Anita was nervous. It was expected, considering how imposing the stature in front of her was. Her hands were slightly trembling. Who is this man? She thought.

The man who introduced himself as Solomon began walking towards the couple.

Anita and Sofia, both feeling uneasy due to the events that unfolded an hour prior, impulsively readied themselves for combat. They assumed that this man was some sort of commander that came after his squad. In that case, Alviona’s and their safety was being jeopardized.

“Please ready your bow. I am going to bind that man, allowing you for a clear shot,” said Anita to Sofia in a low voice so that the man would not hear them. Seeing that a nod was returned in affirmative, she cast her [Entangle] ability.

Sofia immediately followed up with her bow that was charged with an arrow made of the wind element. However, she did not let it loose. Killing had to be avoided at all costs. Both girls knew of this.

As the vines spurted out from the ground, binding the man’s body, Anita began asking questions.

“That is far enough, stranger.” She told him. “I apologize for my rude actions, but I do not think I can trust an unknown somebody who just happened to be standing at the door of my residence and state that one wishes to engage in a dialogue.”

“Oh, understandable. However, I am not here to harm you. I am merely here to talk and nothing else,” replied the man, who did not seem to lose his composure. For a person that was trapped and had a weapon pointed at him, he was oddly cool-headed and seemed to ignore his condition.

“And what is it that you want to talk about?” asked Anita suspiciously.

“Why none other than about the girl that saved your lives,” replied Solomon with a chuckle.

Hearing his reply, Sofia’s level of alert skyrocketed.

“What business have you with my daughter?!” she demanded, without relaxing her muscles and stretching the bow to its full limit.

“Ah. So you are the mother after all. You can not begin to imagine how excited I am to finally speak with you,” said Solomon with a voice that carried no hints of malice or hostility.

“Cut the pleasantries. Tell us what we want to know!” demanded Anita who seemed to run out of patience. “Whose side are you on? Who sent you here? Are you one of the invaders?” She continued.

Solomon shook his head. Sofia, not satisfied with his lack of co-operation decided to invoke some fear into his head. Without further delay, she let loose of her bow. The howling of the wind coated entire area as the arrow sharply punctured the ground in front of Solomon’s feet, without even allowing the man to blink.

“Speak up!” ordered Sofia.

“You two are quite odd,” replied Solomon with a chuckle. “You are both acting like interrogators despite neither of you having prior battle experience. Do you really expect me, a man who has been through countless combat scenarios, and has experienced death to be so easily shaken by this?” he asked in a voice filled with amusement.

Solomon was smiling while thinking back at who this person in front of him was. Her unshakable and dominating will was entrancing, so much that the man pondered whether or not the defeat on the battlefield prior would be avoided if they had such a strong archer as herself in their ranks.

Meanwhile, Sofia and Anita were looking at him with wide eyes, unable to comprehend why the man stood so unshaken. And what was it that he mentioned about experiencing death?

“Don’t you think we are wasting time? Perhaps we should move into your residence, sit down, and talk?” stated Solomon nonchalantly.

“What do you think should we do, Anita?” asked Sofia, her voice carrying uneasiness and distrust towards the man in front of her.

“I do not know. However, that man seems to possess some information that we do not. He is also acting awkwardly calm despite the situation he is in. It is as if he let us capture him. Perhaps we should hear him out? Although, I do not intend to ease up and lower my guard,” replied Anita with a firm expression. Sofia nodded in approval.

“Just to confirm one thing. You are not our enemy, right?” (Anita)

“Not at all. In truth, both of you are my allies. If I wanted to hurt you I would have already done so,” replied Solomon, moving his right arm that was concealed under his tatters and pulling the vines out from the soil. His arm was still not visible to the two of them and seeing their expression, Solomon could guess that they were wondering how he managed to break through the magically enchanted roots.

“Impossible! How?” asked Anita in shock, her eyes narrowed and face covered in disbelief.

“All in due time,” replied Solomon. “First, I need to ask of you how my mistress is. She does not seem to be around, but I can sense her presence. Where did she go?” asked Solomon with confusion and a hint of worry.

