Chapter 198 Fate is a Wonderful Thing

"Forbidden Nun" Qiao Nabei probably hadn't expected that, due to the existence of the third-party observer, Number Nineteen, Soren would see through the imperceptible flaw in her time secret technique so quickly.

Since he hadn't died, Soren also had some guesses about the enemy's bizarre time ability.

For example, the time point of the later time reversal probably couldn't cover the previous one.

Just now, Soren had used his super-strong nerve response to pull himself away with a silk thread at the instant his heart was pierced, saving his life.

If the opponent could cast spells without restriction, no matter what Soren did, the enemy only needed to revert to the moment his heart was pierced. Then the opponent could completely "predict in advance" that he would use silk threads to escape, directly anticipating this result and cutting off this escape route as well.

Soren's ending would inevitably be death.

Even if he could hear Number Nineteen's dialogue, he couldn't escape the second reversal.

But that hadn't happened.

So, this guess was temporarily valid.

...

Soren quickly withdrew and fled because he instantly thought of a countermeasure.

In the eyes of that cold-faced nun, his decision to "escape" was also reasonable.

Since he couldn't win, he could only flee.

So, as Soren ran, Qiao Nabei pursued relentlessly.

Soren was originally worried that the opponent couldn't keep up and even wanted to slow down a bit. He hadn't expected that despite his various instant movements, the figure of that cold-faced nun in his rear view was like a ghost, flashing and chasing relentlessly.

Watching both of them using spatial displacement, Soren was surprised that he didn't sense any spatial law fluctuations from the opponent!

After a moment's thought, he understood the essence of the teleportation.

The nun was using time magic, distorting local time and creating the illusion of relative spatial displacement.

This wasn't difficult to understand.

Because Soren had a cursed item with a similar function.

But his left eye shone brightly as he looked at the nun's staff, and he was also puzzled: "Strange, local time acceleration consumes only 1 or 2 points of energy. Why did she consume 500 points in that last reversal?"

This wasn't just something Soren couldn't figure out; even the caster, Qiao Nabei, had her own difficulties.

The consumption of the "Time Reversal" spell wasn't fixed but was affected by the target's rank, fate, karma... and a series of other factors, so the consumption varied.

But since she used this spell, the opponent would undoubtedly die. Fate and karma didn't matter.

She had never failed before.

So, this was the point that made Qiao Nabei unable to understand.

She didn't know why reversing time on a Rank 6 professional would consume so much of the staff's time power.

This was the energy she had painstakingly extracted from adventurers and mountain dwarves using the [Forbidden Spell: Life Forbidden Zone].

Theoretically, that exaggerated energy consumption was enough to reverse several Rank 8 enemies.

Yet it was only a Rank 6?

But now that she had already acted, she was in a difficult position.

Qiao Nabei had to kill this guy who had repeatedly hindered their plans.

Only by killing him could she know why.

The enemy didn't understand, but a flash of inspiration struck Soren's mind: "Could it be... the Small Void Realm?"

The Small Void Realm was his Mechanical Alchemist's armament!

Soren realized that if the opponent wanted to reverse him alone, they actually had to reverse the thousands of people in the Small Void Realm together.

It was no wonder the energy consumption was so exaggerated.

Before encountering this kind of evil technique, Soren had never thought that his Small Void Realm had such wonderful uses.

It seemed to have directly increased his chances of survival?

Otherwise, if the enemy's time reversal consumption wasn't 500 points but 50 points...

Then Soren felt that no matter how clever his plans were, he would have to kneel here today.

...

Thoughts flashed through his mind, and Soren was secretly glad that he seemed to have good luck.

He teleported while reporting his findings to Number Nineteen.

Besides laying out a plan, it was also to prevent himself from being reversed without realizing it.

The cold-faced nun was chasing relentlessly behind him, various magic spells exploding wildly.

Because of the "time acceleration" and "time deceleration" abilities, the various spells were almost guaranteed to hit.

Fortunately, Soren's life-saving methods weren't weak either.

He not only had various life-saving cursed items, but his physical body was also very strong.

