Time is the universe's most enigmatic and untouchable thing.
All beings interact with it; everyone moves endlessly forward along the path of time.
"If every single person is bound by time, can an AEON born from time reverse it?"
This is a question pondered by every scholar. Yet, this question forever remains unanswered.
Because no spirit of time controls this domain, the path everyone walks upon lacks an apex being to command it.
Yet all know, though none may command time, there is a being who moves through time in reverse.
Like a phantom roaming the universe, endlessly proclaiming prophecies destined to come true.
Its prophecies are unlike those of Nous, the Erudition, who reaches conclusions through knowing all things and meticulous calculations.
Its prophecies arise because it has truly witnessed the future.
This being is known by countless lives as Terminus, the AEON of Finality—the Final King.
It traverses above the currents of time, passing future messages to generations yet unborn.
Its followers devote themselves fervently to interpreting these prophecies, hoping for their sole encounter with this AEON, once in their lifetime—at the moment of their inevitable end.
For the moment of their meeting marks the moment its faithful followers face their ultimate Finality.
Among all AEONs, Terminus is the closest to time—and also the most mysterious.
None know its origins, nor its exact location.
Until one particular individual intruded upon its domain, changing everything in an extraordinary manner.
The surroundings resembled the depths of a boundless sea—no point of contact, a sense of leaving behind one's body, achieving freedom.
This was exactly how Sora felt at this very moment.
Only his consciousness existed here, allowing him to witness the true appearance of the AEON before him.
Countless hourglasses hovered around him, endless black mist flowing between them. And within that mist, he saw clearly an entity wandering constantly.
At the first glimpse of it, Sora instantly understood its true identity.
"Terminus…"
If any followers of Terminus knew about this, Sora would surely become the envy of them all.
He had met the AEON they'd dedicate their entire lives to encountering, without ever reaching their own end.
Unfortunately, Sora felt no excitement about this at all. Instead, he clearly understood why he had encountered this being.
At his last moment of consciousness, he had taken a gamble. The whisper he'd heard then must have been the outcome of that gamble.
"It turned out to be [Time Vent], capable of rewinding time?"
Sora was amazed by his own unbelievable luck, having randomly drawn this particular card.
After using [Strange Vent], a card changes into another card with a unique effect.
In the original show, this included abilities like Knight's [Trick Vent] and the final boss's [Steal Vent].
But here in his hand, the card had transformed into the most outrageous option: [Time Vent].
This card belonged to Kanzaki Shiro—the creator of the Rider War—who used it to endlessly reset the entire conflict.
After activating it, time would rewind, returning everyone to the point just before the Rider War started.
"If I use this card, then the time will revert back to..." Sora paused abruptly, suddenly realizing something critical.
No wonder Terminus had appeared to find him. It must be precisely because of this card.
"You came looking for me to erase this troublemaker who disrupts time, didn't you?"
Sora questioned directly toward the being wandering amidst the dark mist.
As an AEON who moved backwards along the flow of time, it was natural that Sora's usage of a time-reversal card would disturb the order of things to some extent.
Thus, it was logical that this AEON had sought him out.
Yet, instead of directly answering Sora's suspicions, Terminus transmitted a series of visions directly into his mind.
If Sora used the card, he would rewind all the way back to the moment he'd first acquired the power of Ryuki.
At that very instant, countless AEONs would immediately descend to destroy him.
Indeed, within the visions, Sora witnessed top-level existences launching attacks against him one after another.
Destruction, Harmony, Preservation, Abundance, Enigmata…
Except for the arrows of the Hunt and the mocking mask, every AEON—normally elusive and rarely seen—would instantly arrive at the battlefield in that moment.
Though this would resolve the swarm disaster spanning hundreds of light-years, it would simultaneously render thousands of surrounding light-years utterly uninhabitable for any life.
All because of one seemingly ordinary man.
[YOUR ACTIONS WILL RENDER MEANINGLESS EVERYTHING THEY HAVE DONE DURING THESE DAYS.]
Terminus slowly spoke to Sora: [YOU OBSTRUCT THEIR PATHS.]
