Elves do not possess the ability to reproduce. Due to the constraints imposed by nature and creation, they were stripped of the capacity for growth and, as a result, lost it. For the same reason, there could be no descendants or offspring of elves. Elven bloodlines also did not exist, and perhaps as a precaution, elves had almost no sexual desires. They had no connection to reproduction and no reason to create descendants. Thus, a life mixed with elven blood could not exist. Nobles who took elves as concubines often embraced them for this reason. No matter how much they intertwined their bodies, there would be no issues with heirs. For those who wielded power but could occasionally turn their conscience inward, elves were excellent playthings. However, there was one exception here—a girl who was not an elf but possessed the body of one. A girl who had recently ceased to be a fighting elf, not Phey but another. A girl who was both an elf and not an elf. Her mother was an elf. Generally, elves lacked reproductive abilities. The only beings capable of endowing an elf with reproductive abilities were those who possessed divine power strong enough to shatter the sanctity of nature and creation. Or perhaps a high-ranking priest who could manipulate time itself. A being known as the Voracious Eater, an ancient monster, could easily achieve such a feat. Akei, the elven hybrid, was born in this manner. She was the seed of an evil deity that should not have existed in this world, created through the violation of the most perfect life form of the ancient gods. A pure elf, violated, bore a seed that should not have been possible and gave birth to a child. This event had never occurred in history. Akei emerged into the world as the unprecedented existence of an elven hybrid, born with all the traits of an elf and the ability to seemingly resist time itself. Perhaps because she was forcibly endowed with reproductive abilities, her mother, the elf, died shortly after giving birth to Akei. There was no maternal love. From the moment of her birth, Akei was as she was now, and her unnamed elven mother feared the changes that had occurred within her. Weak and fragile—those were the emotions Akei felt as she looked at her mother. The instinct of an elf did not allow for maternal care. Thus, even as she was dying, the elf feared the other elf born from her body and perished in that state. Her father, the Voracious Eater, erased the violated elf’s body from time itself. Though it appeared to be a miserable death, Akei felt no desire for revenge. She had no time to feel affection for her mother, and her father was too powerful. A being of the same age as Ash, the Herald of the Veil. An ancient high priest who had occupied the lands of the South Empire since the heavens opened. There was no way a girl could seek revenge against such a being. ‘But there was no reason to dream of revenge in the first place.’ However, around the time her mother died, Akei began to understand that her existence as an elven hybrid was something that should not have been possible. She also realized that her life could not exist without divine power. Despite this, the girl had assisted the intruders who rebelled against her father. The sound of chains descending, accompanied by the scraping of a blue hook against the floor. Her gaze was drawn to the scattered sparks, and the girl suppressed the emotions boiling within her as she faced the two pairs of eyes fixed on her. Akei reversed time. Only Akei and the Immovable One knew this fact. She relived a past unknown to anyone else, a time that had already been erased. The scene beneath the flail’s hook scraping the floor remained the same. The towering pillar of light, the frozen image of the South Empire, the eternal snowfall that seemed to erase the world, and the fallen Voracious Eater—all were the same. Only the direction the girl faced was different. Before reversing time, the girl had been with Aslan’s party. She admired their ideals and supported their dreams. When they earnestly spoke of fixing the wrongs of the world, she actively agreed. Thus, with a body unaffected by time, she slew the monsters called forth by the Voracious Eater and opened the path for her father. The monsters summoned by the Voracious Eater from the future and the past could not harm Aslan’s party, and even the Voracious Eater himself fell without resorting to any significant tricks. The cautiousness that had kept him alive until now had to kneel before overwhelming power. Against a Deicide who had already slain two gods, all his tricks and time-manipulating abilities were useless. Thus, it did not take long for the Voracious Eater to kneel and be defeated. In the frozen time, amidst the cold, snowy wind, the Voracious Eater died in that manner. His greatest failing was that he could not harm his creation, his daughter Akei. With Akei blocking his final means, the party survived without a single casualty. Akei thought of the future after that. She had heard of their journey, the time they had passed through. She listened to their adventures and hardships, feeling a deep joy within her heart. Moreover, she wanted to join them. To become part of their adventure, to strive for the world despite her flawed birth. As is the case with ordinary criminals, the tales of heroes stir the hearts of ordinary people. Perhaps, after killing the Voracious Eater and destroying the Immovable One’s temple, it would be nice to embark on an adventure with them. She did not know if they would accept her proposal, decline it, or merely form an alliance, but she was genuinely prepared to accept any outcome with joy. She was an elven hybrid. For someone who should not exist, having her existence accepted was an unbearable joy. Akei wanted to help Aslan, Lumel, and