Chapter 146

In the not-so-distant future, the Sorceress Empress would be judged in two extremes:

A tyrant who failed to prevent the Empire's twilight.

Or, a virtuous ruler who tended to the pain of her citizens and did everything to protect them.

She had been forced onto the imperial throne during the Royal Guard’s coup, against her own will.

As the Sorceress Empress, powerless at the time, it might have been inevitable that she couldn't stop the Great Cataclysm. Yet, there were also those who resented her for not fully utilizing her foresight abilities to change the course of events.

Theo’s view of the Sorceress Empress was closer to indifference.

In his previous life, he'd been too preoccupied with surviving after leaving his family to pay attention to politics.

“Still, if I can mediate her foresight abilities, I could use future knowledge to my advantage,” he thought, although there was one aspect he hadn’t considered at the time.

If future foresight was possible, wouldn’t it also be possible for the future version of oneself reflected in that vision to "merge" with the present?

“Do you always drop the formalities so casually with someone you know?”

The Sorceress Empress teased Theo with a mischievous tone.

“Not really. After all, Cassandra of this timeline, in this place, is still the young Cassandra,” Theo retorted with a dismissive chuckle.

The Sorceress Empress’s smile deepened.

“As expected, you’re someone who doesn’t appear in my future visions.”

Theo recalled how the young Cassandra couldn’t foresee his future.

“In my timeline, there wasn’t anyone like you, Theo. Likely because you’re someone who deviated from that timeline. Am I correct in assuming you arrived in the past using a method I’m unaware of?”

“…”

“I’ll take your silence as a confirmation. If that weren’t the case, you wouldn’t know my epithet so precisely.”

Cassandra’s expression brightened, a sense of kinship shared only between those privy to the same secrets.

“I read something in the Royal Library once. It said that among the northern Ragnars, there are those who occasionally manifest the Ability of Regression.”

Theo neither confirmed nor denied her words. Instead, he asked a question of his own.

“Did the Great Cataclysm occur in your timeline as well?”

“Let me clarify one thing first. Unlike you, Theo, who truly lived and regressed, I didn’t live my life and possess my past self. The future is never fixed; it’s filled with countless possibilities. I’m merely transmitting strong telepathic messages from the ‘most likely future’ to my present self.”

“So the version of you here isn’t real?”

“Exactly. While I have my own history and memories, I’m nothing more than a setting that can change at any moment.”

Cassandra snapped her fingers lightly before continuing.

“For example, in the timeline I remember, you, Theo, didn’t exist. But now, I’m here conversing with you. That means my real self—young Cassandra—will likely make choices different from what she originally intended. This, in turn, will alter the possible futures, and I will cease to exist.”

“Because the setting has been altered?”

“Bingo. You’re as sharp as always.”

“Then why bother possessing young Cassandra to change the future if you’ll disappear anyway?”

“Because…”

Cassandra’s smile turned into a bitter one.

“The future I come from is one we must avoid.”

“…”

“You asked if there was a Great Cataclysm. I’m afraid that’s an understatement. In my setting, there’s no world left at all.”

Cassandra looked directly at Theo, as if peering into him through her foresight.

‘Could her timeline be set long after the Great Cataclysm? Far beyond even what I experienced in my previous life?’

Theo couldn’t begin to imagine what that world might look like.

“So you chose this timeline because it’s the most appropriate point to alter your setting?”

“Correct. Theo, you’re the anomaly—the singularity—who intersects with the true me in this timeline. And this is also the point where you need me the most.”

“What can you possibly do for me?”

“Lead the Vanguard. Restore the lost vision of the old Ragnar patriarch. Don’t you need me to accomplish that?”

Theo clicked his tongue. It seemed she already knew too much.

Still, there were doubts lingering in his mind.

“You said there was no ‘Theo Ragnar’ in your setting. So why choose this timeline?”

“Because the only deviation in my setting was meeting you.”

Cassandra clenched her fists.

“In my original timeline, I wasn’t rescued by the Ragnars. I was captured by Troivan and dragged to this crypt, powerless to resist. From there, Troivan exploited me to locate this place, just as the Holy Demon Church pursued me to trace the Nameless Lord’s remnants.”

Theo’s eyes widened in shock.

“This led to Troivan and the Holy Demon Church expanding their power unchecked. Ragnar eventually fell, and the world descended into chaos, summoning the Nameless Lord to this land.”

A future different from my own.

Cassandra’s future was simple:

A world destroyed by the Nameless Lord, waiting for time to reset itself.

It baffled Theo.

How could a future where Ragnar was defeated exist? With Kyle present, such a thing should have been impossible.

‘If the sword relics are so significant, why did Troivan lose in my previous life? They must have had the relic, right?’

