Threads of Fate (Part-2)

Jay kept track of the passing seconds and at exactly the hundredth second, he activated║Temporal Relapse║, and his consciousness slipped seamlessly back to the instant when the arrow was about to wound him. In that moment, his Origin Glaive floated beside him, aligning its longest blade directly in front of his palm to intercept the arrow.

But Jay refrained from altering the event. With a subtle mental command, he had the glaive shift aside, allowing the arrow to strike his palm again. Time resumed, and he absorbed the same minor injury he'd sustained moments ago.

Just as before, the wound closed almost instantly, leaving no trace of damage. Jay had accomplished exactly what he'd intended from the beginning. His ability required an injury from an external source as an anchor in time, and by allowing Dante's arrow to wound him, he'd established that anchor. 

With the injury now set as a temporal marker, Jay could return to this exact moment as many times as he wished—provided he had enough units of Origin Energy. The only condition was that each time, he would have to allow the arrow to wound him again, reestablishing the anchor with each loop.

Meanwhile, Dante looked around in awe, his eyes widening as he took in the surreal scene. 

Beyond a hundred meters around them, the world seemed cloaked in a silver-black haze, as though a veil separated them from the rest of reality. A distinct spatial boundary encircled them, dividing the surroundings into an "inside" and "outside."

"Jay, what's happening? Why does everything outside look frozen...?" His voice trailed off, eyes widening further as he caught sight of something at the edge of the boundary. "What...what are those?"

Emerging from the silver-black expanse, several skeletal figures with glowing red eyes began to appear, each one grotesque and ghostly. The apparitions floated at the boundary's edge, watching with a malevolent hunger. 

One by one, more spectres appeared, each more horrifying than the last. Some were slender and towering, others hunched and bristling with bone-like protrusions, yet all carried an immense, otherworldly presence.

They clawed at the invisible barrier, their warped faces twisting in fury as they failed to break through. Eerie, bone-chilling shrieks tore from their skeletal forms, echoing through the silver-black haze like the wails of the damned. 

Oddly, their attention was fixed solely on Dante, ignoring Jay entirely as if they'd grown accustomed to his presence. These were the Temporal Spectres—the spectral guardians of the space-time continuum, relentless enforcers of order. 

They held no fear of the space-time intruders—not even Tier-10 lifeforms. But this particular Tier-2 individual, moving freely under the protection of a terrifying weapon, filled them with an instinctive dread that kept them at bay.

Jay's grin widened as he saw Dante's stunned reaction. "Those?" he said, nodding toward the ghostly creatures. "They might just be the ticket to help you advance your Fate Mastery."

Jay explained the nature of the Temporal Spectres and the powerful ability he had just used. To give Dante full context, he shared the memory of everything that had transpired just before he returned one hundred seconds into the past. 

Dante listened with rapt attention, his fascination growing with each detail. Although he couldn't recall the future moment himself, the memory Jay shared with him filled in the gaps, leaving him awed and astonished.

But what truly left him speechless was the sight of the Temporal Spectres. Through his perception, Dante could see their Fate Halos. Every spectre bore at least an eight-layered Fate Halo, signifying strength of Tier-8 lifeforms. 

Among the hundred or so spectral entities, a third displayed nine-layered halos—an unmistakable sign of Tier-9 lifeforms. Yet, even these impressive beings did not hold his gaze for long.

Dante's focus shifted to a particular Temporal Spectre, the one with a ten-layered Fate Halo. It radiated a staggering power, with a web of more than a thousand fate threads woven around it—far more than any other creature he had observed. 

He pointed out his findings to Jay, who seemed less surprised while acknowledging the weight of Dante's discovery.

Still, Jay felt no fear, trusting in the protection of the Origin Glaive. If the Tier-10 Temporal Spectre had the ability to act against him, it would have done so already, given how many times he had tampered with the space-time continuum. Jay reassured Dante, and only then did Dante take a steadying breath and focus on the task at hand.

Dante closed his eyes, concentrating deeply on the fine threads of fate entwined with the ten-layered Fate Halo above the Tier-10 Temporal Spectre. Beside him, Jay watched intently, his attention shifting to Dante's memory as it unfurled. He was curious to see what insights someone's threads of fate might reveal about them.

