Chapter 681 The Unchanging Past, the Murky Future, and the Presen
"No... I think the Event Loop is actually the best ability to use here. It may not be able to trap my opponents for long, but it can effectively disorient them more!"
"But what if my opponents have the capability to break the Event Loop? That will make things worse!"
"No no no… it cannot be like this! No!"
The current Xavier might feel confident about his abilities, but there are some issues about his situation that is making him worry. The words that he stated above were some of these worries, but there are still other problems that he had to face.
More specifically, Xavier found himself dealing with two issues, both of which can have a severe impediment against his power.
One was related to the people surrounding him, while the other was about his very own ability…
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In regards to the people surrounding him, Xavier actually only have a little trouble with it.
His enemies were still doing fine, and they did not show any indication of making any drastic move yet. The same thing goes for his companions, and they seem to be patient on waiting for Xavier to start.
The only problematic aspect in terms of people were the bystanders, especially the women who fawned on him earlier.
As much as Xavier tried his best to maintain a proper visage, the countless women who were observing Xavier"s handsome face had easily detected his distress and the change in his emotions.
These changes made the women observing Xavier to feely pity on him, with some giving Xavier looks full of concern.
They seem to have seen that something wrong about Xavier"s situation, and they might have tried helping him, were it not for the presence of the nearby Beatrice.
"Ugh, why are these women giving me those looks? I am not a pitiful guy!" Xavier muttered unhappily, as he now found himself greatly distracted by the attention on him. "Hey, don"t look at me like that, pretty ladies! Why don"t you just watch the Divine Maiden huh? That"s the reason that you came here, right?"
Even though Xavier was usually a soft-spoken person, the sheer amount of people that gave him pitying gazes was enough to stoke his anger.
In fact, if it weren"t for the presence of Beatrice and his enemies, Xavier would have begun berating the women around him. That"s how angry he is right now, and the fact that he can"t display it just enraged him more.
"…."
With no outlets for his anger, the best that Xavier can do was to contain his rage, as the act of being enraged to these women will just be a futile move.
"Ugh…. I swear that once I am done doing this mission, I will spend my remaining days avoiding crowds like this! Huhuhu, just seeing a lot of them here is enough to make me crazy…"
Realizing that he had no power to influence the crowd, Xavier had decided to ignore them for now.
There is still another problem that Xavier had to focus on, one that is actually much more important compared to the women…
This problem was the one in terms of his ability, the problem which had effects that could easily terminate his life.
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"Uh oh, the Fate Energy that is building up inside my body is becoming more and more berserk as time pa.s.sed by…. If this goes on for a few more milliseconds, my body will really blow up! Huhuhu, why does my power have to hurt me this way? Can"t you even just act behaved for once?"
If Xavier had to be unhappy with one thing about his ability, the number one thing that he will point out was his Fate Magic, the very same power that he was instructed to use against the Divine Maiden.
This power, which should have been the only thing that will help Xavier right now, was actually bringing him closer to the brink of death more than anything else….
"Ow, ow, ow! When will the Divine Maiden appear already? I have been waiting her for a few milliseconds, and she still has not appeared! Shouldn"t she appear by now? Come on, just appear already! If you don"t, I will really die here!"
The more that he felt the Fate Energy acc.u.mulating inside his body, the more that Xavier panicked, as he found himself having less time to decide on what to do.
The Divine Maiden is bound to show herself any time now, which means that Xavier has to be ready on attacking her, even if he"s still off guard at this time.
If he doesn"t attack the Divine Maiden on time, it will be Xavier who will perish, and not even his soul could survive from this backlash.
"S**t, s**t, s**t, it"s just the start of the day and I can"t still think of a way to handle this situation? Argh, if Beatrice gets a wind of this, she might beat me up on the spot!" As his fate magic continuously told him that his time to attack was about to arrive, Xavier found his panic increasing, with his mind already imagining all the ways that his attack would lead to worse scenarios.
He imagined himself getting gutted by his enemies, or having his head crushed by the scary-looking guards, who were all still observing him with grins on their faces. "Argh!!! Why do I have to do this?"
These fears had effectively paralyzed his body, to the point that Xavier wanted nothing more but to give up and just surrender.
"Huhuhu, I really want to stop attacking now, but there"s no way that I can stop now, right? Not with all these people staring at me…"
But as much as he wanted to curl up on the ground and s.h.i.+ver, Xavier knew that he is doomed to not rest.
