When the surroundings stabilized, Xinxin stood in an open field. But she wasn’t alone.

A platoon of soldiers in black plate mail stood off in the distance and a small army were stationed further back.

One soldier, a man with a stern and scarred face as well as silver hair, approached.

Seeing that, Xinxin narrowed her eyes and started to rouse her powers. She didn’t know exactly what was going on after what happened and she had no intention of taking any risks until she did.

Darkness began to gather around her right hand and she stepped forward to slash-

“Wait a moment, Miss Faith.”

A male voice called out from behind. That Emperor’s.

Xinxin glanced back to see Elio walking over.

Like Xinxin, the Emperor seemed a bit disoriented. But the golden-haired man took a brief look at the surroundings and nodded to himself, quickly regaining his composure. Not only that, but when he looked at the approaching soldier, a flicker of recognition passed through Elio’s eyes.

Seeing that, Xinxin decided to defer for the moment to that guy since he seemed to have an idea of who those people were. She released the gathering darkness and stepped back, letting Elio step pass her.

As she did, and as she looked to where Elio had just been standing, Xinxin noticed two other people brushing themselves off.

The first was a young man with silver hair and crimson eyes. An ordinary looking sword was strapped at his right side, while he wore an outfit that an adventurer would have. A plain gray tunic, leather armor and boots.

The other was a young girl that reminded Xinxin a bit of herself when she was younger. Straight black hair, delicate facial features and jade-like white skin. The only differences were in the girl’s eyes, a deep crimson instead of Xinxin’s own violet, and the sharpness of her facial features, a bit too much to be someone from the Xia Dynasty.

Unlike her brother, Eve was wearing a regal black robe with crimson highlights, demarking her status as the heir apparent.

Nero, the demon and self-proclaimed ‘Dark Knight’ that Xinxin met in the Dark Tournament, and his sister Eve, the current heir-apparent of the Demon Lord and the entire Demon Realm.

But those two had been far away from Xinxin and Elio when time and space were collapsed. How- No, why were they here of all places? Not only that, but where was everyone else?

Before Xinxin could begin to even think about answering those questions, a gruff male voice called out. “Emperor! Our men are in position, as you ordered!”

Xinxin turned back around to see the soldier from before pound his fist against his chest plate and then bow his head.

“We await your signal to begin the advance!”

Xinxin frowned and then shifted her attention to Elio.

The Emperor was confused, but he hid it well. With an unreadable expression, the golden-haired young man nodded and said, “I’ve received your report. At ease, General Hawkins.”

The stern soldier straightened and then glanced over to Xinxin and the others. “Shall I prepare accomodations for your esteemed guests?”

Elio paused and then slowly shook his head. “That will be fine. I will have them remain with me in my personal quarters. For now, instruct the soldiers and the Braves to remain on standby… and also send me a brief dossier on the formations and objectives once again when you have the chance.”

“Understood!” The solder, General Hawkins, saluted the Emperor again and then returned to the rest of the soldiers. When he did, the group dispersed, scattering throughout the plains.

Xinxin walked over to Elio and said, “You adapted quickly for being placed in an unexpected situation.”

“And you are as unflappable as ever, Miss Faith.” Elio nodded and then shifted his gaze past Xinxin. “Though I cannot say the same for those two.”

Nero walked over, a hand placed on his sword. “Hey, Emperor! What’s the big deal?! Weren’t we going to do a peace conference? Why are-?!”

“Calm down, Brother.” Eve yawned and walked over as well. “Can you not see that we are no longer in the Ancient Forest?”

Nero glanced back. “Well… Yeah! But-“

“It seems you two have an idea of what is occurring.” Eve ignored her brother and looked to Elio. “Is this another piece of your agenda, oh Golden Emperor?”

Elio shook his head. “It is not… Though I have an inkling of what occurred.” He turned to Xinxin and said, “You, myself, and the Demon Lord’s heirs… It appears that Goddess has a particular script in store for us.”

Xinxin frowned. “A script, you say…?” She narrowed her eyes and then expanded her spiritual sense to examine the area. But as she did, she noticed something off.

There was an active force suppressing it. No, rather than suppressing it, the force was trying to expel Xinxin and her interference out of not only the world, but the entire timeline.

Xinxin’s eyes widened and she quickly retracted her spiritual sense. But it seemed that her actions had already drawn that force’s attention as she felt it increase in strength and her surroundings start to fade.

