67th Move | The Darkness Before Specious Dawn

AN: As you all know, this fic was inspired heavily of Xeelee Sequence, and Chloe represents the missing time travel element.

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FEAR.

Rimuru's jaw clamped shut as a crushing aura surrounded Veldora, the hair on the back of his head, leg, and forearm stood up as goosebumps formed. The air in the room started to move, creating winds that picked up sheets of paper and other lighter things. The pressure exuded from the True Dragon was so great that had it not been for the Citadel, most animals, monsters, and humans within a 300-kilometer radius would've died.

Rimuru felt rage like never before radiating from Veldora as the True Dragon stared at the screen. Rage like that of a God's. Blue lines started to crawl up Veldora's neck and down his chest at an alarming rate as his eyes glowed a pure, stormy blue.

"That...bitch..." He growled out. To Rimuru, it was so deep that if a hurricane had a voice, it would be that.

Veldora's form started to grow more and more draconic, losing its human form as Veldora's fingers sharpened into claws, his teeth grew longer, and on his back, tips of wings poked out like a butterfly getting out of its cocoon form.

"How...dare...she..." His voice grew less and less human. The aura currently emitting from the True Dragon made Rimuru second-guess whether or not to intervene, akin to a child debating whether or not to intervene during an argument between their parents.

"HOW DARE SHE KILL AND STOMP ON THE NAME OF MY FAMILY!"

The realization that Veldora's dragon form might be too big for the room suddenly crossed Rimuru's mind like a bullet. He then activated [Tattletale] to try and find a way to calm Veldora down.

<After the last time that Veldora allowed his rage to go out of hand, he had hurt Scientia>

<Veldora made a promise to never go into blinding rage again>

<Veldora was adhering to that promise and thus suppressed his rage when he felt pain>

<But the video and proof that Scientia was somehow still alive suffering pushed him over edge>

It was less than useful, giving Rimuru information that he already knows about.

<The head does not belong to Scientia>

What.

<The head does not belong to Scientia>

Rimuru stopped. His eyes stared off into the distance as his Ultimate Skill repeated its findings.

"Veldora—"

Before Rimuru could continue, Veldora teleported out of the Citadel.

Through a rift in the fabric of space itself, the Storm Dragon appeared in the skies above the ruins of Lura, completely in his draconic form. The wind around him started to howl and move, the skies themselves darkened as storm clouds overtook the originally clear skies that Manas: Chronoa had created.

"ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAR" as if on command, the storm grew worse and worse, the blanket of grey clouds quickly turning into a category 1 hurricane despite it being nowhere near any body of warm ocean current. Veldora drifted at the center of the eye, the only place where sunlight can still shine nearly unobstructed down to the ground.

From the holographic display, Rimuru saw how Chronoa turned to look at Veldora with a calm expression, like a master tactician using themselves as bait for the enemy.

Making herself loud enough to overpower the wind, she pointed at Veldora, "Do you all see what Relentless has done? It had unleashed and was able to put one of the True Dragons under Its control! And now they're gone, the True Dragon followed its master and seeks to create a storm that would end the entire world!" Due to how high the Dragon is, Veldora almost blended into the grey stormy sky, the only reason anyone can even see the True Dragon was due to the amount of lightning crackling around its body.

The wind blew even faster as Chronoa's cape fluttered about like leaves in a hurricane. With a single wave of her hand, the sound of the wind blowing stopped.

<Chronoa created a spatial bubble that only allows wind below certain speed to pass through>

<Chronoa created a Maxwell's Demon so her words would be clearer>

"Damn it Veldora!" Rimuru cursed as he activated [Tattletale], trying to contact the Storm Dragon through the [Soul Corridor] had been less than useful, considering all he received was pure emotions that forced the slime to end the [Soul Corridor] lest he gets infected by that emotion.

Rimuru gripped Kusanagi by his waist, pondering whether or not he should help Veldora before the AI assistant spoke up, "Mr. President, the Citadel's Exospheric Sensors have detected a massive energy spike 20,000 kilometers directly above where Designated: Veldora is."

"What?" A holographic display materialized on the slime's desk, showing what appears to be a 3-D map of Ingrassian airspace going all the way up 70,000 kilometers. Around the 20,000-kilometer mark was a mass of highly concentrated infrared radiation, almost like a thermal bloom of a laser as it traveled through the atmosphere.

If Rimuru remembered correctly, Scientia once told him that stealth in space is impossible due to the issue of heat radiating out as infrared that an enemy can pick up. Even if you're 1 degree Celcius above the ambient temperature, you'll light up like a white dot on a sheet of black paper.

"What the hell is that?"

Before anyone else can answer, the Hero dropped the head unceremoniously as though it were a piece of uncut ice, "But fear not! For I am here now!" then she pulled out a sword from seemingly empty space, catching the slime's attention.

The sword was a beauty. Golden in coloration with a blue handle, the sword looked like it embodied the human spirit and the will to protect a planet.

It was like a deja vu, Rimuru felt like he's seen that sword from somewhere, it was at the tip of his tongue yet he can't seem to recall that specific memory.

<It was Asimov, Scientia's sword>

The slime went still at the information that [Tattletale] was able to discern from the holographic screen. His mind went blank with rage at the desecration of his friend's legacy.

The sword started to glow, brighter and brighter as more of Chronoa's magicule is pushed into it until the entire thing looked like an oversized glowstick.

In response to what the enraged Veldora perceives as an apparent provocation, the dragon strengthened the hurricane's wind.

Deciding to screw it, Rimuru got up and pulled out Kusanagi, selecting the element to be 'space'. Just as he was about to join the battle, the sword suddenly powered off.

