Thief of Time

“We, the Coloured Gods, were human to begin with,” the Black God began. “In a period of turmoil, when humanity raged at the inverted Gods of Virtue, we became Bearers of Destiny and rose to the night sky, the new stars struggling to shine against the old. Or so goes the stories in popular culture and history.”

He set down the teacup in his hands. “In truth, the felling of the previous regime is something I did personally. That is the role of the Omen of Entropy. All Omens of Entropy are tests against the world. If the current civilisation proved to be lacking, it must be destroyed. Thus far, the Omen succeeded in destroying the previous civilisation, right until it came to my generation. That was when a problem arose.”

Claud thought about it for a moment, and then nodded. “If you did succeed, the White God should not have existed.”

“Correct.” The shadow paused. “The previous era proved to be unworthy, and their Salvation Star should have perished with it. However, instead of standing against us, the Salvation Star defied his destiny and stood with us, the usurpers. Under my leadership and his intelligence, we overcame the Six Gods of Virtue.”

“…He defied his destiny?”

“Mhm.” The Black God chuckled. “By all accounts, we should have fought to the death. However, at that point, a being appeared before me.”

He sighed. “It was a peer that I never knew about. I knew not his name nor his face, but he offered to me something. A way to not slay my friend, and yet complete the Third Godsfall.”

“A way?”

“The cycle is truly over when either the Omen of Entropy or the Salvation Star falls at the hand of the other.” The Black God paused. “The word ‘the’ is a bit misleading, however. An Omen just needs to die to the Salvation Star to preserve the world. And it came to be that the Omen of another time and place chose to die at the White God’s hand, preserving civilisation and preventing it from degrading too much.”

“Wait.” Lily held her head. “That person was an Omen?”

Claud felt his head swim for a while, and then rubbed it twice. Did the Frozen Emperor somehow go back in time for this? Or was it his latest iteration, the being who transcended even the Hollow God?

“Indeed. As recompense, I was to take a book and deliver it to a person named Claud Primus six thousand years later,” the Black God replied.

Claud took a deep breath. “Hypothetically, what would have happened if such a being didn’t appear before you?”

“The White God and I would have eventually fought to the death. Or there would be no true renewal, leaving the world barren of lifeforce,” he replied.

Claud rubbed his head painfully. He had sought out the Black God for answers, but the end result was a boatload more questions now. If only there was someone he could press some answers for…

Well, wasn’t there one in front of him?

“Who’s that person?” Claud asked.

“Although I could not see his face, you remind me of him,” the Black God stated quietly. “It could have been you yourself, from a different future, hoping to change his future iteration’s own fate. After all, there is very little reason to shatter the fetters of time and give up one’s entire existence otherwise.”

Claud rubbed his head. He had already guessed that it was himself; what he wanted to know was which iteration did something like that. It would be nice if he knew the number of iterations or something.

However, with this affirmation, Claud could already draw out the timeline for himself. First, some six thousand years ago, his previous iteration interfered with the Coloured Gods and saved the two friends from a fate of killing each other at the cost of his life. In doing so, he obligated both the Black God and presumably the White God into doing something for the Clauds of the future.

The next notable change was the Frozen Emperor, who somehow helped the iterations of Claud after him to get through the Second Tutorial, thus evolving Absolute One and improving its bonus effect. With this bonus effect, the future Clauds could dominate the Trial of Aeons and improve all his skills to Will of Solitude and the like. This prevented the Red God from locking onto him, an outcome that resulted in Lily’s death.

Afterwards, the Hollow God became a septa-folder, but failed to evolve Absolute One yet again. The mismatch created a disturbance that alerted all the divinities, who then struck at the Omen, who had revealed himself somehow. The Hollow God survived, but not Lily, and in his grief, he stepped into the ranks of divinities and destroyed the world to restart the timeline, turning into part of the Third Tutorial in the process. This created a vulnerability within the Third Tutorial, which was exploited by alien invaders that would turn all high-ranked folders into monsters.

This was what his previous iteration went back in time for. In other words, this was the only timeline where both the White God and the Black God lived. Both of them were apparently crucial to whatever came next, just that Claud didn’t know what came next at all.

In fact, Claud was quite certain that the White God was the one who had perished in the Third Godsfall in all previous iterations of this timeline. He couldn’t remember any mention about the White God in his Second and Third Tutorial, which was probably proof of that.

He shook his head once, and then let out a sigh.

“Have you two sorted your thoughts yet?” the Black God asked. “Worry not. I dare not peek into your heads. Not at this time.”

“Y-yeah. How did you tell, though?” Lily asked.

“Your brain activity lowered.” The Black God chuckled. “I am the being that specialises in the mind, after all. Now, then. Having understood my origins, and why I gave you this book, you must now be wondering how to read it, right?”

“That’s the most important part, actually.”

“I wish I can tell you, but I genuinely do not know how to decipher the book myself. My understanding of this book is that the pages are automatically deciphered after a certain date. There is the faint power of time, and…”

He paused. “I am not sure what this twisted time is, but it is there.”

“Twisted time?”

“Conjunctions, openings, threads and paths.” The Black God paused. “There is no need to feel this hopeful, because that is all I can discern. If you can, turn your eyes to the Indigo God. He may be able to tell you more about this book, for time is never my specialisation.”

He closed his eyes. “I have another suggestion, but it is a fairly pointless one. My friend is the manifestation of karma. There might be another way of answering this question to, if you so desire. He also owes that nameless person a debt. I am not sure what that nameless person requested of him, but…”

“He should have arrangements?” Claud asked.

“Mhm.”

Claud rubbed his head again. This was a stage that had been collectively prepared by the various iterations of himself, and he was but the latest actor. If he failed, he would join the other versions of him…

In that case, was he still him? Or did all the various Clauds have their own minds, thoughts and personalities? What about the others?

It wasn’t a good question to think about now, so he took another sip of tea and closed his eyes.

“Did that person say anything else?” Lily prompted. “I do not believe such a meticulous person would hand you a book, give you a one-liner instruction on what to do with it, and then commit suicide.”

“He did give us warnings about the Fourth Godsfall,” the Black God replied. “Me and Schizel were both aware about the Distortion phenomenon…and its true form. One reason behind why we are not part of this cycle is because of our contributions in plugging up the vulnerabilities in the Third Tutorial.”

“That does explain a few things,” Lily replied.

Claud took another sip of his tea. In other words…

The more he thought, the more curious Claud became. What was the world when the Black God was forced to kill the White God? Was it a cruel one? Did the things that the various iterations of himself carry out make the world a kinder and better place?

Claud didn’t know, but he knew himself well.

However, he couldn’t say the same for a grief-stricken Claud. He had seen one of the possible outcomes, after all, and the Hollow God had directly destroyed to world just for the possibility of reviving Lily.

He took another sip of his tea, and then opened his eyes. Questions had been answered, and now, more questions needed answers. Only a few, however, were actually something that the Black God could answer…assuming, of course, he would.