The clock turned back slightly.
Beyond the Plane Barrier, Benjamin and Viola floated side by side above that pale-blue curtain of light.
Looking down from the outer void, the entire continent was wrapped tightly within the Plane Barrier. Light patterns flowed slowly across its surface, coating the edges of their Wizard Robes in a cold, gray sheen.
Viola still maintained her pose with all five fingers spread.
Grayish-white law tendrils extended from beneath her feet, lightly resting against the barrier's surface without continuing to seep through.
Her pale-green eyes narrowed slightly, and a faint, almost-smiling curve rested on her lips, as though she were looking at a dessert she had assumed would be ordinary, only to find it unexpectedly exquisite.
Benjamin looked down through the vision she provided.
Having discovered the two of them, he could vaguely make out, through the barrier, metal warships hurriedly rising from the continent's surface, as well as octopus-faced warriors scattering in all directions like startled flying insects.
He had never seen this race before, but the formations of those warships, the style of their energy coatings, and the clearly coordinated tactical rhythm of their ascent were all enough to show that this was by no means a native civilization that a small plane could have developed on its own.
"No wonder you said this was an unexpected delight just now, Senior Sister." Benjamin withdrew his gaze and looked at Viola. "This plane has already been claimed by someone else. Those octopus-faces look fairly capable."
"When I conducted remote scans before, there were no traces of them." Rare delight hid within Viola's voice. "Neither those metal warships nor those octopus-faces appeared in the scanning data back then."
She paused, and a thoughtful glint flashed through her silver-gray eyes.
"Most likely, it was caused by temporal