Chapter 169
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 169
Chapter Title: 16th Floor - Temple of the God of Time (4)
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Praying to the God of Time felt strangely surreal.
I'd been a follower of the God of Time before, and even a Great Warrior of Time.
Like all the other divine beings, this god never issued oracles. Messages were exceedingly rare.
Even in the run where I'd been the Great Warrior of Time, I learned nothing about the god.
The game's labyrinth had almost no information on the divine beings either.
I'd always thought it was intentional blank space, room for players' imaginations.
But in the real labyrinth, that couldn't be the case.
The God of Time existed for real.
So who exactly was this God of Time?
2nd floor.
Dealing with that hero unit Kacrish isn't a challenge for me anymore.
But I had to save time, so I stuck to the frantic, tightly packed plan.
Even if I lingered, time travel maxed out at about twelve hours. I had to wrap everything up within that.
The fairies were kind and cooperative, so no major issues there.
Feeling my connection to the goddess sever, I took a step forward.
Golden radiance shattered in all directions.
The time was daytime.
The date was back when our party was still just a lean trio: the Hunter, Hiu, and me.
Man, I missed those days.
First thing I did was put out the fire.
On the 2nd floor, we'd carelessly tested an exploding fruit, chucked it, and set the place ablaze.
Given the climate and season, it must've spread pretty far. In hindsight, I should've dealt with it right then.
I needed a favor from the local fairies, after all.
Couldn't exactly stroll up to a blazing forest and go, "Excuse me."
As an outsider Exile, the optics would've been terrible.
They'd suspect either the Stormhowl Brigade camped here or me—or both—as the cause.
Of course, even if they thought that inwardly, they'd never drop their polite facade outwardly.
Grove Fairies were just built that way.
But securing their full goodwill was crucial.
Appealing to the God of Nature at this point in history was important too.
No way the God of Nature would've jumped in just because our goddess whined about it on the 8th floor.
Yeah, I should've realized something was off ages ago.
It was me.
I'd negotiated ahead of time.
For now, I headed straight to the spot I'd meant to check and hadn't forgotten.
Not long after the exploding fruit had gone off.
The Hunter and I were probably en route back to the Healing Spring by now, while Hiu, left behind at the spring, was meekly jabbing pressure points to subdue an orc and a fairy.
Not a Daywalker yet, so the sunlight stung, but I shifted to bat form and took flight.
Bats are incredibly fast. Ignoring my past self's gasping exhaustion breaks, I blew past him and reached the Healing Spring in seconds.
There was Hiu, deep in combat.
She's good. Really good.
I wanted to etch this sight into my memory again.
She'd grown so fast that memories of her adorable little-kid phase had faded.
Was the confession just too impactful?
Forget her future beauty—even this chubby-cheeked, round-faced version was precious.
The fact that I wanted to see moments like this meant I was probably still a pushover for her.
Man, she'd grown a ton. I remembered the clothes on that fairy now pinned beneath her.
Back then, they didn't fit, so we had to fold and tie them.
They'd probably fit perfectly now.
Watching on, she successfully subdued the orc too. Then, not knowing how to tie him up, she pondered before knocking him out cold.
She's handling it great.
I'd come to check for any issues, since this was a scene I'd never witnessed before.
After watching her fumble out bark-rope bindings like rolling kimbap, I moved on.
Time to head to the fairy village.
As expected, the Grove Fairies weren't thrilled about a strange vampire showing up.
When I openly declared myself an Exile, their faces twisted even more oddly.
"Are you joking right now?"
Fairy guerrillas scowled at me, brows furrowed hard. But their innate kindness still oozed out.
Like a kid who didn't know how to scowl, grumbling to show they were mad.
"Could you call your chief?"
Suspicious as hell, but they fetched him anyway. What fun folks.
Truth be told, even if they didn't welcome vampires, shunning one outright would've been awkward.
A human-origin vampire had no interest in fairy blood, which wasn't even edible.
It was a delicacy with a sharp tang, sure, but way too divisive.
The summoned chief's face rang a bell.
After a moment's thought, I realized it was the fairy who'd shelled us with sylphid blasts on the 8th floor, then thanked me.
So he was the chief.
His gratitude to me was the clue that led to the Temple of Time appearing.
These trivial connections were how it all linked up.
"You'll protect the village...?"
"And let me pray to the God of Nature?"
"Ah... very well."
Just those words softened the fairies' gazes. They viewed everything through pure goodwill by default.
If I weren't undead, they'd have welcomed me with open arms.
The young world tree functioned as a temple to the God of Nature in itself.
I prayed there. Gods don't respond lightly by nature. They can watch everywhere, but not always.
A long, deliberate prayer, infused with the holiness of the God of Time who'd sent me here.
Finally, a puzzled message came from the God of Nature.
[The God of Nature expresses doubt about the divinity dwelling in your body.]
'O Nature, is there no notable party recorded in your history?'
Unlike our goddess, the God of Nature had a proper church.
A follower from the kingdom must've been around this era somewhere.
And if so, another future version of me had likely shown up in this server's past.
The divine seat would've at least recorded the contact.
The God of Nature went silent for a bit, apparently searching records on me.
Soon, a smooth, seductive voice like a petal fairy's rang out.
'Yes. And an Exile who'll soon share a close bond with you.'
'Do you remember the Goddess of Chaos?'
What exactly was our goddess to the God of Nature? It was a sensitive topic, so I'd never asked.
But just the mention seemed to make something click for the God of Nature.
The God of Nature had always held considerable goodwill toward our goddess.
Just signaling Chaos's forgotten divinity returning to the world was enough to win his favor.
