Chronoa pressed a hand to her head, feeling like her thoughts were a tangled mess.
"I only remember Ozotto ambushing me, and then… then I think I had a really long dream?" She tried hard to recall.
Levos cleared his throat and immediately started explaining.
"…Anyway, it's complicated. In the end, Aeos and I worked together, fused our Time Power, and used that unprecedented strength to completely seal Ozotto."
Naturally, he gave the story a generous haircut, skipping the parts where Aeos fused with Chronoa, where Cell Max absorbed Aeonora, and where the mini-Cells were… "born."
If Chronoa found out about that, it would only create unnecessary trouble.
"Is that so…" Chronoa almost believed him, but when she saw the Grand Priest smiling faintly off to the side, her certainty wavered.
She could feel the Time Power inside her nearly drained dry. Her body was weak to the extreme, as if she really had endured a battle beyond imagination.
"It's normal for you to be this weak right now. After Ozotto absorbed you, he spent Time Power like it was free. By the time we rescued you, you'd already been squeezed dry…"
Chronoa rubbed her head and forced herself to accept it.
Her eyes swept over the palace, where a bunch of small Cells each radiating a powerful aura were chasing each other and roughhousing.
"They're…"
"Just Cell Max traits." Levos replied smoothly, without even blinking. "After handling so many time crises, you of all people should know that."
"But…" Chronoa blinked, then lifted a hand. A few mini-Cells immediately stopped fooling around and scampered over to her, wagging their tails as if they were trying to please her. "They… seem like they have some sort of connection to me…"
"They're friendly. They like getting close to people," Levos said, face straight, heart steady.
Chronoa smiled. "Your kids are really cute."
"No!" Levos rejected it on the spot. "They are not my kids. How can you force human logic onto another species?"
"…Alright." Seeing him insist so fiercely, Chronoa didn't push it. "Do they have names? What should I call them?"
"In birth " Levos coughed. "In creation order, they're Fifteen, Sixteen… up to Twenty-Eight."
"You're really casual about naming things." Chronoa rolled her eyes. "Still… thank you. For stepping forward and saving all timelines."
"No need." Levos shook his head. "And it wasn't just me."
Having successfully muddled through, Levos finally let out a quiet breath, then turned toward the Grand Priest, who was still wearing that carefully controlled smile.
"Grand Priest, I have a question."
"Please."
"Why…" Levos asked the biggest doubt in his heart. "Why didn't you step in, even when things were that desperate? With your power, dealing with Ozotto shouldn't have been difficult."
The moment he asked, Chronoa and Goten both looked over, curiosity obvious.
The Grand Priest's smile didn't change, but a trace of helplessness appeared in his eyes.
He snapped his fingers, and he and Levos appeared outside the palace.
"Mr. Levos. The 'me' you see, and Lord Zeno as well… are not our true bodies."
"We are projections cast across all timelines. One of many. You could also say… I am a clone."
A projection? A clone?
Levos froze, stunned by the concept.
The Grand Priest looked at him calmly.
"The universe operates by inherent rules. My responsibility is to observe the evolution of the timelines I oversee, and guide them toward greater stability and prosperity."
"But I do not directly participate in battle. That would disrupt balance, and interfere too heavily with the universe's natural development."
"Like a gardener, I can prune branches, fertilize, and water. But I cannot replace the seed and force it to bloom."
"We projections handle our tasks within the framework of rules. We do not overstep authority, nor make decisions on behalf of the true body."
"Lord Zeno is the same only his authority is higher. When an error within a timeline or universe becomes irreparable, and may even contaminate other stable timelines, he activates the privilege of Erasure to remove that error entirely."
"Unfortunately, Ozotto was special. Through the Super Dragon Balls, he exploited a loophole in the rules and gained resistance to Erasure. That pushed him beyond what Lord Zeno's authority could cleanly resolve."
"But fortunately… you appeared. So within my permitted scope, I was able to assist you in opposing Ozotto."
"So that's why you had me absorb your power…" Levos finally understood why the Grand Priest had been willing. "By doing that, you could temporarily lend me a portion of your authority, letting me use angelic law."
"Correct. But such borrowing has limits. And the outcome proved it could not solve the problem at its root. In the end, it was your… unique solution that eliminated Ozotto as a threat."
