The Goddess Rhea's side had been weakened in battle; the demon army of Bedivere of Gluttony had conquered the entire eastern part of the world, even the unmapped parts, creating wounds that could not be healed even decades later.

It could not be repaired, not even in tens, hundreds or even thousands of years. Wounds that would never be healed if Bedivere's army won the war.

His hatred for the gods was so great that he had no problem destroying the whole world and eating every living thing in order to attract them to himself.

But it didn't seem to do any good. Because it didn't work out the way he wanted, only one of the deities of heaven had descended to earth: Rhea, Goddess of Earth and Nature, Protector of Rolderhelm.

Expelled from heaven nearly four centuries ago, Azer had fought for the world with Rhea, but after his death and that of his descendants, Rhea was the last remaining deity on earth. After her death, there would be nothing to prevent the complete destruction of this world.

To gain the power to reach heaven, Bedivere would eat every soul left on earth after Rhea's death, and if his hunger was not satisfied, he would bring souls from other worlds, as he had done until now.

Galahad, Bedivere's brother, was the best leverage they had against him, but he had died trying to protect Rhea. Rhea saw no point in fighting after his death.

Denise, Eumia and Natalia were standing, trying to convince the goddess sitting on the chair.

“There is no point in fighting anymore,” Rhea said. The life energy in her eyes was drained. “Heaven has left this world and with the power we have we can do nothing but delay our death. The end of this world has come.”

“How can you give up! Aren't you supposed to protect the world!? Aren't you supposed to protect the people who believe in you?!”

If Rhea wasn't a goddess, Rolderhelm's crown princess would have already slapped her in the face, but instead of slapping him, Eumia could only clench her fist.

“Galahad is dead, who else can stop Bedivere? I am mortal on earth and once he take the soul of another deity, Bedivere will be unstoppable. Azer's soul has already made him strong enough...”

“What are you going to do then!” Denise slammed his hands on the table. “Run away so Bedivere won't eat you? How far!”

“What kind of goddess are you?”

The white-haired young witch became angry and threw the items on the table on the floor.

“May the gods continue to dwell safely in heaven! And you flee to Rolderhelm and return to heaven! But we will fight! This world is the only world we have, the only world these people have! People will keep fighting until the last soul has passed away!”

Natalia stormed out of the tent, looking for one last place to calm down in a world that was about to end.

Denise never found out what Natalia had done after she left the tent.

---

She was the most beautiful being that ever walked the earth. She was graceful, kind and possessed all the beautiful virtues. How many people had she made fall in love with her since she came to earth?

But this beautiful deity's green hair was dyed red with blood, her face was grief-stricken and her soulless body lay on the ground. The body of the goddess Rhea was slowly disappearing from the world.

Eumia, the girl Denise loved, was also killed by a demon's sword and entered the stomach of the Bedivere of Gluttony.

Not only Rhea and Eumia, but every man, woman and child who had made the last stand was slaughtered, their souls gone to Bedivere, who no longer even had a body.

Denise and Natalia were the only two beings left in İlonya. With the mana left in their bodies, all they could do was, as Rhea said, delay their deaths.

“I died once in my world, Will I die once more here? Fuck it!”

Bedivere was utterly terrifying. His power was so great that even his physical body, carefully created by the Goddess İselle, could not withstand it and was destroyed. Now all that constituted him was a shadow that absorbed even the light around him.

It had no legs, it floated in the air, a formless shadow. Hands, heads and feet emerged from the shadow that formed it, but none of them belonged to Bedivere, they all belonged to the spirits that were trying to get out of it.

“M-y h-u-n-g-e-r, I a-m h-u-n-g-r-y, h-u-n-g-r-y f-o-r r-e-v-e-n-g-e.”

Was it Bedivere who spoke? Was it even a man, a woman, a child, a human being? It was not clear...

Every letter in Bedivere's words was voiced by someone else. They felt their souls grow heavy as pure gluttony approached them.

Denise gave up when he realized it was the end. No, he had already given up when he saw Eumia’s death. Now he could understand Rhea giving up when Galahad died.

But there was still one person who refused to give up. Natalia, the Witch of Clermont, refused to give up. As Bedivere's form of despair, pain and grief washed over them, destroying the colors of the world, Natalia's expression changed for a moment and she smiled a devilish smile. It was a single second, a single moment, but Denise saw her eyes turn red.

