"So the key factor is the observer? But you didn't tell us..."

I concluded with frustration.

"There's no way. It involves too much..."

Twelve-winged Nicola gave me an apologetic smile, then suddenly slapped her forehead.

"I almost forgot! You guys hurry and move thirty meters to the side!"

She then gestured for all of us, including Eleanora and Haiden who had just finished treatment and ran over out of curiosity, to retreat.

"What's going on?"

Eleanora and Haiden had only arrived shortly after the battle ended, so they were confused not only about the earlier conversation regarding time, but also about what had happened during the fight itself.

"You'll see," I said mysteriously, then pulled Eleanora back as far as possible.

When we had retreated to a safe spot and waited about another minute, twelve-winged Nicola took out her portable magic pocket watch, counted down the numbers and shouted:

"3, 2, 1—"

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Next, we saw terrifying arcs of flame sweeping across the spot where we had just stood, lasting about a minute. When it finally stopped, the ground was left with countless wide, long craters and even fissures.

"What...what's this?"

Eleanora and Haiden's faces turned pale. We could vaguely see numerous large holes punched through the cliffs kilometers away on the opposite mountainside, with bright light shining through from behind.

In fact, not just them, the rest of us were also breaking out in cold sweat. If hit by that...

"That was the attack Michelle unleashed on us just now!"

Twelve-winged Nicola explained lightly, then walked over to where Michelle had been and waved at us.

"I can't quite remember what happens next... Who wants to complete this last step?"

"Of course it's me! I said I would personally fix her!"

Six-winged Nicola eagerly strode forward with her Condensation Sword raised. Following the other Nicola's guidance, she stabbed her sword towards another Condensation Sword erected before her. Strangely, her blade seemed to penetrate into thin air, as if blocked by something invisible, before suddenly disappearing from view. When it reappeared, it was already bloody and the entire blade had turned crimson, even giving off flames continuously.

"Done! My rescue mission is now complete!"

After nodding at her past self, twelve-winged Nicola tilted her head and asked:

"Satisfied?"

"Five stars! As expected of me!"

Six-winged Nicola gave her a big thumbs up unreservedly.

"But with what you said earlier, we probably won't see each other again after this."

"Not necessarily. Don't you remember who blasted Michelle away just now?"

Twelve-winged Nicola winked at her and reminded.

"Ah...that me watching the show?"

Six-winged Nicola immediately recalled the farcical scene that had occurred.

"You're leaving?"

Seeing twelve-winged Nicola seeming to settle her affairs, I suddenly felt anxious.

I still had so many questions for her, especially regarding my and Nicola's transmigration, as well as that Liana and the blue-winged me.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

Although I didn't expect her to be able to answer me, I still wanted to try asking personally before I could feel at ease.

"No, there's still one last important thing..."

She shook her head, then after answering, immediately flew up and went straight to the unconscious Adrian behind me. Kneeling down, she put a necklace around his neck.

"This is a very important item. Tell him to always keep wearing it. It's crucial for both you and him."

Twelve-winged Nicola gazed at Adrian lying before her, gently tidying his hair, then stood up and said to her past self.

"What necklace is it?"

It looked like a miniaturized Condensation Sword strung on a chain.

But this wasn't what I cared most about. I felt something was off about the way future Nicola had looked at Adrian just now, as if it contained many unclear implications.

She seemed to have changed a lot. Was I overthinking it?

"It's just a small Condensation Sword I made that can play a protective role at critical moments."

Twelve-winged Nicola had just finished explaining when she was dragged to the side by her past self to whisper:

"What are you doing! You should know, this Adrian..."

Six-winged Nicola looked unhappy as she questioned her future self, then suddenly noticing me paying attention to them, immediately lowered her volume a lot more.

"In the future...Feliciana..."

The following sounds were too soft. I could only vaguely make out little fragments, and it seemed to mention what I looked like too.

What dissatisfaction does Nicola have towards Adrian? This left me a little confused. Weren't the two on quite good terms before? Could she have something she can't tell me?

We're basically like brothers who share the same pants, so why the reservations!

