As the group glanced around in Ashikunz's room, each of them was looking at something different.
As Orechin and Catripple looked at the throne, Martheel joined them as he was curious about this place.
"So this is where that fucking emperor used to stay?" asked Martheel with an annoyed tone, as only the thought of the enemy made him angry.
"Yes… he spent most of his days here… why? I never understood it, and Zrelekai never told me either," said Catripple.
"Maybe there's something important around? A button or something like that?" Orechin looked around the throne, trying to search for something, but he found nothing.
"Zrelekai said that he didn't know either… so I believe he simply enjoys it…" answered Catripple, while Martheel next to her spat on the throne.
"Some guards in the prison would give their life for the emperor, like that damn Corvinus and others." In a moment of anger, he kicked the throne.
"But there are countless other guards that would have loved to spit on his throne like I've done now," he said with a serious tone. "If we happen to kill him… I believe that without any problem, us guards would free the city."
With that, the three of them remained in front of the throne while they stayed silent.
"Shit, look around… how many craters are around?" asked Vane as he noticed the multiple places where the wall was ruined.
"It's like someone in anger launched something…" pointed out Liro as he positioned his hand over a small crater; some small rocks fell on the ground as the wall got weaker over time.
"We can easily tell who it was," said Darian as he looked around with the sleeping Snowy in his hands.
"And they haven't been repaired… are Ashikunz or Zrelekai too busy to do it?" asked Lily. Darian shook his head.
"It's definitely Zrelekai who repairs them; with his power, he wouldn't have any problem," he answered.
"Then why weren't these cracks repaired yet?" asked Vane, confused.
"Maybe something happened between the two of them?" proposed Liro. Everyone looked at him, confused, not understanding how he could say something like that.
"No, listen, I'm not crazy… do you remember what Zrelekai told us? How Ashikunz didn't trust him anymore and didn't tell him the plan?" The others, remembering what Zrelekai had told them, nodded their heads.
"Then their bond has started to fracture? It might seem crazy, but if Zrelekai never repaired these cracks…" said Liro.
"Possible… still, if they've known each other for over 300 years, it's hard to tell…" answered Darian, unsure if what Liro had proposed was actually right.
"So? Have you seen this room in one of your futures?" asked Syrmax as he remained next to Tyel; both of them stayed near the entrance.
"Yes… it was…" Tyel took a step forward and his heart began to beat faster. 'Everyone had died here… it was the first time I awakened my power…'
'I couldn't save anyone that day… if only I had known about my power, I could have prevented their deaths and been the only one to suffer…' Tyel's eyes were caught by his knife, and as he grabbed it in his hands, Syrmax walked toward his friend.
"Still, what is the reason you're bringing a kitchen knife?" asked Syrmax as he looked at the small blade in Tyel's hands. "It's not like you can actually kill Ashikunz with that weapon."
"Would you believe me if I said that the reason you haven't died yet is because of this knife?" he asked.
"Well, you're the one who can see into the future, and from all the stories I have read, if the future watcher explains why it helps everyone win, the chance always gets lost…" With that, Syrmax smiled warmly in front of Tyel's face. "So yeah, I'd believe you."
"Syrmax, actually…" Tyel looked for a moment at the floor with his eyes closed. Syrmax returned to his usual expression while looking at Tyel.
'Is it right for me to tell them about this?' he thought as he held the knife tighter. 'I should be the only one to bear this burden… then why—'
"So? Are we ready to go?" The moment Tyel was about to speak, a voice interrupted them. As both men turned toward the sound, they noticed Vane, the one who spoke, followed by everyone else.
"Oh, yes… let's keep going; remaining here won't change anything," said Tyel after hearing Vane's words. With that, the group went out of the room without closing the door and walked forward.
'The same hallway as that time…' thought Tyel as he realized that the time when his power awakened, the group was walking with Liro's illusion through this hall to reach the place to save Catripple.
"Actually, what, Tyel? We got interrupted before…" said Syrmax as he appeared behind Tyel once again. "Is it actually impossible to beat Ashikunz?"
"What if that were true? What would you do?" asked Tyel.
"I would remain underground, waiting for Ashikunz to go away. After all, he has never come to get us… we have remained there for at least two hours since we got away from Zrelekai," pointed out Syrmax. "Then either he went for the other exit and wasn't able to find us… or he's simply waiting at the top."
'Hey, I never thought about it…' thought Tyel as they kept walking. 'I don't know if it's because not enough time has passed, but it's almost like he wants us to come out… not for him to come down to us.'
'I don't know how I'll be able to use it to my advantage… but I'll find a way!' thought Tyel once again. Suddenly, he moved his eyes and looked at Syrmax behind him.
