Spoilers... So Many Spoilers

Ah... I see now.

"It's not hard to see those chains when you use a spell to hide objects in Time Frame. It's supposed to be a temporary space like a handmade pocket on a shirt."

"However, by taking out a single Time Frame and overlapping it behind the next few sets of Time Frames, you create an illusion that the average eyes cannot see."

"Even high-ranking Mage such as Ysabeau can't see it because she doesn't have Arcane Eyes. It's super similar to my Glitch with a small weakness since a novice like you performs it. That small weakness is that your Elemental Energy in the spell is misallocated."

"Say what you want about being an Aki, but you fail in that class regarding Time and Space. And that last sentence tells me that you can't see the chains... Is that correct?" asked the Time Mage in the vision.

"Yes, but I do not need to see it to control it. I would know when it's activated or when it's snapped. The Puppetry Skill makes it possible, and I am proud to say it has worked for the past few centuries. I spent so long in the kidnapping at least one of his echoes..." said Old Man Pond.

"What do you mean by 'Kidnapping his echoes?' " asked Mavislin, with fear in her eyes.

"Ah... So it seems the Time Mage is keeping secrets from his girlfriend..."

"WE ARE NOT TOGETHER!" yelled the Valkyrie and Time Boy.

You think there would be more significant problems than the statement above, like a Poison Mage controlling a Corrupted creature, but priorities, I guess.

"Are you sure about that? The whole Mages' world here knows that you two are a couple of sorts—partners in crime. The Prince and the Empress," asked Old Man Pond, genuinely shocked.

"Forget about that and answer the question! What do you mean by echoes? I killed him that night when Valokia fell. And his body should have been absorbed by that black hole," said Mavislin, her voice dying off at the last part.

"As I said, the Time Mage has a hand in this. From now till the end of Time, your group will be cursed to fight versions of the Corrupted One because of an imperfect spell of Memoria Astrum and the Singularity Bombs, both works of Raiyen and future events."

"The Memoria Astrum Spell will be done by someone you both have a connection to, while the Singularity Bombs would be solely by the Time Mage. When I studied the future events of history, I came across a small anomaly of seeing the Corrupted One in the depths of the ocean."

"I went ahead and investigated, pulling out this little thing," explained Old Man Pond, tugging on his chains of Benjamin.

The tug was powerful enough to force Benjamin's shoulders up despite how impossible it was since Mavislin had just dislocated them earlier.

"STOP THAT NOW!" roared Mavislin, instantly appearing in front of Old Man Pond to deliver a powerful kick.

But the guy came prepared and controlled his puppet to block the attack, causing Mavislin to stop her kick in midair. Benjamin saw it as an opportunity and landed a punch to Mavislin's abdomen, making the girl fly backward and into a nearby tree, breaking it. Ouch... That must've hurt.

But to my surprise, the Valkyrie sprang back into action, only to halt before she could be near the enemies.

"Even after murdering him and all that happened in Valokia, you still refuse to hurt your little brother? What an act of true love. But anyway, I was the one who slew the ocean beast, the Leviathan, and forced this thing to morph into that creature for a while."

"Being an Aki allows us to create Spells that can distort other people's sights of certain objects. Ever since then, little Benny has been controlled by me. But, like a little pet, he is obedient to me. When I need to get rid of certain pests, this guy over here would be the one to do it in a second."

"Damn right. The thing's only listening to you because you're controlling all of the creature's joints! And have you lost your mind?! Why would you do such a stupid thing?" asked the Time Mage.

"He is the only one who can stop the appearances of the Husks. And if I don't capture this echo or the next ones that come after, they might wreak havoc on the planet here. But, hey, I may be the one who ran the Congregation into the ground, but I still like to live."

"Without organization, there's no way of protecting the younger ones. And the older Mages have fled across the globe to hide from the next wave of Husks."