And to AEONs, anyone obstructing the fulfillment of their Paths must be eliminated without question.
Thus, the moment Sora landed at that instant in the past, the AEONs would hold a joint assembly specifically to eliminate him.
Eighteen AEONs would convene, collectively punishing him for making all their efforts during this period utterly worthless.
Just imagining that scene caused Sora's entire being to involuntarily tremble.
After all, Yaoshi was among those AEONs.
If Yaoshi intervened, it was entirely possible that Sora would end up like Prometheus—a living example to illustrate the fate awaiting those who interfered with an AEON's Path.
Whenever any AEON's follower passed by him in the future, they might casually give him another taste of divine punishment...
Such a scenario was frighteningly plausible.
Does this mean I have to abandon the time rewind?
Sora fell silent again, contemplating events that would occur if he continued down his original timeline.
He was near a star; given enough time, he could fully recover.
But during that recovery period, what about the temporary encampment?
Though they'd already started retreating, Afterglow's attack range still covered them.
Previously, Dragreder had held off that attack for a long time, finally dissipating it completely.
Without anyone to intercept, Afterglow's strike would annihilate the temporary encampment and continue onward, traveling a vast distance—far beyond the encampment's ability to escape.
If he wasn't there, the camp's annihilation was practically guaranteed.
"Therefore, even if I must suffer later, I still have to go back!"
Having solidified this resolve, Sora turned his attention back to Terminus.
"Are you here to stop me?"
Terminus had shown him visions of the future—or rather, potential pasts—that could unfold. This made Sora suspicious about Terminus's true intentions.
If Terminus truly wanted to stop him, wouldn't it have simply held him in place? Why even bother showing him these visions?
Yet, unexpectedly, Terminus transmitted an unthinkable thought to Sora:
[COOPERATION, THEN?]
Sora froze completely upon hearing this. Wait—did he really just hear correctly?
Terminus wanted to cooperate with him?
For a brief moment, Sora wondered if he'd misheard.
But once again, Terminus conveyed clearly its desire for cooperation.
[IF WE COOPERATE, I CAN SEND YOU BACK A FEW HOURS, AND NONE OF THE OTHERS WILL NOTICE.]
Sora watched as the dark mist extended further forward, finally stopping directly in front of him.
This might be the closest he'd ever physically been to an AEON.
Yet, despite this, Sora still maintained clarity of thought. Even with an AEON so near, Sora remained utterly unafraid.
"Why would you cooperate with me?" This puzzled Sora deeply.
If others learned that Terminus was personally seeking cooperation with him, they'd be utterly shocked.
Yet for Sora, it merely evoked more doubts.
There was no such thing as a free lunch; everything had a price clearly marked.
What exactly made him valuable enough for an AEON to name a price?
[AFTER WE COOPERATE, I WILL PLACE YOU SEVERAL HOURS EARLIER. YOU WILL RETAIN ALL YOUR MEMORIES.]
[IN RETURN, I REQUIRE YOU TO DO SOMETHING FOR ME. ONLY YOU—UNTROUBLED BY TIME—CAN ACCOMPLISH IT.]
Upon hearing these conditions, Sora fell deep into thought.
This seemed extremely advantageous.
A few hours earlier, Afterglow had not yet launched its indiscriminate attack. He could change so many things...
Yet…
"What exactly do you want me to do? How many times, and what does it involve?"
Rather than immediately accepting, Sora carefully questioned Terminus further.
Just mentioning a price without clarifying its details would leave too much ambiguity. After all, Sora had received enough corporate training during his previous work experiences.
Thus, clearly listing out all the conditions was now essential to him.
Silence enveloped this place for a short moment. Terminus obviously hadn't expected Sora to negotiate terms with it.
A mortal bargaining with an AEON—such an absurd thing had likely never occurred in the entire history of the universe.
Yet here was Sora, openly stating conditions: "I'm negotiating with Terminus." A mortal seizing benefits directly from an AEON's hand.
Though Sora was fairly certain Terminus wouldn't trap him deliberately—unlike a certain mischievous deity—who could truly guarantee anything? AEONs were fundamentally different from humans; walking along their Paths, who could predict what they might do?