The presence of his enemies and his Companions left Xavier in a tight situation, and the only way that he can move on was if he does what he was supposed to do.
"Huhuhuhu… if I was just a bit stronger, I might not be the one doing this… Sigh, it seems like I can only improve my status if I reach the Sixth Stage…."
With this reminder in his mind, Xavier forcefully shook his head as he revitalized his dedication to perform his task.
He then buried all of his fears deep inside him as he began to manipulate his acc.u.mulated power.
"Hong long~"
Before his fear could resurface in his mind, Xavier quickly grabbed the Fate Energy inside his body, with him ignoring the burning sensation that accompanied this move.
"Shula~"
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Once he accomplished this, Xavier did not immediately activate his chosen Fate Magic.
He still waited for the right moment to use his ability, which is obviously the time when the Divine Maiden shows herself.
"Hiss…"
But contrary to his expectations, the Divine Maiden did not show herself that fast. A few milliseconds pa.s.sed by, and she still did not appear.
This forced Xavier to forcefully rein in the Fate Energy inside him, a move that brought him so much pain.
"Hiss…"
Each moment that pa.s.sed by with the fate energy raging inside Xavier"s body made him want to cry, but he held all of his whimpers in, as he patiently waited for the Divine Maiden to appear.
"…."
"…."
"…."
5 more milliseconds had pa.s.sed by, and Xavier was already close to fainting due to the pressure emitted by his gathered Fate Energy. In fact, he could have fallen to the floor already by this time, as the pain was just too much, even for a Traveler like him.
The only reason that he did not collapse was because of his conviction to do his task and the fear of retaliation from Beatrice. These were the only things that kept him standing, and even if he already felt his organs slowly leaking blood from the stress, Xavier still held on.
"Hiss…"
By the time that 10 milliseconds had pa.s.sed by, Xavier realized that he"s about to collapse already, whether he liked it or not.
Such realization made him feel despondent, as he still had not done his task.
"..."
But fortunately for Xavier, just right before his knees could fall to the floor, he heard the loud sounds of applause from the people around him.
This was accompanied by a dizzying combination of chants and mantras, all that seemed to be focused on clearing up one"s mind.
"!!!"
Once he heard this, Xavier did not care even if his whole body was close to breaking down already.
Why would he even care about his well-being now, when his goal was already here right in front of him?
Even if his eyes and other senses were almost shut down due to his injuries, Xavier cannot be mistaken about the meaning of the applauses and adulations by the people around him.
These applauses were obviously meant for the Divine Maiden, and there is no one else in the Welcoming Ceremony that are meant to be applauded like this.
"So the Divine Maiden had already shown herself already? Sigh, I"m lucky that she decided to show herself at this point. If she didn"t, I doubt that my body can wait for longer…"
With his turbulent mind now calmed down by the presence of his target, the groggy Xavier did not waste any more time.
With only literally a few milliseconds left before he faints, Xavier began to circulate the Fate Energy all around his body.
He filled his skin, his muscle, his bones, and his organs with the berserk power that he gathered earlier, and he ignored the more injuries that it incurred.
"Argh!" Although the pain in his body increased due to this move, Xavier did not stop on a.s.similating his Fate Energy onto his body. He knew that he can only activate his ability once, which meant that stopping right now will lead to him essentially failing.
"Hahaha, so I still have what? A few more milliseconds before I faint? That"s enough time for me to unleash one ability…"
The prospect of using just one ability after all the torture that he went through could be enough to disappoint Xavier, but the man himself did not let himself be bothered by this.
One ability might seem weak, but since it was the elusive and mysterious Fate Magic that Xavier was using, even one ability is enough to make him dominant!
"Hehehe, even if I am a Fifth Stage Being, the effects of my Fate Magic is enough to offset this whole place. I just hope that Beatrice will fully use this situation to her advantage…"
With the target present and with Xavier"s body now filled with Fate Energy, all the preparations have been set.
Now, Xavier has to just use his ability, which he obviously did.
[THE RECORDS OF THE PAST, WHICH IS FIXED AND UNCHANGEABLE…]
[ THE ELUSIVE FUTURE, WHICH IS UNCERTAIN AND MURKY…]
[AND THE PRESENT, WHICH IS BOTH A REALITY AND AN ILLUSION….]
[WITH MY DOMAIN OVER FATE, THESE THREE SHALL BE LINKED TOGETHER!]