“Hey, uh… Right, Maize! Maize, we need to talk.” Kanna approached Maize with her hand waving along the way. “And haven’t seen for a while.”

“Oh, Miss Erina, Lady Kanna. It’s been a while.” Maize turned his eyes from the training ground to Kanna and Erina. “What brings you here?”

“Lia is—”

“Lady Kanna, please, let me handle this.” Erina interrupted.

“Fine.”

“Sir Maize. Please gather a forth of Her Highness’s troops. You will lead them to Academia and receive orders from Her Highness.”

Maize expressed an uncanny smile. “Seems like Her Highness managed to escape from His Majesty’s grasp. Aside from that, any orders that came from Her Highness? And the proof of course. You know I can’t have Her Highness’s guards move without verifying the authenticity of the orders.”

“The letter has been placed in your office. Please read the details there,” Erina replied.

“Hey, hey. Maize, what about the two Enarfs here? Where are they?” Kanna scanned the training ground and found no signs of her brethren.

“Them? They are out on the foot of Alabaster. They said we need a proper place for the Wyverns to land and take off. It does make sense though. We can’t have them actively around the fief and eyeing the cattle. They also scare unaccustomed citizens.”

“That so? Then can you prepare me a horse or two? I need to fetch them.”

“Sure.” Maize turned to the training ground and shouted, “Kasta! Come over here!”

A few seconds later, Kasta arrived in front of Maize with a snappy salute. “Your orders, captain.”

“Escort Kanna to where the other Enarfs are. Use the warhorses to get there and accomplish whatever she needs as fast as you could. Now, go!”

“Understood!” Kasta turned to Kanna and said, “I’ll lead the way, Lady Kanna.”

“Sure, thanks!” Kanna waved her hand and left with Kasta.

“I believe both of you arrived using the wyverns.”

“Yes,” Erina responded.

“Guess you didn’t notice an open area while passing Alabaster?”

“We did. However, informing you is the topmost priority. Her Highness needs you to mobilize as fast as you can. Please consider it as an emergency. If possible, please only bring a minimal amount of equipment.”

Maize whistled. “That’s quite the sudden order. I wonder what got Her Highness rushing for time.”

“Things happened.”

Maize chuckled. “Guess I have to ask Her Highness herself.”

“Indeed. Nevertheless, please read the document in your office. Time is of the essence.”

“Got that.” Maize turned to the training ground and informed his troops to continue their training and left with Erina. He left the training ground with a somewhat intrigued smile. “Finally we’re talking,” he whispered under his breath.

“Where did I go wrong?” Lara asked herself. “Where?”

Lara sat on her chair in her private chamber, staring at an empty corner of the room. Her eyes bore no hint of light. Resting between her left hand and the armrest was an obsidian crystalline clip.

“It was the perfect opportunity to get rid of her. I don’t understand. Why did she let her go? You’re being a hypocrite, Amelia. You stand for justice. You uphold the law as much as you can. Now you are letting her off with a minor punishment?”

Lara clenched her hands into a fist. “Why?”

“Is it because she is family…? You are being too lenient, Amelia… She was trying to get you killed. She hated you so much. Why can’t you understand? It’s for your good that you get rid of her… It’s for the good of Laurel… As well as Brent… it’s for the good of everyone…”

Lara grabbed the neckline of her dress and clutched an object underneath. She gritted her teeth and held the object as tight as she could. Eventually, tears ran down her cheek and she began to sob.

“It’s my only chance… My only chance and yet… you are denying me.” Lara sniffed. “Why do you deny me?! You too, Grandmother! You were known to be the most logical person around and yet you are submitting to your emotions!”

Lara voiced her emotions, alone.

“You listened to me! You believed me! And I helped you! I helped you to establish what Laurel is now! And now this?!” Lara bit her lip until a drip of blood reached the edge of her tongue. “If it’s familial love, then show me some too! I am your Granddaughter after all! But no! No…! No…”

Lara kept sobbing in silence for a few minutes.