Is he talking about that woman whom we captured? Thought Sofia and Anita simultaneously while looking at each other.

“May I ask who this mistress refers to as?” asked Anita.

“Is it not obvious? I am referring to mistress Alviona,” replied Solomon in a voice mixed with pride and confusion. “Who else is there to talk about?” he continued.

“What?!” gasped Sofia and Anita simultaneously from shock. “Mistress?! She is an eleven-year-old! Are you a pervert of some sort?!” they shouted in unison.

“Huh? No. NO!” replied Solomon, ever slightly blushing while recalling the incident from earlier.

*Cough, Cough*

“Anyways, are we going to talk or not?” he continued.

Anita glanced over at Sofia. Receiving her affirmation and agreement, she removed the rest of the vines that were swirled around Solomon’s legs.

“Very well then. Let’s go” ordered Anita, while stepping past him and into her residence. Sofia quickly followed after her.

Solomon scratched his head and looked at the arrow firmly planted inside the earth. Truly an interesting talent. He thought to himself, as he kneeled and applied force from his right arm to remove it from the soil. After further inspecting it, he moved the object into his magical pouch and walked into the residence, where two girls awaited him.

Sofia moved to the 3rd floor, while Anita and Solomon went to the 2nd. As she got near the bedroom, she gathered her courage and entered the bedroom where her child was resting.

Alviona was lying in bed, with wings embracing her like a blanket. She appeared to be in a deep sleep. As Sofia approached her, she began inspecting her child who has grown significantly over the past hour. Looking at her, she could not help but give out a light giggle. After ensuring that all was well, the mother landed a kiss on her daughter’s cheek, while carefully and gently patting her head.

Satisfied, she quietly left the room and went to the 2nd floor to join the discussion. As she entered the room, she saw Anita who was boiling water for tea.

“Aren’t you going to sit down?” asked Anita to Solomon, who was still leaning by the side of the wall.

“Not to mean disrespect, but those chairs are too small for me,” he replied awkwardly.

“Oh. I did not think about that,” said Anita while pouting. She clapped her hands, and the chair changed the shape to accommodate for Solomon’s body. “There you go.”

Witnessing her actions, Solomon sat down and looked around the room. After seeing that one of the assailants was still alive, he got confused.

“Why is she alive?” he asked while pointing towards the young woman. “I thought that Alviona would kill all of them,” he continued.

“No. When Alviona approached the woman, she began begging for her life, and as a result, she was not slain,” replied Sofia while recalling how it had unfolded.

“I see.” (Solomon)

“Anywho. Now that we are all gathered here, how about you start answering our questions?” (Anita)

“Very well. Where would you like me to begin?” (Solomon)

“First, tell us where you hail from.” (Sofia)

Solomon nodded and told the two of his background; more specifically, how he was the commander of elite forces belonging to the Kingdom of Damas.

“How much do you understand about the current situation?” asked Solomon to the two girls that did not appear to be caught up with current events.

“I do not know of anything at all,” replied Anita while Sofia fell into thought.

“Before I came to this forest with my daughter, I inhabited the village of H’ulm. After the year of Alviona’s birth, I was confronted by a noble named Jemin who banished me. As a result, I went towards the city of Haffel but the guard over there told me that the city would fall within two weeks. He directed me to come to this very forest, where I met Anita,” replied Sofia. “This was almost three months ago.”

“Ah, I see” replied Solomon with a nod.

“So, what happened to the Kingdom of Damas?” asked Anita.

“Currently, I do not know. I have perished on the battlefield after being defeated by masterful trickery and deception,” stated Solomon with a saddened face.

“What do you mean by perished?” asked Sofia with a confused expression.

“Anita, that woman is coming to her senses,” said Piu who has been guarding the captive. As a result, all the attention was now gathered on her.

The young woman slowly opened her eyes and touched her forehead, light pain still jolting within her head. As she attempted to raise her body, a realization of being in an unfamiliar to her place sank in.

