The Fall of Tespatium and Layers of Time
Tespatium lay collapsed on the floor, writhing in agony.
Screaming, howling, its body slowly crumbling away under the Old Man's aura.
"H-how... How could a mere human... wield an aura that repels demonic energy so effectively? I've never even heard of such a thing. It's as if it exists solely to annihilate demons."
The bastard kept muttering to itself.
How. How.
It couldn't accept its own defeat.
I could fully understand that feeling.
Of course, sympathizing with a demon was pretty heretical in itself,
but I bet everyone else would think the same, except maybe me?
At this level, the Old Man had basically toyed with it.
It was a one-sided beatdown.
From the moment it caught the Old Man's eye, that demon's fate was sealed.
Watching the Old Man fight as if he knew the bastard inside out, I got suspicious and asked him about Tespatium's abilities.
Sure enough, the Old Man already had the thing completely figured out.
"Do you know what a layer is?"
To sum up the Old Man's explanation simply:
First off, yeah, the bastard could manipulate space-time.
But that power wasn't limitless or completely free.
For example, take what happened to me before entering the castle—I got bounced back.
Let's call the time when the Old Man and I walked up to the castle gate Point A, and the time I was standing on the ashes of those monsters Point B.
A is still flowing.
Because it's the present.
But B is the past.
It's already stopped.
The past and present can't coexist.
Stopped and flowing can't happen at the same time.
So I wasn't simply moved from Point A to the spot where I'd stood in the past.
I was trapped in an entirely different timeframe, B.
To avoid the clash of past and present, Tespatium had slyly carved out a detour.
Plus, A and B fundamentally can't interfere with each other.
For instance, if I'd moved around in B, the surroundings would shift based on Point A, but I couldn't damage a tree belonging to A.
It was literally a layer.
It peeled me off the A timeline and stuck me in the B layer.
Overlapping, but no interference.
So you might wonder what the point was in the demon archduke sending me to B.
Since the archduke in A couldn't attack me in B.
Long story short, without the Old Man, I'd already be dead.
Because the place I was standing was the Demon Realm.
If I'd lingered in B for too long, my aura would've run dry, and I'd have been corroded by the demonic energy.
Most people can't even return from B to A in the first place.
There are a few ways to get back from B to A.
1. Wait for the timeline to repair itself.
The world has a law that tries to maintain its fixed timeline as much as possible.
Whether human or otherwise, forcibly twisting the timeline requires overcoming the world's restorative power and fully separating A and B.
Like how escaping gravity takes immense force.
Anyway, most beings don't have that kind of power.
So a split timeline like B eventually gets pulled back to A by that restorative force.
The problem is, no one knows how long that takes.
If the demon archduke pours max power to trap someone in B, it delays the repair that much longer.
You might think, just escape out of the Demon Realm from inside B?
But the Old Man explained that Tespatium could keep stacking layers, wrapping me in place like film.
For all these reasons, without the Old Man, I'd have been 100% fucked, no escape.
2. Use aura to erode Tespatium's world.
That's the second method.
Ultimately, stacking space-time like layers comes from the power of Tespatium's demonic energy.
Clashing energies cancels out that demonic power, making the world more vulnerable to restorative forces.
Thus, speeding up the return to the original timeline.
I did use method 2, sort of.
Operating my aura to defend against the demonic energy naturally ground away at Tespatium's.
But my aura wouldn't have been much of a threat to a demon archduke at Master level or higher.
That's why the Old Man waited until I charged at it.
Whether in A or B, once I entered his aura's range, his aura would shred Tespatium's demonic energy and yank me back to the original A timeline.
Before the Old Man's aura, any timeline was meaningless.
Tespatium had other tricks too, like summoning objects from thin air or warping space.
Splitting or merging A and B layers could temporarily let events from one side affect the other.
Anyway, it was getting too complicated, so better to skip the rest.
I didn't follow the Old Man just to master the demon archduke's powers anyway.
Knowing it has this kinda shit is enough. No need to dive deep.