"Wha—"

"Mr. President, forgive me but I think that is a rash action," Shizue spoke like a doctor discussing a patient with their colleagues, causing Rimuru to snap out of his rage at how different she sounded, at how alien that tone of voice is on her lips.

In their past interactions, Shizue always had this aura of friendliness that made them get along so well. Whenever she spoke, it was always with a tone that a teacher might use for their favorite student, yet now that's completely gone and replaced with coldness.

<Shizue's posture had changed after hearing of Scientia's passing>

She did? Rimuru tried recalling back the past few minutes, yet all he received was him talking to Veldora and watching Chronoa's broadcast: he simply wasn't paying attention.

"My lady had installed an Emotional Suppression Program in the event where I become unstable. Due to recent events mirroring past incidents, I almost had a mental breakdown upon hearing the death of my Lady." The way she spoke was robotic, almost causing Rimuru to shiver at how strange it is for a human to be able to suddenly change.

"I—what?"

"Predictive Algorithm combined with intuition, pre-downloaded data about Psychology, and general experience communicating with you has resulted in me being able to predict your thoughts to a certain degree. I predicted that you were confused about my change of tone and thus responded appropriately."

Rimuru has always seen Shizue as a fellow human, thus seeing someone act so differently is giving the slime whiplash. Calming down, "I...see but why didn't you allow me to join Veldora? And how did you take control of Kusanagi?"

"In our contract that I signed with the Lady Scientia, it was stipulated that I shall serve Rimuru Tempest faithfully in the event of her passing, thus, I am fulfilling my duty in ensuring that you are not in harm's way. As for how I took control, I have partial access to the ocean of information and connection that is the Noosphere. Utilizing a series of Passwords, I temporarily turned off Designated: Sword_of_Control_itm. I didn't allow you to join because you wouldn't have made any contributions anyways. Moreover, allowing you to join the battle between an Individual capable of slaying Lady Scientia and a Class-40 Magicule Singularity would be assisted suicide. My contract disallows that."

Rimuru opened his mouth to rebuke her words, only for Shizue to continue, "Allow me to pose you a question; if I allowed you to fight with Veldora, how would you defeat someone who had somehow pierced through all the defenses of my Lady's Singularity Block-Form Mathematics?"

"I—"

"Assuming that Chronoa's words are correct, then it must mean this isn't the first time that she's fought against Lady Scientia. If the Hero has access to time travel unrestricted by the Novikov Self-Consistency Principle— apologies, it would be the Novikov Self-Consistency Theory— then it must equally mean that this won't be the first time that she's fought against Veldora and you combined, we just don't remember it due to time travel erasing that future. We can then assume that if she's fighting against Veldora, then it must mean that either Chronoa knows she can win or this serves a greater purpose."

Rimuru's body lifelessly fell back into the chair, his eyes unfocused as Shizue's words hammered into his mind had cut away any and all possible protest.

"...So are you saying Veldora's screwed? And we're helpless to do anything about it?!" He yelled out hatefully at the last part, glaring at Shizue, Rimuru directed all of his built-up hate at the digital-lich-in-a-maid-uniform.

<It is illogical—>

'Shut up.' and the Ultimate Skill obeyed.

Having no one to direct his anger toward, Rimuru's pint-up rage lashed out at the only other individual in the room.

"Yes."

Rimuru's fist tightened so much that his knuckles turned white. He saw red at the sheer nonchalant attitude that Shizue is expressing.

"If you wish to vent your rage somewhere, this chassis is easily replaceable and are durable enough to take the equivalent of a car crash level of physical trauma."

He wanted so hard to punch the woman. Losing Scientia, his nation is under attack, most forms of communications are down, and now Veldora is being used— the sheer stress of everything that happened within the last hour or so had pushed him over the edge.

"ARGH!"

Rimuru grunted out in pain as he punched his face, the rotating executive chair spun to left in accordance with the laws of inertia.

His cheeks had deformed, revealing the blue slimy flesh underneath.

It was painful, but necessary as even without [Tattletale] the slime recognized that he needed to vent the rage somewhere or he is going to explode.

Taking several deep breaths, Rimuru calmed down by reminding himself that Shizue is not in the right state of mind and that her empathy has been essentially turned off, sort of like the character of that one show Scientia used to love in her old life, that did she call it? Something-something Cooper or something.

Making himself think of Shizue as that allowed Rimuru to come up with a different approach, a more... solution-orientated approach "what do you suggest we do then?"

"A True Dragon is a being that always comes back even when killed. In my Lady's available notes, she only has three different options when dealing with a rogue True Dragon and two of them are one-time use only. Thus I recommend as your servant to observe the battle, to see what we can learn since Chronoa cannot be omnipotent if it took her so long to win against my Lady."

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Lura, Ingrassia.

Before he became a True Dragon, Veldora was a nameless entity born within the stormy sea underneath the crust of crystalline iron nuclei that covers a neutron star. It was known as a chromodynamic lifeform, where Its chemistry uses the Strong Nuclear Force instead of the Electromagnetic Force. Typically, the Strong Force only exists over extremely short distances, making chromodynamic lifeform all but impossible in places other than the most extreme conditions.

The inside of a neutron star with its extreme density, intense magnetic field, and gravity many billions of times stronger than a planet's more than qualifies as an 'extreme condition'. It is arguably the most turbulent place in the universe.

Underneath the crust of crystal iron and nuclear pasta was a stormy sea of free-flowing and very hot neutrons and other nuclear particles such as protons and atomic nuclei. As these subatomic particles move around in this extremely turbulent sea, it is possible for the particles to bundle together and form neutron-rich micronuclei. These micronuclei could then clump together in a specific way to form macronuclei through random chance alone, creating something analogous to organic molecules like hydrocarbons. With the stormy sea of free-flowing neutrons acting the role water did for carbon-based lifeforms, the first generation of chromodynamics life is extremely simple, just like bacteria.

