Chapter 9: Everything That Cannot Be, Will Be

July 17th, 1325 – 08:16 PM - First jump

Bzzz

“Crap.” That buzzing was the signal: the trap was much worse than I expected.

As best I could, I pulled Ien backward. I knew what that sound meant. It was death lurking.

Damn it…

“Back!” I shouted as time slowed down and everything around me turned gray.

I began to move slowly, with that sensory distortion that unanchored me from my body. This phenomenon… this experience was the same nightmare I lived through at the hospital.

As if having to deal with the woman with the diamond mask wasn't enough, now there was the bastard with the spiral mask and the sniper with the buzzing sound.

How did I move last time? I had instinctively used my nerves… I used [Spatial Sensitivity] to cover my body and prevent the spiral guy's power from affecting me. The problem is I don't know how to do it again…

What horror…

A hole appeared in the window. A metallic object shot toward us with our bodies in slow motion. Ien could move—she knows how to use Spatial Sensitivity—but a second after the slowdown activation, a second of the ability's fictional time and not real time, was what it took to pierce through Ien's head.

Ha… ha… ha… It's frustrating not being able to do anything.

That sniper is a bastard. His bullets can move within the spiral guy's ability. That's not fair… It's not…

How long will this torture last? I can see Ien's body with a hole in her head. The bullet went right through her from side to side. Five seconds have passed since the bullet came out, and she's still about to fall…

THUD

Ien's body hit the floor. Blood gushed from her head, spilling onto the ground. I, who had managed to pull her arm, ended up on the floor, dragged down by her dead weight.

Time resumed sooner than expected, and that prison that wouldn't let me embrace Ien broke, allowing me to let out a scream.

“Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!”

They must have heard me for miles. I broke my throat screaming in pain.

I rested my head on her forehead, with tears falling down my cheeks, mourning her death.

“Ien… Ien…”

The echo of footsteps brought me back to reality.

Behind me, the woman with the diamond mask approached me. I wished her the worst…

“You'll join her soon,” she whispered.

No, that won't happen; I would never let it end this way. Now I'm a Line Corrector soldier, though one without weapons or equipment like the others. I'm… a rookie. Without training. This was supposed to be a mission to make preparations and take advantage of learning to use my abilities as a temporal stone bearer.

Unlike me… Ien was an expert.

With the woman's arm raised behind me, about to deliver the killing blow, I covered my head with my arms, covering my ears and closing my eyes… to avoid the explosion from the bomb that Ien threw when the elevator door opened.

BLAST

She was shot forward in front of me. The shockwave hit me anyway, pushing me along with Ien's body.

It's called a temporal contact bomb. It's a small sphere that adheres to a surface and explodes after a few seconds. Furthermore, it stuck to the elevator frame. It has a propulsion system that makes it go in a straight line: just press a button and aim with your fingers.

It was that sphere… the one I had seen cross before seeing my assassin.

Ien is simply incredible. She saved my life once again… but I couldn't do the same for her.

Without wasting time, I got up from the floor and took Ien's corpse in my arms. It was stupid, but I simply couldn't leave her there.

I ran as fast as I could and stepped over the woman… who was lying on the ground. She was still moving, but writhing in pain. My priority was to find Kuroha.

“Kuroha!” I shouted while running through the building's hallway.

I repeated her name over and over, as if that gave me strength to keep going.

“We're under attack, Kuroha! Kuroha!”

I kept running with all my might. They had to reach 1109. She had headed toward the adjacent rooms; she should be in 1108 or 1107. We had simply separated for a few minutes. So I moved forward, without looking back, with tears in my eyes and my dear Ien's body in my arms.

I didn't stop. No brakes, no rest.

And I continued.

Without stopping…

But this…

Had no end.

“Ah… ah… ah…” I stopped to rest because something was wrong, very wrong.

I looked at the room number beside me. It was the… it was the… 11… 1117… 1117.23.

It was 1117.23. It had a decimal number. A hotel with rooms with decimal numbers. A room I had crossed several times suddenly had a decimal number. And not just that one; on the other side there was 1117.24, and the next one was 1117.22.

“This doesn't make sense… When did—?”

“PAIR of BITCHES! I'm going to KILL you!” shouted a female voice from the end of the hallway, toward where the elevator was.

Looking there, all there was was a dark hallway full of a sea of rooms… that were beginning to twist.

“Holy crap”—even the sound began to distort.

I banged on the door of room 1117.23 hard. I had to ram it a couple of times for it to open. The door creaked open, and I stepped in suddenly. Without losing momentum, I jumped to kick the window and go out to the balcony… but I was repelled with force.

“We're… trapped,” I said with a broken voice.