“Tch.” Xinxin rotated her cultivation base and forcibly shoved the force away. At the same time, she anchored herself to the world.

Was it because the effort would be too much? The force stabilized and stopped trying to actively expel Xinxin.

Still, she had the sensation that it would start up again the moment she let her guard down and stop anchoring herself to the world. “How annoying,” she muttered.

It was a situation where pure force wouldn’t be enough. At the same time, it didn’t seem like it was Serena’s interference…

A small part of Xinxin wondered if this was her fault in dismissing that woman’s claims back when Xinxin ran off into the forest. Even so-

“…What do you think, Miss Faith?”

Xinxin blinked and then looked to Elio. “Hm?”

Elio shook his head and said, “For now, let’s retire to somewhere more private.” He shifted his gaze in the distance.

Xinxin followed it to see a group of curious teenaged onlookers staring at them. The so-called Braves granted strength by the Goddess.

“…Very well.” Xinxin nodded and said, “Lead the way.”

---

Once more, Xinxin and Elio sat at around a table in the Emperor’s makeshift tent. It was mostly the same as before but with the addition of a stack of paper shifted off to the side.

Like last time, he poured tea for them both. But unlike last time, there were two others seated there.

Nero took a deep swig from his cup of tea and then slammed it down. “What’s going on? Where’s Eris? Moros? Everyone else? And why are there so many Imperial soldiers?” He jabbed a finger towards Elio and said, “Explain yourself!”

Eve sighed and shook her head, causing her silky black hair to sway. She waved her hand and said, “Ignore this bafoon of a brother that I have. It seems that spending so much time on his own has caused him to develop a rather course demeanor.”

“That’s because I’m not letting you get taken away by this guy again!” Nero pointed at Elio. After that, he turned to Xinxin and said, “And Miss Faith, you can’t trust the guy either! I bet he’s the one who caused that first weird distortion at Alvheim too and got us all teleported!”

“My.” Elio smiled and said, “That is quite the powerful image you have of me in your mind. I can’t tell whether to be amused or honored that you think my abilities extend that far.”

“You-!“

“That’s enough, Nero.” Xinxin spoke up and then glanced over at him. “Zealously protecting your sister after your failure is one thing, but mindlessly lashing out is doing no favors to anyone around.”

Nero froze and then let out a long sigh. “My apologies, Miss Faith.”

Xinxin nodded. “So long as you understand. Now…” She shifted her attention to Elio. “You said you have an idea of what’s going on? No, a ‘script’, you said?”

“That’s right.” Elio nodded and said, “That Goddess is fond of setting up the field like this. Pulling in the important pieces, forcing events to fall into place… Just like back then when I was becoming Emperor. Though to involve you as well…” He frowned. “Has she recovered enough to ignore even a transcendent?”

Nero blinked. “Goddess? When you were becoming Emperor?” He narrowed his eyes and said, “So then you really were behind-!”

“Brother.” Eve snapped at Nero and said, “Just shut up and listen.”

He flinched and then sighed. “Fine.”

Xinxin frowned and contemplated the situation in her head.

The Goddess setting up pieces on the field. Forcing events to fall into place… And then there was her Sifu, who tried to rebel against that ‘destiny’ being put on him.

Not only that, but the fact that this timeline was actively rejecting her presence… and that the connection she had with her Sifu hadn’t been severed, but was faded like a mirage…

“This Goddess.” Xinxin looked over to Elio and said, “Her name is Celeste, you said?”

Elio nodded. “That’s right.”

“Huh?” Nero blinked. “But isn’t-?”

Eve narrowed her eyes. “Brother.”

“Right. I’ll be quiet.” Nero shook his head and stopped talking.

Elio caught the interaction and frowned. “Is there something wrong with that name?”

Xinxin shook her head. “No… But I am beginning to think that the enemy I was opposing might not be the same as yours. Or rather, that I had the wrong one in mind.” She looked to Elio and said, “Do you know anything else about this ‘Celeste’?”

“Of course. The primordial Goddess of the Moon, peerless beauty amidst the starry expanse, the true Divine Being that created all of existence, Celeste.” Elio shook his head and said, “Were it any other person, I would say such titles were exaggeration, but considering her abilities…”

“There is not much room for doubt.” Xinxin’s frown deepened.

From what she remembered both as her Sifu’s Faithful Companion and as his disciple, the person he was fighting against was the Goddess Serena. She had transported him to this world, one that she created, and then forced a ‘destiny’ upon him that he didn’t want.

