"Is it time already?" Viniga, the god of laws and wisdom asked.
"Not yet... Things aren't going according to fate written by me. We gave authority to Kenji and re-wrote his fate so that he'd get killed one way or the other... that is still his fate but somehow he has survived this long. With everyone thinking he is dead, instead... that woman has made it so he can finally act without consequences. Is she really in our favor? James is the one who'd inherit the throne in the heavens... Fate is favoring Kenji to a certain degree but things haven't outright changed. Original plan is still in place but something is tweaking things ever so slightly." Jeyma was astonished as how the fate written by him was changing. He had been busy ever since Kenji entered the world. For some reason, things that shouldn't have happened ended up happening. There were multiple instances where Kenji should've died but he just didn't.
"We are Gods of this world and you're saying you can't kill a single mortal?" Deoni growled.
"Jeyma and I have been trying but we can't interfere directly. We keep re-writing his fate but one thing or the other just changes it at the very last moment. He was supposed to die in the assembly but he gained that traitor's ability... then he was supposed to die in the catastrophe that struck the kingless kingdom... I don't think it was just Askai but I think all links have betrayed us." Kilmari, the god of fate and destiny, had finally reached her own conclusion.
"But the origin is yet to gain it's powers back. No way we can afford all links betraying us. Wasn't the original fate yet another war where humans would finally eradicate all demi-humans?! The war has already started so things are still on track, right? That was the fate of this world... that's how the time loop would end... when only one party wins." Viniga questioned.
"So far things are going exactly how I have written them but Kenji is the one part that is completely unpredictable. It might be too soon for us to decent down to this world and pass our judgement but if dragons decided to become active again then... I can't be too sure... That one man... we can't let him get his powers back before origin does." Kilmari was sweating just thinking about this individual.
"Is he reincarnated?" Deoni asked. Jeyma nodded to her question.
"He is already strong but doesn't have his absolute authority of the element. The moment he gains his powers back, it would give confidence to other three alive dragons too. Back then... the origin fought all six and killed two but got so damaged that its been thousands of years and they still haven't recovered. We had to spin countless lies in order to hide the fact. If these four decided to use their authority, it could lead to origin being killed."
"For time being, let things play out. We still have to figure out who was the real betrayer of us Gods." Jeyma said.
...
Kristine had been on a journey for weeks now so she had decided to head back to the kingdom with Grumania with Chen and Feishu but upon arrival all she saw was death and destruction. Demi-humans and Humans waging war against each other.
Her first instincts was to check up on her classmates and to her dismay, all were in the castle fighting for their life after their fight against Kenji.
"What happened?!" Kristine asked James.
"Kenji... For some reason, everyone believes he is dead and someone took over his body or has changed their looks but it was ... it was truly him. Something has changed in this world and I'm afraid Kenji has given up on us completely. I was foolish because I never listened to him explain things. Because I was given the title of 'hero' I became arrogant... I wonder if I had been more mature, we could've avoided this war entirely." James had become more sensible and humble after reflecting on his actions.
"Still... alive?" Feishu was completely dumbfounded and so were Kristine and Chen.
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN?!" Kristine quickly grabbed his collar and pulled him up.
"It hurts!" He pushed Kristine away. "Don't... but anyways ... he has sided with the other side. But we don't know how bad things are about to get. The ascendants are yet to make any move and everyone is scared. Popular opinion is that the ascendants will side with demi-humans too. We have already lost this war." James had accepted this as a fact but he was still scared.
"There is still a chance then! I will talk to him and figure things out!" Kristine declared. But first she has to find him.
...
"Summarize your findings." The king spoke.
The ascendants, this time all present, were sitting at their assigned chair. The room was dimly lit with no one else present. The atmosphere was tense and everyone kept glancing at each other understanding the gravity of the situation.
"Right, according to history, origin, the god and creator of humans, came from outside this world. It decided to colonize the land and took it by force before creating humans, five links and five segments. Because it had waged war against the already existing species, it grew weak and gave most of the authority to the five segments. Whether it died or not is unknown yet most assume it has died. Then the demi-humans, after being driven from their homeland, created objects beyond human comprehension and the gods fearing the world's destruction put an end to it before it could pose a threat. In history, five links are never once mentioned. They have a different purpose. To stay on ground and spread words of the origin. Similar role was given to Kenji because Askai's position had to be filled in after his death. There are two theories- One, Askai betrayed the gods because his lover had some kind of sickness that couldn't be cured and he found something he wasn't supposed to find. The truth about time loop. It paints the origin as some evil entity that keeps secrets from it's own creation. Kenji's theory... this is. I propose that origin is not the bad guy here but Askai was favored by it and blessed by it. We found existence of fake sky. The world is inside a bubble of some kind and it could be possible that only the bubble is in time loop while the cosmos is working fine. In the tomb of Askai's grave, we found scriptures talking about a being who was responsible for the origin losing its authority and power. Askai believed that time loop was necessary. He could continuously research on different outcomes to reach a perfect outcome for the humanity but other four links felt as though Askai's methods were inhumane and unethical... well... the issue here is that it conveniently skips past the existence of six dragon sovereigns. It is also possible that it's the dragons these gods are most worried about. Because in all this, these six dragons held the most power. Maybe they're gaining their powers back and so... the gods have become worried. They got rid of Kenji who had found winter's constellation and eye of tryam. In the end, I think the dragons want to remove humans from the planet entirely and that is the end everyone is trying to avoid and hence the time loop. Kenji might have been fed incorrect information." Charlotte ended her statement.
For the time being, no one spoke a single word.
"Where is winter's constellation?" The captain asked.
"With the link of recollection." She answered. "We just have to put an end to the dragons. That might end the time loop."
"How can I get it from her?"
"By killing her. It is hidden inside of her heart. It is a physical object but taking it out will kill her."
"Very well. I shall go and take it myself." The captain, hailed as the strongest mortal, stood up finally declaring his hostility against the link. "Kenji... the child is misdirected. To reach such a fate, I mourn his death. Yet I will avenge him. I will go alone and take it by force if need be."
As the captain threw his gauntlet into the ring, it has sealed the inevitable fate of the link of recollection, Asha.