Chapter 19: Eternal loop

*tabdak* tabdak* *tabdak*

"Damn it! Why Vita? Why?" screams Kyrie inraged.

As Kyrie frantically races with the horse towards the column of light, through the gaps of the houses, he looks at the lake illuminated by light. When he got closer and closer, the column of light became narrower, and a figure appears through the light floating in the air

*neigh*

Kyrie stops the horse and slowly moves towards the seashore in front of the floating woman.

She is wearing modern clothes just like a citizen from his previous world: a plan shirt under an oversized jacket and black jeans with a pair of sneakers.

She lands on water and opens her eyes slowly. Her eyes are empty as if she was possessed and walks on water towards Kyrie.

Kyrie takes the sword from the side of the saddle and lets the horse go. Once she arrives at the shoreline, she lands.

"Imogen," says Kyrie solemnly. "You should have come much later from the god realm, why are you here so early?"

Imogen does not respond. Instead, she raised her hand to the sky, and gold particles gathered in her hand into a ball of light. After that, the ball of light extends itself forming a spear to then into a sword.

[That's... That's Imogen's personal sword!!!]

"What are you planning to do, Imogen?!?!"

No answer.

"Imogen!"

Tears flow out of Imogen's lifeless eyes.

"Imogen?" Kyrie is startled from Imogen's tears. In the novel, she has not even cried when she failed to achieve what she came for.

She grabs the floating sword and draws it from its sleeve.

[Damn it!]

Imogen swings her sword towards Kyrie, in which he intercepted with the sword in his hand. He gets sent away flying, unable to hold a candle to the force that came towards him. He clashes to one of the walls surrounding the seashore and breaks it into rubble.

Kyrie goes out of the wreckage behind him and throws away his bend out of shape sword. Blood flowed from his forehead, over his right eye, and tickling down from his chin. Then he summons the sword that Vita gave him. Although the sword lost its shine, it was still harder than any sword manufactured by humans.

Kyrie can feel his body shaking, shaking so violently at Imogen's presence. He knows that the limits from the contract have yet to take effect on Imogen's body. This has happened in the novel.

Before the limits from the contract took effect, Imogen flattened the entire area close to the lake. Then, she went into a killing spree, killing people indiscriminately one by one.

That was also the time in the story that the king of Ethern dies slain by Imogen. The kingdom of Ethern becomes complete chaos after the ascension of Queen Silva.

"What the heck is this?" "Who is she?" "Is she summoned by our goddess?"

People started to gather. One, in particular, goes towards Imogen and asks, "Are you the saintess? Are you..."

"No!" screams Kyrie when Imogen swings her sword towards the man. Kyrie intercepts her sword again. Kyrie staggers back while the man is sent flying.

"What are you doing hanging here? RUN!" yells Kyrie at the people that are gathering.

Kyrie warning them got them back from the daze and started to run for their lives. Kyrie's right arm is entirely numb, limping on his side. His sword is on the ground.

[Damn it!!! It seems like I will have to use the blessings now.]

A golden light wrapped around Kyrie and a magic circle appeared in the air next to his right arm. His right arm that was out of shape started to form back and return to the original state. Then, he starts chanting. Magic circles appear in successions on the ground. The water from the lake rises and floods the seashore. That water surrounding Imogen's ankles freezes and holds Imogen in her position.

Then numerous spikes of ice form from the water and shoot at her. Imogen, in a split second, frees herself and jumps into the air. A small ball of air is formed on the bottom of her feet. Aiming at Kyrie, she propels towards Kyrie, ready to swing her sword at him.

Unfortunately, the entire fight was utterly one-sided. Kyrie crashes to the floor. Imogen grabs his collar and drags him on the floor face down. Kyrie flinches with pain every time a rock hit his wounds or sand ripped them wider through friction.

On her other hand, she looks at Kyrie's sword and scuffs.

She says, "Vita's paladin... You are not worthy of such a title. I don't know what Vita saw in you even to let you meet her." She throws to the side his sword and steps on it. The sword soon turns into golden particles and blends into the air.

She throws Kyrie like a rag, and he lands on the floor without a single sound coming from him.

"What? Did you die already?" Imogen pulls his head up by the hair.

Kyrie forces his eyes to open. His eyes are filled with hostility.

Looking at Kyrie, Imogen smiles with pleasure and says, "At least the blessings are working! You seem to be still alive. I do like people who are like indestructible cockroaches. If you die like this, I would be too bored. But, I won't play with you that much since Vita gave me her first order."

*thud*

"Kyrie! Kyrie!" Ian lands from his horse and picks Kyrie's body.

Kyrie pukes out blood while coughing uncontrollably and then goes unconscious. Ian looks at Kyrie's beaten up body and shakes wildly.

His expression gets unbelievably dark, and he looks at Imogen with a murderous stare.

The Vicar lands from his horse as well and quickly walks towards Ian holding Kyrie's body.

"How did..." The Vicar takes a look at Kyrie's body and then quickly looks at the mysterious woman with weird clothes.

The majority of Kyrie's bones are broken.

"You better heal him if you want him to live," says Imogen.

While Kyrie was getting healed, Ian stands up and confronts Imogen.

"Why?" Ian asks.

