The chest pain from the memory of the rusty blade gradually subsided, but the deadlock in Lily's story tightened like a new vise gripping Hegemon's mind. Seeing him slump his head helplessly, Lily gently knelt down, tenderly placing her hand on her trembling companion's shoulders.
"Hegemon, look at me," her voice firm, though tears still lingered in her eyes. "The law of karma binds me, but it cannot bind your will.
We cannot go straight ahead, so we must take a roundabout route. I cannot name the culprit, but I can give you the key."
Lily lowered her voice, mysteriously mentioning an ancient concept: "Within the flow of this village, there are entities called Astra – guardian spirits hidden within the Elf village's artifacts. They are beyond the control of the mastermind and can sense evil before tragedy strikes."
Lily's suggestion flashed like lightning through the darkness in Hegemon's mind. He snapped to his feet, a daring plan forming. They were just immigrants, not pure Elf blood, so any misstep could easily turn them into cannon fodder, just like in the previous timeline.
"I understand," Hegemon struggled to his feet, his eyes regaining their cold sharpness. "If your presence here triggers your own death, Lily, you must leave the village immediately. Pretend to be gathering herbs in the border region. As for me, I will proactively approach and work with the Elf soldiers and elders. I need an undeniable alibi in front of everyone when the Forbidden Library is attacked."
The following days unfolded exactly as planned. Hegemon frantically threw himself into the village's affairs, cultivating the image of a diligent immigrant, always appearing in the public eye.
The fateful moment finally arrived. That night, as Hegemon was patrolling the square with his Elf soldiers, a protective energy field emanating from the Forbidden Library suddenly surged. Just as expected! But when Hegemon rushed in, his heart nearly stopped beating with terror.
The one who had entered the Forbidden Library wasn't the mastermind behind the scenes, but Lily! Why had she returned?
"Intruder! Wake up!" Hegemon shouted, his voice tearing through the night to awaken the surrounding soldiers.
But the only response was a terrifying silence. All the guards inside were motionless, their eyes wide, standing still like brainwashed statues, clinically unconscious.
Hegemon stormed into the shrine. Before him, "Lily" stood with her back to him, holding an ancient book. Recalling Lily's warning that she couldn't intervene directly, Hegemon immediately sensed something amiss. This murderous aura and heavy pressure didn't belong to his companion.
"You're not Lily! You're an imposter!" Hegemon roared.
Exposed, "Lily" froze, then let out a series of high-pitched, eerie giggles. A thick, dark stream of magic enveloped the body. The disguise peeled away, revealing its true form: a child with a loli-like figure, dark, mesmerizing skin, and blood-red eyes filled with cruelty.
"Oh, so the body I intended to impersonate to frame you was exposed so quickly?" The mastermind sneered, his voice both innocent and chilling.
Just as Hegemon was about to charge forward, another figure – an Elf guard who had just rushed in to help – was struck by a pitch-black beam of light unleashed by the mastermind. *Slash!* His head snapped off, blood gushing out before Hegemon's astonished eyes, and he was instantly chopped into a hundred pieces in 0 seconds.
"The game ends early, poor immigrant," the dark-skinned child laughed loudly before vanishing into thin air with the book, leaving behind a bloody scene.
The humiliating defeat, the overwhelming resentment, and the terror from the knife wounds activated the self-destruct mechanism within Hegemon's soul. Without using a knife, the reality around him cracked once again. The laws of time forced him to reset.
*Boom!*
Hegemon opened his eyes in the familiar wooden room. But this time, the combined pain from two consecutive deaths, along with the soul-torturing torment of the old timeline, struck like a sledgehammer. He couldn't utter a word to Lily; his vision blurred, and he collapsed to the floor, unconscious from the excruciating pain.