Not now, I groaned internally, the lightning from my spear repeating without pause as it shot into the Romans. This was such an inconvenient time. Then again, there would be very few times that a Chrono Loop wouldn’t be.

For what felt like an eternity, I experimented with various, random attacks while shouting at the top of my lungs and acting like I was crazy. None of it broke the loop. I was acting too much within reason.

What could I do that was unreasonable, unpredictable, to break the loop?

After the millionth reset, mentally exhausted, I looked down at my spectral underwear. It flickered like a ghost for a fraction of a second. Before my mind could think and reason, I followed through on my wild impulse.

“No more clothes!” I shouted, ripping off my spectral underwear and flinging it into the face of the nearest Mars-blessed. The man stumbled and shouted obscenities as he struggled to remove it from his face, dropping his gladius in the process. I also tossed my spear to the other Mars-blessed who caught it in surprise, fully embracing the madness.

The other three Romans paused for one precious second, totally confused.

Time did not repeat itself.

Fully naked and unarmed, I dashed forward to snatch the gladius of the now underwear-free Mars-blessed, whose face beneath his helmet was purple with rage. His Battle Fury should have worn off by now, making his defenses and abilities less effective by thirty percent. My sudden dash and groin stab with the gladius crippled the Roman, though he did not die. Before I could finish him off, a sharp pain tore into my thigh. The remaining Mars-blessed grunted as he withdrew the Achilles’ Spear from my leg and kicked me away. I fell face first into the golden field, blood oozing from my leg and burning with fire.

Health: 50/130

Oh man, I thought, seeing the low health. That spear really did sting on the receiving end. One more hit and it was back to hell for me.

I turned over and scrambled backward, desperate to crawl away from the approaching three Romans who were moments away from killing me. My mind screamed at me to stand to my feet and run away, but the searing wound prevented me from even standing. I had no blade, no armor, and no divine gift. Half of the futures predicted my death, this must be it. In a panic, my mind continued along Historical Insight, denying this fate. The ground shook beneath me as I searched for anything I could do to live.

Then, I realized I was wrong about which set of futures I stumbled into.

Only a few heartbeats from a spear thrust into my chest, a torrent of fire unleashed onto the remaining Romans from above me. The men instantly incinerated, falling over into a burning heap and remaining still. It was so quick that they didn’t have time to scream. All of their breath and life had been torched.

A red sea dragon shook the fields with his terrible roar, extinguishing the flames from his jaws. Cleopatra rode on top of him as the dragon landed on the burning corpses.

“Move away from the smoke, Umbra!” Cleopatra protested, coughing from the rising smoke.

Apologies, Umbra said, crushing the Romans to crunchy pieces as he crawled to an unscorched section.

I laughed in relief, thankful to be in the successful half of the futures. “You did it!”

Umbra roared triumphantly, stretching two impressive and fully grown wings for us to see. He was fully healed. I will admit, that was the most disgusting thing I have ever digested. I have only thrown up once like that in my two lives, and that was a wild night with some Thessalian mares. Now, I am not only restored in my wings, but I am more powerful than I have ever been. Umbra smiled with his rows of dagger-like teeth, beaming at me. Killing humans has never been so easy.

I crawled back a little. “Umbra…”

The dragon laughed, shaking the earth again. I jest. Just wanted to see you sweat a little.

“You’re injured,” Cleopatra said, sliding carefully down Umbra’s back as I struggled to rise.

“It’ll heal,” I said through my teeth, trying not to cry out in pain. The blood hadn’t stopped yet, dripping my health down slowly. As she retrieved a bandage to stop the bleeding, I blushed briefly in remembering my nudity. I looked at the fire of corpses, realizing my underwear had gone up in flames with them. “You don’t happen to have any extra clothes, do you love?”

She shook her head as she tightened the bandage, though she tried not to smile. “I like the new look, if I’m honest.”

A slight chuckle escaped me. “It’s definitely more freeing.”

Ah, Umbra said, dipping his massive red face into the Roman bonfire. He plucked the amazingly unscathed Achilles’ Spear and dropped it at my feet. Indestructible it seems. And cool to the touch.

I totally forgot about its durability status. I grabbed the black spear, hoisting myself up. At least I had something to fight with, even though I was literally stripped of everything else.

More Romans coming, Umbra said, pointing with his neck.

Cleopatra and I scaled his back and placed ourselves between the spikes on his back like a saddle. I was a little worried that my more sensitive regions would be eviscerated without clothing. Thankfully, there weren’t baby spikes beneath me.

This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author's work.

True to his word, hundreds of Roman cavalry were charging in our direction. They had seen the fire and obviously Umbra who was impossible to miss. I quietly thanked Cetus for giving me his heart in the Underworld. We would not have made it without it.

“Let’s go,” I said.

Umbra took one powerful flap of his wings and launched us effortlessly into the autumn, crisp air. In seconds, we were flying high above the Roman villas and golden fields, leaving behind Caesar’s cavalry. The wind bit into my unclothed skin, making me freeze within the first few minutes.

Where to next? Umbra said.

I held onto Umbra and to Cleopatra without speaking for several minutes, brainstorming our strategy.

What did we do next?

“This feels strange,” Cleopatra said as we landed at my old hideout in the mountains later that morning.

“I know,” I said, shivering from being undressed.