“What should I do… The war is inevitable… The Heroes will fall. The last bastion is Academia…” Lara hung her head to the side like a lifeless doll. “Everything… will fall. Even the combined strength of two nations was unable to handle him… He is… too strong.”

Silence enveloped the solemn room in the middle of the day.

Under her breath, Lara managed to pour some mana into the object near the neckline of her dress and whisper, “Play.”

A series of light intertwined from underneath Lara’s dress and managed to find its way into the open space. The lights swirled around until it formed a series of colors, then forming an image. Eventually, the image moved.

[I made two of it. One is made from quicksilver, the other… Well… Orichalcum. It’s the only thing we managed to make out of the vein we found in Alabaster. I know it’s not much, but it’s probably the best we can create. Probably the only weapon we can create than can withstand a battle against that monster.]

“Garfin…” Lara whispered.

[We’ll move east from here. It seems the flames of the recent war will soon reach this place so the Tribe will move out. Some will probably move underground, the others, land, and air. Some will stay to retain the communication between the separate search, but… At best, it will only probably take a month or so to find a new settlement.]

“…”

[Sorry Lara. But if you want to look for me next time, you’ll have to search for the Tribe on your own. Leaving marks on our way is not the best idea for the Tribe. So, here, take both of these. It’s my masterpiece, so, use it well.]

“Garfin…”

[Farewell, Lara. I hope we see each other again in the future.]

“So much has changed… Garfin…” Lara mustered her strength on her feet and stood. “The course of time is vastly different… The Tribe is… still here. But why? Why is it gradually returning to that point? I tried my best to divert from that crisis. Is it inevitable? Ah… Gareth… should I return and accept the outcome? Or should I use it one last time?”

The moving images began to distort and followed behind Lara as she walked towards the balcony. The image then formed a scene in a small room with a sphere of mist and a girl.

[Lara. For such a long time, you are my first visitor. The first person to reach this realm. I commend you for that.]

“Realm, you say?” Lara asked from the playback behind her.

[Yes. It has occurred to me after a long time. Time is not a simple matter of past, present, and future. It is far more complicated than I have ever thought. Far complicated than the knowledge of the Heroes I met.]

“I quite frankly don’t understand.”

Gareth, the sphere of mist, chuckled. [Yes, of course. It’s not a subject that anyone would understand.]

“I guess so.”

[In a simple term. This is a passage that will allow you to do over what was once done. If you once wished to divert the war before it reached this point, then this is the place to be.]

Lara’s eyes widened in surprise. “Do over?! You mean I can go back in time and make things right?!”

[Yes.]

“Then, please! Let me do so!” The girl voiced with both eagerness and hatred.

Gareth’s chuckle resounded within the small room. [Your resolve to change what was done overpowers your sense of doubt. Have you not thought that I may be lying to you?]

“No. You’ve said it, right? You knew about the war and its outcome. You may have no physical body but you have retained your memory and will. That is enough for me to think that you are something exceptional.”

[Ooh. To be complimented after such a long time feels great.]

“In any case, I’m Lara. You are?”

[Gareth. The master of this stronghold.]

Gareth and Lara chatted for a while, trying to know more of each other.

“Gareth, I have a question that has long since been bothering me.”

[Go ahead.]

“Why did you open this passage to me? And why aren’t you at the bottom-most part of this stronghold? It doesn’t make sense at all.”

[Like I told you before, I can observe anything far from here, correct?]

“Yes, you did. But it’s limited to this plane of existence, right? And even though we are in a realm connected to different times you can only observe the present from outside the stronghold, right?”

[Yes. Observing other realms is something I was never able to achieve. They may be an entirely different world from this which is why I cannot peek inside them.]

“So?”

[Remember the war? Pretty much everyone from Brent was dead except for you. The others were kept as prisoners.]

“…”

[The war continued after winter. Brent was overwhelmed and was pushed back. Libet took the chance to pincer the enemy from behind at a bad time. The enemy forces were forced to overrun Brent and they managed to break through which led to Brent’s ruin.]