The similarity to bacteria doesn't just end there. Another trait that connects chromodynamic lifeforms with carbon-based ones is that they all reproduce asexually. By collecting macronuclei, the chromodynamic lifeform reproduces by building another one just like itself with some changes.

Since the inside of a neutron star is extremely energy dense and chaotic, it only took several million years of rapid evolution for a proper ecosystem to emerge, where instead of a food web, it's a free-for-all. It took another quarter of a billion years for sapient creatures to emerge. The nameless entity that would come to be known as 'Veldora' was the first and last of the chromodynamic lifeform to become intelligent and self-aware. This intelligence caused it to reign as the apex predator and before long, the being that would come to be known as 'Veldora' became the only chromodynamic creature, its body filling up the entirety of the stormy sea.

The source of energy for this entire ecosystem was the core, so one could argue that It turned itself into something resembling a plant that clung to the wall situated at the very edge of that stormy sea like sea grass after every other chromodynamic life was consumed, only these 'sea grass' are kilometers in length and were clumped in such thick groups as to give the sieve inside a whale's mouth a run for their money.

As is with any intelligent lifeform, It wanted to expand since the current living space isn't enough. The core of the neutron star was too extreme even for chromodynamic lifeforms, as underneath the outer core of Quark-Gluon Plasma lies the inner core of Strange Matter composed of Strange Quarks. Thus, It looked outward towards the nuclear pasta crust. Before It, many mindless chromodynamic lifeforms tried to tunnel their way through this crust and never returned. It knew that extreme gravity was required to maintain Its form, so as It drilled into that wall, It made sure to create a special shell that surrounds the drill so that Its internal mass would not spill out like a water balloon once it does reach the surface.

After it breached through the crust and reached the surface of the neutron star, It was forced to create new organs that would interact with the Electromagnetic spectrum since sight wasn't a requirement down at the depth of the neutron star. After the organs were created, It was finally able to gaze up at the stars...

And at Veldanava.

.

.

.

.

.

The now category 5 hurricane covered the entirety of Ingrassia, contained only by the mountain ranges that separate the nation from Falmuth and the various Western States. The edge of the hurricane bled into Ruberios and the Northern Sea, forming an ovoid aimed toward the Northwest instead of the usual circular shape that a natural hurricane would take.

Large chunks of dirt started to get picked up in the area closest to the eye of the now-beyond category-5 hurricane as the wind turned from hammers into blades. Like Rakes of God, huge, thin sheets of air dragged along the earth at speeds just above that of sound, creating long curving deep scars on the glassed surface in accordance with the arc of the hurricane. The dark world around Chronoa looked almost like the tilted soil of a farmer except amplified to a monumental degree.

Yet the Hero was not affected at all. In fact, the inside of the filter bubble was quite nice, an island of calm in the middle of a sea of chaos. Shards of stone and cooled earth soundlessly battered against the barrier like bullets from a machine gun.

Everywhere for miles on end was so dark due to all the dust and other foreign particles in the air that it can easily be mistaken for late dusk, except for a single source of light.

Chloe's Excalibur shone through the thick dust cloud like the headlights of a car in heavy fog, acting like the flashlight for her live stream for the World.

12 more seconds... the time traveler noted, that the world somehow got even darker as though an imaginary curtain had been placed over the sun.

Counting down, Chloe brought up the brilliant chaotic vortex of holy magic that is Excalibur for a slash. The sheer depth of the sword's stomach had surprised even the Time Traveler as it rivaled Divine Sword Star, a Mythical Grade weapon that belonged to none other than the Strongest Human: Emperor Rudra himself.

Chloe smirked a little, something she never would've done in any previous loops. This Excalibur made the one in Dino's possession look rather underwhelming in comparison, sort of like how an addict would find alcohol underwhelming after getting a taste of the stronger stuff.

Her mouth straightened as Chloe realized the viewers won't be able to sense the beauty of this thing since the broadcast magic intentionally filters out any potential memetic effects. After all, how many times has God's Blindspot pulled out that card when backed into a corner?

'[Die]'

That language. Chronoa hesitated as her mind wandered to one of the old memories she still kept in her head, that god-awful language.

Manas: Chronoa then automatically dulled the effect of that specific sequence of events so her Owner could focus on the task at hand.

The winds have gotten continuously faster and faster within Veldora's presence, a true storm the likes of which only existed on gas giants is currently being formed right in the ruins of Lura.

Chronoa brought the sword up and swung.

The brilliantly bright sword extended its cutting edge ad infinitum, appearing more like a pillar of pure golden light that pierces through the dust clouds as it tries to slay the evil dragon.

Normally, a being would need to call out the weapon's true name to use its power, but with the amount of magicule imbued within the object, such a requirement became arbitrary.

Yet as the sword is about to hit the True Dragon, Chloe Aubert rewinds time back to a few seconds ago, her posture changed— everything changed— back to before she had swung the sword.

Humans and other mortals adore theatrics, and thus, she shall give it to them.

The pettiness of the action is lost on Chronoa. Her ability to travel through time is so easy for the Hero that she likens it to simple breathing.

"EX—" She screamed out the name of the sword, and in response, the blade seem to be alive as it shone even brighter than the last time, appearing like a sun as its light pierces through the cloud covering and reached into space, "—CALIBUR!"

