Back at the palace, where Tristan lay frozen on the floor. Pria waited beside Nyra, who still kept her eyes closed, her energy snaking from her hand into the man's body before her.
Norten watched with his arms crossed, leaning against a distant pillar.
He was grinning, delighted with his newfound freedom.
Pria glanced at him but said nothing, nor asked anything.
If he wasn't getting in the way, then there was no reason to involve herself with him.
After a while, Nyra's energy began pulsing more intensely. Her consciousness was finally returning to her body.
Pria waited patiently for her friend's return.
Nyra's closed eyes slowly began to open. The intense, radiant glow that had enveloped them gradually weakened until it returned to normal.
Once she had fully regained awareness and grounded herself back in reality, a bright, genuine smile bloomed on her face.
Pria raised a curious brow. She had seen her friend smile before, but never like this.
It was the smile of someone who had just achieved something they greatly desired.
– Did everything go well, Lady Nyra?
The blonde looked at Pria and nodded, her smile still unwavering.
– It did, Pria. And on top of that, I even got to enjoy a little moment with him too!
– I'm glad to hear it, but… why exactly are you smiling like that?
– I've never seen you express this much happiness. Did something good happen?
Nyra gave a small jump, suddenly realizing how naturally and visibly her joy was overflowing.
She simply brushed her fingers across her lips, now smiling more subtly.
– It's nothing. Just… happy about the moment I had with him.
Pria found it hard to believe her, but chose to leave it aside for now.
– Well then, my lady, shall we depart?
Nyra nodded.
– Yes, we can go. But let's clean up this mess first.
Nyra turned her attention to Tristan's frozen body. She narrowed her eyes and stretched her hand toward him.
– As promised, you will pay for your foolish actions.
With her arm extended and palm facing upward, she suddenly clenched her hand tightly.
With her fist closed, she began rotating it to the left, as if dragging the hand of a clock.
When the movement ended and her wrist pointed toward the ground—
Tristan's body began crumbling into dust. A few drops of milky white blood dried instantly, turning to ash like the rest of him.
His body collapsed slowly, yet steadily, while the ashes mixed with a golden energy and drifted upward like shimmering sparks.
In the end, all that remained was the faint memory that someone had once existed there. But no one could remember who.
Only those who witnessed his erasure could recall the identity of the erased.
Others who knew him but hadn't seen his final moment merely felt that someone familiar had… disappeared.
Nyra had used the temporal spell she had given Evo — but now in its full, unleashed power.
The spell was called Return to Origins.
Its ability was to erase things from time itself — living beings or objects — by forcing them to regress along their timeline.
After finishing the erasure, Nyra looked toward Norten, who watched the scene from afar.
– You were his closest subordinate, correct?
She spoke firmly, though without harshness.
Norten approached and offered a respectful bow.
– Greetings to the Primordial Divinity!
He straightened his posture and answered naturally:
– Yes, my lady. Your assumption is correct.
Nyra studied the young divine being, her thoughts churning.
– Listen. Originally, I planned to save this domain for Dani once he ascended. But after reconsidering, I'll be taking him to my own domain instead.
– Leaving this place abandoned would be a waste.
– Since I disposed of its former owner, this domain belongs to me now. But I have no interest in it, so…
She looked directly at the young divinity standing before her, speaking with dignity and pride.
– As the rightful owner of this domain, I will leave this place under your care from this day forward.
– I am transferring the ownership to you, young one.
– Do you accept?
Norten's eyes widened.
He was already happy just to be free from his egocentric former master. But receiving a prosperous private world as a gift? That was beyond anything he could have imagined.
Here, he could run everything properly — after all, he had always been the one doing the real work.
The only difference now was that he would be doing it for himself.
He offered another heated, grateful bow, nodding quickly.
– Yes, my lady! I will do my best to keep everything in order.
Nyra simply nodded and called Pria, seemingly ready to return home.
– Let's go, Pria. We have somewhere to stop before heading home.
– Hm? We're not going straight back?
Pria asked, curious about the unexpected detour.
Nyra shook her head.
– Hun! Hun!
– We're going to pay a little visit to a certain loudmouthed friend first.
Nyra narrowed her eyes toward the horizon.
Pria immediately understood their next destination. She smiled, unable to feel the slightest bit of pity for the target awaiting Nyra.
– As you wish, my lady.
And so, the two set off toward their new destination.
..........................
Back to Evo, at the Order's base.
Evo had been silent for a while.
A few minutes had passed since his return.
During that time, he realized the time he had spent in that world was wildly disproportionate to reality.
Counting the cycles, he had lived exactly one month inside. But out here, only a few seconds had passed. The discrepancy was suffocating, almost unbelievable.
– I need to check the system notifications and my new spell.
– But first, I need to get out of here. There's a lot to do.
– Especially talking to Freya and Ravina.
Evo planned his next steps, his gaze coldly locked onto one specific person.
Umbra.
He behaved normally, watching Luneth deliver her speech as if nothing were wrong.
As if he weren't a filthy traitor. His acting skills were impressive, at least.
Evo, of course, was far from pleased. But after everything that happened in that false world, he had learned to harden his heart and maintain composure — even when burning with rage.
– For now, you still live, Talier.
– But only for now.
Evo muttered quietly to himself as he decided to leave before the meeting ended.
He stood up firmly, drawing everyone's attention.
– Luneth!
He called her calmly, yet with authority.
– Yes, Veyrath? Do you have something to say?
Evo nodded before speaking.
– Yes.
– I must apologize to everyone, but I need to leave now.
– I have urgent matters to discuss with the director.
Luneth didn't question him — she simply nodded.
– Very well, leader. If it's important, there's nothing to be done.
– I'll give you the meeting summary later.
Evo thanked her and descended the stairs, heading toward the rear exit.
Everyone watched him with curious eyes, but no one said anything.
Unexpected issues happened — leaving a meeting early wasn't unusual.
Especially for their leader, who held full responsibility as their direct bridge to the director.
Umbra, beneath his mask, narrowed his eyes slightly at Evo's back, but returned to normal quickly.
As Evo passed by Luneth, he whispered low enough for only her to hear:
– Keep an eye on Umbra from today on.
He didn't look at her. He simply kept walking, passing through the door and closing it.
Luneth, perceptive as always, pretended she heard nothing and continued speaking.
But internally, it was another story.
– Why keep an eye on Umbra?
– Why would Veyrath ask that? Does he suspect something?
– There's no way Umbra did anything! Everyone here was handpicked by Freya.
– Veyrath was acting strange earlier… His voice carried a quiet kind of anger…
– Umbra didn't do anything to upset him… right?... Right?
As Luneth drowned in questions and confusion, doubt rooted itself in her chest and refused to leave.
She didn't want to distrust her companions — but with the way Evo had spoken, ignoring it was impossible.
Without realizing it, Luneth had fallen perfectly into Evo's plan.
The seed of doubt had been planted.