Chapter 2535: Time Supreme Kronos
Date: Unspecified
Time: Unspecified
Location: Myriad Realms, Card World, Central Region, Central Academic City, Morningstar University District, Morningstar University Campus, Garden of Beginning, Time Vestige, Morningstar University 2nd Campus
"The Time Supreme," I said to Lucine, watching her face closely to see if my deduction hit the mark. And as expected, Lucine proved she would be terrible at poker.
"How did you figure that out?" she burst out, genuinely shocked. She stared straight into my eyes, as if she could dig the answer out of my soulâthough she knew she would never get what she wanted.
"Iâll tell you if you tell me how you got the Time Supreme to help you," I offered, seeing just how frustrated she was that I had uncovered Morningstar Universityâs deepest secret. She could only blame herself for that, after all she was the one who dared me to it.
Now that I was certain the Time Supreme was the one giving Lucine the confidence to challenge me inside the time vestigeâwhile we were drifting through the temporal riverâI felt cold sweat run down my back. I silently thanked my fortune for not falling for her taunt and pushing my luck. Not that Iâd ever be foolish enough to destroy the time vestige. It was the only thing shielding meâand countless other innocent soulsâfrom being lost in temporal river who knows how far away from our original timeline. But it didnât stop me to threaten Lucine using it.
"Deal. But you go first. I donât trust you," Lucine said. "And donât you dare lie or try to act clever this time. Iâll break the deal immediately." Her warning was blunt and honestâif I wanted to know how Morningstar University secured the Time Supremeâs help, I had to play straight. Yes, they paid a hefty tribute for Time Supremeâs cooperation, but that alone couldnât have been the reason. If Supreme beings could be hired with offerings, card apprentices would have attempted it ages ago. Unless the Time Supreme was different from the others of its kind.
"The answer was obvious," I replied. "Who else would dare promise protection inside the temporal riverâlet alone safeguard an entire time vestige? It had to be either the spirit of the time-rule stream or its herald, the Time Supreme. And with that massive tribute of time-rule liquid, only the Time Supreme could consume that much on a regular basis. It also explains why youâre all so weak despite your outrageous progress in time-rule comprehension."
I kept my tone steady, showing I was honoring her conditions. Now it was her turn.
"As simple as that," Lucine muttered after hearing how I deduced that the Time Supreme was their backer in the temporal river. Her cheeks puffed in irritation, feeling cheated yet again. But they slowly deflated as she realized I had answered her honestly and upheld my side of the deal.
She shot me a grudging look before letting out a long sigh, fully aware that she wouldnât be able to stop herself from telling me everythingâjust like she had with the Labyrinth of the Myriad Pasts and the second campus of Morningstar University. For reasons she couldnât explain, she always ended up wanting to brag about Morningstar University to me.
What she didnât realize was that she was like a rancher boasting to a wolf about how plump her pigs were. So, she shouldnât blame the wolf if it slipped in under the cover of night to take a few.
Lucine began, "When we first discovered the time vestige, we learned it was the home of the Time Supreme, Kronos. And unlike every other supreme being, Kronosâjust like the vestige itselfâwas a unique existence across all timelines of the Card World. However, unlike the time vestige it can also exist in every timeline at once if it choses to.
"It was unimaginably powerful, second only to the Card Worldâs will and the spirit of the time-rule stream. But it was also unbelievably lazy. It refined bare minimum time-rule power it needed just to maintain its realm and existence, and then it simply lay here, doing nothing. Even when it noticed my ancestors trespassing in its home, it didnât bother to act. As long as they didnât bother it, it didnât care that they were running around inside its house.
"My ancestors were stunned by its temperament. It was nothing like any supreme being they had ever encountered. So a few of them decided to try approaching it, hoping to establish some kind of trade. But anyone who tried to disturb it was simply thrown into the temporal riverânever to be seen again.
"Even so, my ancestors refused to give up. The possibilities of working with the Time Supreme were too great to ignore. So they sought help from the progenitor of the Unparalleled Bloodlineâthe founder of the Southern Region and the Southern royal familyâwho happened to be the adoptive brother of the Blood Supreme, Bloodette.
"With Blood Supreme Bloodetteâs mediation, our ancestor finally reached an agreement with the Time Supreme, and thatâs how we secured its help in our endeavors."
"So, correct me if Iâm wrongâeverything you and Morningstar University have today is thanks to Bloodette and the progenitor of the Unparalleled Bloodline helping you broker a deal with the Time Supreme?" I asked, fixing Lucine with an unkind stare as the memory of the Southern Familyâs demigods struggling helplessly against Belphegorâs Worldhog incarnation resurfaced in my mind. They hadnât had enough time-rule based cards to defend themselves, all because Morningstar University had been cutting the Southern Regionâs quota for decades.
It would be one thing if those cards were charity. But they were sold at inflated pricesâseveral times their true cost. And when the Southern Region tried to buy more, offering even higher prices, Morningstar University still refused. That wasnât business; that was repaying kindness with betrayal.
Lucineâs eyes widened as she realized she had revealed far more than she intended. Her expression twisted with guilt as she sensed exactly where I was steering the conversation. She knew Morningstar Universityâs treatment of the Southern Royal Family had been deeply unfair, especially considering the friendship between their ancestors. But she also knew the truth: she wasnât in charge, and things had changed. In the current times, trust and loyalty always came second to interests.
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