Chronoa slashed downward in a heavy strike, the light of the sword condensed and shot out in a massive holy onslaught of magicules that lanced towards Veldora, who in turn responded with his own [Vortex Breathe], an alternate form of the [Death Heralding Wind].

From his mouth, a black tornado that is darker than even the night sky went forth like a serpent and tried to consume the holy light.

The battle between Veldora and Chronoa was like a tug of war between light and dark. The bright holy light of Excalibur against the dark all-erasing winds of Veldora. A clash between man and monster, a stalemate that seems unending.

The clash continued unabated, both stood at an impasse, and neither seem to be gaining on the other as the linear vortex of pitch-black wind continued to try and fully consume the holy light of the Sword of Promised Victory.

The gridlock continued for many minutes as neither seem to want to give up.

A colossal amount of magicule runoff had saturated the area, enough that mindless monsters started to spawn...

...only for them to get immediately mutilated to such a level that their DNA is ripped apart into their own constituent molecules.

The world around the two of the most powerful beings continued to get more and more ravaged, more and more alien as greater and greater amounts of soil and sentiments get picked up and get shredded down to the molecular level by the super hurricane. Those shredded soil are then in turn launched sideways and spun around the eye of the hurricane akin to bullets. This created a cascading Kessler syndrome-like effect as those shredded soil and rocks acted like tiny spoons that picked up more of the earth.

It was deafeningly loud, and any normal human who isn't immediately cut down into their fundamental building blocks by the shredder-like wind will have their organs liquified.

In the span of a few minutes, the super hurricane is starting to have an effect on the global climate. Not only are there biblical levels of flooding across all of Ingrassia that causes equally massive landslides and soil erosion and land runaways towards the Northern Ingrassian Sea, the entire subtropical jet streams and north hemispheric air pressure circulation cells (which contribute heavily to global weather patterns across the world) have been changed irrevocably for decades to come. The super hurricane ripped a hole in the atmosphere, a region where there is little to no Ozone layer protection.

Due to Veldora submerging deep within his rage and grief, he wasn't able to sense how by the slightest marge, the world somehow got brighter as if a meteor was falling in the area.

Piercing through the layers of the planet's atmosphere like a burning arrow, Velgrynd fell at speeds in excess of 160,000 kilometers an hour or over 4 times the speed that the Voyager 1 spacecraft is traveling at when it escaped the solar system.

Due to this clearly being faster than sound, even without the wind, no one can hear Velgrynd as she descended, and Veldora was too focused on Chronoa to have noticed the falling star that is the Scorch Dragon.

Even if he did, if Veldora tried to defend himself, Excalibur would've reached him: it's a catch-22 situation.

*KA-THOOOOOOOOOOM*

Like plates, the world broke when Velgrynd smashed into Veldora at terrifying speeds. The whole ground for miles around the impact site sunk by hundreds of meters.

The walls of the hurricane's eye got pushed away like smoke in the presence of an active electric fan, finally allowing light to fully shine through.

Tremors in the earth traveled away from the landing site at the speed of sound, causing minor but noticeable earthquakes wherever they went.

The super hurricane's wind dung a massive pit that is half a kilometer deep and many times wider. Velgrynd's crash landing made the pit become a proper crater with the rim rising up from the surrounding flat landscape. The inside of the crater was currently filled with a titanic plume of dust and debris that reached deep into the troposphere.

Before the dust could even settle, a figure flung out from the cloud almost too faster for the eye to register.

"ROOOOOOOOOOOAR!" With a single roar louder than the eruptions of most volcanoes, Veldora announced his continued existence to the rest of the world. Flying out of that hole the Storm Dragon's wings flapped as he glared hatefully at his sister and Chronoa, his claws removed a piece of broken scale from his back.

"All that for a single scale... bastards."

"Veldora." The Scorch Dragon simply said, remaining in her humanoid form.

"VELGRYND!"

There was no requirement for elaboration on Veldora's part. She's lived long enough to intuitively know what Veldora is asking.

Bright orange lines bloomed across her body, "Simply because, brother, she had to die. You know the System is dying correct? Thus in order to save our late brother's creation, I will do whatever it takes to eradicate the last remnants of the Rust within the Machine."

Quickly, Velgrynd transformed. Her figure lengthened like a serpent, and a pair of red wings blossomed from her draconic back. Her scale turned crimson red with a white stomach and the back of her head sprouted out many spikes as horns.

Velgrynd appeared to look like an eastern dragon with wings as she entered combat mode.

The Scorch Dragon first lets out a fire so hot that Chronoa can feel it even through her passive spatial field. The Storm Dragon in response flapped its wings and created huge gusts of wind.

The two attacks collided and the wall of wind somehow blew out the magic fire.

"Ah... as expected of Manas: Chronoa, he has [Faust] instead of THAT one..." Chronoa noted. When two True Dragons fight, it is a glorious affair.

True Dragons are like concepts given ego, so long as a single storm exists somewhere out in the System, Veldora will continuously respawn.

When two True Dragons fight, the real battle is occurring between two concepts. The sheer amount of magicule leaking out of their fighting makes reality more fluid, more changeable, like the flickering shadows of a light bulb on the brink of going out permanently.

This battle within Realspace is just the shadow of the real fight that's happening within what God's Blindspot would call the 'Metaphysical Plane'. This is why storms that Veldora summons could still exist within a vacuum, as they aren't real storms; they are the projections of a storm.

Using Manas: Chronoa, Chloe Aubert could see the maddening dance. Even to one as old and experienced as her, Chloe's mind still recoils in discomfort slightly.

There exist no human words that could describe the actual fight, after all, how do you tell another human how two sentient concepts fight against each other? Colliding like planets? With each collision testing the other's metaphysical weight? It's an oversimplification but that's what Chloe would use if she was forced to describe it.

