Chapter 33 New Relationship Conflict

"It's simple - when we came in, we alerted some soldiers guarding the city. I used some special methods to find our target! Kyndrill is nothing - with me here, it's a piece of cake!"

Since returning from another world, although Nicola had changed in many ways, she still kept her habit of showing off and being full of herself.

Though she didn't say it directly, I could easily tell that Nicola had probably used her time control ability again, since I could now sense disturbances!

"Don't tell me you used time reversal to walk through the entire city?"

I called her out, since after getting used to her abilities, it was natural to think in that direction.

"Uh, time travel isn't like selling cabbage - even now, using it consumes a large part of my power. And I can only go back ten minutes at most. This time it was just precognition..."

Seeing that I had figured it out, Nicola scratched her head awkwardly, then immediately put on a serious face to correct me.

This precognition - even human mages could do it to some degree. Since Nicola could control time, it was no problem for her.

"Unlike directly controlling time, precognition is a very energy-efficient method..."

According to her, because we had Adrian the Fate Breaker - an Observer - with us, the future could develop in countless different possibilities.

In other words, theoretically we might make many different choices going forward - like heading in different directions, down different streets. Unlike human prophets who could only make vague predictions, when Nicola activated her precognition ability, she could very clearly "see" every detail of every future for a long time ahead, including even herself currently explaining to us!

So after integrating all the experiences from all timelines, she could understand everything about the capital city's situation while standing in one place.

"That's really convenient! If that's the case, couldn't you directly observe the final result of our mission? Like whether we successfully killed Reider... But you just mentioned that you still couldn't properly scout such an important area as the palace?"

Since Reider, being the former emperor, would most likely be in the palace in the center of the city, Cyrae couldn't help but ask.

"Are you kidding me! You're just a lowly six-winged angel - just stand aside and watch, you have no place to talk here! Do you know how complicated the situation in the palace is? The various possibilities that branch out later are countless. Even though I caught glimpses of Reider a few times, he appeared in different locations each time, so nothing was certain! Not to mention there were always strangers with weird abilities appearing in the palace, nearly causing us to fail several times. How could I remember every future!"

Nicola seemed unhappy again and quickly threw out a bunch of reasons to explain. Simply put, she still only had ten wings and hadn't retrieved the complete power from Liana the Wind Angel. Of course, compared to me, she was undoubtedly quite powerful already.

"What do you mean by that? Although I only have six wings, I inherited most of Lady Elara's memories and battle experience. So what if you have ten wings - you just got them for free from the Wind Angel! Let me ask you one more thing - can you truly use all the power in your body?"

However, unexpectedly, at this critical moment, Nicola's earlier words looking down on Cyrae had accidentally stirred up a hornet's nest. Unlike the former Cyra who was used to swallowing her pride, Cyrae had completely different experiences. Seeing the other party belittle her, she immediately jumped up with various rebuttals.

"Huh? Elara? I wouldn't think much of her even if she were here herself, let alone you who's probably not even as good as her!"

But unfortunately, at the mention of Elara's name, Nicola became even more dismissive, and added fuel to the fire with one last comment: "I just don't get it - obviously you're also a high school classmate who crossed over like us, right? Although we started in different worlds, why do you always act like such a bootlicker when it comes to her? Elara wasn't a bad person, but she wasn't that great either. Why are you so obsessed with her? Did she brainwash you, or did you really fall for her? I heard Cyra was quite popular in Edenmere - don't tell me you two had that kind of relationship in the other world?"

"Nonsense! Who could possibly enchant me!"

Even knowing how much Cyrae valued Elara, Nicola still recklessly provoked her. Cyrae laughed coldly in anger and shot back mercilessly:

"You don't understand Lady Elara at all, or the effort she put into this world and the entire angel race! I see you just bullying the weak all day - can you do everything with just that bit of power you have? Don't forget your power will run out one day, and you'll end up just another failure who couldn't change anything!"

"What do you mean I can't change anything! Don't underestimate me - I control time... no, I inherited all of Liana's power, the strongest incarnation derived from the Wind Element! Right now I'm just not powerful enough, but someday I'll take back all my power, and then there will be nothing I can't do!"

Unexpectedly, in that instant, as if hit in a sore spot, Nicola suddenly flashed in front of Cyrae, grabbed her collar, and started shouting as if losing control of her emotions.

"So you've already discovered your power isn't omnipotent?"

Seeing this, Cyrae showed no fear, instead revealing a mocking smile. Actually, not just her, but Adrian and I also noticed this issue. Nicola's attitude clearly showed she had suffered some significant setback! Based on my guess, it might not even have been when she was captured by Adrian in the other world, but she had never told any of us what exactly happened.

"Although I really can't do anything about your time control ability, didn't you look down on my rank? If you've got what it takes, try fighting me without using time control! Even with just six wings, I'm more than enough to handle a rookie who crossed over one year ago!"

Faced with Cyrae's further provocation, we thought Nicola would agree without hesitation. But surprisingly, after her face changed expressions several times - probably because the earlier words had hit another nerve - she let go of Cyrae, turned around, and replied unusually calmly:

"Now is not the time! It's not that I'm afraid of you, but right now we're preparing to kill Reider, and completing this mission is more important! Based on the information I got, he might not be as easy to catch as we imagine, so I don't want any side issues before this thing is finished!"

"...Could it be that she saw some incredible future scene again?"

Adrian and I looked at each other in bewilderment - this change was too quick! She had seemed so impulsive just before, but suddenly let go just like turning a page. Completely unpredictable...

Fortunately, Cyrae was also a sensible elder. Seeing the other party back down, she didn't push further. However, having just resolved the grudge with Adrian, it seemed another feud had formed between these two - who knows when it might explode again.

Anyway, since we had already scouted the city and everything had been explained, Nicola didn't say anything more and flew ahead toward the palace.

"Huh? Shouldn't we destroy the barrier supply formations first?"

Seeing the direction she left in, I was a bit surprised. In my initial thoughts, destroying the barrier formations should be the first priority after entering the city. After all, there were so many rebels surrounding the city outside - if we just let them charge in, even if we didn't do anything else, the situation would probably resolve in our favor.

"Never mind, you guys go after her! Nicola's goal isn't as simple as just chasing away or killing Reider. I'll handle these small matters. Destroying a few supply formations isn't much trouble for me anyway - it'll be good to let that kid know I'm not useless!"

In the end, it was still Cyrae who stepped up to take on this task. With her handling it, I was completely at ease, so Adrian and I hurried toward the palace.

In stark contrast to all of Kyndrill being brightly lit, although we could see the majestic Ilandra Palace standing ahead from far away, its entire interior was very dark. Only near the entrances and the surrounding high walls could we vaguely see signs of people patrolling. Obviously, after the delay, the palace had received news of the invasion and entered emergency status.