Not knowing what to do, I closed the door and tried to hide inside.

Last time she killed me without me understanding how she did it. And this maddened ability that alters reality is driving me crazy. I simply can't risk confronting her.

My best chance is Kuroha… Damn it, why didn't they at least teach me how to use a weapon? Something to flee with, at least.

Stolen novel; please report.

Pat-pat

The echo was so deep it could be heard from the hallway.

Pat-pat

She was getting closer, but I ran so hard that we should be several rooms away. How was she approaching so fast at that pace?

Pat

Silence…

“Could she have found—?”

I felt a hand cover my mouth.

And before I knew it, I was next to the body of a blonde girl. She was pressed against me, with her hand preventing me from saying anything.

“Shhhhh, don't talk,” she whispered to me.

“Ien…” I said with a broken voice.

“Don't talk, dummy. I used [Pathfinder].”

I wanted to start crying… Bless you, Ien. And bless your ability.

My angel had come back to life, and now she was here with me… though somewhat cramped. I'm supposed to have hidden under the bed.

I tried to move, but it was complicated.

“D-don't move so much,” Ien said.

“It's just… now that I have these things called breasts… my chest is very sensitive… and we're very close together.”

“It's not my fault you have such big tits. And wear a bra, for God's sake!” Ien was trying to suppress her voice.

“It's just… ah… it feels good… w-when… my… breasts rub against yours. And… that low-cut dress…”

Ien's face showed such a level of disappointment that I even felt the ice in her gaze.

“Are you seriously getting turned on in a situation like this?”

“Yeah… sorry, it's just… I can't help it.” I was red and not just from embarrassment.

In simple words, I inadvertently turned on the high beams.

“Hey, Ien. Couldn't you call for reinforcements? Or Amélie? We could use some help.”

It's an annoyance, not only altering space, but also isolating it. What a bizarre power. Everything I've seen so far feels like a brushstroke each time I discover a new ability.

BANG

Breaking that intimate moment, the door burst open.

“Damn… That explosion hurt.”

She turned on the light, and I could see the masked woman walk inside.

She checked the bathroom. Finding nothing, she approached the first of the three beds in the room.

“Igyaaa!”

KRAAACK

With her hand open like a karate chop, she split the bed, which opened in half.

“Tsk… nobody underneath.”

If we had hidden under the first bed, she would have split us open. But she was getting closer and closer to us.

“Ien!” I whispered.

“Wait, don't move.”

She approached the second bed.

She didn't wait long and, with a quick movement, split it open with one blow.

KRAAACK

My breathing became heavy. It was almost like an invisible knife that was cutting things open. Is that how I died last time?

The third and final bed remained. I could feel her presence approaching and how death was stalking us.

“Ien, we have to do something.”

“You must stay calm. Robin, we have to wait for the right moment.”

With a jump, the masked woman stood in front of the mattress and raised her arm.

“Ien, we're going to die.”

And she brought her arm down with force.

KRAAACK.

The bed split in two, and with it…

“Now!” Ien shouted.

And an explosion burst through the air, pushing everything like a hurricane and destroying the wall toward the hallway. It was so powerful that the closet door where we were hiding burst open and threw us toward the corner of the room.

It was Ien's trap. She had left more of her bombs under the bed. It was fortunate that she started there instead of with the closet that was near the third bed, though… she probably would have activated it when approaching. As it turns out, in the timeline that Ien chose, we were hiding in the closet, not under the bed.

“Robin, get up and keep your distance.”

“That thing should have killed her.” I grabbed my neck from the impact. I came out of the closet and stood up to see the disaster.

Everything had been blown away. Dust even rose up and covered the room, but it didn't prevent me from seeing the result of that mine.

“What is this? Why does the room… measure more than it should?”

Suddenly, a 10-meter-long room had become one of at least 30 meters. The walls were twisted, and there was considerable distance between the third and second broken beds.

“I won't fall for the same trap twice,” said my assassin, who was at the end of the hallway holding her mask. It had a crack at the top and blood was dripping down her neck.

“Robin, it must be her ability. A strange capacity to alter space. She stretched the room between her and the bomb to prevent it from affecting her. What she didn't know is that pressure bombs have a wide range.”

“Ha, ha, ha… The captain was right. You can believe the bearer of 10 links has died and suddenly appears alive and kicking. You're a cheater… Even so, it won't stop me from avenging the captain.”

“What are you talking about?”

“No idea. But be careful: with the power she has, she must be a bearer of a low number of links. We can't underestimate her ability. Our best option… is to get out of here!”

Ien grabbed me to exit through the hole in the wall. She dragged me running through the infinite hallway toward room 1109.