Her attention returned to the material world just as Velgrynd unleashed [Cthugha | Burning Embrace], turning all water vapor in the nearby dissipating hurricane into pin-pricks of burning plasma, creating a wall of heat that surrounded the entire ravaged crater.

With a single thought, the Scorch Dragon lived up to her title and unleashed those plasmic dots, creating thin, ultra-long needles of superheated gas that can punch through almost anything...

*BANG*

...but not a True Dragon's scales. Millions of needles shot out from every side in a 360-degree arc, trying to stab into the Storm Dragon with no effect. Velgrynd's body language displayed surprise at the turn of events, as though that attack had worked but now no longer.

"Hahahahahahahaha," Veldora let out a deep chuckle, "did you really think that would work as it did the last time? Mere heat? I have experienced much hotter flames than that thanks to my family member, the one that you conspired and successfully killed."

Unknown to anyone else, as Veldora had brushed off Velgrynd's attack, Chronoa had an almost imperceptible smirk on her face once she saw a speck of pink light on the eastward horizon.

"Right on time..." Whispered the Hero of Time knowingly, the edge of her mouth turned upward. Had this been a previous Grand Timeline, the Time Traveler wouldn't even have revealed any real emotional response, appearing more like a robot as she acted the role required to change the situation in her favor for the long term, "now all I need to do is to make a show, really show that I'm struggling, before ending it."

In an instant, Milim appeared in the sky. She had moved so fast as to appear to have teleported.

An instant later, the result of moving at low-relativistic speeds without a magicule vacuum was actualized.

A linear trail of fusion birthed behind her. To an object moving at relativistic speeds within an atmosphere, the septillions of air molecules that surround it move so slowly that they might as well be static. The laws of aerodynamics cannot be applied, instead, Milim smashes into the air molecules so hard they fuse with other molecules nearby.

The bubble of fusion washed over the current area, and all Chronoa could see was brightness.

"Damn it."

<It appears the plan has backfired>

'Indeed it has,' Even if Chloe isn't affected by the very destructive wave of fusion, the failure still stung. Milim taking the most direct path here resulted in her moving through Metropolis, which completely vaporized the city from the fireball.

Too much at one time is not how you break someone.

Although, Chronoa had to admit there is a bit of irony in Metropolis being destroyed by a fusion-based explosion.

Using [Yog-Sothoth] once more, Chloe moved back in time, this time appearing right as the old Chronoa was pulling out the fake head.

The world returned to that barren landscape, the damage from the hurricane now existed only in Chloe's memory as the event was undone.

The Hero's mouth frowned by the tiniest margin in annoyance, having accomplished the biggest obstacle in her path, it is agonizing for Chloe to wait longer than necessary. It's like getting someone addicted to drugs and forcing them to do work for you in exchange for those drugs but then withholding them, the old her would've never expressed so much emotion.

"[Tiferet - Hod]" In an instant, Chronoa felt so much better. Her resolve stiffen, and patience flowed once more.

One simple [Animate] would ensure the jaw would move to give the appearance that it's still alive.

Gripping on the ashen blond hair, the head's jaw moved slightly as though it wants to say something, "We have succeeded! 400 years ago, in order to permanently kill Relentless, we had to perform a long ritual, and in order to perform that ritual, we had to somehow ensure the Perfect Homunculus is dead long enough for the ritual to happen. But just as the ritual was nearing its end, Relentless regenerated completely, and we were forced to banish the Monster. It had returned and made itself stronger, but today... Today we got a chance to rectify that mistake. Relentless had finally come out of their ebony fortress and we took that chance."

Chloe's face turned somber, like a military commander about to tell the parents of a soldier that their son or daughter had perished in battle.

"I... was not strong enough. We... were not strong enough. Even with my Ultimate Skill and the noticeable collaboration of King Aegir, the Church, and the Western Council, the battle cost the World its most beautiful city. But, as a True Hero, I hereby promise you, I will uphold my promise to the World and end the Error once and for all!"

She then reached out using her [Soul Corridor], 'Testarossa, abandon the plan, head to Blumund and lay low, you are to be on stand-by until further orders'.

'As you wish, Your Authority.'

Like clockwork, a rift in space appeared some 43 seconds later than the last loop.

Chronoa turned towards Veldora as the dragon came out of that rift. Veldora roared and started summoning a hurricane.

Deciding to go with a different approach, her body language changed to reflect desperation.

"VELDORA! Stop! Relentless is incapacitated, if you revive it, the entire Voice of the World is in danger!" Her tone was filled to the brim with 'worry', her face twisted in distress as everything is broadcasted worldwide.

Unlike his sister, the True Dragon saw no need to communicate with someone beneath him, so he unleashed his [Vortex Breathe] and shot out a black linear tornado that can shred matter on a molecular level.

Quickly getting out of the way, Chronoa accidentally dropped the decapitated head in her hand just as the serpent-like tornado neared. As though it were alive, the black vortex veered off track, a hair's width away from touching 'Scientia's head', and full-speed shot towards the Hero.

"[Keter - Binah]" Chloe then phased right through the attack, the wind passive through her as though she never existed, as though the current her was an image overlaid onto reality.

After passing through, the wind had carved out a clean-cut mini-gorge, it was as if someone had a cylinder-shaped shovel and had decided to remove the dirt which surrounds Chronoa. The dropped head was over two dozen meters away.

Veldora glared at the time traveler as he approached the dropped head, "you may have defeated me the last time, but not this. To harm my family member..." He picked up the head and cradled it protectively. Chloe screamed out a "NO!" and charged up Excalibur.

