Clockwork Bride

Page 338

"Then we'll have to go our separate ways."

Mithra's radiant face did not falter upon hearing Hayden's words. He merely sighed softly.

“Loki. No matter how cleverly you disguise it, no matter how cleverly you hide it, that Outer God angel possessing the machine by your side is just brainwashing you, deliberately making you dependent on it. But it's too late to explain now. I'll force you to undergo psychological treatment first.”

If this was Mitra's final assessment of Hayden, then Hayden could only return the favor verbatim: "I think you're the one who needs psychotherapy!"

He raised his staff and assumed a stance.

Mitra didn't need to put on airs, but pity and determination were still evident in his four-eyed eyes.

Fight!

Both sides are fully prepared for a battle, both physically and mentally!

...However, at this very moment, something unexpected happened that Hayden and Mithra did not expect.

"I'm sorry, Master, but I have a suggestion."

Angela appeared out from behind him like a ghost, blocking Hayden and Mitra's path.

"This is not the place for your final battle."

423: Wheel of Fortune

Mitra's expression was almost always calm. He was either smiling or serene. In the past twenty years, Hayden had only seen him show a negative expression a few times, and at most, his face would just be a little gloomy.

Emotions like anger seem to simply not exist for Mithra.

Only at this moment, when facing Angela—Angela standing in front of Hayden—Mitra's face clearly showed an expression of resistance and disgust: "The vanguard of the Outer Gods, the vanguard of invasion."

His voice was extremely cold, devoid of any emotion.

Angela, like a mother hen protecting her chicks, stood between Hayden and Mitra, gently shaking her head:

"What you call me is none of my business."

Then she answered in solemn words:

“My name is Raphael, and I am one of the seven angels who came to God.”

Raphael, also spelled Raphael, means "divine medicine" or "divine healing" in ancient languages. Healing wounds, healing the body, healing the soul, healing the many pains of the heart. It can be said to be a true name that perfectly matches Angela's actions.

But Mitra simply said coldly, "I have no interest in the honorary titles of my enemies."

"I am not your enemy."

Angela denied it.

"I have no enemies."

This was something she had said to Karen as well. Interestingly, Karen, like Mitra, didn't really believe it.

Mitra's face darkened immediately: "Even clever words and flattery cannot change your nature as invaders from outer space."

“I am not an invader. We share the same origin, and the separation has only lasted for ten thousand years… But now, there’s no point in saying that.” Angela murmured, “Ten thousand years may be a short time, but no matter how short the time, once separated in the heart, there is no way to return to the original state.”

Hayden couldn't help but think to himself, "These gods have a really strange sense of time."

However, putting aside the issue of time, Hayden did agree with some of the points Angela made. Mithras insisted that the Outer Gods were invaders, and Angela said that everyone originally shared the same origin… but so what? First, whether Mithras would believe it is one thing. Secondly, even if he did believe it, so what? Even brothers can fight and split up.

Since the mind and thoughts are separate, even if they share the same origin, there's no "legitimate claim." Even with the same source, Mitra certainly wouldn't accept such "jurisdiction." Angela wasn't stupid, so she didn't continue.

At this point, it's impossible to prove myself right to the other party, no matter what method I use; it's beyond comprehension.

"So, isn't the only solution this force?"

That's what Hayden thought.

And Mithra thought so too.

During these conversations, Mitra wasn't just standing there on the castle tower talking to Hayden Angela—he was actually using magic to communicate and command troops.

So at that very moment, four more flying warships began to teleport in from the sky, and soon Mithra's million-strong army would arrive. Mithra clearly intended to use a full-scale attack to forcibly defeat Angela, Hayden, and the angels emerging from the circular opening in the sky.

Can he do it?

"I'm here, along with Angela, and that angel who appeared out of the sky. Even if you gather all the forces of the Mitra Group in this era, I estimate you'd only have a tiny bit of a chance of winning."

Hayden turned back to Mitra and asked, "Even if you do manage to win by sheer luck, how high do you think the cost will be? Can you maintain Mitra Group's dominant position in the new era?"

"I will never yield to traitors who side with foreign powers."

Mithra declared resolutely, clenching his teeth, "I will never submit to any false god!"

Behind him, the sun blazed high in the sky, radiating dazzling golden flames. Even knowing the odds were against him, even knowing that victory would come at an exorbitant price, Mithra still possessed the fighting spirit to never give up and to fight with all his might.

If one possesses the ambition to rule the world, how could one lack the fighting spirit to control that ambition? Hayden couldn't help but admire Mithras's will, because it was indeed something he was relatively bad at.

