Chapter 531: Time Loop
[No abnormality detected in-]
Before Genesis could speak, Charles cast [Accelerate Thoughts] skill and ordered.
'Connect to the 'Wisdom Link' and search for information about Chaos Scroll.'
A moment later, a row of blue notifications appeared in front of his eyes.
...
[Searching...]
[Connecting to the 'Wisdom Link'...]
[Connection Successful!]
...
[I found an answer, Host. Chaos Scrolls are mystical scrolls created during the Era of Past Time and scattered across the universe. The creator of these scrolls invaded the Abyss eons ago and made 666 chaos scrolls by sacrificing the souls of all demon lords of the Abyss Plane. Legends say that each scroll has the unique power of the sacrificed demon lord, and some scrolls are even powerful enough to injure or kill the powerful Warlocks and Gods.]
...
As Genesis spoke in his mind, the airship shook violently and caused everyone in the compartment to move to and forth.
Charles also noticed that the airship entered an invisible barrier and frowned.
He hurriedly shook his head and shifted his attention towards Genesis's earlier words.
'So, there is a deep history behind the chaos scrolls, huh. No wonder that scroll killed Demigod Rafael in a matter of seconds.' He nodded inwardly and thought of his next plan.
'Hmm, I can tell that going back to Museum and stealing the 'Potion' won't solve my problem at all. I need to solve the root cause of this whole mess.' Although he could re-schedule according to the new departure time, Charles felt that his 'Unluckiness' effect might act up on its own and give him more problems.
'Hmm, what should I do now? Should I go to the Sun Tower and warn Demigod Rafael? But will he believe me?' No, Charles might not even be able to get close to him with his suspicious look.
He might get himself arrested for odd reasons and thrown into a prison cell.
Moreover, there was one more thing that troubled him now.
'It's the 'Time-Loop spell. I want to know if I'm experiencing a 'Loop-like vision' spell or traveling back in time.' If he was experiencing a 'Time-Loop' spell now, he wanted to know how to break it. Otherwise, he might get trapped in this 'loop' forever!
'Okay, I'll ask this question to Genesis after my next death and search for more clues using the Wisdom Link.' He nodded thoughtfully and decided to gather more information about Professor and the assassination incident this time.
After that, he patiently waited in his seat and waited for the airship to land.
A few minutes later, the airship landed near the airport building, and soon Charles and other passengers walked out of it through an illusionary staircase. Like the last time, he entered the airport building, went through regular checking, and exited a few minutes later. He soon met with Jessie at the entrance, and both moved towards the parking area.
...
A few minutes later.
Charles sat inside the luxurious carriage, looked outside through the glass door, and appeared in deep thoughts. In the meantime, Jessie started telling more about the city and soon froze as she noticed that he wasn't paying attention to her.
"Did something happen, Mr. Charles? Do you need any help?" She asked him out of concern.
On the other hand, Charles snapped out of it and waved his hand.
"It's not something you can help me with-"
Suddenly, he thought of something, closed his eyes, and replicated the earlier two rebirth memories.
After that, he compressed them into a small cloud, took them out of his Inner World, and directly sent it to Jessie's head.
Before she could understand the situation, she felt a sharp pain that appeared deep in her mind, followed by countless memories about Charles's earlier rebirth.
"W-What is this?!" She couldn't help but mutter in a shocked tone as she read those memories. She then looked at Charles and asked with a dumbfounded look on her face.
"You came from the future?"
Meanwhile, Charles shook his head and answered.
"I'm not sure either. But what I think is that this might be a future vision. Even if I achieve my goal here and escape from this city with the potion bottle, I might not wake up in reality. Instead, I might die due to some unfortunate means and wake up in the same time loop." He paused for a moment and then added.
"Unless I find a way to break this 'Time-Loop' spell, I won't succeed in this mission at all."
On the other hand, Jessie also calmed down and soon started reading all those memories carefully. Unlike Charles, Jessie was more like an expert in analyzing memories and finding possible solutions to break this spell. That's the reason Charles decided to input his rebirth memories into her.
"It's an intellectual artifact's work, huh."
After reading it for a while, she suddenly moved her hand towards the carriage door, opened it by pushing the knob, and spoke to Oliver.
"Oliver, part the carriage somewhere safer for a while."
Saying so, she shut the door tightly and activated the space lock spell inside.
"I think you can wake up on your own when you complete this mission, mister. I highly suspect that this 'Time-Loop' spell might work based on the user's favor. But there is another possibility. What if this 'Time-Loop' spell was initiated by a powerful god to save this city from its destruction?"
She made that possibility by analyzing the strange unlucky incidents Charles had faced before. She felt that all these abnormal incidents were pointing in one direction.
"If you didn't fulfill this wish, you might not be able to wake up from this 'Time-Loop' at all."
Meanwhile, Charles squinted his eyes and asked in his mind.
'Genesis, is it possible for some higher power to manipulate the 'Time Loop' spell?'
[It's possible, Host. For example, the system assistance you are having is mainly due to a higher power called 'Wisdom-Link.' I evolved to an SS-Rank Artifact due to the influence of 'Insight Essence' and the 'Wisdom Link.' So, I suspect there might be another higher being's influence in this 'Time Loop' spell. That might be the reason for my inability to distinguish the ability of this spell before its activation.] Genesis responded in the same synthetic voice.
'Another higher power like Wisdom-Link... Do you mean the River of Time?' Charles thought of Runeth's words and asked.
[I can't confirm due to insufficient information, Host. But I suspect that there might be more than one higher being out there influencing the Time power.] Genesis responded.
'Oh? There are more than one Higher Beings? What are they? Are they level above Higher God? Maybe the so-called Sovereign Realm? Or something else?' Countless questions appeared in his mind, but no answers.
