Chapter 24: Blade of Time

"Attention! The coordinates for the Blade of Time have been refreshed. Current coordinates: (901, 20025)."

The Oracle announcement echoed suddenly. Azathoth pulled up the mini-map and confirmed that the new location of the Blade of Time indeed overlapped with their current position.

"My Queen, it is true." Azathoth relayed his discovery to Cynthia.

Cynthia studied the black-and-white dagger and asked the fin-tailed youth, "What is the function of the Blade of Time?"

"To reset space and time."

"Reset space and time?" She repeated the words softly, a faint, inscrutable smile playing on her lips. "Then why haven't you used it?"

The youth with the fin-tail gave a bitter laugh and ran a hand through his jagged, short hair. "I have used it—more than once. But every time it resets, everything only gets worse."

Azathoth’s wings vibrated slightly as he adjusted his posture in the air, narrowly avoiding a shadowy tentacle that lashed out from the side. His twin crescent blades carved elegant, lethal arcs through the air, shattering the tentacle into fragments.

"My Queen, the Blade of Time is imbued with dual divine powers, light and dark intertwined. But there is a third force—faint, yet familiar," Azathoth’s deep voice resonated in Cynthia’s ear.

Cynthia narrowed her eyes, focusing her senses on the power within the blade: the divine power of light, the divine power of darkness, and a third, faint, familiar energy...

"My Queen, there is a fragment of the Abyss Crown inside it."

Azathoth’s words struck Cynthia like a bolt of lightning. She reached out slowly, intending to take the blade. The fin-tailed youth hesitated for a moment before handing it to her.

The moment the Blade of Time touched Cynthia’s hand, the entire sea fell silent for a heartbeat.

The churning waves froze in mid-air, splashing droplets hung still like diamonds, and even the Kraken’s tentacles paused their assault.

As time resumed its flow, the Blade of Time in Cynthia’s hand erupted with blinding black and white light. The radiance spread like a tidal wave, and wherever it passed, the turbulent waters churned by the Kraken suddenly calmed.

"My Queen, its power seems to be waning," Azathoth noted keenly. He drew a silver cross with his blades, slicing apart a fresh set of incoming tentacles.

Cynthia gripped the blade, feeling the three forces flowing within. Light and dark spiraled and coiled together, while the energy from the Abyss Crown fragment acted like a fine thread, weaving through them and miraculously holding the opposing forces in balance.

"I understand now," she whispered, a flash of insight crossing her eyes.

"The reason this blade can reset space and time is that it uses the Abyss Crown fragment as a bridge, borrowing the power of the Abyssal origin—which once belonged to me—to balance the divine powers of light and darkness."

The fin-tailed youth shouted from the side, "It’s useless! Every time it resets, the Kraken only grows stronger! I have tried seventeen times!"

Azathoth let out a cold hum, his demonic wings snapping open and stirring a gust of wind. "That is because you are not my Queen!"

Cynthia raised the Blade of Time, feeling the Abyss Crown fragment—born of her own power—vibrating joyfully, as if a lost child had finally found the path home.

At the same time, the Kraken seemed to sense the threat. It let out a deafening roar, and dozens of tentacles struck at the three of them simultaneously, blotting out the sky.

"Azathoth!" Cynthia commanded.

"As you wish." Azathoth understood. He crossed his blades before his chest, a dark aura radiating from his body.

He shot toward the web of tentacles like an arrow released from a bow. Where his blades passed, the tentacles shattered, and dark blue blood gushed out, staining the surrounding sea a ghastly hue.

Cynthia did not hesitate. She focused her spirit and poured her own power into the Blade of Time. The black and white light on the dagger grew increasingly brilliant, and the strand of Abyssal origin energy within it swelled, beginning to suppress the divine powers of light and dark.

The Blade of Time vibrated violently, and a ring of light expanded outward, centered on Cynthia.

This time, time did not stop, but the Kraken’s movements slowed significantly, as if it were struggling through thick glue.

The fin-tailed youth stared in shock. "You... you changed the way the reset works?"

"I did not reset space and time," Cynthia replied, her eyes fixed on the Kraken’s massive form. "I merely adjusted the flow of time in this area."

Azathoth seized the opportunity to launch a fierce assault.

His speed left only blurred afterimages, and his twin blades traced silver paths, carving deep wounds into the Kraken’s main body. The Kraken roared, whipping up massive waves on the sea, but its sluggish movements left it unable to mount an effective counterattack.

"My Queen, Azathoth is ready at your command!" Azathoth’s gaze was fervent; it was as if he had returned to the days when he fought side-by-side with Cynthia.

Cynthia nodded. She could feel the divine powers of light and dark within the blade resisting her control. Her current reserves of Abyssal origin power were pathetic; a single fragment of the Abyss Crown could only do so much.

"Tell me," she turned to the fin-tailed youth, "whenever you reset space and time before, did you always return to a point before the Kraken appeared?"

"Yes, but every time it reappeared, it became stronger and more insane..."

"Interesting. The one who forged this Blade of Time had quite the vision. Azathoth, I am going to release the time dilation. Prepare for an all-out strike."

A smile of battle-lust curled on Azathoth’s lips. "Ready at any time, my Queen."

Cynthia took a deep breath and withdrew her power from the Blade of Time.

In an instant, the Kraken’s movements returned to normal speed. Enraged, it slammed all its tentacles toward the trio’s position, the sheer force enough to capsize a massive warship, accompanied by a terrifying howl of wind.

At this critical moment, Cynthia did the unexpected: she hurled the Blade of Time deep into the sea. She intended to use the Abyss Crown fragment within it to detonate the Sea of Clarity and slay the Kraken.

After a deafening boom, the water turned pitch black. The Kraken’s massive body was instantly torn asunder, only to quickly attempt to coalesce once more.

"I’ll help!" the fin-tailed youth shouted. He manipulated the seawater, forging it into countless chains. The chains shot into the sky, precisely binding every tentacle and the Kraken’s main body.

The Kraken let out a panicked shriek, struggling violently, but the chains remained unyielding.

"Now, Azathoth!" Cynthia shouted.

Azathoth had been waiting. He soared into the high sky, merging his twin blades above his head. All his shadow energy converged into the blades, forming a colossal knight’s greatsword.

"In the name of the Abyss, I end you here!" He roared as he dove, the greatsword piercing straight into the Kraken’s core.

There was no explosion, no scream—only a profound silence.

Then, the Kraken’s body began to crumble into ash from the point of impact, dissipating into the wind between the sea and the sky.

When the last speck of ash vanished, the sea returned to calm. Sunlight pierced the clouds, casting its glow as if the earth-shattering battle had never occurred.

Azathoth landed softly beside Cynthia, tucking his wings behind him and bowing slightly. "Mission accomplished, my Queen."

The fin-tailed youth stared at the calm sea in disbelief. It took him a long time to regain his senses, and he turned to Cynthia. "Who... who exactly are you?"

Cynthia gestured toward Azathoth. He dove down, catching Cynthia in one arm and scooping up the Blade of Time from the surface with the other. The light and dark divine powers still swirled within it, but the Abyss Crown fragment was gone.

"Cynthia. Just an ordinary Abyssal whelp."

She replied, lifting her gaze toward the distant horizon.