No matter how bizarre the time laws were, the law level of the attack magic released by "Forbidden Nun" Qiao Nabei was still Rank 7.

Although it was enhanced by various magic items, its power was the strongest Rank 7 he had ever seen.

However, it couldn't kill him instantly.

The [Rune Golden Body] and [Blood Devour] abilities allowed him to withstand it.

Moreover, he had the [Isaac Alchemic Heart], and his psionic power was endless.

Not dying instantly and entering a war of attrition was advantageous to him.

The situation seemed to have reached a stalemate.

...

Before long, the two had exchanged more than a dozen blows.

Soren wasn't incapable of escaping after delaying for so long. It was to preserve his memory of "being stabbed in the heart" to the point where he had discovered the clues.

He could also see that the enemy wasn't willing to easily waste the last chance to use time reversal.

Next time, the nun would definitely have full confidence, or a desperate situation, before making a move.

Moreover, after enduring several magic bombardments, Soren had also found a way to break the situation, which was to predict the opponent's prediction.

Soren didn't know when the opponent would choose to attack, but he could create an opportunity for the opponent and lure her into attacking!

The initiative was also in his own hands, so the enemy's actions could be predicted.

Soren's own teleportation ability was such that even Rank 8 professionals couldn't keep him if they didn't have restraining methods. Moreover, he had spatial treasures like the [Shattered Plane Crystal Core].

Just then, Soren saw that the time was ripe and crushed a piece of plane crystal.

A spatial fluctuation flashed, and he had already appeared in a dark forest more than ten kilometers away.

With such long-distance plane displacement, even if the cold-faced nun could control time, she couldn't catch up.

...

As expected, he had escaped.

Qiao Nabei looked at Soren, who had disappeared before her eyes, and a gloomy look flashed in her eyes.

She couldn't help but see that the spatial fluctuation just now was the use of a spatial treasure. She murmured in her heart: "The alchemic plane really is full of opportunities. A small Rank 6 warlock actually possesses so many treasures..."

Now she had only two choices: either let the opponent escape or use [Time Reversal] again.

Obviously, she chose the latter.

Although the time power of the staff was precious, the entire alchemic plane was a hunting ground, and she could completely extract the lifespans of living beings to accumulate it again. But if the person ran away, she might not be able to meet him again next time.

Qiao Nabei didn't hesitate at all, raising her staff and chanting mysterious magic incantations: "I use the power of God to see the appearance of truth... Time Reversal!"

At the instant the magic incantation fell, the surrounding light and shadow flashed, and a person moved backward.

...

Scene Reversal.

Soren held a piece of plane crystal in his hand, his mind already deducing various responses.

"As long as I teleport away, that guy doesn't want to watch me escape and will definitely reverse time..."

A thought flashed, and Soren was about to crush the crystal and teleport away.

But at this moment, Old Crow above his head "cawed" and issued a fatal danger warning.

At the same time, the familiar feeling of that scene immediately appeared in his mind.

If it had been before, Soren wouldn't have known what was happening, but now he instantly understood: "Time has been reversed?"

The Harbinger Bird could predict killing intent in advance. This "prophecy" ability was, in some respects, prioritized over time reversal.

Time reversal reversed the already happened fact, while prophecy sensed the future that hadn't happened yet!

Although that segment of memory was missing, Soren had been mentally prepared, and his reaction was extremely fast.

Without even judging the situation, he instantly pressed a pocket watch that had been hidden in his other hand.

After pressing it, the nerve reaction transmitted the signal to the brain, and Soren then sensed a soul fluctuation and killing intent coming from behind him.

The enemy had pierced his heart last time but failed to kill him. This time, even if it took more effort, the fatal magic fluctuation was aimed at Soren's head, which he was trying his best to protect.

This wave of death crisis made his scalp tingle.

But because he had predicted it in advance and pressed the pocket watch, his speed instantly increased more than fourfold!

Coupled with his powerful muscles and nerve reflexes, Soren's reaction was even faster than the accelerated movements of the "Forbidden Nun" Qiao Nabei, who had locally accelerated time.

This was purely because he had pressed the pocket watch in anticipation, so there was no "interval" of reacting after discovering hostility.