It was the only place I could think of to hide for the moment and to think. And hopefully to find some much needed clothes. Though, this would not be safe long term, and Caesar was sure to find us here.

Umbra barely fit in the middle of the former bandit-turned-Roman camp when he lowered us off of his back. Very little was left by the Romans after Caesar and I had ordered our soldiers to disband the hideout. What remained were the wooden barracks both inside and outside the inner fort’s natural mountain walls. They were completely stripped of supplies, just like the several wooden barrels that lay empty throughout the camp. Alongside the abandoned fire pits, there were wooden scraps, dull arrowheads, and empty weapon racks. I expected to see a few Roman shrines dedicated to the gods as we had left some for Jupiter and Mars. Oddly, there were only marble fragments where we had kept them.

“I’ll be quick,” I said to both of them. “Can I have a light?”

Umbra smiled with his great rows of teeth. It was a little unsettling seeing him so powerful now, capable of killing me if he wanted to. He stretched his head to one of the torches mounted on the cave entrance and gave it a quick kiss of fire.

“Thank you,” I said.

“Be quick,” Cleopatra said, her arm lingering on mine.

Bracing for the pain, I limped over to the blazing torch, using my spear as a crutch in the other. As comfortable as I was being naked now, I still desired some covering and to not be so vulnerable in battle. A crisp wind picked up as I held the warm light, carrying the scent of pine and earth and tossing autumn leaves all about. My feet winced with pain as I stepped onto the uneven rocks of the entrance.

Once inside, I made my way to the old barracks where Camilla, Titus and I had slept in during the first few weeks in Antiquitus. It was colder in her, sending a chill down my spine. As expected, most of the beds had been stripped and there were only loose scraps of leather lying about the dark, shadowed room. I was about to give up hope and just embrace nudity when a brown pile in the corner caught my attention. Carefully, I walked over to it, relieved at what it was.

Item: Dirty Slave Robe (Common)

* Description: This tattered and grimy robe, woven from rough cloth, bears the stains and wear of hard labor. The once-brown fabric has faded to a mottled gray, with frayed edges and crude stitching repairs. Despite its poor condition, it allows the wearer to blend into crowds and appear unremarkable, a relic of servitude in the shadows of Rome.

* Armor Rating: 3

* Durability: 10/20

* Effect: Reduces the wearer’s detectability in crowded or urban environments by 10%, as the robe gives the illusion of being another unnoticed servant.

* Weight: 0.8 kg

* Worth: 10 Denarii

“Thank the gods,” I said, putting it on immediately. Though a shadow of my former armor, and stank more than I could stomach, it beat showing the entire world my everything.

Satisfied, I departed the cave, but I stopped by the entrance, hesitant to leave.

Out of curiosity, I checked one more cave before returning. I needed my divine blessings back, so it didn’t hurt to check. Inside the last musky, damp room, I found a peculiar sight in the old shrine room where I had first learned of the Roman gods’ blessings one could receive.

All of the statues had been destroyed.

Weird, I thought, returning back to Cleopatra and Umbra. The only explanation I could think of was the giants that stalked these mountains. Perhaps they had enacted their revenge on us for killing many of their brethren.

“Looks good,” Cleopatra said as I returned, before taking a deep breath and grabbing her belly.

“You okay?” I said as she leaned against Umbra’s red scaled body.

She nodded. “They are moving a lot,” she said, smiling.

Romulus and Remus. Our sons, the future rulers of Rome. Potential rulers of Rome, if we survived Caesar. The thought of them gave me fire in my bones, strengthening me. It was only crippled by the knowledge that Cleopatra would not be able to meet them. She would die in childbirth. The deal I had been forced to accept with Pluto if I was to return and save the world. I had to look away from her, to keep the tears stinging my eyes from being noticeable.

“We need to plan,” I said, sitting down on an old log and clearing my throat. Taking down Caesar was obvious, but how?

“Can you look into the futures?” Cleopatra said.

“Yes, and I am open to that, I just want to be careful. My powers expanded and became more limited in the Underworld. I can see everything for the next week, but I can get stuck in time loops that can be deadly to break free from.” I pointed to my bandaged thigh as an example. My health was still recharging and I could feel the tissue healing from the System mechanics, but it felt way too slow given how much we needed to accomplish.

“We need to free our friends from Caesar,” I said, continuing. “We will need all the help we can get, and fast. Titus will also know where my gear is, which we’ll need to take down Caesar. Once we gather both, we need to find and assassinate Caesar. As long as we can get the Orb of Morpheus from him, we don’t need to worry about waging a full civil war.”

“The biggest obstacle we will face is sleep,” Cleopatra reminded. “If we fall asleep, all is lost.”

How long can you stay up? Umbra said, his giant dragon eye blinking with curiosity.

“I think the longest a human has gone was over a week,” I said. “I think it’s ten or eleven days. I read about it in school once.”

“Eleven days,” Cleopatra said, shaking her head. “I have never heard of anyone staying up for more than two or three.”

“And if you stay up too long, it will be deadly for our sons,” I said, placing one hand on her pregnant belly.

I sighed. Our first rebellion took several months to achieve, and even that was really fast. If we only had at most eleven days at the very most, what chance did that give us? And that was if we could even stay awake. We needed sleep insurance, or else everything wouldn’t matter.

There was only one thing that could keep us awake that long.

“What is it?” Cleopatra said, seeing me deep in thought.

I smiled. “We’re gonna need more coffee.”