According to the Vicar, the signs showed that the woman in front is a saintess sent by Vita.

"Why are you doing this to your comrade?" Ian draws his sword.

Imogen likes these kinds of expressions that have a single root cause: fear.

She gives him a wicked grin and says, "Because it was fun. But you, mister. You look more fun."

Her grin sends chills down his spine many times. She reaches towards Ian's face and stops all of a sudden.

"Ahhh... It seems like my limitations have arrived. Too bad! Let's have fun next time." Imogen walks away.

Ian falls with his face pale. Never has he encountered someone with such a terrifying aura.

As she was walking away, Imogen touches her sword wound on her abdomen and smiles.

The pain awoke her from her unconsciousness during the fight. Remembering Kyrie's intense eyes while fighting the losing battle cracks another smile on Imogen's face.

"This round will be fun."

---

"Kyrie... Kyrie... Brat!"

Kyrie opens his eyes and sees the infinite sea and sky. Vita is in front of him with frowning with a concerned expression.

"Vita. Please... please tell me why?"

Vita looks at him with guilt and says, "The wheels of fate have changed, and the events sped up faster than the original timeline."

Kyrie's tears began to flow out of control.

This was his first time crying in this world.

To think that at one moment, you have control over what you want, but the next, you completely lose it. Is this really what helplessness feels like?

Soon, the world will flood with blood and tears. Was happiness too much to ask for?

Kyrie's original plan was to find allies and collect relics like how Imogen did, but before that could even happen, the demon invasion from the forest of Labam happened. Worse, Imogen arrived. The events sped up for more than five years.

[Right now, I am powerless. I will not be able to handle even the earliest of events, much less the later ones.]

"That is why you have Imogen, Kyrie. I purposely send Imogen because I knew that you would not be able to do this alone," said Vita.

"Imogen... Imogen will never do anything that is not in her interests! You know this, Vita. You know that despite the fact that for more than two thousand years, you, a god, was never able to change her. She will go down the same path and choose the same choices, because all of them, she did it with a clear mind."

"Kyrie... If you were Imogen and the person that she loves is Ian, wouldn't you have chosen the same thing as her?" said Vita.

"Vita, I am not her."

"How can you be so sure, Kyrie? She was forced to choose between two choices with no other alternative. Why are you so reluctant to even work with her? Can't you see that this tragedy is not completely because of her? You were able to change Ian from the destructive path that he was supposed to walk. Then, why is it that you cannot do it for Imogen?"

"I am not a charity, Vita. Just because I tried my best to give Ian warmth, does not mean that he would be able to skip staining his hands. I came to this world to play with a deadly game and try to find a way out for Ian. I did not come here to die."

"Then, why do you not kill Imogen's lover before Imogen meets her?"

Kyrie's eyes were surprised by Vita's suggestion.

Vita's face looks as if she said something she wants to take back.

It was somewhat ironic, a god of the living, suggesting the death of one of her creations.

She looks down with a frown and seems like she has thought about this alternative over and over again.

"That is a very tempting choice. Maybe that would give Imogen more chance to choose to save the world."

"Let's think of a different alternative before that. Imogen took care of the first horde from the forest of Labam. The second round will come soon. I think it's time for you to wake up."

Kyrie opened his eyes, and by his side, Ian was asleep in his chair. Kyrie smiles. He gently carries him to the bed and tucks him in.

[Vita looks more and more like a human to me. She cannot keep her indifference and composure, but I guess it would be weird if this does not get to her. She had to see the same thing happen for two thousand years.]

He looks at his hand and feels another sword inside. Vita must have given Kyrie another sword since Imogen destroyed his during the fight.

Vita's words flash on Kyrie's mind, "How can you be so sure, Kyrie? She was forced to choose between two choices with no other alternative. Why are you so reluctant to even work with her? Can't you see that this tragedy is not completely because of her? You were able to change Ian from the destructive path that he was supposed to walk. Then, why is it that you cannot do it for Imogen?"

[What can I really do? Imogen is described as a cruel and ruthless being who can betray anyone at any time if she sees that she can gain far more sacrificing that person. She fearlessly uses any kind of method that could give her the upper hand. She only lives for her own purpose. In addition to that, Imogen, despite becoming a mortal, is way more powerful and monstrous than one.]

Imogen was a demi-god.

A deity that fell in love with a mortal from a world where it was meant to be destroyed.

For two thousand years, she placed an eternal conditioned loop on herself to go back in time over and over again to the last days of this world. She did it despite sacrificing all her essence and her status as 'demi-god' to make this possible.

Her purpose has initially been simple: she wanted to save this world and save her lover from the tragic fate she also has to go through.

However, she was going against fate, a mysterious law that reigns over everything. There has not been a single person that does escape from fate's maneuvers. Sadly, Imogen went through over four thousand rounds of tragedies. She did not take into account the possibility that she would not be able to save the world, and her actions to place the eternal loop on herself never stopped because, in her mortal body, she did not live until natural death.

She broke like an overused doll and went crazy right around at her two-thousandth round. She started to lose her memories every round after that and became a crazy killing machine.

Vita was one who witnesses the tragedies; after all, she remembers all. Vita kept all the records with her in the Infinity Abyss.