Not sure if the God of Time would approve, but I needed a workaround.
For the Arcana sisters.
With the God of Nature's permission, I borrowed a bit of the world tree's mana.
I'd already drawn the ritual to halt my personal time on the trip back.
Just like the one that froze time in the 10th floor's Grave of Heroes.
The divine powers touched the labyrinth's core essence.
The 100-year timer ticking for Exiles was the God of Time's domain too.
And that time was subjective.
Meaning, if I froze my own time, I could stretch my stay here far beyond my allotted window.
I instructed the chief.
"You'll see me again later. After the Spirit King reappears. Thank me then for saving the village?"
The chief's expression turned profoundly weird. At this point, I hadn't saved them yet. And what Spirit King?
Well, time would tell.
I sealed away my own time.
I fought three battles.
Days passed for the fairies.
Subjectively, I hadn't rested a moment.
To avoid confusing history, I picked up a bow and enchanted arrows like a fairy sniper.
When I blocked an assault that should've overrun them, the fairies' gazes turned even friendlier.
The fourth battle featured Kacrish and Trdongt.
"You!"
Doubt flickered in the cautious warrior's eyes. He definitely recognized me.
This timeline was after his banishment, when he'd fled to the Abyss.
The fight wasn't easy, but it wasn't tough either.
The Abyss God's power was endlessly versatile, packed with utility.
That was why even a warrior like Kacrish wielded daggers.
But this era's Akasha's Eye was mine now.
A [Hero Unit] stripped of his weapon was underwhelming, strong faith or no.
Unfortunately, I couldn't let this warrior live. His death here triggered the Second Fairy War.
Which rolled on to form the Gobleteria Federation and topple the Empire.
I didn't forget to sweet-talk the dazed Trdongt.
This orc, unaware of his future trials, hardened his resolve to restore his disciple's humanity.
All this unfolded in under an hour of my subjective time.
Felt like mashing the skip button through quests.
My head was spinning.
When I next awoke, about a month had passed outside.
The fairies came to bid farewell as they abandoned the village. They were genuinely grateful now.
Even the great warrior Kacrish had fallen to my hand, after all.
"The God of Nature has declared war. We're joining the fray."
"Oh, take good care of the me over there."
"Exiles truly are perplexing. Existing across multiple timelines."
"Hahaha. I've got no time left, so I'm freezing again."
And when I next awoke...
The goddess greeted me through her goblin follower, relaying her oracle.
"Busy, so quick rundown."
After my lightning-fast bean-roast explanation, she grasped it all with her divine tenure.
"He's in a whirlwind of confusion and turmoil right now. Better not pile on more to mull over. Truth is, even I didn't know at first. Only realized this was necessary much later."
And when I was pretending to be a goblin assassin leading the revolution, she sent the sisters, whom I'd crash-coursed in necromancy.
The still-young Arcana and Arjuna were pretty cute goblins.
Their magical talent was exceptional, though.
"Kerruk, mas... ter?"
Still had that kerruk speech quirk.
I pulled out the necromancy textbook I'd pieced together bit by bit from the 15th floor.
Time kept marching on.
I taught the fast-growing goblin sisters with the mindset of a teacher checking homework.
To them, I must've seemed like an object that woke up every time they finished assignments for inspection.
Barbaroi showed up too, frantically rousing me.
"Why... are you here too?"
"Exiles pop up east, pop up west."
"There's a limit..."
"Anyway, teach the goblin sisters magic basics for me. I'll handle the advanced applications."
Barbaroi looked horrified but went along with it.
By the time two seasons had shifted, my allotted time was up.
"Good, you can raise skeletons decently now. I'm off—study hard."
"Master? Kerruk. Still so much to learn."
Hours for me without seeing my disciples, but half a year of daily lessons for them.
A goddess-arranged teacher, no less.
Forming a bond over a dozen-odd hours felt oddly intense.
"I'll come back. I'm an Exile, remember? Have all this done by then."
Now I got why teachers grinned so wide assigning homework.
The goblin sisters, despairing beyond disappointment at the textbook-level assignments, were downright cute.
"Won't see you for a while, so here's a gift."
Most goblins this era had no names. Not like Exiles who just didn't say theirs—they truly lacked them.
Goblins under the God of War and Beasts were slave stock, after all.
Giving names was an impactful gift.
Especially from me—effectively from the goddess.
"You're Arjuna. You're Arcana. I'll teach you how to write them."
The young goblin sisters tried out their names in wonder.
"Next time we meet, tell me your names."
"Got it, Master. Kerruk."
No clue when that'd be.
Could ask the goddess to check records, but prying too deep into my own future wasn't wise.
Thus, wrapped in golden radiance, I returned to my original time.
Hiu welcomed me warmly. Better not mention I'd secretly spied on her past.
"Ha, I'm beat."
"Uncle gets tired too?"
"Of course. My one true foe is my own mind. Never know when it'll rot me from inside. Despair, doubt, cynicism... Useless emotions, yet they won't leave me be."
All Exiles felt this way.
Maybe the hyper-speed quest marathon had worn me down mentally.
Fatigue brought the creeping darkness welling up from my heart.
"Then overcome it with the power of love!"
"Aren't you embarrassed saying that?"
"It's true. And... we've got proof. Living evidence that the human heart can't be broken."
The Girl nodded meaningfully.
Her glance was toward the sharp-eyed middle-aged fairy chatting with the youngest.
He turned his head.
The astonishing pure-hearted man who'd endured Exile life on love alone.
He now knew everything was over.
Then he smiled awkwardly.
"Time for me to graduate from this party."
"My duty here ends."
Calm, but with a hint of reluctance.
That's what he said.