Thus, Sora needed to clarify every detail of their cooperation here and now.
The silence stretched, as though the negotiation had stalled.
However, cooperating or not wasn't really crucial for Sora. Even if returning meant certain death, he would still choose to go back.
Sora waited patiently. Seeing the ghostly figure in the black mist still unresponsive, he finally decided to leave.
Staying here wouldn't change anything. There was no reason for him to remain.
Ahead of him, he saw clearly the moment in time pulling him forward—the instant he first acquired the power of Ryuki.
As long as he stepped forward, he would return there.
Step by step, he advanced. Memories of past scenes rapidly unfolded before his eyes:
The temporary encampment swiftly shrank, returning to its original outpost. He saw Robin wresting command away from the company, supported by Jobs.
He saw Dragreder spitting out one Computer Sting after another, its massive body rapidly shrinking. He glimpsed Master Long, the miraculous physician...
Scenes flashed past rapidly until he finally reached the end.
Yet, just as he was about to step out of this space, a tendril of black mist suddenly caught his wrist from behind.
[YOUR CONDITIONS—I ACCEPT.]
Endless black mist surged, gently but firmly pulling Sora back.
[I WILL RETURN YOU TO EIGHT HOURS EARLIER. EVERY TWO HOURS WILL COUNT AS ONE INTERVAL. YOU WILL ASSIST ME FIVE TIMES.]
?!
Sora was momentarily stunned, "Shouldn't it be four times? Why is there an extra?"
[I MUST INTERVENE TO CONCEAL YOU FROM THE SENSES OF OTHERS. THAT TOO COUNTS AS ONE.]
[BEFORE EACH TASK, I WILL INFORM YOU. THESE ARE THE TERMS. DO YOU ACCEPT?]
Sora stared into the endless black mist, carefully reviewing the conditions Terminus had presented.
It sounds pretty fair, actually!
"All right, let's make it official, then."
The moment those words left his mouth, black mist surged onto his right hand, solidifying into a distinct symbol.
[THEN THE PACT IS SEALED.] Terminus's voice remained as emotionless as ever.
Then, it brought Sora before a specific point in time.
[THIS IS THE PERFECT MOMENT IN TIME. WHAT FOLLOWS DEPENDS ON YOU.]
Infinite black mist pushed Sora into that temporal point.
As he entered, his consciousness grew blurry. Vaguely, as though from far away, he heard a soft whisper:
[WHEN THE LIGHT SHINES BRIGHTEST, LIFE FADES AWAY…]
What was that? A riddle?
Carrying unanswered questions in his heart, Sora's awareness slowly faded away.
At that precise moment, an inexplicable ripple surged across the entire cosmos. Countless AEONs sensed it simultaneously.
Qlipoth halted mid-motion, lowering the hammer it was about to swing, staring into the distance. Seeing the black mist, it gave up investigating further.
Elsewhere, Yaoshi—who was currently spreading miracles across the universe—had eyes across its body shift abruptly toward a distant point in space.
However, it swiftly sidestepped, narrowly avoiding an arrow aimed from behind, and then resumed its journey.
Nanook, who had paused in place to heal a golden wound across its abdomen, glanced momentarily toward the distant anomaly but quickly refocused.
Such scenes briefly unfolded across various corners of the cosmos.
It was at this precise instant that Sora opened his eyes.
Standing upon the encampment's deck, he blinked, momentarily confused. Memories quickly flooded back, clarifying exactly what was about to unfold.
"So that's how it is."
His gaze shot toward a distant star system. With a subtle movement, he easily avoided Titania's sneaky attempt to stomp on his toes.
Titania was momentarily stunned when her sneak attack failed.
Why does this scene feel so familiar…?
But there was no time for her to linger in confusion. Sora promptly placed a firm hand upon her shoulder.
"I need your help right now. No time to explain—come with me!"
Immediately after saying this, he took Titania and swiftly departed.
Meanwhile, in the distance, Robin—who had been smiling cheerfully—suddenly felt her expression freeze stiffly in place.