Of course, it meant nothing to me,
but Tespatium, even as its body crumbled, listened to the Old Man's rundown with the despair of a shop owner watching copycats pop up overnight, spilling all his trade secrets.
Wait, aren't demons supposed to not give a shit about human emotions? Not understand them?
Having its abilities exposed and getting utterly wrecked—how heartbreaking must that be to feel human emotions?
"Sigh."
Damn, tough break.
And so the demon archduke faded into ash, scattering into the air, utterly pathetic.
Whoosh.
The Old Man used his aura to incinerate even the remaining ashes completely.
An inglorious end for a demon archduke.
Rumble.
With Tespatium dead, the castle shook violently.
Pillars crumbled like in an earthquake, debris raining down.
The Old Man accelerated the collapse, gripping his formless sword in reverse and slamming it into the floor.
The castle shuddered even harder, vanishing in seconds as if it had never existed.
"What the...?"
I voiced my confusion at the scene, and the Old Man kindly explained.
"It was an ancient castle held together by demonic energy. With its death, the castle crumbles naturally."
The formless sword in the Old Man's hand faded from the tip.
He returned to his hazy, ethereal presence.
Or maybe even hazier than before...
Now I was occasionally unsure if he was even there in front of me.
"What, playing hide-and-seek? Show yourself a bit more."
The Old Man chuckled softly and shook his head at my words.
"Impossible. I'm reaching my limit."
The Old Man quickened his pace.
"Follow. No time."
I followed the Old Man again. And again. And again.
As we walked, I bombarded him with questions.
Something told me he'd answer now.
The one I was most curious about:
"With skills like that, why not go after the Demon King? Why a demon archduke?"
The Old Man, who'd been uncharacteristically quick with other answers, fell silent for a long while this time.
After much deliberation, he gave this much:
"That was the extent of my contract, my role."
Typical cryptic bullshit from him, so no new surprises.
Familiarity is scary like that.
Even abnormal shit becomes normal if it drags on long enough.
Anyway, excluding the familiarity, his other answers were pretty clear, so I was satisfied.
For example:
Demon Realm ecology and tricky bits.
Rough info on other demon archdukes.
Plus assorted basics.
All stuff useful for mercenary life,
knowledge even veteran mercs didn't have,
and to me—hell, to most people—fascinating as fuck.
Of course, he stuck to his mysterious old sage vibe, occasionally slipping in dessert recipes, ways to skip restaurant waits, royal etiquette, or flower lore to sell the bit.
Felt like those griping old merc uncles: "Ah, you get chatty when you age," or whatever.
"Learning magic wouldn't be a bad idea."
"Huh?"
But this? Couldn't just brush it off.
Magic? Me?
Doesn't that need talent to even start?
Anyone can pick up a sword, but not magic.
Easier to grasp with aura vs. mana:
Aura starts from the body, anyway.
Body to sword.
That's why sometimes lightning sparks from aura—they're still linked to body and blade.
Magic's different.
Magic floats mana in thin air.
For a martial artist, even seasoned Experts can't pull that off easily.
So yeah, magic's pure talent territory.
"It seems odd now, but you have the gift. You'll realize it soon enough."
The Old Man seemed convinced I had magic talent.
Listening, I thought:
Bullshit.
Magic talent shows by age five, usually.
Rare late bloomers exist, but I'm way past that.
No way I'd achieve greatness starting now.
Still, for some reason...
Why does it feel real when he says it? Like maybe I do have it.
Starting now wouldn't be too late, right?
Won't half-ass both and fail at sword mastery?
"Do it or don't—your choice. But you have the talent, I assure you."
With that, the Old Man went silent again.
Fuckin' hell,
he has no idea how much he's messing with my head, does he?
Just say do it or don't.
Pick one...
Sigh. Sigh.
Still, soon I wouldn't need these headaches.
The Old Man said he'd teach actual forms and techniques directly this time.
Here I come, you badass Old Man moves!
Like a kid about to unwrap birthday gifts, I was hyped as hell.