Natalia raised her arms, formed a purple orb of light in her hands and threw it at her feet. At that moment the whole world went dark and Denise and Natalia were left alone in the darkness.

“There is still something to do, I will not give up.”

“If you have such a spell, why didn't you use it before!”

Denise grabbed Natalia by the collar. The first thing he thought of was not Natalia's words but Eumia. If she had cast this spell earlier, Eumia might have lived.

“There is a way to turn back time.” Natalia pushed away the hands clutching her collar. “There's a place called Nekoverine, if we get there we can rewind time and warn Galahad.”

Denise was crying. Eumia's death had affected h,ö so much that he saw no point in finding out the solution to everything now. After all, the Eumia he would find when they rewound time would not be the Eumia who had stayed with Denise until the very end.

Since Eumia was the one he would find when he returned, he would still care and love her, but how could his conscience be clear?

“Why didn't you tell me before...” The sentence didn't come out of his mouth like a question. He spoke just to speak and fell to his knees in front of Natalia.

“There was a price.”

Natalia had a vague sadness in her eyes. They left the darkness to find Nekoverine.

***

From the Princess's right to her left were Yu, Yurine, Lylphia, Sivina, Ana and Raul. They stood at attention in front of the throne in the hall of the royal palace.

Princess Eumia el Rolder of Rolderhelm, prepared to place the badges of honor in the chest held by her maid of honor, while behind them knights, nobles, and the bourgeoisie who help keep Rolderhelm's economy running stood in silence.

In fact, not all of them had gathered here to celebrate the success of Redchapel. It was only because it coincided with the holiday that there was such a large crowd.

“I congratulate you on your success and thank you for saving Rolderhelm from a monster. Please accept these badges as a token of my gratitude.”

Yu watched out of the corner of his eye as Eumia started to put on the medal.

“I was expecting to be knighted or something, they just give a medal. I wonder if it's real gold. How much is this insignia worth?”

Since they were going to rewind time, it didn't matter if they had a badge on their chest. It made more sense to sell it and use the money for their cause.

“But they are really shameful. They could at least give me a prize money, like a thousand gold coins or two thousand gold coins. I would even settle for a hundred gold coins. It's so dry like this. Is this unbecoming of the Princess of the great Rolderhelm Principality? It's stingy.”

The Princess moved from left to right. First on Raul's chest, then on Ana's, then on Sivina's.

“Sometimes you just want to be a medal of honor.”

Sivina looked very charismatic in his white knight's uniform. She was fully recovered and ready to take on new challenges.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

Her spirits were at their highest, especially after the celebrations held for her in Redchapel. The townspeople had organized such a big party for Sivina that even the gothic town seemed beautiful to Yu for a short time.

After Eumia placed the medal on Lylphia's large breasts, it was Yurine's turn.

The princess knelt down so that the little sword fairy could wear her medal. Yu would normally imagine a noble like her to be arrogant and not kneel before anyone, but she had heard on his way to the palace that the royal family was extremely humble.

Yurine's tail wagging as she examined the medal on her chest gave Yu a small smile. Yurine was acting like a child, as she should have been since Yu had promised her. Princess Eumia stroked Yurine's head with her hand and congratulated her with a kiss.

When it was Yu's turn, he braced himself. He had to say something to her now, something that would make sure she would pass it on to her husband. He couldn't afford to miss this chance as he didn't expect to meet Eumia or the prime minister later.

The princess stood in front of Yu. In the story, her hair was described as pink, but the Eumia in the story had perhaps just turned twenty. The Eumia standing in front of him now was a gray-haired granny who had turned sixty.

“I read the paper your husband left at the academy.”

The princess didn't understand what Yu had said and just stared at him. Then Eumia, thinking it would be awkward to linger, put the engagement on Yu's chest and stepped back.

“A banquet will be held this evening in honor of the heroes of Redchapel, and entertainment at the palace will continue throughout the day!”

***

Yu understood that the son of Rolderhelm's heir prince, the one who shall one day rule the country, was trying to hit on Sivina, Ana and Lylphia. Lylphia seemed to be happy with the situation, while Sivina and Ana did not hesitate to express their discomfort.

Nevertheless, the prince continued to be a tease. It annoyed him that he was bothering those two girls, but there was someone else who was annoyed and it amused Yu to watch him throw a jealous fit in a corner.

“I wonder if I'm really guessing right? There's something about these two, I felt an attraction. There's no other reason why they could be so close to me and not be interested in me. After all, I'm very good.”

