Chapter 131: Catching a Cheating

"You know, in our world, Michelle also attacked Edenmere. But guess how long ago that happened?" Number 14 Nicola asked.

She didn't wait for my answer. She just held up three fingers.

"Three months?" I guessed.

 But her answer completely surprised me!

"Wrong, it's three years, lah!" she said.

"Three years..." 

At first, I didn't understand what this number meant. But when I realized, I almost jumped out of my chair. "How is that possible?!"

A space tunnel made only of earth elements couldn't cause time travel. That's why time in Eldoria Continent and Earth flowed at the same speed.

But Number 14 Nicola didn't look like she was lying. If she really came from three years in the future, there was only one possibility...

"Your space tunnel must have mixed with a lot of wind elements when it formed!" Number 14, the "time expert," concluded with a playful look.

"That can't be, right?" I questioned, not really believing it. Wasn't this space tunnel between two worlds created by accident when Nicola and Adrian fought in the Cycle of Rebirth? It was only supposed to involve earth elements!

But then I remembered something. Even though the fight was a big part of it, the real cause was probably the necklace that twelve-winged Nicola gave Adrian!

Could it be that the space tunnel connecting to Earth, and everything we experienced here, including the parallel time mess, was all planned by twelve-winged Nicola?

I started to feel uneasy. This idea was crazy. It meant that everything I went through for so long, from Edenmere to Parristol, from Crescent City to the Empire, was all under twelve-winged Nicola's control!

Even if she was super powerful, she couldn't have planned that far ahead, right?

"Oh yeah, I heard you're pretty strong. You're from the same world as that ten-winged me..." I suddenly remembered there was a Nicola right in front of me. Even though she wasn't from my timeline, maybe she could give some useful thoughts?

"How do you see time? Is it really possible to know exactly everything in the future by time traveling?"

"First, I have to say that my world is very different from yours. So my experience can't really help explain what your world's Nicola can do!" Number 14 Nicola thought for a bit before answering seriously. "Then, as a Wind Angel, because I don't have twelve wings, I can't get full Authority. So I can't give you a 100% accurate answer. But with my current power, because of parallel worlds, I think it's almost impossible to know the future exactly by time traveling! Unless you look at all possible related timelines, or if there's no observer affecting things, then maybe it's possible!"

"When you say observer, do you mean Adrian?" I was surprised. The twelve-winged Nicola also mentioned this word a lot. Later, I found out that Fate Breaker was actually the observer. But in real life, except for that prophecy event in the Makalan city, I didn't feel like the observer had much actual effect on reality.

"Of course he's not the only observer!" Number 14 Nicola answered quickly. Then she moved closer to me and continued mysteriously. "Let me tell you something! Actually, after coming to this Earth, I can clearly feel countless timelines splitting from the current time. Most of these timelines will form another parallel universe, but the differences between them are very small. Because of time's inertia, they should all eventually come back to the same timeline, the same big future direction. Unless something big happens that changes the future, like the special event that's about to happen in M-country..."

"What special event?" I was confused when Number 14 Nicola suddenly stopped talking halfway. I've never seen someone tease like this! While I was still puzzled, I suddenly felt a hand on my waist being grabbed.

"Finally caught you!" The one who grabbed that hand wasn't anyone else, but Number 14 Feliciana who left earlier! She had come back quietly without us noticing. Now she was looking angrily at Number 14 Nicola. "Just as I thought, you didn't leave the canteen. This time I caught you red-handed. Let's see how you explain yourself now!"

"How is this possible?" Even though she could see through time, Number 14 Nicola clearly never expected this. She looked completely confused as her arm was grabbed. It took her a while to come back to her senses. "Don't tell me the future I saw where you lost track of me was actually a fake image you created?"

"Hmph, wind elements are so rare on Earth, and you waste them on silly things like this! Since my bait to lure you out didn't work, I had to find a way to make your foresight fail." Number 14 Feliciana seemed like she had been waiting for this moment. The two of them kept pulling each other in front of me for a while. Their relationship was clearly unusual.

"Doing this might create new timelines!" Number 14 Nicola warned, unable to break free.

"So what? New timelines are always being created in this world anyway. Plus, this isn't Eldoria Continent!" Number 14 Feliciana didn't care at all. Instead, she kept pulling Number 14 Nicola towards the exit. You could see her strength was actually a bit greater than Number 14 Nicola's. As they walked, she urged, " You can't escape this time. I think we need to have a good private talk!"

"That's ridiculous. Romance is my life's pursuit! Besides, I haven't been unfaithful. After all, these Felicianas are all you, right?" But Number 14 Nicola wasn't one to give up easily. She suddenly took out a crystal ball and waved it in front of Number 14 Feliciana. "Even though I can't use time to escape because wind elements are scarce, you probably forgot I always carry my celestial weapon. See you later!"

As soon as she finished speaking, Number 14 Nicola instantly disappeared from the spot.

"Oh no, I forgot she has the 'Eye of Galadra'! Now who knows which corner of the world she's run off to!" Seeing the prize slip away right under her nose, Number 14 Feliciana stomped her foot in frustration.

"Um..." Even though I didn't really want to get involved in these two's drama, the mention of the "Eye of Galadra" at the end made me curious.

"Was that crystal ball really the Eye of Galadra?"

In my world, I remember the Eye of Galadra was supposed to be a machine. Although it combined the power of Galadra's magic, its outer form was still just a machine. But the Eye of Galadra in the Number 14 world was a crystal ball. This suddenly reminded me of Cyrae's world, where the Eye of Galadra seemed to have this form too.

"That's right! Because Galadra is part of the Cycle of Rebirth, he doesn't have a real body and can't come to Earth through the space tunnel. So he gave us the Eye of Galadra for protection." Number 14 Feliciana looked back at me, probably noticing the number 0 on my chest. She stopped and warned, "Don't easily believe Nicola's nonsense. She's always playing around! At most, she just wants to witness major timeline changes, that's why she's hanging around this place with me. That crystal ball stores a lot of earth elements. It can provide enough energy for us to travel through space many times. Parallel worlds are no exception! So if we want to, we can go back to our own world anytime!"

This was definitely explosive news. I never thought visitors from the Number 14 world had the ability to freely return. But her words didn't reduce my confusion. They actually increased it.

"She said earlier that you came from a world three years in the future. Is that fake too?" I couldn't help asking about what concerned me most, seeking confirmation from Number 14 Feliciana.

"That's actually a false question!" I didn't expect this Feliciana, although intimidatingly powerful, to be quite patient when answering questions. She stared at me for a good while, then after thinking for a bit, replied:

"Actually, I don't know much more about time than you do. I only know that similar events of Michelle attacking Edenmere happened in many parallel worlds, but the exact time isn't the same! So even though we come from three years after that event, it doesn't mean we time-traveled back to this Earth. We can only say that to some degree, this possibility exists! But don't forget, the difference between our two worlds is really too big. For example, I've never even seen that Adrian in my world. If you're hoping to get some information about the future from me, you're definitely barking up the wrong tree!"