“Yes…”

[The forces eventually reached the capital as the King tried to retreat. Then that being that led the enemy forces appeared in the castle and—]

“Please stop…” Lara interrupted. “Please.”

[And everything fell apart. The King managed to reach the capital after being surrounded by enemy forces. But it was too late. The Queen was dead.]

Lara shirked and looked to her feet. “Mother died protecting me…”

[But you lived. That being killed everyone connected to Royalty. But that being allowed you to live.]

“Yes… I still don’t understand why… Why spare me and me alone?”

[He did not mean to spare you, Lara. That is what made me interested in you.]

Lara lifted her head. “Huh?”

[I have been observing that day. That being did not mean to spare anyone. That being simply forgot about you. It lost sight of you.]

“Huh? I was there… I was beside Mother until her last breath…” Lara’s hands quivered. She recalled the blood on her hands as she caressed her Mother’s corpse.

[Because someone intervened. Someone stronger than that being.]

“Who?” Tears ran down Lara’s face. “If that being is far stronger than him, then why didn’t it stop him from committing genocide?”

[I hope to understand just like you. But the truth remains. That being saved you. Regarding why, I don’t know. I cannot find a link between the two of you.]

“What did it look like?!” Lara tried to grasp Gareth out of reflex and tumbled forward.

[It was distorted, unfortunately. It was as if it anticipated me observing the events. But I saw the same distortion each time a Hero went berserk. But the sequence of events after that being appears will shortly be removed from my memory. To think that being can reach me in this realm and alter my memory… It’s frightening… I never thought such a being existed.]

“You mean it’s more mythical than the beings that started the great disaster?” Lara turned around with confusion painted all over her face.

[I can’t tell. The beings of the great disaster had no qualms of me observing their work. I was elated at the fact that I managed to see my effort come to fruition. But I was naïve. External factors were not the only problem. Nevertheless, nothing exceptional happened to the bastion after the beings of the great disaster slept once more.]

“…” Lara was at a loss for words. She found it hard to process the information she was given with her knowledge.

[I apologize. It was an understatement. Life sprouted once more after some time. It was as if life was born from nothing.]

“Life… restarted anew after the great disaster?”

[Yes. It was as if the life took by the great disaster was given a new life in a new world. It was astonishing. Just gaining knowledge of it sparked the start of opposing factions within the bastion.]

“Was it the reason why there are no longer residents inside the bastion? The labyrinth of Academia?”

[The bastion was supposed to house life for an indefinite time. But of course, people eventually yearned the life outside. The notion that they are kept like birds in a cage rose. Then one event led to another until it went out of control. At that point, I had to disable the barrier. It was my greatest mistake. A great mistake.]

[I should have never done it,] Gareth voiced with regret. [If I had not disabled the barrier, this place would have still been teeming with people from different races.]

“…”

[Unknown beings began to descend after I disabled the barrier. They each claimed that they were there to protect a specific race and demanded that they are removed from the bastion. They despised the idea that the races are living together. They claimed it would not work out in the long run and that they should meet their respective Gods. It was chaotic.]

“Then, why didn’t you reactivate the barrier?” Lara brushed off her tears.

[I wish I could. They were already inside the protection range of the barrier. So, I could do nothing but watch. At the least, I realized they are unable to penetrate the same barrier that the great disaster failed to breach.]

“What happened afterward?”

[Eventually, their memories were wiped out and were taken by those unknown beings. It did not happen to all the races inside the bastion, but a great sum vanished. From then on, the bastion which originally needed all the races inside working together became too difficult to maintain. The beasts too inside became difficult to handle until a few broke loose and caused a disaster… In the end, everyone was wiped out.]

“…”

[I wished to restart over. I wanted to retry all over again and fix the holes I’ve missed. I wanted to show the Heroes who sacrificed themselves for this bastion that their life was not for naught. But it’s impossible now. My quest for immortality disabled me from traveling through time. My physical body… rotted away. Now I am only left with my soul and will, forever trapped in this chamber.]

