"If I don't?" Azekiel asked in return.
"If you give me that gem, you'll leave this place alive. If you don't give me this stone, you'll be buried in one of the Coffins outside," Lenora issued a threat.
If she wanted, she could've attacked Azekiel right away, but it was safer to have him hand over.
"Sure. You want the stone? Take it." Azekiel raised his hand, opening the fist. He revealed the beautiful green gem resting on his fist.
Lenora took a step closer to Azekiel. She raised her hand. "Wise decision."
However, before she could even touch the stone, the green stone disappeared. Azekiel also disappeared with the stone. Not even his shadow was left behind.
For a moment, Lenora didn't even realize what had just happened. It took her a moment to realize what had just happened.
"Arghhhh!" She roared like crazy.
She wasn't the only one roaring. Not too far from the Tower of Sins, a man was standing on the top of a mountain. He was also roaring in rage. His roar was so powerful that all the Monsters felt a shiver in their body.
"I was so close! That bastard! I will kill him! I will kill him! I will rip him to shreds!" The winged man roared at the top of his lungs.
His roars were like the thundering roar of the sky, spreading far and wide. It was as if the man knew that the stone could only be used once. That's why seeing it be used by Azekiel and wasted like that; he lost his calm.
He had waited for such a long time to get that stone, and now that he finally had the opportunity, he had failed. He swore that he was going to kill Azekiel.
****
Unaware of how many enemies he had made with just one decision of his, Azekiel appeared in an entirely different place.
Not only was he out of the Tomb of Gods, but he was also out of the Tower of Sins. He had arrived back in time to the timeline of the child.
[You have used the Stone of Time]
[Time before returning to your Original Timeline: 47:59:59]
A timer appeared in the corner of his vision, always running.
Azekiel opened his fist, noticing the fragments of the stone of time. The stone was completely destroyed after one use itself, leaving only small useless fragments.
Despite having no use of these fragments, Azekiel placed them inside his Storage Ring.
He had appeared at the same time as what he saw in his dream and in the same place. He stood on the snow, watching the carriage leave with the Young Prince.
Right at the entrance of the Castle, the General was talking with a bandit, laughing. Azekiel didn't even need to get to them to hear what they were talking about.
"I need to save the Queen. But to save her, I need to prevent the Uprising. There are only two ways to make it happen. I can kill all the Nobles except the Queen who could rise against her. But that'll take a lot of time for it. I have close to five days to fulfill the oath, but the stone only gives me two days in this Timeline."
"The other option is saving the kid and beating some sense into the Royals. That's not only easier but also faster. Don't you think?" He gazed to his left, finding Raphael standing there.
His two Familiars had also arrived back in time with him since they were connected to him.
"Yeah. Saving the kid is certainly easier." Raphael agreed before reaching out his hand to carry him behind the carriage.
Azekiel grabbed Raphael's hands, only to watch his hands pass through. He couldn't touch Raphael this time. It was the same for Lia.
"Strange... I was able to touch you just minutes ago. Could it be because we're on a different Timeline? Or the apple's effect ran out?"
Azekiel didn't know which of the two it was, but whatever being the case, the problem remained the same. He couldn't have Raphael fly him. He needed to find another option, and an option was what he found.
"Make sure there are no problems. If there are problems, your head will fall first," the General warned the bandit before climbing on his black horse. "I'll go and meet the Duke."
"I'm afraid you aren't going anywhere." A cold voice came from behind the General as a figure appeared like a ghost.
Azekiel grabbed the General by the collar, tossing him away. Instead of the General, he climbed on the horse.
Under his control, the horse dashed away. The General got up, still unable to believe that someone dared to steal his horse right from under his nose! He was the General of the Empire of Snow! He was the leader of the Army. He was someone that even the strongest of bandits were scared of, and someone stole from him?
"Men, capture that man! I want his head!" He commanded his men to chase after Azekiel. At the same time, he also took another horse.
A group of twenty chased after Azekiel, who had created a decent amount of distance between him and the guards that were chasing after him.
"Archers! Shoot!" The middle-aged General commanded the archers who were sitting behind the horse riders. While the horse riders focused on controlling the horse, the Archers aimed at Azekiel in the distance.
"They are following after you."
"I know about them. It's alright. Let them follow."
"They aren't just following. They are preparing to fire arrows as well. I think you might want to duck."
Five archers aimed at Azekiel, and all five shot their arrows at the same time.
Azekiel didn't even look back as the arrows came straight at him. Raphael was telling him everything that was happening behind him. As soon as Raphael told him to duck, he tilted his body to the side, almost falling off the horse. The arrows missed him, flying past.
Flashing a bright grin, Azekiel looked back at the people who were chasing after him.
"My turn." He called out a single gauntlet this time before straightening up.
He had already seen everyone's position. Now all he needed to do was attack.
He swung his claws behind him, firing multiple energy bullets. Throughout the entire attack, he didn't look back.
Argh!
Even though the people chasing after him were too far behind, Azekiel still heard their painful cries.
"How many did I get?" he asked Raphael.
"Half of them are dead," Raphael answered. "The rest are either injured or shared. They stopped chasing after us."
"Fear... Anger makes us do something; fear prevents us from doing things." Azekiel lightly shook his head. "Is the General dead as well?"