But with that revelation… Could it be that he was mistaken? That she was mistaken as well?

Multiple timelines, intersecting memories… And events that drew them all to Alvheim.

Not only that, but the focus around Aria…

Eve looked at Elio and said, “I suppose this Goddess is the reason why there are currently two Hearts of Darkness in this world?”

“Hm?” Elio frowned. “Two? But that should be- Ah. I see.” He nodded. “If there are two, then this place is-“

“A different timeline.” Xinxin finished. “I see. So that’s what this Celeste desires.”

Nero blinked and looked at everyone else, shifting his gaze from Elio to Eve, and then to Xinxin. He shook his head and said, “Could… one of you fill me in? You lost me.”

Xinxin glanced at him and said, “A Goddess separate from Serena intervened while we were at Alvheim and disrupted time and space. Then, she plucked us all from the interstice- That is, the gap between both, and drew us here into this parallel timeline.”

Elio nodded. “That sums it up nicely. Moreover… it appears that events have unfolded a bit differently in this timeline. After all, I have no further reason to invade Alvheim and yet here we are with my Imperial soldiers out in full force. Moreover, there appear to be a substantial number of the Brave remaining. At least, more than the amount left after Miss Faith painted my entrance hall in crimson with their blood.”

Xinxin felt a tinge of embarrassment at the pointed remark, but she quickly hid it.

Nero frowned and crossed his arms. “A different timeline, huh? …I don’t really understand what’s going on, but.” He looked to Xinxin and said, “Can’t you just bring us back, Miss Faith? You’re the Heaven Seizer, aren’t you? Couldn’t you just… I don’t know, force time and space to bend to reconnect to our timeline?”

Xinxin slowly nodded. “I could.”

After all, the repulsive force seemed to want her to do just that.

“But… I doubt that you or the other two could survive the journey.” She shifted her gaze to Nero. “Unless you want to test your body’s physique against the void between time and space?”

Nero froze and quickly shook his head. “I’m good, thanks.”

Xinxin sighed. “Even if I did that though, time and space had completely collapsed before we arrived.” She furrowed her brows and said, “Even if we returned, it would be to a ruined world.”

She could still recall the faint sensation of the world’s order collapsing before they arrived in this timeline. Just like when the Xia Dynasty was destroyed.

“But then…” Nero frowned. “What do we do?”

Eve sighed, the young black-haired beauty brushing a strand of hair behind her ear. “It is not ‘what’, but ‘why’ that we should be concerned with, Brother. For us four to be here… This ‘Celeste’ clearly has an agenda she wishes to advance. The question is… should we follow it?”

Elio nodded. “That is indeed the question… From the look of it, the intention appears to be for us to invade Alvheim and presumably retrieve its Heart. At the least, that is what General Hawkins’s report says.” He tapped the pile of papers on the table.

The Heart of Yggdrasil… that was the Sword of Mana and the embodiment of Light’s Order.

Xinxin frowned and said, “I suppose if we removed that, it would be safe to return.”

The repulsive force seemed to be coming from the world itself, a result of the natural order rejecting Xinxin’s presence.

If that was removed, she would have no issue bringing them all safely back to their timeline.

“Great!” Nero stood up and said, “Then we just have to grab that, right? Easy.”

“Easy to fall into that Goddess’s hands, you mean,” Eve said. “Somehow, I doubt that things would end so neatly even as powerful as Miss Faith is.”

Elio slowly nodded. “I agree… Something here isn’t right. But… Is there another option? As much as my soldiers respect me, I hardly believe they will turn back after we are so close to the edge of the Ancient Forest.”

“Well then, we just have to make a quick trip to the Sun Kingdom for reinforcements to bring everyone in order.” Nero glanced at Xinxin. “Right, Miss Faith?”

“I… Don’t think it will be that simple.”

She could sense it now. A familiar sensation in the distance that was simultaneously foreign. A thread of karma that ran parallel to the one she had with her Sifu but that didn’t connect with her.

“At the same time… I don’t think we have a choice.”

Xinxin shifted her gaze to Ancient Forest and the World Tree that towered over it.

A ruined world that lost its order. The Heart of Yggdrasil that could restore it and her Sifu who had gone missing while examining that heart… And then the emergence of this unknown Goddess.

Xinxin didn’t like it. Everything had the sensation of a puppet being pulled along by its strings and her instincts told her that it wouldn’t be enough for her alone.

…Sifu. Wherever- No, whenever you are. Please, hurry up and return. Otherwise, I…