“Heroes sacrificed themselves for this place?”

[Yes. For us to protect this place, a seemingly impossible feat was needed. One was a seemingly infinite supply of mana. That we covered by creating an inverted tower where the bottom-most part was dedicated to absorbing mana from underneath.]

“There is mana underneath?”

[Yes. It can power this bastion without problems. However, mana alone is not enough. A massive magic circle was needed. For that, each floor of the bastion starting from below until the very surface constitutes that magic circle. I pride myself on it as the greatest and most intricate magic circle in history.]

Lara was at a loss for words. “E-every floor?”

[Yes. Then the last ingredient was the catalyst. I have tried using Orichalcum to best of its abilities, but it is not enough. Orichalcum can do the job for a while but it does not last. Afterward, after a silly joke, we accidentally found that the Heroes themselves can act as catalysts. To be specific, their gifts can act as catalysts. But in exchange, they had to forfeit their life… Eventually, we called those catalysts as God fragments.]

“God fragments…”

[It was the greatest breakthrough in our history. Those God fragments far surpassed Orichalcum. However, we never published its discovery.]

“Since people will exploit Heroes?”

[Yes. As their comrade, I could not allow it. I cannot allow that they will live their life simply as a tool by force.]

“I can image that.”

[Which makes me think. It’s possible that the distorted being was aiming for those God fragments. It seems it was specifically targeting Heroes alone. If it was the case, what was it used for? Just counting how many it has in its possession makes me shudder…]

“But it has not brought harm, has it?”

[Yes, it has not. But we can’t say for the future. Just imagine, this bastion is powered by ten of those fragments. I was able to observe that the distorted being approached Heroes in berserk more than twice than what this bastion has. Just imagine how much power it could possibly possess with it. Look, this bastion can repel the great disaster as well as those unknown beings with ten.]

“But it saved me… right? But I wish it saved my siblings as well as my parents…” Lara crouched and hugged her knees.

[Yes, it saved you. That powerful being saved you. And you can still do things over. You still have a physical body unlike me. Which is why…]

“Which is why you allowed me to reach this place?”

[Yes. If that being is protecting you, then you have the highest chance to meet it.]

“Do you want to know more about it?”

[Perhaps, yes. But I want to know if its intentions are good or not. If it is good, please tell it to destroy me.]

“W-why?” Lara was taken aback.

[I have lived my life long enough. It has long been time for me to relinquish the title of the greatest Dwarf and pass the Dwarf God’s Tool. But I cannot just leave this bastion. If there is no master, everything will go out of control. The fragments will be released and will spell disaster if it was not handled properly.]

“You want to shut down this place for good?”

[Yes. It’s my last wish. In return, I will give you the tool I made to see the future. Use it for your personal gain. Use it to correct things from the past or advance to the future. It’s your call, Lara. Just know that whatever the timeline, this realm will stay. But be wary, this gift can only be used two more times.]

“… I haven’t met it till now, Gareth. I wonder if it’s avoiding me…” Lara, in her own chamber, muttered. “I tried searching, but I found nothing. There are no records. There are no sightings or anything that matches its actions. Nevertheless, I cannot wait for one of the Heroes to go berserk. Perhaps Meiko will in time as she explores the bastion. However, war is coming…”

Lara released her clutch on the object above her chest.

“Suppose Liz was out of the picture, Libet would have never gained the information for that fake pincer. The capital wouldn’t have fallen. That traitor… should not live.”

Lara gripped the nearby curtain. “Brent’s fall was predetermined. It was planned so that Libet, Laurel, and Academia can attack from all sides when it occupied the center of Brent. But the effort was wasted. Liz’s attempt to make Mark gain honors in battle backfired and everything went to ruin. It was all for petty personal greed…”

Lara took a deep breath and cleared out her raging emotions. She wiped her tears and fixed her disheveled hair. Once she clipped a part of her hair on the back, her silver hair became brown.

“I have to find a fix for this…”