Together, as Dante delved into the fate threads, Jay began to see what Dante saw, a vivid memory emerged, bringing them to the heart of a brutal battlefield in space.

Before them, a towering, green-skinned giant, his face bearing six eyes that blazed with rage, clashed against an even larger adversary. This immense being, over several hundred meters tall, had blood-red eyes, protruding tusk-like teeth, and a pair of fiery, curved horns. His ashen red skin and sadistic smile radiated a cruel confidence. Wielding a colossal hammer, the Tier-10 Being exuded a menacing aura, his bulky frame practically vibrating with power.

Ghora's deep, mocking voice rumbled across the battlefield. "It's quite bold of you to venture into our territory, Craul, especially as a mere Tier-9 Being. You've caused so much trouble that I, Fiend General, Ghora, had to personally come and settle it." He swung his massive hammer, preparing for another strike.

Despite his battered form, the old giant—Craul, with gray hair matted with blood and dirt and two tails trailing behind him—held his ground, hatred burning in his eyes. "What have my clan done to deserve such slaughter, General Ghora? You Fiends have wiped us out, sparing not even the women or children. My people… there's not a single one left. If I must die to end your vile kin, then so be it!"

The Fiend General's grin widened. "Big words, considering you're about to die." With a vicious laugh, Ghora swung his hammer, striking Craul with devastating force and sending him crashing into the earth, his body barely clinging to life.

But in the next instant, Craul's wounds vanished. His skin knit back together, and he stood unbroken, his body restored. General Ghora tilted his head, observing without surprise. "Oh? Rewound yourself to a moment before the injury, did you?" He clicked his tongue in irritation. "Time talent users are a nuisance. Let's see how many times you can keep that up."

Over and over, Craul rewound his wounds away, regaining his strength to continue the fight. But against the overwhelming might of a Tier-10 being, the struggle grew futile. With each blow, the gap between them became more apparent, until Craul's strength waned, and his time abilities could no longer sustain him. Finally, he slumped, exhausted, unable to heal.

General Ghora leaned over, eyes glinting with sadistic satisfaction. "So, you've reached your limit," he sneered. "Do you want to know why we erased your clan? It was simple—a successor of yours witnessed something she wasn't meant to see. Your entire clan was destroyed over that single misstep." He raised his hammer once more. "Now go—reunite with them in death."

In a last desperate effort, Craul summoned all his remaining power and slipped into the space-time continuum. But to his horror, Ghora snarled and followed him in.

"Why won't you just die?" Ghora roared, his frustration boiling over. "Because of you, I'll have to waste a precious Temporal Protection scroll." As he spoke, his form shimmered, and a translucent shield of energy unfolded around him, encasing his body in the scroll's protective temporal barrier.

No sooner had they entered the continuum than they were swarmed. Thousands of Temporal Spectres, guardians of time, emerged from all directions, converging on the intruders with vengeful fury. 

While Ghora's shield kept the Temporal Spectres at bay, Craul had no such defense. The spectral figures latched onto him, each touch siphoning away years of his life until he finally succumbed to them, becoming one of them.

Ghora looked down with scorn as Craul's spectral form joined the others in clawing toward him. "So, you'd choose a fate worse than death rather than let me finish you off," he sneered. But even his protection was not absolute. The Temporal Spectres had begun to converge upon him, their attacks cracking the shield that surrounded him.

With a final growl of frustration, Ghora turned and fled, retreating from the space-time continuum before he, too, could be consumed by the relentless guardians of time.

Just like that, the memory drawn from a thread of fate faded, and Dante opened his eyes, a look of awe filling his face as he processed what he had just witnessed.

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Author Note: 

Exclusive artwork for every free chapter is now available on my PATRE0N page! You can find the link in my Discord server.

I'm thrilled to share that I'm taking a big leap forward! Alongside Earth's Alpha Prime, I've launched the first sub-book for EAP.

ALTER REALITY: Online

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The first ten to comment for new chapter releases will get '1 ADVANCED CHAPTER' for free on Earth Alpha Prime's Discord server.

In the discord server, I opened a private channel for those Top 10 candidates, where I posted the respective Advanced Chapter.

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Discord Link for 'Earth's Alpha Prime' :

https://discord.gg/maQC7xDBYZ

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