Swinging the blade for a horizontal cut, the True Dragon used his wings to tank the holy blast akin to how a human would turn their back against a toy water gun.

The energy fizzled out as dark storm clouds formed overhead, and the wind started to howl.

"You will die." Like the falling curtain after a theater play's end, it started raining.

"VELDORA! Don't you know that preventing the death of Relentless would lead to the destruction of the Voice of the World?!"

"Shut up, I could care less about what happened to the Voice, only that you somehow managed to deeply hurt my family."

Her face shifted into 'shock' and 'horror', "what? Don't you know that the death of the Voice of the World would mean the End of everything?! With [Time Travel], I saw how Relentless Reborn tried to control the Voice using its blasphemous science after the Final Tenma War! Don't you know that technology is anathema to the Voice? It's why the Angels attack every 500 years! To ensure the existence of everything, they must enforce this stasis! Your Republic's technology is causing errors to appear in the Voice! It's why no clairvoyant magic or Skills work to any of Relentless' technology because the Voice does not recognize anything that advanced!"

"I could care less." In such an emotional state, Veldora finds dying a preferable option to living without every member of the Tempest family line.

Making sure that the broadcast is fully on herself, Chronoa made a show of gripping Excalibur tightly and bringing her other fist up to her chest and over her heart.

"...I will stop you then, and afterward, I hope the entire world would realize just why too much technology is so dangerous, and why the Jura Tempest Republic must be ended if everyone else is to survive." As Chloe spoke, her body language changed. She stood tall like a hero, her movement gained an elegance one can only find in myths and legends.

Theatrics and acting are innate abilities that the time traveler has long since mastered and perfected. She was so good at it that the Voice of the World gifted Chronoa with Unique Skill [Acting Mastery] and Unique Skill [Theater Mastery], further boosting her to the point that she can easily fool the likes of Guy Crimson, taking up and switching roles like gas reshaping itself to fill up any container.

Excalibur brightens in response to the coming battle, 'Testarossa, change of plans, tell Milim I said that 'I know the answer you so desperately seek', and when she questions you, leave.'

'Your will be done, Your Authority.' Testarossa said without any hesitation, as the White Primordial trusts the Time Traveler completely.

Chronoa's attention shifted towards Veldora.

Now it is time for the performance to begin.

Shoving as much magicule as she can down the gullet of the golden sword, the world brightened as Excalibur shone brighter than even the sun itself. The time traveler then drew the sword above her head like a person about to perform an overhead slash. Whispers and images crept into Chloe's mind, except the Hero paid no attention to it as Veldora charged himself up for a shot.

"EX—"

Veldora spread his wings in response to the maelstrom of holy energy contained inside the brilliantly golden light, his mouth widening as though he was about to chomp down on a large piece of meat. Large blades of wind started to circulate around his opened jaw.

"—CALIBUR!"

Chronoa slammed the sword down, and a wave of blindly bright golden light pushed forward. Instead of his signature [Vortex Breathe], Veldora this time shot out a thick blue ray of intense gravitational wave, surprising Chloe as she sped up her internal time using [Yog-Sothoth] to analyze the anomaly.

Correction, the ray is only blue because it's approaching her. It would appear red to Veldora as all light passing through the beam would be red-shifted. Hell, the color of the ray would be heavily dependent on where the observer is.

[Yog-Sothoth] felt nothing within the space that the blue beam occupied as if there was a wound in the very fabric of spacetime.

As though it didn't exist, the gravity beam pierced Excalibur's blast, lancing towards Chronoa as all holy energy that was caught within the gravitational beam was pushed away.

Using [Yog-Sothoth], Chloe created several spatial barriers in front of her—

*VOOOOOOOOOOOM*

It sounded like a tornado as the ray, again, passed through every one of her spatial barriers as though it didn't exist, causing Chloe's entire body to be literally unmade as each atom making up her body was torn off like a sugar cube dissolving in water due to the excessive gravity. Any energy coming from the pulling apart of atoms was pushed away all the same.

This attack was Veldora's attempt at mimicking the Starbreaker beam.

The ray continued its travel and veered off from the ground as the planet's curvature made distanced the ground.

The blast was agonizingly painful, even more so when due to General Relativity as Chloe saw in slow motion every bit of her body was pulled apart, as though she was right next to a black hole.

A second after the last of the gravity ray passes, Manas: Chronoa remade Chloe's body exactly where she had died, reviving her from death.

Chloe Aubert stood still, the heat coming from the surface that she stood on was ignored as her face shifted through a wide variety of different emotions. A deep frown marred her face as the Hero let out a low growl. All of the theatrics and acting were gone, replaced by—

Hate.

A surprisingly large amount of hate.

She had endless patience back then.

But this time... Chloe doesn't have as much patience as before. She doesn't want to wait any longer than necessary. Waiting longer than a single second would be utterly torturous for the time traveler.

Chloe then moved backward in time again to right before the gravity laser had effortlessly pierced the spatial barriers, and teleported 400 meters into the air.

'Rudra, you have 15 minutes, I care not how you do it, just that you do.'

A mere moment later, the skies started to darken like a stage before a play, the sun's bright rays were trapped within the ball of hot gas as though to make room for the falling star, the falling Velgrynd.

Veldora raised his head to face Chloe, only for his attention to zone in on the bright dot, "ahhh... I should've known you are part of this, sister."

Deciding that it was time to get rid of Rimuru's last strongest piece, Chloe quickly teleported away as Velgrynd screamed past her position and clashed with Veldora like a hammer of god. This time appearing in the forested opening on the border between Eurazania and Tempest, a bright streak of pink flew across the daytime sky.