The Grand Priest wore that half-smile again. "The way you resolved the crisis truly was fascinating."
Levos sighed, silently praying the Grand Priest would keep his mouth shut and not spread the details.
Still, after hearing all this, he finally understood the gulf between himself and beings like the Grand Priest and Zeno.
Even a mere projection was terrifying.
As for the so-called Divine Realm… it was probably a higher-dimensional space altogether.
Levos fell into thought.
"The distorted timeline Ozotto birthed has already perished. My mission in the lower realm is complete. By the rules, I will return to the Divine Realm and merge with my true body."
The Grand Priest was leaving?
"Then what about Lord Zeno?" Levos asked.
"Well…" The Grand Priest's expression turned a little strange. "He has the freedom to decide whether he returns or not."
"I'm not going back!"
When Levos and the Grand Priest returned to the palace, Zeno suddenly hopped off the throne and flew straight to Levos, grabbing onto him.
"The Divine Realm is no fun at all! I want to watch interesting fights! I'm going to Levos's timeline to play!"
The Grand Priest blinked.
Levos was equally dumbfounded.
What was this?
Had Zeno… latched onto him?
The Grand Priest chuckled softly. "Mr. Levos… then I'll be relying on you to take good care of Lord Zeno."
Levos's cheek twitched.
Grand Priest, what are you doing?!
Aren't you going to talk him out of it at least?!
As if he'd heard Levos's thoughts, the Grand Priest sighed. "I can't do anything about Lord Zeno."
Then, with rare solemnity, he entrusted Zeno to Levos.
"Since Lord Zeno has decided, then please, take care of him, Mr. Levos."
"Wait! This " Levos tried to refuse.
"Mr. Levos, until we meet again." The Grand Priest smiled. "I hope that next time, you'll bring me even more surprises."
He clapped his hands once. Two unconscious Zeno guards turned into light and vanished along with him.
In the entire palace, only Levos, Goten, Chronoa, Zeno and a bunch of mini-Cells tinkering and running wild remained.
Seeing Zeno's eager face, Levos felt his headache doubling.
"A lot of toys can't be taken. That's annoying," Zeno said with a troubled pout.
A chance!
Levos's heart jumped. If Zeno cared that much about his toys, was he finally going back to the Divine Realm?
"Levos, Levos bring the palace!"
"…Fine." Levos could only accept his fate.
He stored the damaged Zeno palace into his personal space, desperate to get home.
"Alright. Let's go."
"No." Chronoa rubbed her temples. "If Lord Zeno visits the Time Nest openly, it'll cause an uproar. And the Demon Realm scouts are watching the Time Nest's movements at all times. Going there is too dangerous. Even visiting your timeline could create endless trouble…"
Levos had already thought of all that those were exactly the problems he'd been staring at.
He waved a hand, using his item-creation ability. Several pieces of clothing appeared out of thin air.
"Lord Zeno. Starting now, we're going to play a game."
"A game? Yay yay!"
With permission secured, Levos immediately started "working" Zeno over.
A moment later, a completely new creature stood before them.
Zeno's small body was sealed tightly inside a custom pink bodysuit, then covered with a green, skintight one-piece over it.
Even his pure, bright eyes were altered by a special film into a dull, vacant stare.
"This outfit is so fun! Levos, what do I do?" Zeno's muffled voice came from inside the suit.
"You're going to pretend to be someone else," Levos explained. "That way, we can see some funny reactions. Like Beerus, Champa, and the others."
"Ohhh! Is that so? Sounds super fun!"
Zeno bounced in place twice, clearly very satisfied with his new look.
"Then who am I pretending to be?"
Levos looked at his masterpiece, nodded in satisfaction, and swallowed his laughter with great effort.
"Monaka."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The story Genshin Impact: The Cat-Eared Boy Who Won't Encounter Yanderes is ongoing on Patreon, where exclusive chapters are released. Check it out if you want to read more.
Oh, you like the story? Wow, who knew. Go ahead, drop a review and throw some power stones maybe I'll be motivated to keep going.
"Want to stay ahead of the game?Advanced chapters are up on my Patron. If you're enjoying the ride, swing by and check them out."
[email protected]/_theon
Change @ to "a"