"You've kept plenty from me." Eli took it in, then winked at Edlyn, the tease light as wind over grass.

"A link that’s stayed unbroken for years… even I couldn’t pull that off as the Demonic Lord. Mind telling me what it is?" Eli smiled, voice easy, eyes searching.

Edlyn looked away, gaze skimming the far horizon like a bird refusing a storm. She thought a moment, then chose silence about their future. She barely knew anything and the unknown chilled her bones.

Eli rubbed her small head, fingers gentle as rain. The ache hit first; he couldn't force her.

"Can you lock onto her location?" Eli asked, voice low.

"Uh… you mean?" Edlyn watched him, brows knit.

Eli nodded with a laugh. "Yeah. Seize the initiative. Why not go find him first?"

"Huh? But I don’t think we can beat him." Edlyn hesitated, a ripple of worry crossing her face.

"It’s fine. My true body won’t go. We’ll use avatars. I’m not dumb enough to walk into the trap. We couldn’t beat him together before. At least I need to know what Birand really wants." Eli’s tone turned sober, like dusk folding over a field.

"And… I’m too weak now. I have to find the World Tree. That’s the key." Eli sighed, the weight heavy as a mountain shadow.

"Eh?" Edlyn blinked, then stood abruptly. Her eyes fluttered, then dropped, restless as leaves.

"Oh… you’re leaving again?"

Eli heard it and his heart pinched. He let out a soft sigh.

"Ed-chan, I have to prepare for our future. Trust me. I’ll keep us safe, okay?"

"…Mm." Edlyn still looked a little lost, the feeling hanging like mist.

Eli sighed again and gently rubbed her hair. "…I’m sorry."

"I know. It’s fine." Edlyn squeezed out a smile. "Don’t worry. I’ve got it. I’ll wait for you."

Eli drew a breath, moved by the warmth, then scooped Edlyn into his arms, her head tucked against his chest like a small bird hiding from thunder. He breathed in her faint scent and swallowed hard.

Slowly, he said, "Ed-chan. When all this ends, and I have the strength to guard us… you…"

Edlyn lifted her head. Light sparked in her eyes, bright as stars. She watched him, waiting for the word.

"If by then… I can truly protect us… will you marry me?" Eli clenched his teeth, eyes steady on her face, solemn as a vow under moonlight.

Edlyn watched him with a smile that bloomed like dawn. They held each other’s gaze a long while. Then she turned aside, cheeks tinted pink. "Why are you like this? Don’t tempt fate. That’s just ‘when the war ends, we go home and get married.’ Shut up—sounds like you’re about to die."

"Uh. Right, right. So… is it a deal?" Eli’s eyes lit up, a grin slipping free.

"We’ll see how you do." Edlyn raked her fingers through white hair, eyes drifting like clouds.

"All right. You can make avatars too. Don’t split off ones with too much power. This time we probe Birand. If we can pull intel from him, that’s enough. In the end, save what we can." Eli drew a deep breath, words steady.

"Mm." Edlyn nodded, her small face set with quiet resolve.

"Then… Ed-chan, I’m off." Eli smiled at her. "Take care of our daughters. Whether I can reverse this… depends on them… maybe." He shook his head and didn’t finish.

It was time to leave.

He was too weak. Against those beings—those who held the strings and saw all—he barely had the strength to resist.

Ugillian had paved a path for him. Sadly, it was too slow.

By the time he grew, things might already be decided. Maybe there’d be no Demon Race… and no Edlyn…

If the Netherworld aimed to reclaim authority from the Abyss and the Celestial God, to reach the level the One once held, then blood would flow.

After all, they all sprang from that primordial thing. Without the Celestial God and the Abyss, who knew what would happen next…

To stop the worst, he had to move. That had always been the road.

Eli walked the grassland, thoughts flashing like lightning behind his eyes. After the One’s indoctrination, the old him would have stayed on that track, step by step.

Defeat the Netherworld, become the new Netherworld, reclaim the powers of the Celestial God and the Abyss with the One’s help. Then hand them all back to the One.

The world would rest for a while.

Then, when the One recovered, Eli’s vision of the world went dark. The chill hit first; the image kept intruding—him fleeing with his family when the One returned. It couldn’t be the One’s mistake; it wasn’t stupid enough to let its enforcer glimpse that ending.

So the future him hadn’t found the answer—or the outcome—he wanted. That’s why he sent both daughters back under some excuse.

Break the past to change that future.

Trust the One, or trust the future self?

It wasn’t even a question.

Standing in the wind on the grassland, Eli drew a long breath and fixed his resolve like a blade.

Back to the earlier chapter—when Birand prepared the blood sacrifice of the Fallen Angels.

"Heh. Offerings, return." The man spread his hands.

Deep-blue power whooshed out, a vast net flung over the crowd.

Reni grit her teeth against the swelling pressure in her bloodline. She swallowed hard. "Just… a little more!"

Edlyn’s and Eli’s avatars stood with a host of fiend avatars beyond Birand’s barrier, staring into the scene.

It was Birand, no mistake. Yet something felt off.

Eli’s avatar frowned. Birand had never dressed this gaudy. And that cold aura around him—wrong in all the ways that matter.

Should they retreat now? The thought flickered.

But this place was too close to the Abyss—close enough to reach in half a day without a teleport.

Eli sighed. Birand knew they would come.

Retreat wouldn’t end well.

Reni reached out, fingers trembling toward the blurred figure.

The huge net wrapped her and Era, binding tight, then drew them toward the center like fish to a hook.

Despair hit first. Her power was gone again, hollow as an empty well.

She turned toward the man at the net’s heart. Terror crept through her like frost. He stood there like the world’s center, the end point of all roads.

Eli’s avatar smiled. "Fine. You wait for me to bite… but if you’re letting me swing, how would I waste the chance?"

As her fear peaked, a figure dropped from the sky, wrapped in pale-blue energy. He carved a blue arc through the air, then drove a fist into the man’s face.

Boom!

The impact slammed forward like a comet. Strangely, no shockwave spilled out; every ounce of force sank into the man’s face.

He still stood.

But—

Crack.

The mask split. In the hush, the sound was loud as ice breaking on a lake.

"…Not bad. You’re strong." The man glanced at his attacker and smiled.

"Hey." Eli smiled back, then shouted, voice sharp as a bell, "Edlyn! Get the Fallen Angels out! This guy’s wicked!"

Boom!

A savage explosion ripped through the space around Eli and Birand.

Smoke rolled thick, a curtain over the arena.

Edlyn clamped a hand over her nose, shouting, "You okay?"

Thud!

A pale-blue energy rod whipped toward her head, then was caught by a hand.

It hammered Eli’s palm with a dull thud.

Eli grunted and dragged Edlyn back, both skidding like stones across water.

"Fiends! Form up!" Edlyn barked, anger hot as flame.

Birand stood in place, wearing a faint smile. He extended his right hand toward the gathered fiends, power surging like a tide between his fingers.

Eli felt it. He shot up, Stellar Power blazing bright, and met Birand’s fist in midair.

"Get them out!" he urged.

Another blast tore the air.

When the smoke thinned, neither Birand nor Eli remained.

Edlyn froze, then bit down hard. Damn it—what was that?

It all happened too fast. No more than ten seconds, start to finish.

Elsewhere, in another slice of time, Birand stood with hands clasped behind his back, smiling at the wary Eli.

"Man of the later age. I have words for you."