“It seems there’s no need for further pleasantries,” Hayden replied. “Now let’s see who comes out on top.”

They are both ready for the final battle.

However, Angela shook her head at this moment: "No. This is not the master's battlefield."

Hayden frowned: "Uh, why?"

“Because this disordered timeline should be restored to normal,” Angela said helplessly. “Master, you should return to your own time. You don’t actually think you can defeat Mitra from four hundred years ago at this point in time, and thus overturn the entire timeline order, do you?”

噫

In truth, Hayden did have this level of expectation. He had long suspected that he couldn't actually kill Mitra in the past four hundred years—if he did, what would happen to the things that had already happened to him? Wouldn't that become a time paradox: "Without Mitra, Hayden wouldn't have traveled through time or even summoned Angela in the first place"?

It would be a lie to say that he had never considered altering time, but Hayden never intended to actually do it. So when he heard Angela say, "The time loop must be restored," he felt a sense of "I knew it," and nodded: "Alright, let's go back first. We'll have the final battle four hundred years from now."

But Angela still shook her head: "That won't do either, Master."

……what?

No sooner had he finished speaking than a new twist occurred in the situation. Mitra seemed to have finally made a judgment at that moment. He gritted his teeth and leaped away like light, then floated up like light, heading in the opposite direction from Hayden and Angela, flying at the speed of light towards the flying fleet that had just been teleported to join them.

"Ran!?"

Hayden had actually planned to run away anyway, so he probably didn't have the right to make a fuss. But he was still very surprised to see Mitra run away.

“Relying solely on physical strength to stand on the battlefield is still very dangerous.” Angela glanced at the encircling air fleet. “He has probably decided to return to the command position and use the full force of the army to fight me. Unfortunately, I will not fight him.”

There's nothing wrong with that.

"I won't go back with you either."

...However, this was something Hayden hadn't expected at all: "...Huh!?"

But Angela just looked at him with melancholy and helplessness: "Master, my time loop has ended, but yours has not. So next, you must go back yourself, back to the point in time when your loop began."

"What do you mean?" Hayden was a little confused. "Didn't we travel through time together?"

Unexpectedly, Angela shook her head: "No. This is where my cycle begins."

After saying that, she pointed to the thousands of angels in the sky whose wings and eyes were wrapped around them, and explained, "Master, that is the real me. It is the first and only time that you have summoned me to this hell on earth. Even you could only create such a miracle in this special time and place of time and space cycle."

Hayden felt he hadn't understood Angela: "The first and only time? Only here? Then how did I summon you from outer space into this doll-like body?"

These words finally made Angela laugh: "You never summoned me from outer space into this body. You only summoned a small part of my original self, which was in this world, into the puppet body."

Hayden finally began to understand, though not completely: "So... I summoned the real you at this point in time. The you summoned four hundred years later, the you who became 'Angela,' is only a small part of you in this world."

Angela finally nodded this time.

Angela, summoned and named by Hayden four hundred years later, was instrumental in Hayden's time travel, enabling his true summoning of Raphael four hundred years prior. This also became a necessary condition for Hayden to summon Angela four hundred years later. The order of time and the direction of causality are reversed here, forming a closed loop.

That makes sense now. It finally makes sense. Angela's time loop begins here, and it must end here as well.

Only Hayden, after realizing what had happened, froze in absolute terror, like a dying kitten being choked.

He finally understood what Angela meant and why she was talking to him now.

She had to say goodbye to him.

"Don't be too sad, Master."

Angela smiled slightly, reached out, and gently stroked Hayden's face.

"It is because of you that I was able to come into this world, meet you, and see everything that is happening here. This is absolutely not a mistake, and it will definitely lead to a good outcome. Thank you for helping me get to where I am today."

Her smile and words, however, choked Hayden, forcing him to swallow hard before he could speak: "These were my lines. And—and this isn't what we agreed on!? Didn't you say that as long as I didn't want to leave, you would stay by my side forever!?"

You promised! It won't be like the Seven Fairy Maidens in the legend of Dong Yong, suddenly flying away, right?

"Angels can't break their promises!"

“I didn’t break my promise.” Angela smiled helplessly. “I also said that as long as you look for me, you will definitely find me; as long as you call me, I will definitely hear you. Although I can’t be with you in this way forever, and although we are 384400 kilometers apart, I will always be watching over you, and... we still have a chance to meet again.”

Even with all his mental preparation, Hayden's mind still began to tremble at these words.

