Chapter 269 [Vol 2 Chronicles 3]: The Moment The World Stood Still
In a dilapidated building, three bodies were sprawled on the floor. One by one they tried to get back up to their feet. The building abandoned due to losing its purpose had no other occupants aside from figures trying to get up.
"Ouch. That hurt, huh? Where am I?"
The figure then noticed its hand and clothing. Two others were in the same situation trying to make sense of their surroundings.
There were blood marks on the ground and the three figures each had injuries on them. All the injuries however slowly healed in real-time.
"Woah! The wounds are disappearing!"
"Lene, Nessa?"
"Jei, is that you?"
Upon hearing familiar names they all finally noticed each other and understood what was going on. The one presumed to be Jei removed the hood covering the figure's face. A face of a Caucasian male with blonde hair appeared.
"Yeah, it's me."
"That is so weird, your voice is of Jei's but that face is not, are you really a man now?"
The two other figures removed the coverings on their faces and showed men of various ethnicities. Raylene had the appearance of a male Asian while Vanessa a male African American.
"Well, I now have a penis if that is what you are asking."
"Hmm. I do too. It is not as big as Hiro-sama's though."
"Nessa, did you honestly compare your dick to your husband's?"
"Oh please Lene, I'm sure you did too."
Jei then clapped to call the attention of the bickering women. The daughter of the Gracyeanor naturally focused more on the bigger picture. Thus she did not want to waste time frivolously.
"Sisters. Focus. Have you girls checked the memories of bodies you inhabit?"
"I did I appear to be a junkie here to buy some weed. What about you guys?" Said Lene.
Nessa answered. "Same. But the last memory I had was trying to steal weed instead of buying it. It seems Jei is the drug dealer."
Nodding Jade then summarized the situation. "It seems my body was the drug dealer and I came here to sell some drugs to Raylene, but Vanessa arrived armed with a baseball bat and I thought you were going to mug me."
"And so Jei shot me Vanessa dead, and I stabbed Jei with a knife. Right?" added Raylene.
"Yes, but not before I shot you in the stomach too. It seems all three died and thus we were sent to their bodies. I looked at this person's memories and they are not pretty." Explained the transmigrated mage.
"Indeed. My person also led a hard life."
"Unlike Hiro-sama they didn't try to rise above poverty."
The three women lamented the pasts of the bodies they inhabited for a short while. They began looking around and picked up the three weapons they originally had.
Raylene then asked. "What are we supposed to do again?"
"We came here to kill Husband, so he does not get summoned by Rhyne to become the Heavenly Sword." Jei elucidated.
"Jei, do you really believe this? Why do we have to kill Hiro-sama? We came here to save him." Her voice was full of sadness Vanessa did not understand why they must go through such an ordeal. Is it because this was their punishment for being greedy?
Yet the daughter of the Gracyeanor shook her head and explained. "One of the skills of my bloodline is parallel vision. Basically, it means I can see what happens in other worlds. Normally people have multiple parallel selves when I see them. Husband no longer has any."
"Jei, maybe you are mistaken and simply didn't see them? What does not seeing any mean anyway?" asked the transmigrated Blacksmith striker.
"No, I am not mistaken, I saw some of them die. Husband's realities are being hunted by Venators. Before husband left I saw he only had one alternate version alive. If our original Hiroyuki is dead, the one in this realm is the last remaining." Explained the mage.
The transmigrated maid tried to argue emotionally "But no one actually knows if the myth of the Kairos' hourglass is real right? I mean do you remember anyone who would remember such a thing?"
Wanting not to believe such a bleak outcome the maid wanted to believe such a fate would not fall on her beloved. But the one to disprove her claims was not Jei but her other system.
"It doesn't work that way, Nessa. When a person vanishes from Kairos' hourglass the reality is rewritten as if that person never existed. The sons they left behind, the people they killed, and the lives they saved such actions will remain. But the role would be gifted to someone else. The Valorious family has a confidential document detailing the process. "
Bewildered by such a dark truth Vanessa couldn't help but argue. "If that is the case then how does that person even remember? How were they able to write it in a book if they were supposed to forget everything?"
Jade then interjected her own hypothesis. "That person probably is a Venator, the regalia no longer has control over such people correct zombie?" Raylene then nodded as she frowned instead of getting angry she looked around and picked up the baseball bat near her.
"Well, we can talk about such things when we get back the main goal is to find darling. If what Jei says is true then leaving him alive is not an option."
Jei then checked the gun and counted the bullets she still had. "Agreed, husband should be close. Let's look around and meet up when we find him. The only places open around this time are convenience stores. This body says there is one near here."
The three then followed the memories of their avatars and heard a familiar voice.
"MAKE ME MORE HANDSOME! OHHHHHH!!!!!! No? then I WANT TO BE SMARTER LETS GOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!! ...Haha, I am cringy as hell HAHAHAHAHAAHAH!"
When the three saw the shouting man on the sidewalk they began to cry. But Raylene pulled her sisters and approached her darling.
Here whispers full of conviction. "Remember why we are here Nessa, Jei. It is to save darling."
"Friends if it's the shouting I did earlier I apolo-" *BANG*
Jei shot her husband wanting to end it quickly but only grazed Hiro on the shoulder. Abruptly the man crouched and ran away at an impressive speed.
Jei shot twice more but due to only not having much experience she missed. Vanessa and Raylene ran after him armed with a bat and knife.
Raylene eventually caught up and aimed to base her darling on the head, as if psychic Hiro turned around and evaded.
Vanessa came near and tried to stab him as tears flowed down her face. Again Hiro jumped out of harm's way on pure luck.
"UWAH!"
Raylene stomped on her man's back as he tried to crawl away. Her face similarly in tears.
"HELP! HELP! HELP ME! SOMEONE! ANYONE!"
Jade approached as she cocked the gun in her hands to end in as painless as possible.
But then a mana circle appeared on the ground Hiro was one. This light forced Raylene away. Vanessa who saw the light cried out in despair.
"NO! NOT LIKE THIS! HIRO!!!!!!"
Failure meant the man they loved would disappear from existence. Jade then pointed her gun and fired.
The bullet entered through her husband's forehead and blew his brains out. Vanessa and Raylene who saw the event cried out in pain.
"NOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!"
Raylene ran towards him and embraced his lifeless body. The blood from his ruptured head painted the pavement crimson.
Time froze and everything around them turned gray. A hooded woman came near and touched the hole in Hiro's head.
"[Rewind]."
Like magic, the blood and flesh flew back to Hiro's skull like a video in reverse. After Hiro's heart again started to beat, the woman drew another symbol on his forehead.
"[Skill Lock]."
She then spoke to three transmigrators from Valorious.
"Now, this Hiro will be able to survive and grow. I apologize for putting you through this, but only those that love him would have found his location.
"With this symbol, no one would know that he is the real heavenly sword. When time returns you three will forget you even came here happened until this Hiro dies."
The figure then bowed to Raylene, Jade, and Vanessa. "I thank you future empresses of Heavenly Sword. This plan could only become possible because of your love. I look forward to our meeting in the future."
Time then started to move again as the world's colors returned. When it did only the three empresses and Hiro existed.
The man suddenly sat up and found himself being wrapped by intense lights. A few seconds later he vanished. His destination: the Valorious continent.
The three women on the other hand. Looked at each other as they forgot what had happened. At that moment the original wounds on their bodies had reappeared taking their lives in a few minutes.
With their deaths, a truth no one would know until much later got concealed. Many would look back on this night as the single moment that changed the outcome of the time for all eternity.