Rachel was using 'dive-in-time.'
The true extent of this ability was a mystery. She felt that there was more to it, but it was just a feeling, nothing more.
She looked at the reflection on original duty.
It was a picture of Zagronan dead on the ground.
The reflection shows one picture along with a short description. The description is brief and not written; it's implied and comes to her mind out of nowhere.
It's possible to learn a lot of critical secrets with this method, and she has already learned a lot.
However, it doesn't include an exact date for when the reflection will happen.
She cannot ask questions about the time of people's deaths, but she can ask, "What happens if Zagronan continues to act without influence from me in one billion years?" or "What happens to Zagronan in a billion years if I stop using 'dive in time'?".
To answer those questions, the only thing the reflection shows is the death of Zagronan.
The reason is that the reflection can not exceed the range of questions asked.
Zagronan dies before a billion years, so the reflection stops when he dies.
As for "What happens to Zagronan if I continue to help him with 'dive in time'?".
The reflection shows nothing.
She also tried to check her own future by asking, 'What happens to me in a billion years? ' but no reflection appears.
Rachel experimented a lot during this time.
It doesn't matter how far into the future she looks; the ripples that appear are always constant.
One year into the future makes the same amount of ripple as looking at 1 million years.
However, predictions further into the future have a possibility of not being correct.
As long as she sees the reflection, that reflection has changed in some way.
Because by knowing the future, you inevitably change it, no matter how much you try not to.
Rachel suspects the 'ripple' is just a sign that the future has changed.
She still doesn't understand it fully.
If you look at it this way, looking at something sensitive should make a massive ripple in the River because one can change the future significantly by knowing something very sensitive.
But the truth is, no matter what secret she discovered, big or small, the ripple was always the same.
Only when she used 'dive in time' often did ripples turn into tides.
She also thought of another possibility: ripples are just like when someone jumps into water. It doesn't matter how deep the person dives afterward; the splash on the surface is always the same.
She felt that this explanation made the most sense.
In general, the ability is not great for predicting the distant future.
The further into the future, the more profound the changes.
A prediction about one year will mostly remain valid, but 100 years later?
Rachel doesn't know because she didn't try, but she is skeptical.
Because even in one year, even if you only use 'dive in time' once a day, some minute details are still different.
These minor differences get much more exaggerated in 100 years.
Rachel decided to experiment.
She calculated this question: "What happens to the river of time in 100 trillion years?"
The reflection appeared, and it was a desert, like a river that dried up.
"It is as I thought! The River of time is not unlimited! It is constantly being spent and used. When it dries up, that's the expiration day of this world!" She had a lot of thoughts about the world.
"I want to visit that giant girl," Zagronan said.
Rachel suddenly heard Zagronan talking, so she turned off the 'dive in time.'
"The next fight is in 10 days; now is not the time!" she said impatiently.
There are two distinct tournaments, one for royal blood demons and the other for regular demons.
The tournament for royal bloods is only available to rank ones because few higher-ranked demons are willing to participate.
Still, there are many royal demons here.
Royal bloods were very rare, but in this city, there were at least 50 entering every year.
Up to now, there are thousands living in the city.
Most are rank 1, with a few higher-rank ones.
This city has a relatively high number of royal blood demons for a city of its size.
One reason is that royal blood demons are not solely demons directly born from demon kings.
Zagronan is directly descended from a demon king, but most royal-blooded demons just got lucky, and the concentration of royal blood in their bodies was strong enough for them not to be enslaved by hell.
The most complete definition of a royal blood demon is a demon not enslaved by hell due to their bloodline.
For this reason, the number of royal demons is not limited to a few million descended directly from demon kings every year.
"Take the Royal Enrichment Pill," Rachel said.
This was a pill that helped Zagronan elevate his royal bloodline. It couldn't be used to increase the total amount of royal blood, as it didn't add any more blood, but it did help make his already existing royal blood more potent.
It has benefits, such as strengthening the special ability of royal demons.
This pill can improve his casting ability, as his special ability is related to casting spells.
Also, if he uses this pill enough, then he may be able to accept a bloodline from rank 2 demons.
He can't do it right now because it's too strong and would kill him like poison.
The next day.
Rachel again used 'dive in time.'
This time, she looked into the reflection of Protector and asked the same question.
The reflection on Protector was mainly the same, but the River wasn't completely dried up, and some water flowed.
"So it is as I thought. The real reason the Protector wants to kill living beings is self-preservation. The living beings are accelerating consumption of the River of time," she thought.
The world is not permanent; it is finite and will be destroyed someday.
"Is there anything infinite in the entire universe? I don't have any idea," she thought.
Zagronan asked, "What should I use next?"
"Take a Demon Body Pill," Rachel said.
The Demon Body Pill could significantly strengthen the body.
He took out a pill that exuded darkness and ate it.
He was absorbing the pills very slowly to absorb all of their properties.
The next day, Rachel again used 'dive in time.'
This time, she asked, 'What happens if Protector merges with the Original Duty?'
The reflection showed a picture of one River of time flowing chaotically; it was impossible to tell whether it was moving forward or backward.
"Protector and Original Duty are now almost incompatible! Merging them is impossible when both have contradictory wills. One must surrender completely for any merger to happen without catastrophe," she thought.
