The Temporal Reversal initiated.
One hundred thousand years of time vanished in the blink of an eye. In the Second Parallel Universe, a profound, metaphysical ripple slowly suffused the atmosphere. Colors that had been lost to the void of the past returned to the world in a wash of vibrancy.
"By the way, Uncle, what about that little girl? Are we just going to leave her?" Thales asked, suddenly recalling her as he looked at Zoran.
"No need to concern yourself with her," Zoran replied.
Thales nodded. It was true; he had to leave at least a seed for the Dragon Race of this world.
The reversal concluded, and the two returned to the present. Zoran's assessment of Thales had been correct: the boy was a genius. During his first time reversal, he had been in agony, terrified to even open his eyes. Now, only on his second attempt, he was already skillfully controlling the power Zoran provided. A true prodigy requires little guidance; they grasp the essence on their own.
However, Thales still possessed no offensive capabilities. The Temporal Reversal alone was a talent that would serve him for a lifetime. It was a peculiarity of his Hetero-Energy, and Zoran had no intention of interfering. Otherwise, who knew if the Seven Parallel Universes might eventually see the rise of another wielder of the Nebula Body?
Their anchor point for the return was the Black Tortoise starship. With a flash of light, Master Wyatt, who had been commanding the overall situation from the bridge, looked back at them.
"You've finally returned. How did it go?" Master Wyatt asked urgently. He instinctively stepped aside, yielding the primary control console to Thales. This ship, after all, belonged to the boy.
Thales took the helm with ease, grinning. "Amazing! It was a breeze, honestly, it felt no different than going on vacation." He was, in essence, a living, breathing time-travel drive. Important, certainly, but simple.
"What's the situation here?" Zoran asked.
"Not promising," Master Wyatt sighed. "Kino and Devin have mastered the Ultra Beast Force, but even when they combine, they are currently no match for the Scorpion King."
While Zoran and Thales were away, Kino and Devin had successfully summoned their own Ultra Beasts, the Kirin and the Battle Dragon. Under Master Wyatt's wise guidance, they had entered the forms of the Kirin God and Battle Dragon God, even achieving a double-integration of their Ultra Beasts. They were both natural-born geniuses; one had received his Energy Locker the day before, the other the day after, and yet both grasped the techniques as if they were merely remembering forgotten knowledge.
But Solita was powerful. The Scorpion King's Hetero-Energy, reaching a staggering 0.7 black holes, was no empty boast. Even facing them two-on-one, she held the upper hand. The accumulation of one hundred thousand years and the fires of vengeance had become the fuel for Solita's strength.
Zoran cast his gaze toward the current Dragon City. The Black Tortoise's artificial intelligence had warned them more than once that Kino and Devin's Hetero-Energy levels were dangerously low. At this very moment, both of them were on one knee, gasping for breath. Opposite them, Solita had also crouched, her body tensed. The three of them had just finished a fierce skirmish, having been forced out of their Ultra Beast forms.
She steadied herself, ignoring Kino and Devin to walk step-by-step toward the gates of Dragon City. There, Rowan stood waiting.
"One hundred thousand years of hatred, soaked in time until it became the very essence of bloodthirst... I prayed in the abyss, and all that answered me was my own past..." Each word, chewed and bitten, dripped from Solita's lips as she spoke to them.
At the city gate, Rowan did not take a single step back. His hands were stained with the blood of his kin; he sought only to atone for his past. He opened his arms, closed his eyes, and whispered, "Come. I have been waiting for this day for a very long time."
"Master! You old relic!" Devin and Kino panicked, pushing themselves to their feet to block the path.
The three parties stood in a stalemate. Ironically, the one most ready to meet his end was Rowan, who had already embraced his fate. Solita said nothing, her Hetero-Energy erupting once more. All three of them were her enemies.
Just as the pressure began to peak, Rowan suddenly collapsed to his knees. He looked up, his face full of shock and confusion.
"Master? What's wrong?" Devin asked, concerned.
A look of realization flashed across Rowan's face before he burst into loud laughter. "Hahaha! So this is fate. I don't need to die by your hand; I should have died on the day of the martial arts tournament one hundred thousand years ago..." He clutched his chest, his voice growing faint and hollow. "In truth, my heart died on that day, Devin. Do not seek revenge for me... this is what I deserve."
"It is well... it is well..."
In the next second, to the horror of everyone present, a point of darkness emerged from Rowan's chest. At first, it was merely a speck, but in the blink of an eye, it expanded rapidly. Everything touched by that darkness vanished, as if erased from existence.
"What is that?" Devin cried, stunned. Before he could react, the darkness swallowed Rowan whole. In an instant, the master had vanished into thin air.
"Master!" Devin reached out, but grabbed nothing but empty space. Even Solita froze, staring at the scene in utter disbelief. Where had Rowan gone? Even she could no longer sense his presence.
"Relax. Maybe your master just went to a black hole for a vacation," Kino said, clapping Devin on the shoulder and shrugging helplessly. "He was hell-bent on dying, and you kept trying to stop him. Well, look what happened. Instead of worrying about him, you should think about how we're going to beat this woman."
Kino pointed at Solita. Once Rowan was gone, she would surely turn her attention to the two of them. After all, she was a subordinate of Hades.
But as Kino pointed at her, his expression suddenly changed. He froze.
Faint motes of light were drifting away from the Scorpion King's body. Her armor began to dissipate into shimmering particles, and the ferocious, bloodthirsty light in her eyes suddenly softened into confusion.
"Whoa, hey, keep it decent!" Kino covered his eyes, reaching out with his other hand to cover Devin's as well.
"What... what is happening to me?" Solita murmured, looking herself over in bewilderment.
"The Scorpion King's Hetero-Energy is vanishing at a rapid rate," Lisa reported from inside the Black Tortoise.
"Vanishing? Isn't her Hetero-Energy already low?" Thales asked.
"No," Lisa replied. "It is not the energy she has already stored that is disappearing, but her limit. The Scorpion King's Hetero-Energy cap has dropped to the same level as Kino's and Devin's."
Thales stroked his chin in thought. "She kept babbling about revenge... could it be that the conviction fueling her energy was actually that same revenge...?"
Thales glanced at Zoran. The man had changed everything. His sharp mind spun rapidly, and the realization hit him. The little girl in the grand hall one hundred thousand years ago, could she be the Scorpion King standing here now? She really didn't look like her at all.
Zoran met Thales's gaze, speaking unhurriedly: "The past no longer exists, and so the present has become a rootless lily-pad, with nothing left to sustain it."
Thales gasped in sudden understanding. So that was it! They had gone back to the past and pulled the roots right out from under her. The power of an Ultra Beast warrior was sustained by their convictions. Once the timeline changed and that conviction vanished, the power inevitably withered away.
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