(Meanwhile, somewhere deep in his mind, a tiny, faint question lingered: 384400 kilometers? Why 384400 kilometers? Shouldn't it be something like, "I'll be watching you from heaven"? But Hayden's attention was elsewhere; there was no way he could concentrate.)

He had never experienced such fear before.

No—compared to the fear of Angela's impending departure, Hayden had never known fear before. This is the real fear.

To my shame, this was a terror for Hayden greater than losing anyone. Perhaps, even losing Karen wouldn't have made Hayden feel this afraid.

It was pathetic; he wanted to run away. He wanted to scream. He wanted to do anything to win Angela's sympathy and prevent her from leaving him.

He wanted to beg and plead… but he didn't know if begging and pleading would change her mind. If he disregarded his shame and dignity, and resorted to any means necessary to repeatedly beg and plead… maybe…?

But Hayden's rationality told him that since Angela had said that, it was already impossible. At least not now.

"What opportunity?" he asked, his voice trembling.

Angela blinked.

“After you return to your own time, look at the sky when the moon rises.”

...Huh? The moon?

Unfortunately, there isn't enough time for Hayden to ponder the answer to this riddle.

The Mitra Group's air fleet wasn't just standing around as decoration. Blazing solar beams erupted from the five flying warships, bombarding Raphael in the sky, and Hayden and Angela on the castle tower's side; a thousand missiles traced deadly trajectories, followed by another thousand. Flames traced a surging, gigantic net across the sky. Countless void fires and thunderous explosions engulfed the heavens.

How could such an attack possibly work on Raphael when he had revealed his true form? Hayden had barely thought this when he saw Raphael in the sky gently flap his thousands of wings to block the attack... but he did not retaliate.

"Why not fight back?" Hayden asked anxiously. "Just because the order of time cannot be disrupted?"

“It’s not because of that,” Angela replied unexpectedly. “Master, think about it carefully. In this era, are Mitra and his soldiers the targets I should attack?”

Hayden wasn't truly stupid; even though his brain had been stunned into a daze, he still managed to grasp the situation: "...You mean, they haven't committed any evil deeds yet at this point in time, so we can't attack them? Even if we know what kind of mess they'll become in the next four hundred years!?"

“If we punish someone prematurely just because we know what will happen to them in the future, then nothing in the universe would have happened in the first place,” Angela said helplessly. “Even if we transcend time, even if we know what will happen, we can’t use that as a basis for judgment. How can there be a fair judgment without the actual process? Since we can predict the future anyway, we might as well just eliminate all the evildoers in advance. Where would freedom come from then?”

"However, this is only one of the reasons."

The fleet's second round of bombardment has begun.

Raphael flapped his wings, slowly deflecting the attacks. However, Hayden, watching from below, could see that these attacks weren't entirely ineffective against Raphael. Even true angels didn't seem to be completely invincible.

“If this continues… you will lose,” Hayden murmured. “Is this the true story behind the eight great bodhisattvas defeating the outer gods in history?”

“It is time, Master. Go back to the time when your cycle began, from the heavenly gate you opened yourself.”

Angela bent down, pressed her face close to Hayden's, and gently kissed his forehead. She gazed at Hayden's face, her eyes filled with deep and pure love.

"Think it over, Master. Rack your brains and make sure you come looking for me."

"Then we will meet again."

424: Wheel of Fortune - Upright

Angela gently kissed Hayden's forehead, then lightly pushed him into the sky.

Hayden did not resist, because resistance was pointless. But he still felt tears welling up in his eyes.

The round spacetime tunnel gently sucked Hayden in, very softly. So before he completely disappeared from this point in time, Hayden's eyes allowed him to see some things.

He saw Angela's doll-like body. She disintegrated and dispersed under the bombardment of the Mithra Group's fleet, turning into dust that could not be smaller, drifting away with the wind, and returning to the indescribable Raphael in the sky.

The sight sent a burning sensation down Hayden's throat, but not a single tear fell from his eyes. If crying wasn't an effective way to solve problems, then crying was pointless.

So he continued reading, searching, searching for a "method," imprinting the entire process into his mind. For him, this battle felt as long and arduous as a lifetime.

He saw the fleet of the Mithraic group, along with a million-strong army, and seven other bodhisattvas who had come upon hearing the news. They all launched an attack on the indescribable Raphael in the sky. The angels with millions of wings calmly withstood the attack.

Firepower alone cannot truly defeat angels, nor can it even kill fallen angels. Fallen angels can only be reduced to depleted mana, while true angels have an inexhaustible mana bar, and cannot be defeated through attrition warfare.