'Having someone to speak to about the plans isn't that bad after all… maybe I should…' Tyel couldn't even finish his thought before the group finally arrived at the exit.
"We're here," said Darian, while in front of him and everyone else were the stairs that would bring the group outside.
"You've said that in all the futures, we always ended badly from the other exit, right?" asked Liro. Tyel, after a small shiver ran down his spine at the thought, nodded his head.
"Let's hope we can go out safely now…" whispered Syrmax as he took a step forward, positioning himself right next to Tyel.
"Who should be the one to go out? As far as we know, Ashikunz is on the mainland… he is definitely checking this exit too," said Lily. The moment the group arrived in front of the stairs, their voices drastically lowered so that they wouldn't be heard by the enemy.
"Tyel… what do you see in your future?" asked Darian. Tyel took a step forward and was the first one to take a step on the stairs.
Tyel suddenly took a deep breath and closed his eyes. 'Ashikunz was watching this exit easily too, right?' thought Tyel. In his mind, the moments when in the other loop he walked right behind him were replayed again.
'He definitely had a perfect view of this exit…' Tyel remembered that while from the exit in the desert it was harder and Ashikunz had to put more effort into spotting people, this other exit was almost in front of him. 'If we're going to walk, we have to be covered…'
"I can go first… but Liro, you have to make me invisible," asked Tyel.
"What do you want to do?" asked Liro.
"Each of us will walk alone and reach the nearest bush, hiding there and waiting for the others to arrive," said Tyel.
"After that? Can't we directly go inside the city through the hole that was created nearby by our enemies?" proposed Lily, but Martheel shook his head.
"It's impossible… I've heard that it was closed recently, we won't find anything," said Martheel. Lily clicked her tongue, annoyed.
"Don't worry, I'm sure this is the right way; trust my future," said Tyel with a serious look. At the sight of the one who could look into the future, everyone else agreed with his plan.
"Okay, Tyel… don't do anything too reckless," said Liro. After he finished his sentence, Tyel became invisible.
"Don't worry, I'll be alright." With that, Tyel, while walking extremely slowly, went up the stairs.
The moment he got outside, he felt a sense of deja vu. 'Exactly like that time…' he thought as he remembered when the group arrived here for the first time. As he glanced around, that was when he saw it.
Hiding in a bush, there was Ashikunz. Tyel could only see his head, but that was enough to make him gulp in fear.
Suddenly, Ashikunz tilted his head and looked at the exit. 'I can't make any sound; I have to go silently and slowly.' With that, Tyel waited for Ashikunz to turn his head and resumed walking.
"Strange… I was sure I heard a sound," whispered Ashikunz as he turned his head again. "I'll check later… this is their only hole to enter; it's not like they have any other entrance."
'Let's see…' Tyel, after passing through a bush, searched for something until he saw it. 'Lily's roots!' Tyel almost wanted to snap his fingers, but he stopped right in time.
Tyel touched the root slowly, and his illusion disappeared. 'We decided that we'd look for Lily's roots, and after touching them, Lily would say to the others that the person had arrived safely at the destination.'
'Let's see who is next…' The next one who arrived was Syrmax, and he remained next to Tyel without any problem.
Without making any sound, Syrmax simply raised his thumb, and Tyel did the same.
The others were followed by Catripple and Darian, but the moment the biologist passed, Ashikunz tilted his head.
"It can't be the wind… I've seen too many movements in that bush." As the humans passed through the leaves, they would slightly move them, and Ashikunz's attention was caught by that.
"How many times has it been? At least four?" Ashikunz looked carefully at the entrance until he noticed the grass being trampled.
"There's someone!" yelled Ashikunz. Without hesitation, he grabbed his spear and rushed toward the entrance of the secret laboratories while slashing his weapon.
"You'll not escape me!" he shouted. The moment he slashed the spear, both of Martheel's legs flew off, and the illusion vanished.
"AHHH, IT HURTS SO MUCHHH!!!" shouted Martheel as he placed his hands right where his legs had been cut off.
"Oh, look who we have here." Ashikunz moved his spear into a better position to cut off Martheel's head, and with that, blood flew everywhere.
"You'll be the first one… you'll follow." Ashikunz looked at the bush where the others had entered, knowing that it was where the movements had happened; he was sure it was the right place.
"And you others will follow." With that, Ashikunz tilted his head to the other side and looked at Liro and the others, who were shaking in fear.
"What a nice plan… but in the end, nothing escapes my eyes," said Ashikunz, almost amused.
'He's right… this exit is off-limits,' said Tyel as he grabbed the knife from his pocket. Syrmax looked at him carefully, wondering how that object would save them.
