Vol 6. Chapter 162: Seventeen Million and One

“Teacher Safina?...”

Aurora blinked in confusion.

“What are you doing here?”

Safina smiled and gently poked Aurora on the forehead.

“Same as you—I snuck in.”

As a god, one wasn’t supposed to show emotion. But standing off to the side, silently listening to the exchange between Aurora and Safina, Chronoz couldn’t help but think—

What utter nonsense. Illogical and forced.

This Time Palace had been empty for tens of thousands of years, and now two people had “snuck in” within the same day?

“...Perhaps when the next heir takes the throne, they can renovate the security system,” Chronoz thought to himself.

Aurora’s eyes widened—then she shook her head.

“No no, Teacher Safina, I don’t mean how you got in. I mean, what are you doing here?”

Safina’s smile slowly faded. She lifted her violet eyes to the giant hourglass, then looked across at Chronoz.

“Why else? I came to save you from the great God of Time.”

Aurora froze. “Save... me?”

Safina nodded.

“That’s right. I already know your situation, and I heard most of the conversation just now. To put it simply: if you succeed Chronoz and imprison yourself eternally on the Time Throne, you can save the continent of Samael, and your family.”

Hearing that, the surprise and excitement in Aurora’s eyes gave way to a quiet, heavy sadness. She lowered her gaze, bit her lip.

“...Mm.”

“So, you were going to sacrifice yourself without hesitation. You’d rather stay here in this cold, empty palace forever than watch your family suffer under the Void’s claws. Is that it?”

Aurora nodded silently.

After a moment, she whispered—

“I remember Teacher Mevis said that in her unaltered timeline, Shadow ruled over the Samael continent... For a long time, my whole family was hunted by Shadow. It was a terrible time—utterly hopeless. And it was precisely that hopelessness... that drove Future Big Sister to return to our present, help us defeat Shadow, and rewrite the ending.”

As she spoke, Aurora looked up at Safina.

Her pink eyes were clear now—no longer fogged with uncertainty, but bright with determination.

“But now we have no help from the future. No one else can take my place. So... if this is the one way to save everyone—then I’m willing to make that sacrifice.”

Safina crossed her arms and looked down at her.

She was just a little girl—barely old enough to be called a warrior. Yet the weight of her mind and spirit surpassed anyone Safina had ever met.

A hero, through and through.

“But there’s something I still don’t understand, Aurora.”

Safina spoke gently.

“Of the four sisters, you’re the most energetic, the one who loves crowds and chaos the most. If you choose to inherit the mantle of Time, then for the next ten thousand years or more, you’ll be utterly alone in this palace. Can you bear that kind of solitude?”

For someone who loved freedom, the cruelest punishment wasn’t death. It was the loss of that freedom.

The Time Throne wasn’t a seat—it was a prison. One that would shackle not just Aurora’s body, but her spirit.

She loved fun, excitement, novelty. She adored life and everything in it.

And if she took that throne—she would lose it all.

No laughter. No warmth. No kindness. Only endless timelines.

For another person, such solitude might not be unbearable.

But this was Aurora. This was Little Light—the girl who burned with life and passion.

For her, loneliness was torture.

Safina had come to know her these past few months. She knew her heart. That was why she asked:

Could she endure it?

And Aurora’s answer—was honest.

“I can’t. To be honest, Teacher Safina... Just thinking about it makes me want to cry.”

This time, her voice cracked. Finally, she sounded like the child she truly was.

Safina had struck her deepest fear.

You ask her if the sacrifice is worth it? She’d say: Yes.

You ask her if she’s scared? She’d say: No.

But you ask her—can you bear eternal isolation?

Then even if she wanted to lie—

She couldn’t.

Because the truth was, she was afraid.

Aurora’s head drooped. Her long pink hair hung over her face, hiding her expression.

But from the way her little shoulders shook, from her clenched fists, Safina could see the real Little Light—finally breaking through.

Not a little hero. Just a little girl—scared and fragile.

“...But I don’t have a choice...”

Aurora sniffled, trying hard to keep her voice steady, even though it wavered.

“I don’t want to be here alone... I don’t want to leave Mom and Dad, or Big Sister... And Second Sister... If she can’t find me, she’ll cry. She’ll cry for a really long time... And if I’m gone, Third Sister will have to sleep in the dorms alone... What if she has nightmares? What if she sleeps in and gets scolded... Teacher Safina, I’m not just afraid of being alone... I... I can’t live without them.”

She gripped her pants tightly and forced herself to look up.

When Safina saw the look on that child’s face, her heart clenched.

Tears soaked her pink hair, strands clinging to her pale cheeks.

In her eyes, terror and resolve fought for dominance. She had chosen—but she still doubted. She still hesitated.

Safina’s heart ached.

Why... why should a child this small have to bear so much?

“But... in all seventeen million timelines... I still... ascend the throne.”

Aurora steadied her voice, turned to look at Chronoz and the Time Throne behind him.

“Fate is inevitable... so I will face it. I’m Leon Casmod’s daughter. I’m not afraid of anything.”

Chronoz stared silently at her.

For some reason, something ancient within his long-frozen heart stirred for a moment.

But it passed.

He shifted his gaze to Safina.

“I did not see you in the Web of Time. That means you are of the Void Realm, aren’t you?”

Safina nodded.

“And knowing I’m from the Void, you still don’t strike me?”

“Gods have no right to interfere with the affairs of mortals. Even if you are from the Void—it is irrelevant to me.”

He paused, then asked:

“But you just said you came here to save Little Light from me. I’m curious... How?”

Safina’s expression sharpened.

She stepped forward and placed herself between Chronoz and Aurora.

“You said there are seventeen million outcomes, all of which end with Aurora on that throne. But there’s one exception.”

Chronoz raised a brow.

“I’m sure you heard—that single outcome comes from an incomplete Web of Time. As a mere mortal from the Void, do you really think you can repair it?”

“Even I cannot do that.”

Safina smiled faintly.

“I’m not here to fix the Web. I’m here to tell you... why it’s incomplete.”

Chronoz’s brow creased.

“Why?”

“You said it yourself,” Safina said, each word clear and slow. “The Web of Time cannot track anyone beyond the continent of Samael. I... am from the Void.”

At ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) that moment, realization flashed through Chronoz’s eyes.

Safina’s purple pupils shimmered. Mysterious, radiant sigils bloomed across their surface.

“That missing thread... exists because of me. If not one of those seventeen million outcomes can change this child’s fate—then I... am outcome seventeen million and one.”