In a duel between experts, this detail determined victory or defeat.

"What!"

The enemy was obviously caught off guard. She never expected to see the familiar fluctuations of time laws!

...

This was a special cursed item Soren had once acquired.

[Watkin's Pocket Watch]

Description: Disturbing the order of time has serious consequences. Do you want to try it?

Cursed Characteristic: Pressing the pocket watch allows the user to gain a 2-5x acceleration of their own time; but if you haven't mastered the laws of time, then using it will randomly shorten your life, perhaps by a second, perhaps by a hundred years.

Detailed Explanation: The masterpiece of an ancient alchemist named 'White Watkins,' it was originally a family heirloom for his descendants.

Even though Soren had reached the threshold of a top-tier professional, he could only tinker with small items containing the laws of death.

Being able to create a law-based cursed item like the Time Pocket Watch must be the work of a true Great Alchemist.

The time laws on this pocket watch were definitely not inferior to Qiao Nabei's level of understanding.

Moreover, even if she saw through it, it was too late.

You can reverse a "Plan A" that has already happened, but you can't continuously reverse my immediately following "Plan B"!

I predicted your prediction!

Soren glanced at the energy display on the Time Staff, which had decreased by five hundred again.

He had predicted that the opponent would reverse time when he escaped, so he had a Plan B to reverse-kill in an instant.

Accelerated by the pocket watch, the scarlet, blood-like Dragon Slayer Dagger in Soren's hand had already become a stream of light.

Victory or defeat between top experts was often determined in just an instant.

He watched as shock appeared on the cold-faced nun's face for the first time, and his dagger ruthlessly struck with a backhand.

To prevent this woman from having any special abilities to restore her body, this strike directly slashed at her head.

"Swish!"

A bloody light flashed on the cold-faced nun's face, and the red and white matter in her skull appeared in his vision.

This fatal blow didn't give the enemy any chance to survive!

Soren was certain that no matter if there was a magic cooldown or the remaining time power on the staff, it wouldn't be enough to support her to reverse again!

This person would undoubtedly die!

...

However, just as this thought flashed through his mind, before Soren could feel any joy, a bizarre scene unfolded again.

Suddenly, the light and shadow in front of him reversed rapidly again.

This time, it wasn't Soren himself who was reversed, but the cold-faced nun whose head had been split in half.

He watched in disbelief as time reversed, the blood spurting wildly flowed backward from the air into the severed blood vessels. The head that had been cut in half instantly recovered, and the wound instantly healed.

However, the recovery wasn't without a cost.

The "Forbidden Nun" Qiao Nabei transformed from a middle-aged woman in her thirties into a seven- or eight-year-old child!

Seeing this, Soren finally understood this woman's talent.

This was a rare talent that even a knowledgeable person like Mr. Black had only heard the name of—[A-049-Time Trickery].

This talent belonged to those cursed by time. Although they possessed extremely high affinity with the laws of time, they were born with an aged appearance and would grow younger as their lifespan passed.

The life-saving reversal ability just now had directly consumed most of her lifespan, turning her into a child.

At the same time as she was resurrected, an indescribable will quietly descended.

Clearly, killing the opponent had triggered some chain reaction.

Looking at the increasingly dense, indescribable light on this woman's body, Soren's left eye flashed, and he coldly shouted in his heart: "Hmph, you still want to use 'Divine Protection Power' to save your life? How could I let you succeed!"

His gaze turned fierce, and he didn't give the enemy any chance, directly crushing the [God-Banishing Scroll] made by Mr. Mirror, severing the connection to the descending divine will.

At the same time, he rushed up and struck again with his knife. With a "swish," he cut off the enemy's head again!

This time, she couldn't be more dead!

Qiao Nabei herself, as a servant of God in the Holy Church, had been bestowed with the "Divine Descent Secret Technique" by divine protection.

This would save her life at a critical moment.

But she never expected that this guy in front of her actually had the means to block the descent of divine will?

Death came so suddenly.

The opponent wouldn't give you any explanations.

While cutting the enemy's head in half for the second time, Soren had already seen "gray mist" emerging from the corpse.