Lewena, with whom she had spent a short but meaningful time. Until the Voracious Eater’s breath ceased and time, which had stopped, began to flow again. Until the divine power scattered by the Voracious Eater dissipated, and the longest-surviving high priest, the Herald of the Veil and servant of the Immovable One, closed his eyes. Akei suddenly felt herself crumbling from within. She felt her existence crumbling, all the time she had built up shattering. Like sand scooped up from a desert, crumbling and scattering, she felt everything slipping through her hands. It was death. An elven hybrid was a life that should not exist. Her very existence was a result of deceiving time and mocking the laws. Akei realized that she had barely survived due to the Voracious Eater’s divine power, and without it, she would vanish. Just then, someone whispered. Unintelligible, the meaning beyond comprehension. Yet the offer was clear. The Immovable One was watching her. The future swirled within her blue eyes. A future where she would eventually cease to exist, having killed all the evil deities. A pitiful future where even the modest hope of living would not be fulfilled. Time stretched long, waves undulating as if in turbulence. She saw another future. Countless, innumerable futures. Innumerable futures branching from the present. In them, Akei did not exist. She could not survive without holding the Immovable One’s hand. Even if she did, Aslan and his party would try their utmost to kill her. There was no room for compromise. Even if she evaded her creator’s hand and stayed with Aslan’s party, she would die. Attempts to establish her precarious existence into the abyss all ended in pitiful screams and pain. ‘I want to live.’ No matter the path, she would only die. If she gave up her life for humans, she would vanish from all time and be forgotten. Yet, if she chose to survive by holding the Immovable One’s hand, Akei would have to sincerely fight against those she had once admired. The future was shrouded in fog, and thus, she knew it would be arduous. ‘I just want to live.’ The fact that she would become the very existence she loathed, her father, and the torment of being hated by those she adored. The shame of making a contemptible choice, valuing life over the sacrifices and pains they endured. All these emotions engulfed her, but she turned her eyes away. No life wishes to die. Any life seeks to live the life it is given. We call those who forsake life for a cause heroes, but most humans die as ordinary people, not heroes. Akei was the same. She wanted to be a living high priest rather than a forgotten sacrifice in a grand cause. Choosing greed revealed more to her. The divine power enveloped her body, and the future that had been clear in her eyes was now within her grasp. She deliberately chose bold clothing without feeling the discomfort she once had from embracing her elven instincts. The shame quickly faded, and an overwhelming sense of omnipotence conquered her. Thus, the pitiful elven hybrid, whose existence had never been accepted, became a high priest. Finally, Akei had completely shed the elf she so despised. Yet Akei had lost. The Deicide was strong. No matter how often she stopped, rewound, or sped up time, Aslan’s sword always tore through her body. Unaccustomed to divine power, its efficiency diminished, and rewinding her wounded body was strenuous. No matter how much she wielded her newfound power, Aslan’s party remained out of reach. In the end, a black dimension devoid of time pierced her. Divine punishment in the form of lightning struck her down, and the cold blade of the ancient gods, which did not accept her existence, severed her. Thus, Akei rewound time. She rewound the world’s time. To reorganize her incomplete divine power, to become accustomed to the diminished efficiency of her abilities, and to devise ways to face Aslan’s party with the short time they had spent together. And her time led to this moment. Two women watched over the fallen Voracious Eater and Akei, who had fully embraced his divine power to become a high priest. Behind them, the Deicide would soon appear at this place. Failure was not an option this time. The sound of chains extending. The flail’s hook, glowing blue at its end, turned, and the girl gazed at the two women with a composed expression. She placed her survival on the scales. Thus, the flail tipped. The sound of chains rattling. “Wait, you…” As Lumel began to speak, Akei swung the chain in her hand. The blood-soaked hook rotated in sync. In the stopped time, the rotating hook carried a divinity that time itself dared not approach. Akei knew. She knew they were stronger than her, that her position was not that of a reigning king but a usurper who had to challenge. In such a situation, talking would only weaken her resolve. To survive, she discarded her heart. Regret, pity, subtle anxiety, and fear were wiped away. Surprisingly, it was easy. If she listened to the whispering in her blood, her heart naturally distanced itself. With an empty heart, she increased the speed of the chain’s rotation. In sync, the blue hook left afterimages and accelerated. The faster the hook spun, the slower the surrounding time became. This repeated. Space distorted, and light entangled in time seemed to condense. Blue, white, and burning light wrapped around the flail’s hook and ignited. The weapon’s name was the Eternal Spike. Its effect was the restraint and plunder of time. The torn time swayed in its place. Lewena recognized the weapon’s true value by sight, and Lumel instinctively sensed its danger. Wrapped in distorted and torn time, Akei’s icy blue eyes coldly stared at Lewena and Lumel. ‘Survive, no matter the cost.’ In the end, the Voracious Eater swung and threw the flail’s hook.