'Martheel is about to die… I can't lose any time.' Tyel looked at Ashikunz, who had stepped on top of Martheel's chest; with that impact, the man spat up some blood while it kept flowing on the ground where his legs had been removed.
"Hey, what the hell are you even doing?" shouted Syrmax as he noticed the knife that was slowly piercing Tyel's neck. With his hands, he tried to block Tyel, who was caught by surprise.
"Stop… it will be ruined!!!" shouted Tyel.
"What will even be ruined? You're literally trying to kill yourself!!" shouted Syrmax.
"Please calm down… he'll discover…" Suddenly, Ashikunz, who had just stepped away from Martheel without piercing his body, simply destroyed all the leaves covering the humans. "…us…" said Catripple as she tried to calm the others down.
Ashikunz looked at the knife, confused. "Killing yourself?" he asked as he looked over at Tyel. "Hey, you're the powerless one… why didn't you escape?"
'No, wait… as far as we know, he is the powerless one… but why would you even try to kill yourself? Is he escaping death?' thought Ashikunz, confused.
"Answer carefully: were you escaping from death?" asked Ashikunz with a threatening tone.
'What if he…' Ashikunz, noticing that the human hadn't answered yet, slashed his spear forward, cutting off both of Syrmax's hands.
"Arghhh, my hands!!!!" he shouted as he fell to the ground in pain. Darian and Catripple looked at the scene with horrified expressions.
"You could have escaped or attacked me from behind… but you decided to… kill yourself?" Ashikunz spoke with a confused tone, unable to find any answer. "You're the one who doesn't have any power… or that's at least what you make everyone believe."
Tyel gulped in fear, scared that Ashikunz might discover something. "And what if you were trying to kill yourself to activate your power?" he asked.
"That isn't possible… Tyel has got another power…" whispered Martheel as he tried to crawl toward his friend, while his eyes were slowly closing and his movements were becoming slower.
"Another? So he has one? What is it?" asked Ashikunz as he turned his head toward Martheel.
'I can't lose another moment!' thought Tyel as he rushed to grab the knife that had fallen to the ground.
"You're not taking it…" Ashikunz, with a rapid move, cut off all of Tyel's fingers.
"Arghh!!!" he shouted in pain.
"I don't know why you need that knife so much… but I'll not let you die." With that, Ashikunz turned toward Darian and Catripple, who looked at the scene with their usual horrified expressions.
"I'll think about you now… but still, you biologist, I have to save you…" With that, he rushed toward Catripple and Darian, and while passing between them, he cut off Catripple's head and severed Darian's right arm.
'No, no… they're dying again… and it's because of me, who couldn't save them…' thought Tyel in fear. In front of him, Martheel had ceased breathing.
"Liro, help them!" shouted Vane as he turned into a buffalo and rushed toward Ashikunz, followed by Orechin and Lily.
"Tyel… was Ashikunz's hypothesis true? Were you only killing yourself because you were escaping from death? You haven't hidden anything from us, right?" asked Syrmax as he remained lying on the ground.
"Tyel, what happened?" shouted Liro as he kneeled in front of him. The sight of Syrmax's missing arms and Tyel's fingers on the ground made his expression change in fear.
"Take that knife and kill me! There is no time!" shouted Tyel. Liro looked at him, confused.
"Kill you? What are you talking about?" asked Liro, confused. "Still, why were you even trying to kill yourself? We heard Syrmax shouting."
Tyel glanced around. 'There has to be a way…' Tyel's eyes were suddenly caught by all the trees around him.
'Oh, it will hurt… but it's the only way to prevent others from dying.' Tyel, while blood dripped from his hands, rushed toward a tree.
"Tyel!" shouted Liro, caught by surprise that his friend was rushing away.
'He's distracted… he has discovered my power… I have to repeat this day fast,' thought Tyel as he began to smash his head against the tree trunk in fear.
"I won't let you do it!" shouted Ashikunz as he rushed toward Tyel. Orechin, with half of his side missing, raised his hand.
"I won't let you do it… I'm sure he has a plan…" whispered Orechin. With his remaining strength, he created a huge blue crystal that could have been seen from the prison inside the city.
Ashikunz became really slow and would have never been able to reach Tyel. "Arghh!!" he shouted as he launched his spear. Tyel on the other side smashed his head against the tree trunk non-stop until everything became blurry.
"I… I can't fucking stop now… ARGHHH!!!" In anger, he kept hitting the tree, and with blood dripping from his forehead, everything soon turned black; some of his teeth fell to the ground, and more blood dripped from his mouth.
'I saved… some of you…' thought Tyel as he looked back and noticed that some of his friends were still breathing. The moment everything became black, Tyel lost consciousness and died.
"Déjà Veil."