“Where am I?!” she asked in panic while looking around. She tried to move her hands but found that they were tied with ropes. Despite them not being behind her back, using any ability was impossible for the ropes were enchanted with magic that nullified mana gathering. “Let me go! Please, I will tell you anything that you desire. Just don’t kill me,” she said, tears welling up her eyes.

“Calm down. No one is killing you.” Anita was first to reply. Seeing that the woman was in a state of panic, she moved towards the sink and grabbed a glass of water. “Here, drink. Ease up your mind a little.”

“T-thank you,” replied the captive while accepting the cup from Anita. Her face displayed gratitude.

The girl was young. Probably no more than 20-years old. Her facial features were elegant. However, her eyes were a little off-setting due to how fierce they appeared to be. She had brown eyes, thick brows, and thin lips, which seemed to suit her tanned skin. Her rose gold hair was cut short and did not extend past her ears. Overall, her appearance carried a hint of nobility.

“What is your name?” asked Sofia to the girl, who seemed to hesitate a bit until answering.

“Janine,” replied the girl in a low voice.

“All right Janine, mind telling me why you ventured into our forest and committed an assault?” asked Anita firmly, but without any ill-intentions, as to not scare the girl. Captive or not, she was unarmed and posed no danger. Both Anita and Sofia tried being as humane as possible.

“I apologize. It was not a deliberate act. My company and I were confused, for when we entered this place, the time of the day completely shifted. The missing arm that you witnessed on one of the men was a result of the fierce battle that we experienced with goblins. Exhausted, he was ambushed and had his limb sliced. As a result, he was bleeding for nearly three hours. And yet, he was alive,” stated Janine while thinking about the events that unfolded.

“The rogue in our party had enough mana left to utilize [Tracking], so we were able to find this residence. Due to all of us being confused, we decided to come here and investigate. Since we were not sure of your hostility, we decided that it would be safer to capture the two of you for interrogation.” (Janine)

“But you mentioned something about time distorting?” asked Sofia with curiosity.

“Oh, yes! Believe it or not, before we entered the forest it was afternoon. However, once we came here, the time of day quickly began shifting. We did not pay attention, and as we ventured deeper into the wilderness, the daylight disappeared altogether and only night remained. We attempted to backtrack from where we came but ended up in the same spot where we began,” replied Janine while drinking more water. It appeared that she was very nervous and was sweating profusely.

“That story is fascinating, but it does not come close to the realm which I experienced,” stated Solomon after listening to Janine’s story.

All of the attention, including Janine’s, was now gathered on Solomon.

As the young girl looked at him, she developed a nagging feeling that they had met somewhere. However, due to Solomon looking much younger, she was unable to recognize him. However, once she paid attention and inspected his equipment, her skin went pale.

“Eeeeeeeeeek! T-that! H-how?! W-what?” screamed Janine with her hands trembling, dropping the cup and splattering the remainder of the water on her garment.

“What is wrong? Are you ill?” asked Anita and Sofia in confusion, while looking towards the direction of the girl’s gaze but did not seem to notice anything unusual.

“T-the shoulder pad…” said Janine while pointing her finger towards Solomon, directing the gazes to the same spot “… Th-the head belongs to Solomon! The man who wiped our entire battalion out!” she gasped in panic, desperately trying to catch air.

“That is correct,” stated Solomon with an amused face. “Beter yet, the Solomon you speak of is standing in front of your eyes,” he added.

“Impossible! How?! Nothing except for your shoulder pad resembles your previous self!” exclaimed Janine in disbelief. “You also seem to…”

“Appear taller and younger?” asked Solomon while intruding in her speech.

Janine nodded. The girl was so terrified that she was likely to receive a heart-attack.

“Well, I assure you that what you are witnessing right now is possible. I can prove it by telling you everything that happened on the battlefield before and after you made your escape,” replied Solomon with a grin.

Janine’s listened carefully, as the man in front of her described how the battle unfolded. Her eyes went wide when he started depicting the wyvern.