In the days they had spent together, Yu had studied their relationship and tried to see if they were really in love.

But he couldn't be more interested in them right now because Yu's surroundings were much more beautiful than watching Raul. A lot of rich and noble girls were gathered around Yu, and Yurine was hugging Yu around the waist to keep him from losing him to anyone.

There were even two princesses among these girls who were sisters. They were close in age to Yu or a little older than Yu. One of the princesses had blue hair and Yu liked her too, but what he really liked was the princess with pink hair. She looked to be in her early twenties.

“Mr. Valarfin, what things do you like?” the princess asked.

The pink-haired princess was named Monia, the blue-haired one Simia. When Monia tried to strike up a conversation with Yu, the other girls, feeling their chances were diminishing, made faces, but they still wanted to see Yu's handsome face, so they stayed close to him.

“I like sweet girls.”

With a gentle smile and a polite tone of voice, he replied jokingly. Except for the joking part, Yu was completely honest when he said it.

After Yu's answer, the cheeks of the two princesses and the other girls in the room turned pink and started giving Yu furtive glances. The only one who didn't compete for Yu's heart was Yurine, who continued to hug Yu with a sullen face.

“Mr. Valarfin, can you tell me how you caught the killer? I'm sure he never stood a chance against you.”

One of the noble girls, whose name Yu didn't bother to remember, walked through the others and grabbed Yu's arm.

“Who stands a chance against me? I didn't even struggle. I was even thinking of giving the killer an advance, after all, not even a hundred of them can match my intelligence...”

Yurine couldn't take it anymore, the more Yu talked the more the girls approached him and the more Yu's ego swelled.

She stopped hugging him and grabbed his hand and started pulling it away. She wasn't doing it to say anything, she was just trying to stop Yu from talking to them anymore.

“Is she your daughter?”

“Hmph! None of your business!”

She silenced Monia without giving Yu a chance to answer. Yu stroked Yurine's head and tried to clear the air.

“I'm sorry, the prettier the girls around me, the more jealous Yurine gets.”

Yurine was trying to think of something to do before the girls praised by Yu fell head over heels in love with him. She had to get him away from here somehow because even though she kept grabbing Yu's hand and pulling him away, she couldn't stop him from chatting with the girls.

But he didn't want to embarrass Yu, so he couldn't follow through with most of his plans. Would it work if Yu really pretended to be his father and threatened to tell his mother? Probably, but then Yu's nose would be too high for her to lower it again.

What else could she do? She couldn't say that Yu was a crook. Should she ask Sivina and Ana for help? No, they were too beautiful for Yurine to be careful.

“Yu, take me in your arms.”

Yu did not refuse her and took her in his arms, but what should she do now? She had improvised just to do something.

“Mr. Valarfin, you are not only handsome but also very sweet,” Monia said. She was too close to Yu that even Yurine could almost feel her breath.

“That's your sweetness,” Yu said, offering a seductive smile.

“Yu, you idiot! Take me to the restroom!”

In trying to alienate the girls from Yu, she had served as an accessory for him and made them like him even more. Now all she could do was make Yu take him to the restroom and buy time to think of a new plan before the girls became more attached to him.

Yu did not refuse her again and asked the girls for permission and took Yurine inside the palace. When they arrived in front of the restroom, Yurine asked to be lowered to the floor as she didn't actually have a toilet.

“Are you jealous of me?”

“Don't be ridiculous!”

“Come on, Yurine. It's not bad to be jealous, it's normal. You should be jealous when you find someone like me. Wait, that's wrong, you can't find someone like me because I'm unique.”

Yurine didn't have a restroom, but Yu wanted to check his face in front of a mirror in the restroom. Just before he entered the restroom, a maid stopped him.

“Mr. Valarfin, His Excellency is wait to see you.”

---

Yu and Yurine waited at the door of Rolderhelm Prime Minister Denise el Rolder's office. After a few minutes a man in a suit walked out of the room and a maid came out and told Yu that they could come in.

“Hello.”

Denise el Rolder was a sixty-year-old man with white hair and light blue eyes. Unlike Satoshi, he was European.

“Sit down,” Denise said, who had once rewound time. “Would you like something to drink?”

“It could be juice,” Yu said.

“I want juice too.”

Denise nodded and gestured to the maid, “Just get me some water.”

The maid bowed her head and left the room, closing the door behind her.

“Are you from Earth?” Denise asked. He had spoken as soon as maid left.

“Yes.”

