuel that is the visions of the future it chooses to show me.
The Death Saintess borrowing the fallen god’s power.
The volcanic explosion.
That blasted tree.
Discovering that everything’s all just one convoluted game of higher existences.
The never-ending wave of enemies.
The world going up in flames.
And then—!!
...
Take deep breaths. Calm down. Don’t let that bastard get to you.
*tsk-hah
I say I don’t want it to get to me, but the damn thing already has, ever since the day I awakened the skill that lets me manipulate even a part of it.
I thought it had calmed down since I hadn’t seen anything in weeks, but turns out it was just lying in wait, cooking up one hell of a nasty surprise for me.
I’d just hit Level 800, and I was very happy, celebrating, jumping around and hugging two of my friends who were stuck with me on this random planet in some far-off corner of the Infernal Dimension.
It was just a normal hug. Nothing new. It wasn’t the first time I’d hugged him, and it definitely wouldn’t have been the last.
But the moment my body touched his, Time decided to rear its ugly mug and shove a revelation down my throat that I now want nothing more than to erase from memory.
He probably didn’t notice my reaction. Not even my best friend did.
Not to toot my own horn, but I’m pretty damn good at concealing what I’m really thinking and feeling, just not in the same way as my dear best friend.
While she barely shows any change in expression, I just keep everything hidden behind a façade of cheerfulness.
I quickly excused myself from the area, claiming I wanted to test out my new power, but in truth, I just needed to figure out what the hell I had just sensed.
At Level 800, the nodes on one’s soul that allow for law manipulation increase, leading to greater control over laws, and in my case, giving Time even more free rein over my life.
I recalled an incident from a few months back, when I sensed something similar on him. Except back then, it wasn’t mine, but my best friend’s.
But this time... it was mine.
Maybe the fact that it was weakening played a part.
No, that was definitely the reason.
He didn’t have much time left in this ’time’, and like someone else once said, once the cloaking wore off, he would return to where he came from.
That, combined with my closer affinity with Time, resulted in what I’d just detected.
I didn’t want to believe it.
I thought about why it could possibly be there, about why I could detect that on him, and after recalling the conditions required to end his unwilling journey through the space-time continuum, I felt my entire body go cold.
I had a strong photographic memory, and while that would normally be something to take pride in, Time had made me hate that part of myself more than anything.
Because of it, I could never forget the things I desperately wanted to.
When I combined what I remembered with what I had just detected, it led to the worst premonition I’d had in years.
I didn’t want to believe it, but the thought kept gnawing at me, joined by a swarm of questions.
So many ’What Ifs’.
What if it’s true?
What if it isn’t?
What if you’re the one who caused it?
What if you’re not?
What if Time is just messing with you?
What if it isn’t?
I kept going over all of them again and again, in a desperate attempt to avoid the real question I should have been asking.
What if he knows?
And the moment that thought surfaced, it became an endless spiral.
What if he has always known?
What if he was lying when he said he didn’t?
What if he had been faking everything this entire time?
What if he...wanted me gone? Wanted to eliminate me completely so he wouldn’t have to go through that unwilling journey through space-time?
All of these—so many what-ifs—kept flooding my mind every time I saw him, all of them dragging me toward one inevitable conclusion.
I had to confirm it.
And I knew exactly how. The same Time that let me sense it in the first place would let me verify it, if I really wanted to.
But if I were going to do that, I couldn’t afford to raise even the slightest suspicion.
No one could know what I was doing.
And more than anyone, he absolutely couldn’t.
Eventually, the opportunity came to me on its own, and I didn’t hesitate to take it.
He didn’t seem to notice anything, which gave me the chance to find out whether what I had detected that day was the reality...or just a lie.
And oh, how I wished reality had been a lie.
The moment I touched his hand, I felt it, that faint layer wrapped around his very existence.
I felt it slowly degrading, weakening with each passing moment.
They say ignorance is bliss, and truly, I would have chosen ignorance until the very end.
But as always, Time decided otherwise.
And once again, Time reminded me why, despite all its supposed affection for me, all I’ve ever felt for it is hatred.