The differences between his past life and Cassandra’s setting gnawed at him.

“To fulfill my duty, the sword relic must end up in your hands,” Cassandra declared.

“…Fine. I’ll leave it at that for now,” Theo replied. He didn’t want to overthink things based on incomplete information, which could unnecessarily restrict his actions.

“This must be the place.”

-“Ah, you’ve arrived!”

-“That girl will restore the sword relic…!”

The ghosts waiting for Theo lit up with excitement.

Borrowing Cassandra’s foresight ability was the only way to restore the lost vision quickly.

“If time is a circle, then peering into its past becomes possible,” Theo reasoned.

Through Cassandra’s eyes, he had glimpsed a similar foresight before.

The figure standing among the dead—was that their leader?

Though shrouded in shadows, Theo felt a strange familiarity.

‘If I’m right, that person is…!’

Cassandra’s voice interrupted his thoughts.

“Elders,” she said, bowing gracefully, her etiquette polished beyond her nine-year-old appearance.

-“Can she see us?”

-“Is she another Ragnar?”

-“She’s a blind girl! How can she see?”

“With proper use of foresight, it can produce an effect not unlike sight itself.”

-“Oh, is that so?”

-“Amazing. We’ve roamed far and wide, but never met a girl quite like this.”

-“Are you of the Imperial family?”

Cassandra answered with a quiet smile, smoothly steering the conversation in a different direction.

“If it isn’t rude, may I ask you elders a question?”

-“If you can truly restore the sword relic, ask anything you wish.”

“Are you more interested in remembering your master’s face, or their name?”

A completely unexpected question.

The ghosts stiffened in surprise.

-“...Are the two not the same?”

“No, they are different. Your master was cursed by the Nameless Lord to have their existence erased from this world. I can rewind the wheel of time to observe the moment just before their deletion. Seeing their face is simple—one just needs to look.”

-“Hmph! Is that so?”

“However, their name is another matter entirely. It requires recognition of their existence, which would defy the will of the Nameless Lord. That defiance might result in the curse rebounding onto me. Whether or not I succeed, this possession of mine would likely end.”

The ghosts exchanged glances, their expressions heavy with thought.

Face or name.

The debate didn’t last long.

The lead ghost chuckled wryly.

-“Young lady, your jest is too cruel. We may be shameless old spirits, but how could we demand the living to make such a sacrifice?”

The others nodded in agreement.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

-“Peering into the name would not just risk the curse but almost certainly cause it to rebound. Then the girl would cease to exist. Isn’t that so?”

Theo looked at Cassandra in shock. He hadn’t anticipated this level of risk.

Cassandra bowed her head deeply.

“If my jest seemed cruel, I offer my sincere apologies. However, if you truly desired it, I would have been willing to comply.”

Her words felt genuine, and Theo couldn’t help but recall what she had said while walking through the crypt:

“The world in my timeline doesn’t even exist anymore.”

“Theo, the singularity of you meeting me in this timeline… and this moment when you need me the most—that’s why I’m here.”

“I came to this timeline precisely because the one anomaly in my setting was meeting you.”

Theo realized Cassandra would have willingly made that sacrifice if it meant preventing a world-ending future. For her, the trade would have seemed worthwhile.

However, there was a hint of regret on her face, which made Theo’s emotions even more conflicted.

-“In the end, we’re all dead. Our leader and us alike.”

-“Why bother searching for the name? It won’t bring anyone back to life.”

-“All we ask is for a memory—a grave, a small marker of our existence.”

-“See the face. If you do, you’ll also glimpse the sword relic we revered.”

“Understood.”

Cassandra curtsied gracefully, adjusting her posture and breathing deeply.

Whirrrrr!

A gust of wind swirled at her feet, and a brilliant blue light began to flicker and grow.

The Seer’s Ability.

While young Cassandra could only glimpse fleeting visions of the future, the Sorceress Empress could delve into the entire continuum of time, from the distant past to the farthest future.

The blue light of the ritual grew brighter, shattering beautifully and lightly brushing Cassandra’s hair.

Then, as she opened her previously closed eyes, an unfamiliar system message appeared:

[Skill: Hatchling Syncro forcibly activated. Viewing the timeline through the Sorceress Empress Cassandra’s foresight.]

Whoosh!

A torrent of light overwhelmed Theo’s vision, and the world flipped upside down.

When his sight stabilized, he found himself in the same vision he had glimpsed before.

The being standing amidst the dead.

The faces of the dead began to shift, taking on the features of the crypt’s ghosts. Their ragged appearances transformed into resplendent armor and gleaming weapons.

The black shadow that had shrouded their leader began to recede, revealing their face.

As Theo had expected, it was a face he recognized.

Lezé Ragnar.