“You can't escape. As long as I have energy in my links, I can alter space at will.”

Upon reaching the 1116, the decimals reappeared.

1116.98, 1116.96, 1116.94, etc.

“We have to find Kuroha! Don't stop!” Ien shouted while running.

“We're going to be exhausted before that happens!”

“RoBiN, KuRoHa's aBiLiTy Is [ToPoLoGiCaL] tYpE! WiTh HeR aNd My [PaThFiNdEr] wE cAn GeT oUt Of HeRe! BeSiDeS, wHiLe ShE's AcTiVaTiNg HeR aBiLiTy ShE'lL bE dRaInInG hEr LiNk EnErGy!”

“I uNdErStAnD! LoSiNg TiMe ChAsInG uS wIlL aLsO mAkE hEr ExHaUsTeD!” I began to understand Ien's idea. “FiNd KuRoHa Or MaKe HeR uSe Up HeR lInKs, ThAt'S tHe PlAn!”

After Ien's affirmation, we continued running through the infinite hallway with the strange distortion. It was like running through a whirlpool. I was starting to get dizzy.

The masked woman came out into the hallway… I could see her when I looked back; she was still.

Too still.

It was implausible. We were running at incredible speed, and she was still… without moving away from us.

“Crap!” I shouted. “ShE's PuLlInG uS tOwArD hEr!”

“Ha, ha, HA, ha, HA! DoN't RuN sO mUcH! YoU'lL gEt TiReD bEfOrE mE!”

From being several dozen meters away we went to being just a few. However, Ien winked at me and gestured for me to cover my ears.

“Don't screw with us!”

With her arm prepared to attack obliquely… a beep stopped her and a deafening noise made the entire floor rumble.

CHIRRRRRRRRRR

It was another one of Ien's bombs, this time a sonic one. I'm impressed by the amount of toys she carried with her.

“Hey Ien, you think you're Doraemon, huh? How many bombs do you have? Ien…? Hey, Ien?”

We stopped when the bomb exploded, but I just realized that Ien was on the ground, covering one ear with her right hand while the other was on the floor… bleeding… just like the left one.

“Sorry… Robin… I couldn't… cover myself in time…”

“But how? You indicated it to me yourself.”

“My left… arm… I couldn't dodge that crazy woman's attack. When… I dodged the bullet… in this timeline that became real… she attacked me with her hand. She… wounded me… I haven't been able to move it since then.”

“Crap! It's my own weakness's fault. How long will I be so useless!”

“Robin, look around you. Look at what number the room next to us is.”

“What? It's… 1115. Her ability… disappeared.”

“Yes. I've realized… a couple more things. First, we can't get out when her ability is active. Second, we can only destroy things within the space affected by her ability; that's why we could enter the room by ramming the door and break the wall. Owww… my ear… I can't hear well.”

“Let's take advantage and jump out the window. I don't think she can use her ability to alter space outside this building.”

“No, Robin. We can't leave Kuroha alone.”

True, our companion was still somewhere in the building. And we couldn't abandon her.

“Then let's hurry.”

“They left me in bad shape… Almost deaf,” from the hallway, the masked woman's voice made my blood freeze. “I'm… fed up.”

“How can she survive a sonic bomb? Did she protect herself with her ability again?”

“Robin, run!”

I tried to grab Ien, but she simply pushed me.

“Find Kuroha! I'll stop her!”

“Don't even think about it!”

The masked woman, for the first time, ran toward us preparing to attack. Ien stood up with one arm hanging and the other showing her fist.

I would never leave her alone. If I have to die, I'd rather fight alongside her.

Despite the distance we calculated, the hallway shortened. She was in front of us in less than a second, close enough for her invisible blade to reach us.

“Die!” shouted the woman with the diamond eye mask.

BANG

A bullet cut through the air, and the woman stopped dead. The space between her and us extended several meters trying to escape from the bullet.

One of the most useful abilities that came with the temporal stone is the great perception of movement and reaction. I could see in milliseconds how the bullet crossed between us, traveling faster than she could separate space.

She even managed to widen the hallway and twist it to dodge the bullet. But this one… made an impressive curve, managing to impact the masked woman's shoulder.

“Aaaah.” she screamed, clutching her wounded shoulder.

“What was that…?”

“Noisy kitty, you make too much noise,” said a voice from the end of the hallway.

A woman with long black hair held a revolver in her hand, wearing an elegant (and sexy) blue dress.

Approaching with steps whose echo calmed my heart, Kuroha made her appearance.

“Thank heavens.”

Maybe now we can defeat her…

July 17th, 1325 - 08:42 PM - First jump

Almost an hour until Robin's death.