“That sounds like the 15th battalion,” muttered Janine.

“Who are they?” asked Sofia with curiosity.

Janine explained that the 15th battalion, also known as the Rulers of Heavens, was an elite detachment that consisted of wyvern riders comprised of about 40 members. As such, it was questionable as to why they were called a battalion. However, once Janine explained how much combat power they possessed, questioning it became futile.

Solomon finished by describing his death scene. At that point, it sounded like a fairy-tale. Anita and Sofia could not hold their surprise after understanding what the man meant by him perishing.

“Then, if you died, how in the name of mother nature is your head whole again? Are you perhaps an undead?” asked Anita with disbelief, thinking that perhaps the man was influenced by some form of illusion spell. At that moment, she grabbed her teacup and attempted to sip it in hopes of calming her nerves.

“The time stopped mid-way as my head was flying towards the ground,” replied Solomon. This statement was so sudden and absurd that Anita ended up spilling out most of the tea that she so desperately attempted to drink. Looking around, everyone seemed to be agitated.

“Bullshit!” yelled Anita.

“I knew you'd say that” replied Solomon with a grin.

“Only the God of Time can slow it down,” said Piu in an angry voice. “If you, mortals, were able to possess such ability history would be convoluted and virtually non-existent. Just to give an example, let’s suppose that you live a happy life and a murderer decides to commit an act of homicide. The person attacks you, and you trigger your ability to stop time. Regardless of the ability to harm or not, you have successfully re-written your history that should have resulted in your death. And so, how many others have such power? How much will they abuse it?” snorted Piu. “Hence why only God of Time can stop time, or rather keep it flowing. After all, the halt would mean the end of the world.”

“I understand how unbelievable this sounds, and yet the time did come to a halt. In the world that I found myself in, every form of life had vanished except for one. It was the girl with black wings and crimson hair. In other words, your daughter.” Stated Solomon while looking at Sofia.

Despite his story resembling a fairy-tale, neither Sofia nor Anita and even Piu could deny the fact that time had decelerated inside the forest. Was Piu not the first one to report this occurrence? Furthermore, Janine’s words further proved that time was altered. Solomon’s words, on the other hand, were in a completely different realm. And yet, when Alviona’s name was mentioned, even the impossible became somewhat believable. Everyone ended falling into thought.

“All right. Let us assume for now that the time in your world really did stop and that Alviona was present. How did you end up regenerating your body?” asked Sofia, breaking the silence.

“Your daughter extended me an offer of being subjugated,” replied Solomon with a laugh as he recalled how little ago it was. “And I accepted,” He stated firmly.

After Solomon described the nature of the offer, Sofia and Anita got confused, while Piu fell into thought.

“That offer resembles what I heard before I lost consciousness,” stated Janine after recalling her encounter with Alviona. The moment she did so, her body began to tremble. Anita noticed this and walked over to her to perform a check-up.

“Are you feeling sick?” she asked Janine while checking her pulse and body temperature.

“This is odd. You have no fever, and your pulse seems to be normal. So why is it that you are trembling so much?” asked Anita with confusion covering her face.

Janine hesitated to speak up, but after careful consideration she gulped and looked at everyone in front of her.

“My body is trembling as a reaction to the fear that I experienced and am experiencing whenever I think about what I have seen.” She stated with a battered voice.

Just exactly what did she see? Wondered Anita and Sofia, as they recalled the nature of Janine’s scream.

“Would you be able to describe what you saw?” asked Solomon curiously.

“Yes… But it is difficult to convey in words,” replied Janine.

“And yet, please try to do so,” insisted Solomon.

*Gulp*

“I attempted using [Control Mind] spell on the girl. As I began going through her head, I discovered multiple doors leading nowhere. Unable to find the control memory, which would allow me to attack the psych, I got frustrated and decided to cancel my ability. It did not work,” said Janine while pausing and taking a deep breath.