The sun was high in the west, showing that it was in the afternoon.

Like the flip of a coin, Chloe became giddy, her body was shaking slightly in excitement before ceasing completely. A white mask had formed over the time traveler's face.

She unleashed part of her aura, causing the pink meteor to veer off course, and came down to her position.

*Boom*

The world shook as Milim crash-landed, letting out an eruption of dust clouds as a crater a dozen meters wide consumed much of the forested opening. The Dragonoid flew out of the dust cloud, wearing her back draconic armor. She floated a few meters off the ground, looking down upon the Time Traveler.

"You know the question that I so desire?" Milim's voice was serious as she questioned the Hero, her tone was a far cry from the child-like innocence she usually showed.

"Yes."

"Tell me. If you were anyone else, I would've dismissed you entirely, but..." Even before her 'disappearance', Chronoa carefully crafted an image of a trustworthy Hero who wished the best for everyone. Of course, that image has cracks around the edges now that she's becoming more sloppy due to the lack of a true enemy.

"Of course, but I think you should come down here, as there are plenty of... bugs... in the wind."

"..." The last time they spoke, Chronoa acted rather well towards the Dragonoid, indulging in her vices like a parent. Giving her the benefit of the doubt, Milim came down and approached the masked Chloe Aubert.

"The Question has been digging at your soul, hasn't it? For millennias, you saw how every living thing had one thing in common, so you wondered what was yours. In my travel, after countless time loops...

...You killed them."

Milim took a step back, her facial features twisted into disbelief as her eyes widen. The serious mask that Milim had on was gone like the wind.

"That's right, you killed them."

"Impossible." She quickly blurted out, "that's impossible I don't even know them!"

"Yet you killed them. Like a parasite, your birth killed them. It is the undeniable truth."

Milim is trusting Chronoa since they've known each other for millennias, and Chloe knows just what button to push in order to get the child-like Dragonoid to believe in her.

"No! That can't be!" Milim looked like a hurt child, her hands were weakly brought up to her chest while she slowly stepped back.

"You've always wondered who gave birth to you, no? It's quite simple: you were an accident." Chloe then spread out her arms, "There's a reason why the strongest entities in this world do not have children despite most of them having a harem full of beautiful women; their power would get passed down if they do."

Chronoa then started to inch forward, "The goal of all life is to live, but humans and demi-humans cannot live forever, thus they pass down their genes through the act of child-making. Spirits and other immortals cannot do that, since they are already immortal, and thus, in the event that immortals do have children, their power would get passed down to them with the parents becoming effectively powerless and mortal once again. Your father, Veldanava, wanted to be like a human, so he had a child with a human woman and gave birth to you. His power was drained away into you, leaving him weak enough that he became mortal and lost all contact with Heaven."

Tears pooled around Milim's eyes as Chloe's words felt like knives cutting away at the wall of apathy and naivete that the Dragonoid has built up for thousands of years.

"I... I'm responsible?"

"That's right, your birth led to their death as the System cannot allow an immortal, even God, to have a child."

Milim felt her stomach start hurting as her mind was overtaken by a sense of light-headedness. The daughter of God moved back, she suddenly fell on her butt into the grass field when her foot was too weak to support her body.

Her eyes looked dead as she stared at Chloe, with the Hero noting how she looked like a hurt, directionless puppy, "I... what should I do then? What now?"

"Exterminate all of humanity. Make them pay for inadvertently killing your parents, drive them to extinction so that the benchmark of 'being human' no longer exists."

"I...but... Scientia...Guy...Frey..." A normal human would've at least given it a second thought about ordering the extermination of their entire species. However, to someone like Milim, ordering the death of a species is like someone ordering an entire forest to be cleared, thus, she doesn't really have too much of an aversive reaction.

"Did you really think they cared for your friendship at all? When you were under Clayman's quote-unquote 'control', did you once sense any anger coming from the Error? Or did you sense annoyance? You are one of the strongest Demon Lords, she only played parley because of your power. Hell, the Harpy Queen did the same thing. Everyone you've ever known is a friend with you only because of your power."

Milim's body slumped forward to face the ground, anger and hatred started bubbling inside the Dragonoid at those who wronged her, at the world who wronged her.

"Destroy the World that took away your parents, destroy the System that enforces the rule—."

"No!" Chronoa's words had pushed Milim over the edge, however, just before she could fall into that abyss of rage and hatred, the Dragonoid pulled herself out just in time, "I can't just kill what my father has built! I can't! I can't! I can't!"

Chronoa stopped inching forward when she suddenly refused. She frowned, there was a slight chance of this happening since Ultimate Skill users' behavior exists within a spectrum: even with time travel, no two loops involving Ultimate Skills are the same due to how unpredictable they are.

Usually, Chronoa would just keep retrying until she gets the right one, but this is hardly the usual timeline considering her victory over God's Blindspot.

Milim then began to sob in her legs as she then moved to be in an upright fetal position, "I can't just kill what my father has built! I'm sorry I just can't! I just can't kill all of humanity! I just can't stay mad at them! I can't just kill them because of what they are!"

Ah, so due to me getting closer to Milim thousands of years ago, this has resulted in being one of the Timelines where she's moved on, Chloe's facial expression softened like a mother about to comfort their child as she stopped putting on the pressure. She towards Milim and encompassed her in a warm hug, Chloe's hands encircling the Dragonoid.

"I see, then it is best for you to be used in other ways."

"Wh—"

A pink needle-like crystal appeared in Chloe's hands that are currently around Milim. Before the Dragonoid could do so much as speak, Chloe drove that needle into Milim's back, piercing her nigh-impenetrable skin like tissue paper.

