"...What?" the other Eliot said, his voice flat with disbelief.
"Let me explain in a way you can actually comprehend," Eliot stated. At this condescending tone, a vein visibly throbbed on the other Eliot's forehead.
"I never intended to kill her. She was far too valuable to just... kill. Instead, I thought of enslaving her. That was the main reason I agreed to follow her, and not because I saw some 'enforcers'—please, I am not that stupid. I wanted to follow her to the mystic world so that when the situation presented itself, I could simply capture her and find a way to enslave her. I couldn't think of such a thing freely, knowing her ability. Only a fool would expect someone like her to exert restraint; the chances were barely 13%. But I decided to change the plan after seeing her group. Catching her alone was no longer a possibility, as that group obviously didn't trust me. That was why I instead used her to level up when the system presented the opportunity," he concluded, leaning back in the chair. The other Eliot suddenly felt incredibly foolish.
"I see... so you baited me into making a fool of myself?"
"You were the star of your own show. If you were truly me, you wouldn't think so shallowly. Killing her? Where would I find such a valuable potential slave again?"
"...But that doesn't excuse your carelessness. If you had died at that moment, it would have all been for naught," the alternate Eliot countered, to which Eliot closed his eyes in contemplation.
"I have learned from that mistake. The fault in my thought process was not accounting for all the members of her group. I didn't expect someone like..." He looked at the blue-haired girl suspended by the wall. "...Her. By the way, you still haven't told me what she's doing here or what happened after I lost consciousness." Eliot looked back at the alternate.
"...She enslaved herself."
This time, Eliot was truly shocked, his eyes widening in utter disbelief.
"I don't know what she was trying to do. Maybe you can ask her that when you meet again. What I did see was her extracting your essence... in other words, your soul."
"That's not supposed to be possible."
"It isn't... which makes me curious what she really is. She can't be human... it's just not possible."
"So... those system sounds I heard... the slave seal initiation... it was to stop her?"
"Yes. As I said, she enslaved herself by taking in your soul. All the system had to do was re-establish a connection with the stolen piece. With the connection established, it forcefully merged a part of it with hers. Then... the whole enslavement process began."
"The whole enslavement process? You don't know what it is?" Eliot noticed the hedging.
"Look, there are a whole lot of things you don't know... and as of this moment, you can't know them yet, unless the timestream would be destroyed and we would never merge."
"Timestream? Merge?"
"I said it from the very start, I AM YOU. But a version that survived what all others couldn't... death by Annabelle's hands."
"Wait, that doesn't make sense. So my life is in a loop?"
"No, I AM the loop. I deviated from the original script that should have taken place and came to the knowledge of things I should have never known. Because of that... THEY found out where I was and came for me. I should have died, but someone saved me. That's the reason why I am here now in a place time does not influence, the only place THEY can't find me."
"I know I shouldn't ask but... Who are THEY?" Eliot was in no mood for cryptic words. If he could help it, he would find out what he needed to know before it became a constant, nagging thought.
The alternate gave him a dry look. "The moment you know who THEY are, THEY would know who you are."
"That doesn't make any sense."
"It doesn't... at least for now. When we merge, you will understand. All you need to know is... the goddess has no hand in your past life suffering. Yes, I shared that thought after she betrayed me too, so you must have it as well. But... that's not the case. It's instead related to something else you will find out down the line. She's just a selfish bitch we need to enslave."
"...What about the person that helped you escape?" To this, the alternate smiled, a flicker of genuine warmth in his eyes.
"Don't worry. The TIME will come."
"...Can you not be an ass?"
"Look, I hate the cryptic shit too, trust me, but it's the only way we survive until we're strong enough to face THEM."
Eliot sighed. "So... do I reincarnate again after dying?"
"...Actually, yes. In fact, we would have continued in the circle of reincarnation if I didn't deviate."
"...What did you do differently?"
"Eh...?" The alternate suddenly looked away, an uncharacteristic shyness about him.
"To deviate, what did you do differently from me and the other versions that died?" Eliot pressed.
"...Okay, maybe it wasn't all my idea to deviate. I'm not really sure what I did differently myself, but it's related to Selene." To this answer, Eliot's eyes widened in shock.
"Selene?" he muttered.
"Yes, THAT Selene."
"I see."
"I don't know why, but instead of following the script like you did, I chose to date Selene in an attempt to get Isabelle jealous. I just... got tired of being selfless and being a fucking simp. At first, she didn't care and just straight up told me 'I was disgusting' and for the longest time acted like we were strangers, so I just forgot about her, even ignored the system, deciding to just focus on Selene and on managing her insecurity. But with time, that changed," he grimaced.
"What happened?"
"Maybe it was the fact that I completely ignored her for over a year. I still don't understand the female mind, so her reasons are completely beyond me. All I know is, a day came when Isabelle lost her mind. In fact, she started actively trying to ruin my relationship with Selene. One thing led to another and it snowballed into... a major problem."
"What exactly happened?"
There was silence for a while, before the other Eliot gave an unnecessary cough, signaling the end of the line.
"Enough of this interrogation. Go back to your reality." He was about to flick his hand when Eliot stopped him.
"Wait, what exactly am I supposed to do about my mana problem? It's only a matter of time before my body breaks down permanently."
"Stop reversing your mana flow, then. If you haven't noticed, you can now manipulate mana like a normal person. All your smartness, and you didn't notice that?"
"I didn't," Eliot replied, failing to realize the young man was being sarcastic.
"Listen, I settled everything before you even woke up in this world. My only payment is that you survive till the merge... Godspeed, Eliot."
The world warped.