He teleported over like lightning, not giving this guy any chance to revive, and devoured the gray mist.

[You have stripped 'Qiao Nabei Martha' of her soul.]

[You have gained a large amount of 'insights into the laws of time,' glimpsing a trace of the mysteries of time trickery.]

[You have glimpsed a little knowledge related to 'divine arts.']

[You have stripped away a large amount of magical knowledge and elemental insights.]

[You have stripped away intelligence: the Holy Church are servants of the gods, possessing extraordinary talent, combat power, and training systems, church structure...]

[...]

Soren had stripped out everything he wanted.

At the moment he digested the "laws of time," the black light crown above his head suddenly shone brightly.

Soren felt as if he had fallen into some kind of great enlightenment, parting the clouds and seeing the sun, his vision suddenly becoming clear.

"I finally know what my domain is lacking!"

He was overjoyed, his eyes shining brightly.

In fact, Soren's previous "Death Domain" was already very good, and he could completely rely on this domain to advance to Rank 7.

But he wasn't satisfied.

Just like Ekaterina's Starry Sky Domain, others might not see any problems, and it was already a top-tier mysterious domain among its peers.

But they themselves knew that this domain didn't have a complete logical closed loop.

And now, the last piece of the logical closed loop had been filled.

It was like an ouroboros biting its own tail.

Time was like a line, stringing beads into a curtain, connecting wisdom, poetry, war, death, healing, divine power, elements... one by one.

Did time come to an end, which was death?

Although Soren's current understanding of [Death] might not be the ultimate truth of death in the laws of the universe.

But from a certain perspective, this was a complete logical closed loop.

Within this logical closed loop, it was flawless.

Within the same rank, a logical closed loop that no one could break!

What he had to do now was to find more "beads" to make this logical closed loop bigger and more complete.

Soren had a premonition that his completed domain would be extraordinary!

...

Soren had killed a powerful enemy and instantly felt as if all his pores were relaxed.

The domain problem that had been bothering him had also suddenly become clear. He murmured, "As expected... battles on the verge of death can bring extraordinary insights."

The greater the crisis, the greater the harvest.

It wasn't just combat insights. The stripped "laws of time" were also extremely valuable experiential law insights.

Being able to glimpse the mysteries of [Time] was one in a billion, and to such a deep extent. This wave of harvest gave Soren a sense of law satisfaction that he hadn't had in a long time.

Moreover, because he had comprehended the power of the laws of time, the curse backlash from using [Watkin's Pocket Watch] hadn't even arrived before it was eliminated.

Good things came one after another.

And although Soren himself didn't have the rare talent of [A-049-Time Trickery], nor was he protected by the time god, he couldn't use many of those god-like time magic spells. But if he encountered similar enemies again in the future, with his current understanding of the laws of time, he would definitely not be in such danger again.

He breathed a sigh of relief.

He collected the corpse, the [Time Staff], and the storage ring on the ground.

Soren wanted to go and rescue Number Nineteen, who was still nailed to the tree.

But at this moment, the stagnant magic circle in the sky suddenly lit up again.

"Huh... divine will has still descended?"

Soren understood something.

An external force had continued the interrupted magic circle.

After all, the "Lord of Time" behind Qiao Nabei was a living, true divine rank. This was completely different from the pseudo-god [Sea Giant] who had wreaked havoc in Lu Ying before.

The level of combat just now had been quite intense for almost any professional.

But for the gods, it was probably like ants fighting.

They saw it, but they weren't necessarily interested in helping.

But the death of a "ant servant" wasn't enough to make them furious, but it was always an offense.

That god had descended a little divine power from afar.

"Heh, forcibly completing the magic circle. Even a god should have paid some price."

Soren was very calm in his heart.

What was coming would always come.

Since the enemy had this ability, you couldn't take a chance and assume they wouldn't use it.

The silver lining was that this was a one-time descent.

Soren also understood that even with the intervention of the gods, the magic circle in the sky collapsed after lighting up for a moment because it didn't have sustained array support.

However, looking at the densely packed, floating "Ten Thousand Mage Corps," Soren also pursed his lips.