Just as I was feeling unhappy, I suddenly heard twelve-winged Nicola's face flush red as she shouted at the other:

"Who said I only gave one to Adrian? I prepared one for Alfreed too!"

Then she immediately took out another identical necklace and dangled it before six-winged Nicola's eyes, before turning around and putting it on the similarly unconscious Alfreed's neck.

"What do you say now?"

"Are they really the same? Not something she just made on the spot?"

I quietly asked six-winged Nicola out of concern. I felt this future version of her was acting somewhat inexplicable. But since I wasn't proficient at sensing wind elements, I could only consult the expert.

"They should indeed have been prepared beforehand, taken out from the storage ring."

Unable to find any flaws, six-winged Nicola could only nod at me. Then her eyes lit up as she whispered:

"My future self actually has a storage ring already, must be very wealthy! We can't miss this chance and must make her bleed resources for the revolution!"

"Damn, you're ruthless even against yourself!"

I was a little awed that she had come up with this idea.

"But your opponent is your future self. She must be well aware of your current petty thoughts already..."

"Who cares! Today she must bleed heavily! No doubt she understands my determination very well."

After saying that, six-winged Nicola walked right up to twelve-winged Nicola and extended her hand without hiding anything, bluntly saying:

"Hand it over! No need to waste words right?"

"Now I finally understand what a bandit my past self was."

Seeing this, twelve-winged Nicola was stunned for a moment, then laughed bitterly. Just as she wanted to take off her storage ring from her ring finger, she suddenly halted as if recalling something. Then she directly took out another ring and said:

"Take this one then. The space is the same size, very useful!"

"You're so rich to afford two!"

Six-winged Nicola took the ring and examined it lovingly, looking like she couldn't bear to part with it.

"Um...I actually didn't buy either, they were gifts from others..."

Twelve-winged Nicola smiled awkwardly, then quickly waved at everyone.

"Alright, everything's settled. Bye!"

"Oh wait! What's the relationship between Liana and Nicola? And me..."

I was just recalling what happened when she took off her ring earlier, feeling something had been missed. But I didn't expect her to want to flee so quickly. There were still many important questions I hadn't gotten around to asking!

But twelve-winged Nicola only placed a finger over her lips and smiled meaningfully at me, before turning around to flee into the sky.

"Huh, shouldn't she just disappear?"

We watched as she gained altitude until merging with another figure high overhead, only then vanishing completely from our sight.

"It's your fault for scaring her away. I didn't even get to ask how to become so powerful soon."

I complained to six-winged Nicola beside me, who was still happily examining her new ring.

"What does it matter, that'll come eventually. At least I got a free ring that I'll have to return in the future."

She replied nonchalantly while stuffing the ring into my hand.

"How do you open the space inside? I can't get it to work."

"I don't know either..."

I looked at the coveted luxury good I had finally obtained after much anticipation, only to find I didn't know how to use it. I was dumbfounded.

"You rub it like this three times, or directly channel magic power into it..."

Seeing this, Selene quickly took the ring from me and demonstrated. Indeed, after doing as she instructed, I saw a spatial area of several cubic meters appear before me.

"Fascinating!"

I watched the entrance to the spatial area excitedly as it floated over the ring, not only automatically resizing based on objects placed inside, but also allowing the exit on the other end to open at any desired spot within the space.

Since it was future Nicola's storage ring, perhaps I could find some nice stuff inside?

Full of anticipation, I did a quick scan of the items within. There wasn't much, mostly books - could they be about magic?

I quickly took one out to take a look.

Parenting Encyclopedia...what the heck?

I hurriedly grabbed another one at random...

Complete Guide to Infant and Childcare

I'll be damned! Only now did I notice this ring was filled with items related to babies and young children. Aside from these books, the rest were some children's toys.

Why was future Nicola collecting these things? I suddenly recalled when she took off the ring just now - it was on her ring finger!

Could she be married? This guess delivered a shock to my psyche on par with a bolt from the blue.

Didn't Nicola dislike her female identity? Why would she get married?