Shirei, with a quick nod, went back to fighting. With an almost feline leap, he avoided a fatal blow to the sternum, then spun around in mid-air and landed precisely behind his opponent. The Blade of Discord described a glittering deadly arc, before falling upon the enemy in a single, fluid motion that sent him into agonizing convulsions.

Without stopping, Cragar's son continued his advance. He traveled to the Interworld to overcome a group of enemies, whereupon he appeared out of nowhere and stunned the first two of them. With a series of quick and precise slashes, he eliminated the remaining enemies and continued on.

He finally saw Ada nearby, the demigoddess struggling to manipulate the shadows and keep multiple enemies at bay at once. Rutia's daughter fought flawlessly, but the purple-eyed boy could see the fatigue in her eyes.

"Damn! How many are you?" Ada snapped.

She glanced upward and grimaced, With so much light, it's too difficult for me to manipulate the darkness. If this continues at this rate, I'll be out of mana in no time.

Shirei appeared like a reaper and landed two orcs in front of her, "Are you okay?"

"We have to close the rift!" The girl told him urgently. The demigod nodded, knowing she was right. The tiredness accumulated previously, added to that of the battle itself, was giving them little chance of victory.

Shirei glanced at the portal which turned golden. With a dull rumble, the temporal rift reopened, spewing out a second wave of even more ferocious and determined monsters: chronomorphs.

Shirei felt his heart speed up, but his inner calm did not abandon him. He thought back to Ada's advice, who had explained to him the importance of visualizing the aether to make the most of it.

The bizarre monsters were rapidly approaching, their horrifying screams echoing through the air.

The demigod disappeared into the Interworld and closed his eyes for a moment, trying to concentrate.

He visualized the aether, the seemingly intangible and omnipresent substance that permeated the entire place he was in. He tried to harness it, to control the green particles that constituted the reality in which he had taken refuge. But in the chaos of battle, his concentration seemed to waver.

For the first time in his short life, he had failed.

Boss, where are you? We need you!

It was the tenebrae calling him.

Shirei sent an image of the Interworld, Reno, how can we close the temporal rift?

You can't, the subordinate replied dryly, Only Rakion can open and close the temporal rifts.

Then we just have to kill all the monsters until they are finished.

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The son of Aor continued his speech overlaying Shirei's voice, You should make it collapse in on itself, but we might already be dead before that happens.

How can I do this?

No, you can't, Reno replied, showing him an image of him shaking his head with a dark expression. If you didn't get out in time, you would be erased from existence.

I don't care about the risk, Shirei insisted, You have to tell me how I can collapse it from the inside.

You should find the source of the rift and take it.

Okay, what's the source? the demigod asked, hoping for a clear answer.

I don't know, the tenebrae admitted. Every time rift is different.

I need you to be more specific.

Time rifts are bubbles that Rakion creates around a period of time, he took a pause to check on Havel's health, Your friend is a madman.

Not now, Reno. Continue.

They are like small worlds in which the same day, or month, or year always repeats itself in a loop. You can do whatever you want, so everything is canceled every time. Everything except the death of a person outside the loop.

Shirei listened intently, his face tense as she tried to digest the information and keep track of the warped masses of monsters he saw moving from the Interworld.

Don't even think about going in there, the son of Aor continued in a serious tone. Time passes normally outside even if everything there repeats itself. If something happens... we could all recover.

Shirei grimaced slightly, I get it, someone I know was a victim of this.

Then return to the fight, sovereign.

Shirei opened his eyes after reappearing in the Otherworld, feeling growing frustration.

A monster rushed at him with impressive speed, the demigod raised an arm to defend himself. The creature's claws slammed into him, tearing at his flesh and leaving a trail of blood.

He stifled the bearable pain and didn't stop.

He quickly decapitated his opponent and returned to the fight, trying to use his powers as effectively as possible, but every attempt to condense the aether failed.

The wounds multiplied.

Each shot seemed to find its target.

Shirei inflicted and suffered. The fear of losing his companions made him easy prey for the chronomorphs, who continually injured even his tenebrae.

The son of Cragar stopped, feeling pangs that drained the aether to his core to heal the creatures born of the darkness.

He felt his strength leaving him, the pain was intense and his vision was starting to get blurry. A particularly massive monster approached him. With a glimmer of strength, Shirei activated his ethereal pulse. The technique was inhibited by lack of concentration and the monster hit him with such force that he fell to the ground.

He tasted blood in his mouth and for a moment, desperation threatened to overwhelm him.

"Havel!" Ada shouted, seeing Shirei in trouble. Reno stopped his singing and immediately began a sweet and reassuring melody, aimed at restoring all his strength. The notes spread through the air like a balm, enveloping Shirei in an invisible embrace. He felt his wounds begin to heal, the pain gradually diminishing.

He felt the mana flowing into his silver vessels, the divine core pulsating with renewed energy. Minor wounds closed, the skin regenerated. The voice of Reno, son of the goddess of music, was becoming a lifeline in that sea of chaos and monstrosity.

Shirei got back to his feet invigorated. Ada and Havel were fighting with determination not far away, fending off the monsters that attempted to attack the tenebrae.

The harpies continued to swoop down and cause trouble for the creatures.

Shirei knew he couldn't give up, but, just at that moment, something shook him to the core.

The purple-eyed boy dropped against his will onto the grassy ground, trampled by enemies.

No, I have to get up, I have to...

He saw the Equinox Flowers running in his direction.

"Shirei! Shirei!" Ada called him in fear.

He closed his eyes and in an instant, deep sleep enveloped him, taking him to a place he needed to see.