I should die here

It's over before it begins. Their bodies are torn apart by the vines. They didn't even have the time to use the spray. The flesh is absorbed by the vines, leaving only the bones. I hear the same laughter. I take a deep breath. It knows that I am here.

I walk into the room of bones. The vines are waggling in all the direction. The time crystal flower is a shimmering beauty. The flower is as big as a fat toddler. The time crystal plant is slightly tilted to the right because of the weight. I can't see it, but I can feel its smugness.

'You come as an anomaly.'

Ah! It won't let me go this time. "Do you want to eat me this time?"

'You should have followed your destiny.'

I don't make any movement toward the daggers lying on the pile of the bones. The time crystal plant is observing me. It will rip me apart before I make a move. I walk toward it fearlessly.

"I am tired." I stand in front of it. The stem resembles human flesh more than a plant. "What's the point of all this suffering? Rather than killed by someone I love, I should die here."

'Excellent decision.' It smiles at me. 'I will take your entire essence. I will give your soul to my child. My child will grow powerful if it absorbs a time-traveler's soul.'

The parent wants my flesh. The child needs my soul. I close my eyes and wraps my arms around it. I feel it sucking my flesh and my soul. I hear it squeal in happiness. It is already full after eating two humans. It is savoring the time while absorbing me. At the same time, I let my mind fall into its mind. As I thought, walking into dreams and minds are two different abilities. I used them both at the same time on my brother. So, I thought that they were the same. When I used it on Kang Si An, I didn't enter his dream. I was led into his mind directly.

The timekeeper knows about me more than I do.

A human mind is different from a plant's mind. This creature is thousands of years old, but its mind is smaller than I expected it to be. The black space is full of hunger and evil intentions. I see fragments of memories of it absorbing human fleshes. It's unaffected by the change in timeline. Instead, it grows more powerful when the travelers turn back time. It's not the same for the child flower.

It hates timekeepers because they always try to take its child. Whenever the time turned back, they come again to harvest the child in its infancy. If the flower absorbs the soul of a time-traveler, it will grow up as another time crystal plant. Taking the soul of an anomaly is even better.

'You! Why are you in my mind?'

It has noticed me. My body is only a few moments away from death. I don't have much time. I begin to wreak havoc inside its mind. Its mind space starts to crumble like a paper. 'I wouldn't hold any grudge if you had let him go and taken me instead.'

It takes less than a second to destroy its small and weak mind. It's not dead physically yet. I return to my half-absorbed body. I still have little strength left. I pick up the dagger from the piles of bones and climb the plant to reach the flower. The child isn't dead yet. I grab one of its petals and pull it toward me. I ignore it pitiful cries when I dig up the time crystal using the dagger. It turns black and deteriorates into nothing when I take away the time crystal. I climb down the time crystal plant. It is still alive physically. If I turn back time, it will grow strong.

How to kill this monster? It's easier than I thought it would be. The keeper's dagger digs into its flesh like a knife in the sand. It turns black and crumbles like time crystal flower. The dagger also disappears with time crystal plant. There are only bones in the room. Li Jun's bones are here too.

In the timekeepers' bags, I found many vials. I only recognize the white one that took care of the boulder. I find up the second dagger and put it inside the bag. I walk out of the room and look at the bones.

I light up the lighter and burn the clothes of the dead that I found inside the cave room. I throw them on the bones. Even if I turn back time, the bones of the victims and this time crystal plant will be gone.

Feeling better, I walk out of the cave and see the rising sun. I look at the time crystal on my palm. Pretty. Born of so many victims. Even Li Jun's flesh and blood. I don't like it that I have to use this bloody thing. But, I have to save Li Jun and change the time.

I curl my fingers and relax my shoulders. The time crystal is throbbing like a heart in my fist. I feel it coursing into my mind. My body begins to heal on its own. I hear a shattering sound in the back of my mind. My abilities are also growing stronger. The remote control of my life is finally in my hand.

The sun is at the apex by the time I finish. I take a deep breath. I thank Kyuri, Li Jun, and Kang Si An who belong to this timeline. I am the only one who will remain with these memories.

I am going to destroy this timeline. I will destroy the entire loop. I will erase that timekeeper from Kang Si An's body.