Loop

[Elara's Choice!]

Quest Rank: [SSS+]

[Boss Fight!]

[Save the world from the Quest Boss, Elara the 7th Sovereign!]

***

That night, Elara told Sorin all about her reign. They watched some movies in the background to muffle their discussion. Elara told Sorin that her immortality was achieved because of her unique reign, [Time].

"I was awakened when I was around 16. At first, my unique reign was not [Time (SSS+)], but [Return (A)]. I can come back to the past for a couple minutes. Over time, it evolved into its stronger versions," Elara explained.

"And when I achieved it, I froze my body in time to be a forever 21-year-old. I can also heal myself by reversing my injury or sickness while also manipulating myself through the fabric of time."

"That's such a cheat-like ability..." Sorin muttered. "Does it mean you can't change your body at all from your initial frozen state?"

Elara flinched.

Her voice wavered when she answered, "Yeah. I stay 21-year-old. I can't change anything in my body."

Sorin nodded, looking extremely serious.

Elara hid her frown. He wasn't supposed to ask her that if she wasn't mistaken.

"Then, what will happen if I destroy this remote," Sorin grabbed the TV remote and crushed it with his hand, suddenly making Elara shocked. "When you turn back time, you can choose to bring it back before I destroyed it or leave it destroyed?"

Elara didn't answer for a bit. She tremblingly said, "T-technically? I guess."

[Why is he saying something he had never said in the other loops before...]

Sorin's ears perked up when he heard her thoughts. He calmly smiled. "You said that your unique reigns evolved... Does it mean my reign could evolve, too?" Sorin asked.

Elara blinked at him. She took a small, relieved breath when Sorin returned to normal and said what he was meant to say.

"It's not impossible, but your reign is already an SSS rank, right? I needed around a hundred years to evolve my reign from SSS to SSS+, you know? And it was kinda an accident," Elara answered.

Sorin turned to her with a sudden burst of interest, making her suspicion grow. He asked, "Show me. Return the time to before the remote is destroyed."

Elara was stunned. What kind of butterfly effect triggered this moment? Why was Sorin suddenly... But she played along to appease his sudden curiosity in her power. She returned the time to just a moment ago when Sorin had just held the remote.

Sorin widened his eyes and saw the remote back intact. He turned at Elara and hummed. "So, you returned the time while carrying the memory of the remote had been destroyed. You can even carry my memory of it, too."

Elara's eyes immediately sparkled. "You... are you deducting this just from the remote? You're... amazing!"

Sorin laughed. He shook his head, "No, Sugar. I need around 32 years to figure it out."

Question marks almost appeared above Elara's head. But her eyes immediately widened in horror. She fell into silence when she tried to connect herself to the future her. But she realized she couldn't see anything.

***

"Then, can you tell me what happened in that first life? What had killed me?"

Elara was about to tell him she couldn't when suddenly, her eyes shook. It was like a moment of realization. "How could I... there's no restriction...?"

Sorin widened his eyes.

"I can tell you this!" she exclaimed in disbelief. "I can tell you how you died and everything that contributed to your death. I-I can... Is this... a loophole?"

[DING!]

[Reverse deflection attempt, 50%]

[Restriction had been lifted!]

"What restriction has been lifted? Tell me!" Sorin wanted to choke the system window if only it wasn't intangible. He felt frustrated at why this system kept speaking in codes without explaining anything to him.

"That doesn't matter, Sorin. Listen to me. It might be a loophole, or it might be an effect of one of our reigns, or both combined. There's no other explanation," Elara said. "Now, I will tell you everything. I will tell you how you died and everything contributing to it."

Elara started from the beginning. She told him everything and everyone who was involved, and every single string of fate that entangled to each other. The more she spoke, the more she realized it all flowed into a very murky pond of words.

Because some incidents were restricted to speak about, she tried to change her wording a couple of times until Sorin could understand it. The both of them sat there for about a year as Elara tried to decode the future for Sorin.

Until everything was clear in Sorin's mind, almost like he had experienced them himself, she didn't stop.

And then...

There was the last puzzle.

What was [Reverse] trying to deflect?

What did it have to do with the Quest?

Sorin had stared at the floating screen for a year and used his maximum brain power to try and comprehend this, yet he still...

"You've told me everything you can, but what's next?" Sorin muttered. But looking at Elara, she seemed very calm. It was as if she had already known the answer. She suddenly hugged him tight.

She said, "Time is not linear. It's everything, everywhere, all at once."

Suddenly, Sorin felt extremely cold. Her embrace was the only one that felt warm to him. "There's no plot twist. There's no spoiler. I've seen the ending, and the system decided to show you, too."

"What do you mean?" Sorin asked, refusing to put two plus two. He embraced her back, almost reluctant to ever let go. He whispered, "No."

Inside that elevator, the world of their own... Elara told him the reality he didn't want to face.

"I've become the biggest threat to this world."

She had known this from the very beginning. She just buried it within her mind and refused to acknowledge it. The way she twisted the time, making quintillions of branches, and refused to advance from the moment of his death... she wasn't a mere quest boss.

[Elara's Choice!]

Quest Rank: [SSS+]

[Boss Fight!]

[Defeat the Last Boss, Elara the 7th Sovereign!]

[Reverse deflection attempt, 50%]

The real Quest had finally been revealed without any restriction.

She confessed, "If you die, I will destroy this world. And that's why I've been trying to stop myself from doing it by keeping you alive here in this loop. These lifetimes..."

"Essentially, you're creating a giant loop. But what's going to happen after all the branches unite?" Sorin asked.

Elara shook her head. "My time... will end. Along with this world."

She then grasped his face with both hands, her palms rubbing his cheeks. "You know how to end this all."

"You have to kill me."

[Reverse deflection attempt, 51%]