Days passed, and soon, it was time for the next match.
The 'stadium' was filled, but the arena was isolated, so it was quiet.
Zagronan looked at the opposite side and saw a demon resembling an average elf.
Most demons look nothing like humanoids. But demons with royal blood often resemble humanoids.
The main reason is that demon kings are humanoids, so royal demons who are their descendants also look humanoid.
The opponent in front had the bloodline of Tanith.
Only demons of the same rank fight each other in these battles, and the winner owns everything from the loser, including the corpse.
Zagronan wasn't worried that Tanoth bloodline demons would be rare, as there are places to trade royal blood demon corpses.
This is why royal demons are targeted outside because their corpses are valuable.
Fortunately for them, demon kings wanted their descendants to have a chance, so en masse looking and killing royal bloods for money is prohibited.
The demon kings are lords over everyone in hell, so once they make something illegal, even the most chaotic and dumb demon would respect it. It is an instinct.
Zagronan took a deep breath as usual and got ready.
A loud bang came, the battle started, and his opponent disappeared.
"You know what to do!" Rachel reminded.
Zagronan cast "Continuous-Black Hole,"
Everything that entered Zagronan's 1-meter radius became unable to leave. That included magical power and light.
His opponent had a special ability, too, like most royal blood demons.
The ability was named 'Gone.'
As long as you 'sense' anyone in any way, the target cannot 'sense' you in any way!
The word 'sense' includes sight, hearing, touch, magical sense, and every other sense!
This ability is a death sentence for any demon of the same rank.
With the 'Repealing Circle' there, the area around Zagronan became isolated.
His opponent didn't feel him anymore, so he appeared in Zagronan's sight again, looking confused at the black hole.
He had never expected to encounter a demon who knew his ability. He had always kept it a secret.
Rachel said, "Use what I told you."
All special abilities come with a weakness.
Zagronan used the spell "Ultra-Super-Fast-Double-smart Blindfold." Five add-on spells were the maximum he could use at this time.
As soon as the spell was cast, he turned off the black hole spell. With the black hole there, his blindfold spell would collide with it and fail.
The black hole disappeared, and his opponent saw him again and disappeared from Zagronan's senses, but the spell was already cast.
His opponent tried to run, but the spell was swift and followed him wherever he ran. Plus, with the two strongest boosting add-ons of "super" and "ultra," along with it being a double spell, his opponent couldn't escape.
The blindfold hit him, and he dropped to the ground.
He died!
"Great, the plan worked perfectly," Rachel said.
The weakness was that as long as 'Gone' was active, even a momentary complete loss of any of the senses resulted in death.
In battles, the most crucial thing is knowing the opponent's secrets.
With Rachel cheating from the River of Time itself, if Zagronan still loses, he deserves it.
"Yeah! Thanks," Zagronan smiled and went to take the corpse. He looked around and could only imagine the looks on the faces of the observers.
All around was completely blocked off, and he could see nothing except white walls.
He exited the building and went to the room he rented.
"Now use the Rank 3 Bloodline Preservation Pill," Rachel said.
Zagronan nodded and took the pill out, then swallowed it.
This pill was the main thing Rachel wanted to get when she brought Zagronan here.
It was a specific-use pill that was the most expensive Rank 0 pill he bought, even though the Rank 0 version was almost useless.
This pill could preserve the ability of the bloodline.
Typically, the ability of the bloodline cannot be preserved after absorption, but with 'Bloodline Preservation,' the ability can be kept.
He cast 'Blood Drain' but didn't cast 'Purify.'
He drained all the blood in a large tub.
It was a lot, and he had time, patiently drinking it.
After hours, Zagronan was sitting in a chair, meditating.
He opened his eyes and smiled.
"Successful! Now I have the 'Gone' ability!" He was jubilant.
'Gone' had a weakness, but it was still very powerful.
Losing one of the senses was meant to be a complete loss.
As long as the secret is well-kept, there is little chance of failure.
"Yeah, with this, you are not afraid of Rank 1 demons, but you know that it's not going to work on Rank 2 demons, right?" Rachel warned.
A Rank 1 ability most likely fails on a Rank 2 entity.
"Yeah, I know."
Then, he started using a lot of pills.
As of today, he can get promoted to Rank 2 without a problem, but he will be kicked out of the tournament if he gets promoted to Rank 2 right now.
So, he decided to hold off and consolidate the royal blood he just absorbed.
The next match is in 10 days. He didn't expect to leave the room before then, but someone unexpectedly knocked.
He opened the door and saw a short girl in blue standing there.
He felt a powerful Tanoth bloodline from her!
"I invite you to a meeting with the baron!" she said without saying hi.
"Who are you?" Zagronan spoke with vigilance.
"I am a demon general working for the baron," she said.
"Aren't you a royal blood?" he asked in confusion.
"Royal blood demons can still voluntarily enlist to work for nobles. Most nobles won't accept them, but baron does. I liked your match and recommended you for a newly vacant demon general position. Be there on this date and at this location." She gave a card to him, then turned around and left.
He took the card and asked Rachel, "What should I do? I can't refuse!"
"I'll calculate it tomorrow; right now, think about the next match," Rachel said.
Zagronan nodded and started discussing how they should approach the next match.