He murmured to himself: "A Ten Thousand Mage Corps commanded by an Eighth-Order Archmage. Tsk tsk... even a Ninth-Order would have to avoid their edge. It's a very tricky situation."

Large-scale plane invasions would always come. Now that a Ten Thousand Mage Corps had descended, it could be considered a test run in advance.

It wasn't necessarily all bad.

Moreover, Soren knew that these guys had descended not just because the god wanted to crush him like an ant. It was likely that they had discovered some treasure that even the gods coveted.

He frowned as he looked at the sky, lost in thought.

But he didn't dare to delay and teleported to Number Nineteen in a flash.

Although Number Nineteen's mechanical body was damaged, her consciousness was still very clear.

Looking at the dense figures in the sky, she asked, "What happened?"

Soren shrugged and said, "As you can see, a Ten Thousand Mage Corps has descended from the outer heavens."

Number Nineteen asked again, "Because you killed that nun just now?"

Soren raised an eyebrow, "That can only be considered a trigger. What's coming will eventually come."

Number Nineteen fell into thought: "..."

"Alright, let's avoid the limelight first."

Soren hadn't shown much worry from beginning to end.

After harvesting the laws of time, he had filled a major gap in his combat power. And he also had a more accurate impression of the high-end combat power organization of the "Holy Church" in the Heavenly God plane.

Right now, he felt that this Ten Thousand Mage Corps posed even less of a threat to him than when he first met that nun.

It wasn't to say that the Ten Thousand Mage Corps wasn't strong enough.

But if he wanted to leave, these people couldn't keep him.

Soren didn't think there would be such a coincidence that there would be another mage who knew [Time Reversal] among this group of people.

And even if there was, the threat wouldn't be great.

Now, with Soren's understanding of the laws of time, another "Forbidden Nun" Qiao Nabei couldn't possibly reverse him silently.

...

As Soren had expected, as soon as the Ten Thousand Mage Corps descended, a group of mages chanted together, and violent magical fluctuations surged in the sky.

After a few breaths, overwhelming red fireballs condensed.

The mages raised the staffs in their hands and shouted in unison, "Forbidden Spell: World-Extinguishing Incineration!"

As soon as they appeared, they gave the people of the Alchemic Plane a show of force.

The huge fireballs, comparable to Ninth-Order spells, attacked the forest where Soren was in a devastating, indiscriminate, area-of-effect attack.

"Boom!"

"Boom!"

"Boom!"

"..."

The explosions were deafening, and the ground shook.

This lasted for nearly three minutes.

With just one move, a spell cast simultaneously by ten thousand people, the creatures in the forest within a radius of tens of kilometers were wiped out, and everything turned to ashes.

Looking down from high altitude, it was as if a lush green head of hair on the earth had been shaved bald.

The air was filled with a burnt smell.

At the same time, a few kilometers away, Soren, who had teleported over, squinted at the blackened forest and said, "This is to intimidate the Mountain Dwarf Clan..."

Soren thought, frowning slightly.

Although this matter wasn't caused by him, it was ultimately a little related.

He thought that the Dwarf Clan was in trouble this time.

With the violent temper of those dwarves, they would never submit to these guys from the Heavenly God Plane.

But head-on against this Ten Thousand Mage Corps, the Dwarf Clan would likely be wiped out.

A thought flashed through Soren's mind, but before he could think about it in detail.

Suddenly, a violent spatial fluctuation erupted in the forest.

The fluctuation was like a wave, instantly sweeping across tens of kilometers.

Immediately afterward, a high-pitched dragon roar resounded throughout the entire Giant God Mountain Range.

Soren could have teleported away to avoid it, but he thought of something and stayed where he was.

Number Nineteen also heard the dragon roar, her expression slightly changing, and she had a premonition that something terrible had happened.

She glanced at Soren beside her and asked, "What... what's happening again?"

Soren's expression became a little strange, but his tone was calm as he said, "The Dwarf Clan has unlocked the seal of the Howling Rift, pulling everyone nearby into that 'T-level' cursed space."

Then, he added, "These Mountain Dwarves are really violent enough. They try to perish together at the drop of a hat. Tsk tsk, this is going to be fun."