Chisa: Could the shrine maiden be a man?

"I hope I haven't disappointed you. I hope I'll make you proud..."

Just as Rover was about to unleash his power, a gentle voice reached his ears, making him freeze.

"Who's there?!"

His heart throbbed, then began to pound uncontrollably.

Though he had forgotten so much, some feelings ran so deep that no amount of time could ever wear them away.

"Was that an illusion, or a trap set by the Fractsidus?"

"It must be a scheme Christopher devised to escape!"

A sharp glint flashed in his eyes, and he was about to continue breaking through when Phrolova's image suddenly appeared in his mind, forcing him to calm down.

What if it's real?

He took a deep breath and looked into the distance, where the Fractsidus's presence was receding.

"You got lucky!"

With a cold laugh, he turned around, ready to search for the source of the voice.

Ahead stood a thick barrier, infused with the power of the Lament.

Its power was so immense that it forcibly distorted time and space, kneading countless pasts, futures, and the present together into a chaotic Dangai.

Breaking through would be no easy task.

"Three Elements Unite!!"

In an instant, the three powers of havoc, spectro, and aero fused together. Combining them with Captain-Commander-level Reiatsu, he unleashed a slash straight ahead.

There was nothing fancy about it. He was just that strong!

With a tearing crackle, the barrier was forcibly ripped open, and sunlight streamed in.

Immediately afterward, a violent suction reached out from the other side, wrapped around his body, and pulled him through.

As he fell, countless lights and shadows streamed past. They were fragments of different moments in time, playing out before them.

It felt strangely familiar, like the Gate of Truth.

He was well accustomed to this. Adjusting his posture with ease, he dove straight down.

"Hadō #63: Raikōhō!"

Boom!!

He pierced the final barrier and fell into the real world.

Below was a modern city, utterly unlike Septimont, but its silence was somewhat frightening.

His Reiatsu perception spread out, covering the city.

"There are two... no, one and a half living people. That half a person's presence is still gradually fading, to the east..."

Without another word, he sped toward the presence he had sensed.

Suddenly, heaven and earth changed.

The entire world turned hazy gray, and chaotic temporal frequencies surged forth, covering everything in sight.

"The power of a Threnodian!"

Rover's pupils contracted. In the next moment, countless figures appeared abruptly on the streets. Shouts, cries, and alarms directing people to evacuate mingled together.

Flames rose, buildings toppled, and countless Tacet Discords swarmed out and began harvesting lives.

"Time is looping here!"

In an instant, he saw through the facade and grasped the heart of the matter.

This city had been destroyed by the Lament, but some power had forcibly anchored the moment the disaster struck, causing it to repeat over and over.

These figures and Tacet Discords were all beings that had already perished.

"Watch out!!"

A voice suddenly rang out. Rover looked over and spotted the only person who truly existed there.

She was a young woman with long, straight black hair that fell to her waist, a lock by her right temple tied with a thin red cord.

Her eyes were a deep, dark red, with a faint beauty mark beneath the right one. She wore an old-fashioned dark sailor uniform with a neatly tied red bow and a loose black coat over it.

Her expression was calm and indifferent, with a lingering gloom hidden beneath her cool demeanor. Gripping a pair of giant scissors formed from resonance power, she darted among the Tacet Discords!

Is she trying to save the people being attacked by the Tacet Discords?

Rover was momentarily taken aback. The disaster had already happened, so what was the point? The dead would never return.

Besides, prolonged exposure to a Threnodian's power would corrode her as well. She was practically throwing her life away.

Though that was what he thought, his body moved first.

"Reduce all creation to ash!"

In an instant, scorching heat spread from the Blood Oath Covenant, and towering flames surged upward, forcing even the Threnodian's power into retreat.

"Flame Rampart!"

He swung his long blade, and the ground split open in an instant. Fire dragons soared from the fissures and pounced on the vast horde of Tacet Discords.

As for the people surrounded by them, they suffered no harm at all. The flames seemed to have eyes, passing right around them without even "granting" them the slightest trace of heat.

In the blink of an eye, all the chaos had been swept away!

"What!!"

The young woman in the distance widened her eyes, clearly stunned by the sight.

She had encountered many momentous events and seen many powerful people. She had even heard the legend of the shrine maiden worshipped in Ashihara for generations.

Yet she had never seen anyone like the person before her, who exterminated every evil with a single slash!

Could this be the shrine maiden from the legend? The shrine maiden is a man? And he uses fire, too? That seems a little different from what I remember!

But I heard the shrine maiden can draw on different futures in advance. Could there be a future where the shrine maiden turns into a man?

Chisa blinked her large eyes, her mind in turmoil. Just then, Rover arrived in front of him.

"What are you still standing here for? Get out of this area, quickly!"

"You..."

Only now did she get a clear look at the face of the person before her.

Black hair and golden eyes... They were all too familiar. She had a student ID card tucked against her chest. Wasn't the person in its photograph the one standing before her?

Over the past two months, she had tried several times to approach the distant tower, break the deadly loop, and find Chengxia. In the end, all she had found were Chengxia's diary and that student ID card.

Chengxia had also left her a message, saying that the student ID card came from a different time and that, if she could find its owner, she might be able to escape.

She hadn't taken it to heart at first, but now that she had met Rover, she suddenly felt that some things really had been predestined by unseen forces.

"I have to save my friend. She's at the Rainbow Sound Tower in the distance. That's also the source of the Lament and the starting point of all this chaos. It's extremely dangerous!"

Chisa rested her scissors on her shoulder and spoke concisely.

"Then hold on tight!"

Rover took her small hand. At this moment, that voice was the only thing on his mind. No matter what, he had to find its source.

"Ahead... You're going straight there? You can't. There's chaotic Threnodian power ahead, with time and space thrown into disorder and overlapping in layers. You have to spend time cutting out a passage to get there. Otherwise, if you fall into it, you'll lose all sense of direction."

"There's no need to go to all that trouble..."

Without further hesitation, Rover pulled Chisa toward the tower.

In an instant, the turbulent currents of Threnodian power rushed toward them, threatening to bury them!

"Out of my way!"

He growled, and the Reiatsu around him surged wildly.

Black currents of electricity radiated from him, becoming bolts of lightning that spanned heaven and earth and cleaved a path in every direction.

"Hadō #90: Kurohitsugi!"