“I found myself trapped within her mind. Usually, the ability works like this: A user enters the target’s mind, finds control room and for a specific duration can utilize that person against their will. If the opponent has a strong will, then the ability will either toss you out or the user will get frustrated, and end up leaving by oneself,” continued Janine.

“This did not happen in my case. So I attempted to move around. Then I noticed this dark door. When opened, a small boy’s figure appeared in front of me,” she paused, her eyes becoming watery and her breathing becoming more rapid.

“As I approached him, the body began enlarging until it reached my height. Looking closer at the person, his face became reminiscent of me. After, she materialized a dagger and started slicing her own throat. As blood gushed out from my reflection, she began singing and dancing. I attempted to run away from that gory sight by exiting the room. As I was back at the beginning area, another oddity happened. All the doors took the shape of lacerated daggers that began stabbing me in and out. Only after spending some time there was I allowed to be released. The pain… It was too real!” exclaimed Janine, tears flowing down her face.

“It sounds like your own mind went against you,” concluded Solomon after hearing her story. “I would not doubt if Alviona caused that,” he added after recalling what she had said about serving no one and not being able to be dominated.

After some time of talking, everyone fell silent due to exhaustion caused by catching up with all the events.

“So, what is going to happen to the Kingdom of Damas?” asked Sofia to switch the topic and ease off the tension.

“We planned to destroy it and claim the territories for ourselves. The Kingdom of Vaalmer has been planning an expansion for quite some time. We desperately wanted to overtake the city port of Na’ul and begin trading with the continent,” replied Janine.

“But why fight a war over a port? And where did you get the wyverns?” inquired Solomon.

“I can see that none of you are well-versed with the politics between Kingdom of Damas and Vaalmer, are you?” mocked Janine. “It is due to the number of herbs and gold mines your territory controls. We always thought that this land should belong to us. So naturally, when a new king came to the throne and ordered a mass scale militarization, people followed.”

“We have dungeons in our lands that spawn wyverns every ten years. Taming them is very hard, but those that do tame them are automatically conscripted into the 15th battalion. They get paid very well and carry out dangerous missions such as exterminating High-Level monsters as Cyclops and Ogres. Our border defense also consumes a lot of resources. We continuously fight other types of threat such as the undead. The metals with which we craft weapons and armor are also running out, so naturally, we decided to expand our territory for the profit.” She continued.

“Lastly, do you know of the incident with our vassal being killed by your banner?” asked Janine, the question mostly being directed towards Solomon.

Solomon went pale. “Yes,” he replied with an uneasy voice.

“Then you should understand why the war was sparked,” replied Janine.

Sofia looked confused, as she did not know the details about this incident. The war was declared a year ago when her daughter had just been born. She did not pay much attention to the developments in the outside world and now regretted not doing so.

“Can I ask what you are referring to?” asked Sofia, to catch up with the conversation.

“We had an emissary from the Kingdom of Vaalmer appear inside the palace, who had made an appearance for the declaration offer of trade. Their offering was access to their dungeon. In return, we had to allow them tax-free and restriction-free utilization of the port of Na’ul. The offer was perfect. However, the problems arose the next day. One of the king’s sons named Jafli had a personal quarrel with the ambassador, stating that their offer was not enough to allow for tax-free trades within the port,” replied Solomon.

“And a quarrel causes a war?” asked Sofia in confusion.

“No. When that quarrel is elevated into arguments and threats, and when the stupid man named Jafli backstabs our ambassador on his way back to the Kingdom of Vaalmer is what causes the war,” replied Janine. “King Damille was not willing to punish his son for killing a mere ambassador. Therefore, he openly provoked our side.”

…

“So what are we going to do?” It was Piu’s turn to ask some questions.

“What are we going to do about what?” asked Janine back.

“Not about what, but who. What are we going to do about Alviona?” Seeing that everyone fell into silence, it appeared that Piu had asked the most crucial question that one could pose.

“Oh, that is quite simple,” replied Solomon. “I intend to take her outside of this continent so that she can learn magic. After all, she asked for it.”

It was at that moment that Sofia’s anger burst out.