After the answer, the room fell silent. Yu couldn't tell if he was the one who should continue the conversation or if he should wait for Denise to speak, but when the silence continued, he felt it was his duty.

"I'm curious, what year was it when you came from Earth?"

“Two thousand twenty-five.”

“Hıhıhı... Pardon me...”

They were in the year thirty-nine, and if he was sixty now, Denise in the story would have been nineteen. If he came to earth in the year two thousand twenty-five, he was younger than Yu.

“Yu, why did you laugh?”

“I come from two thousand nineteen.”

Denise came thirty-nine years earlier, but his time on earth was two thousand twenty-five, and Yu came thirty-nine years later, but his time on earth was two thousand nineteen.

“The world doesn't run parallel to us. That means...”

There was still a time in the First World when his older sisters never died.

“Time works funny between different dimensions,” Denise said and the silence continued.

Denise was not likely to bring up the letter he had left at the academy. So it was up to Yu to bring up the writing after the drinks arrived.

“We found the letter you left at the Academy and read it. Your friend Natalia was the master of Yurine's mother Rie,” he said as he drank his juice.

“Natalia?” Denise's wrinkled eyes widened. “She's still alive? I'm glad. She was never seen again after the last battle.”

“She's not alive,” Yurine said, but she didn't say that her mother killed her.

The slight smile on Denise's face disappeared and her cheeks hardened.

“Uh... When?”

“Four years ago.”

Yurine answered again, but she still hadn't told him how she had died.

“Natalia told Yurine's mother about your adventure and that it was possible to grant wishes there. Then her mother told Yurine. Yurine and I are looking for Nekoverine because Yurine's mother died and when we go there we will wish for Rie to live.”

Instead of saying that they would turn back time, he said that they would wish for Rie to live. If he had said that they would turn back time, Denise might not have told them where the Nekoverine was, thinking that his current self would be destroyed, and he might even have killed them to ensure the safety of himself.

“Ethalot.”

“Ethalot?”

“Mount Nekonozwei is located in Ethalot. Nekoverine is there.”

He said they would try to persuade Denise, but he had answered before anything was asked.

“I didn't think you'd say it right away,” Yu couldn't hide his surprise.

“Why shouldn't I answer?”

Instead of revealing the location of the Nekoverine, Yu would have killed his opponents and secured his self-preservation.

“Little one, you must be a bit of an idiot? Maybe we'll turn back time too. When we turn back time, your current self will be gone, why are you saying that? Anyway, it was good for us.”

He didn't know what motivated Denise to say that. Maybe he just wanted to help because Yu was from the same world as him.

“And where exactly is it?”

Denise put a map on the table and marked west of Ethalot with a pen.

“It's inside Mount Nekonozwei, but you can't enter here.”

“Why?”

"It's not just a place where wishes come true," Denise said. "To preserve their youth, Ethalotian pilgrims enter the temple and bathe in the fountain of youth for forty days and forty nights. They consider Nekonozwei to be the center of the world, and no one is allowed inside. It doesn't matter how much money you have, only a pilgrim can enter, with the king's permission. The entrance of the temple also sealed. We entered from a northwest point of the mountain, it took us two day to climb. We broke the seal with brute force. I don’t know if it’s possible know, because Bedivere is not here to kill archangels anymore.”

“I see...” He needs more details. “So, what will we face inside?”

Denise didn't answer that question. He only said one thing.

“You will only get one wish, don't think you can fool him. Just one wish.”

“Him? Who is him?”

Despite Yu's insistence, Denise said nothing more about Nekoverine. Eventually Yu gave up and it was time for her other requests.

“Well, thank you for that information. There are... Or rather, there are two things I'd like to ask you.”

“What do you want?”

“Now that you've given us an engagement, that's all well and good... Don't you think it's too dry? I mean... We're going on a trip or something, you could have at least given us a prize money.”

Yu didn't do it for the money, but what he didn't do for the money was the Sony job. They had gotten rid of a murderer because of him and he thought he deserved money for that.

“How much do you want?”

“Now this killer usually kills well-off people, and if he kept killing people for another ten years in the future, you would lose a few hundred gold coins in taxes. I mean, three hundred... Four hundred... Five hundred if your heart desires...”

"That money can feed the army."

“And we are a small army in our own right.”

Denise laughed at Yu's answer.

“Will you share this money with your friends?”

Yu took a deep breath and looked Denise in the eyes.

“And we had a court case.”