Electric discharge shot out of that needle which is currently lodged into Milim's back, the Dragonoid flared her aura to push Chronoa back. A second later, the daughter of God collapsed onto the ground, flailing about like a fish out of water and struggling to get up as all her muscles felt extremely weak, unable to draw in any strength or magicules.

"...And thus, another piece has been knocked out of the board. Oh, Rimuru, just wait, everything is for you."

_____________________________________________

The Citadel.

(AN: Play: Steins;Gate OST - Gate of Steiner)

After the Hero Chronoa had disappeared, Velgrynd eventually managed to subdue Veldora by coiling her draconic body around the Storm Dragon.

Then, the Hero returned via a portal with the Emperor of the Eastern Empire in tow. After that, Rimuru watched on helplessly as Veldora severed the [Soul Corridor] and fell under the control of Emperor Rudra. The sharp pain from the severing of the [Soul Corridor] was blunted by the sheer despair that Rimuru was feeling.

The Hero then revealed to the world the existence of this secret coalition between nations against Relentless and her heretic technology, a global conspiracy. Now they're asking for the people who lived inside Tempest to give up their arms and rebel.

Chronoa then pleads to everyone else outside of Tempest, stating how the ritual to ensure Relentless Reborn stays dead for longer than a year would take up the focus of the strongest people and how it's their turn to fight back against the technology. Effectively telling your average person to enlist in the military of their local Kingdom.

A shadow covered Rimuru's eyes as he crisscrossed his hands and leaned on them for support because he honestly think he would collapse otherwise.

<This action would turn the world against Tempest>

<The entirety of the West, Eastern Empire, and most opposite Demon Lord Council are all likely part this coalition>

<Riots and protests would happen throughout the entirety of Tempest its allies>

<Expect desertion in the military>

[Tattletale] listed off its observations and what would likely happen in the future, Rimuru is barely paying attention to it. After all, his life has just been turned upside down in less than 24 hours.

<Veldora has fallen under the control of an Ultimate Skill>

<Veldora severed the [Soul Corridor] so influence would not spread to you>

<Veldora prayed for your safety in his last moment before losing will>

<The chance of victory has been reduced drastically>

<Velgrynd alone should be more than enough to destroy all of the Jura Tempest Republic>

<The Western Council would likely declare war using Ingrassia as a justification>

<Falmuth would likely rebel>

<Tempest will not survive longer than a week>

<It is possible that Chronoa does not have the ability of time travel, instead, she has immortality and precognition on level [Contessa] or possibly even greater>

<Tempest will likely not survive longer than four months even if none of the heavy hitters from Coalition participate in any battle>

<The Coalition is one made out of convenience>

"Mr. President—"

"Get out." Rimuru thumbed the bridge of his nose, a headache forming. The back of his throat burned.

"...Right away, Mr. President" Shizue bowed, performing a curtsey before placing down a metal disk by the coffee table in front of Rimuru's desk.

The digital lich quietly left the room.

"Lights off." The room was bathed in darkness, the only source of illumination was coming from the holograms and dots of light from pieces of electronics.

The darkness felt comforting, allowing peace to take hold as the slime turned off all senses that would allow him to see past the darkness. Finally, the headache is starting to lessen, replaced by nausea.

Rimuru squinted his eyes shut, "Argh!" before bringing up his right fist and punching himself hard enough that the smart chair automatically shifted so he wouldn't fall to the ground. He then brought up his other hand, "Argh!" and punched himself hard enough that the chair adjusted to the other side.

"Argh!"

The pain felt good.

"Argh!"

It felt sobering.

"Argh!"

It was distracting.

"Argh!"

It offered a break from reality.

"ARGH!"

Rimuru then drew back his left fist before performing a punch hard enough that the chair fell over.

"God, why...? Why did this happen? How did everything go to shit so quickly...?"

Rimuru lay there on the floor, pathetically, yet he couldn't find it in himself to care. It was easier to just sink into that abyss of despair and ignore the world. His eyes closed, and cold wetness streaked across his face, a callback to when he was human.

"Why...? Why...?" He wanted an answer. He wanted the truth, "everything was perfectly fine! Why did everything go to hell so quickly?!"

An intense desire for answers germinated inside Rimuru, an answer for this tragedy, for everything that's happened in the last 24 hours. He tried activating his Ultimate Skill, except all [Tattletale] gave him was useless trivial about his surroundings.

He felt anger, anger at the Ultimate Skill for being so useless. He felt so much anger that he wanted to strangle something, his hands grasping at air as they repeated the motion of opening and closing, the fake fingernails digging into his palm during the closing.

His mouth was wide open in a silent scream.

<<Anomaly detect— Breakdown realized>>

<<[Tattletale] has reorganized itself into [Holmes, Lord of Intuition]>>

Before he could continue to wallow in misery or investigate what the Voice of the World said, a source of bright light pierced through his eyelids, causing the slime to be annoyed as he was forced to face reality.

Opening his eyes, the first thing that Rimuru saw was a pair of black shoes and the bottom of a hauntingly familiar white lab coat dangling off his desk. Hope blossomed inside his mind, he quickly turned to look up and saw Scientia sitting on the desk and looking down at him.

"Rimuru, I thought you were better than just wallowing in misery when you've been beaten down, no? So get the fuck up, Mr. President, we got a world to burn."

_____________________________________________

AN: Chloe's meta introduction/elevator pitch: "Pray, for only God can help you if you catch her attention."

An introduction to just how Chloe Aubert fights, it goes to show just how hopeless it is. If you hate her, then it's working, if you sympathize with her, then it's also working.

Chloe is like The Outside Context Problem.