In the royal palace of Castrum Kremnos.
Dan Heng, Stelle, and a group of Chrysos Heirs sat around a long table with grim expressions. At the head of the table, a middle-aged man let out a weary sigh from time to time.
Sitting beside the man, Mydei saw his father's expression and offered words of comfort, "Father, there's no need to sigh. If we can kill it three times, we can kill it a fourth and a fifth, until it's dead for good!"
Eurypon, the king of Castrum Kremnos, glanced at his battle-eager son and managed to force a small smile.
"What you say is true, Mydei. I have never doubted your strength. But the people of Castrum Kremnos cannot be resurrected endlessly like the [Strife] Titan. They only have one life."
A heavy silence fell over the room. Everyone present knew this all too well.
Dan Heng and the others were starting to feel the pressure. They never expected the situation in Castrum Kremnos to be this chaotic.
When they first arrived, they thought their only enemy would be the Titan. But as the Titan battled within the city, the creatures of the Black Tide took the opportunity to swarm through breaches in the walls. What should have been a two-versus-one fight in their favor—the Okheman reinforcements and the Castrum Kremnos army against the Titan—had devolved into a chaotic four-way brawl.
What made the situation even worse was that the citizens of Castrum Kremnos had nowhere to run. Outside the city walls, the plains were swarming with the Black Tide, making evacuation impossible. Yet staying within the city meant being inevitably caught in the crossfire.
In the day and a half since their arrival, the Chrysos Heirs had already repelled several waves of the Black Tide and killed the [Strife] Titan three times.
The only good news was that the sun had returned.
The Black Tide creatures outside the city had been reduced by at least seventy percent, finally giving them and the citizens of Castrum Kremnos a chance to breathe.
Stelle suddenly spoke up. She turned to Dan Heng and whispered, "Since the sun is back up, that means the big guy should be back, right? Do we just need to hold out?"
Although Stelle had intentionally lowered her voice, the room was so quiet that her words still drew the attention of the others.
Dan Heng shook his head.
"That's not realistic. We can't pin all our hopes on Fu Zhu. He might have other matters to attend to. Besides, the citizens of Castrum Kremnos can't wait any longer. We need to find a way to permanently deal with the [Strife] Titan as quickly as possible, so we can focus all our efforts on the Black Tide."
Stelle scratched her head, a little confused. "Then why don't we ask the beta tester?"
"Beta tester?"
The others were puzzled, but Dan Heng immediately understood that Stelle's "local dialect" was referring to Khaslana. His eyes lit up, and he turned to the black-hooded figure who had been silent the entire time.
"Khaslana, do you know a way?"
Khaslana didn't answer. He remained silent.
Anaxagoras, sitting beside him, immediately turned to check on him. After a moment, he frowned and said, "His spiritual erosion has worsened. It's no wonder he's been so quiet since we arrived. It's taking all his willpower just to keep from going berserk and attacking us."
At the same time, Anaxagoras felt a pang of guilt. Since their arrival, they had been so preoccupied with fighting the Titan and the Black Tide and protecting the citizens that he hadn't noticed Khaslana's silent state. He hadn't had a moment to check on him.
"Can you help him recover?" Dan Heng asked.
"I'll try."
Anaxagoras began to administer temporary medical treatment to Khaslana.
A short while later, Khaslana regained some clarity. Dan Heng quickly repeated his question.
"Khaslana, do you know how to break the [Strife] Titan's immortality?"
"Yes." Khaslana nodded. Although his memories were becoming hazy, his knowledge on how to deal with the Titans was still ingrained in his mind.
"The [Strife] Titan divided itself to fight the endless Black Tide. To defeat it permanently, you must destroy all of its avatars. At this specific point in time, you need to return to the past and destroy its rationality."
"And how do we return to the past?"
"The power of time..."
Khaslana placed the Ritual Sword of Time he always carried on the table. Noticing the group's confused gazes, he began to explain.
"This ritual sword originally belonged to Cyrene. She later gave it to me and then offered her own soul as the price to help me enter and restart the cycles. Using it, you can return to the past."
Although Khaslana's words carried a heavy weight, for everyone present, it was undoubtedly good news.
Phainon immediately made a decision. "Then we mustn't delay. Let's set out at once to deal with the [Strife] Titan's final avatar!"
The others all agreed with Phainon's proposal, but before they could prepare to act, there was a knock on the meeting room door.
King Eurypon, at the head of the table, called out, "Enter."
A city guard pushed the door open and said urgently, "Your Majesty, the Titan is back! The Black Tide is attacking alongside it!"
King Eurypon immediately picked up his sword, strode toward the door, and Mydei followed close behind.
"Everyone, I leave the matter of the past to you. My people... we will protect them."
After watching Eurypon and Mydei leave, Dan Heng quickly formulated a plan.
"We'll likely have to split up. With only King Eurypon and Mydei, I'm worried they won't be able to hold back the combined assault of the Titan and the Black Tide."
Anaxagoras nodded in agreement and looked at Khaslana. "In that case, you tell Stelle and Phainon how to use the ritual sword. The two of them will go to the past to deal with the Titan's rationality."
Anaxagoras had originally considered sending Khaslana, as he was the "veteran player" with a higher chance of success. But considering his unstable condition, if he went berserk after traveling to the past, it would only cause more trouble.
After thinking it over, leaving Khaslana behind while Stelle and Phainon went was the best choice.
Phainon, Stelle, and Khaslana naturally had no objections and nodded in agreement.
Seeing the roles assigned, Dan Heng was the first to rise and head outside, not forgetting to leave a final word.
"I'll go help first."
Dan Heng rushed to the crumbling city walls to join Mydei. Outside the city, the resurrected [Strife] Titan was already clashing with the creatures of the Black Tide. This, at least, brought Dan Heng a small measure of relief.
It seemed they could let the Black Tide wear down the Titan for a bit before making their move.
Still, without Stelle and the others, fighting the Titan would be troublesome.
It looked like he would have to use the power of the High Elder.
Just as Dan Heng was about to draw the Abyssal Pearl from the tip of his Cloud-Piercer spear, his phone suddenly vibrated in his pocket.
Dan Heng paused and took out his phone. He was a bit curious. The phones on Amphoreus had long lost their signal. The only way to communicate was through the golden threads. So who was messaging him now?
When Dan Heng saw the message on his screen, a smile broke through his usual calm expression.
[Fu Zhu: On your left!]