"Why?"
Tokisaki Kurumi was shocked.
Weren't you here to help me eliminate the Primordial Spirit?
Why suddenly say she can't be killed?
If the Primordial Spirit disappears, every spirit—including herself—would vanish. Was this a joke?
"This involves a theory called the Time Paradox. Explaining the principle is messy, so let me give an example."
Rosen calmed Kurumi as he spoke.
"A daughter bears a deep blood feud against her mother, but can't beat her, so she considers traveling to the past to kill her mother as a child. She manages to return to when her mother is young and weak. Question: can the daughter kill that child?"
"What kind of question is that? Of course she can; an adult killing a kid is easy."
Without thinking, Tokisaki Kurumi answered.
[Hell's Fubuki: "No, that shouldn't be possible."]
[I Don't Want to Eat Monsters: "Uh… so complicated, feels like my brain's growing."]
[Bad Woman: "Normally an adult could easily overpower a child—but first consider their identities: an adult daughter and a child mother."]
[Magic Old Man: "I get it—under normal circumstances, the daughter killing the past mother is impossible."]
[Magic Old Man: "Because the daughter was born of the mother; if the daughter returns to before her mother gave birth and the mother dies, the daughter could never be born."]
Reading the chat log, Tokisaki Kurumi half-understood.
She realized Rosen's example mirrored her and the Primordial Spirit.
"If that won't work, what if the daughter kills her mother after she's already given birth?"
Kurumi proposed another solution.
If eliminating the Primordial Spirit at birth wouldn't work, then travel to after she granted Kurumi power and finish her off!
"Same logic: if she strikes after the daughter's birth, then mother and daughter would never meet, and their Karma would vanish."
Rosen said.
"So you see, killing the Primordial Spirit isn't the best solution."
Besides, you must have seen Gabriel's setting notes earlier, right? The Primordial Spirit can hardly be called a villain—after the three mages summoned her, they kept experimenting on her. She later escaped, met the protagonist, and when one of those mages eventually killed him, the Primordial Spirit tried to revive him using this method.
The Spirits became her sacrifices; that's undeniable, and you have every reason to hate the Primordial Spirit. But let's look at it differently—there's a way to guarantee both your existence and Yamada Sawa's survival.
At the mention of her best friend, Tokisaki Kurumi's breathing quickened slightly.
To Tokisaki Kurumi,
the Primordial Spirit didn't matter—only Yamada Sawa did.
If Yamada Sawa hadn't died back then, or if the Primordial Spirit had simply told her the truth—Sawa had been given a spirit crystal as well, but couldn't endure its transformation and turned into a monster—things wouldn't have become so irreconcilable.
"So you want me to travel back to before the Primordial Spirit gave Sawa the spirit crystal? But I don't know the exact timeline."
Tokisaki Kurumi shook her head.
"We're going straight back thirty years."
Rosen said.
"You intend to stop the Primordial Spirit from appearing?"
"Not to stop— to conquer."
"?"
That said,
Tokisaki Kurumi still chose to trust Rosen's plan.
She was certain he would give her a satisfying answer.
"But how do we go back thirty years? I've already tried once, and my spirit energy is almost exhausted."
Kurumi sighed helplessly.
This world's death-row criminals have virtually all had their time drained by her.
Does she have to start siphoning petty offenders now?
"No need for that. You only absorb time to convert it into spirit energy; I can supply the spirit energy for you."
Rosen spoke so casually that Kurumi froze… (Read the most thrilling novels—only on Feilu Novel Network!)
"But Mr. Rosen, your power isn't spirit energy, is it? Or…?"
Suddenly Kurumi thought of a possibility.
Was Rosen planning to take her as one of his Familia?
If that were the case, she could indeed keep her powers and use Divine Power instead.
Though becoming Rosen's Familia Member might mean her body and soul would serve him, if it succeeded, Tokisaki Kurumi was willing—and she even intended to bring her dear sister Yamada Sawa into Rosen's larger family.
"Alright, I agr—"
Before she finished, Rosen placed a hand on her.
A torrent of Divine Power surged into the girl like a mighty river.
Relax—Divine Power ranks above spirit energy."
There won't be any conflict."
Rosen didn't know exactly how much spirit energy a trip thirty years back would cost, but he gave her more than enough Divine Power.
A few seconds.
Kurumi opened her eyes again, cheeks flushed as she looked at Rosen.
"Next time you pour power into me, could you give me a heads-up first?"
Such a huge current of energy had rushed in, impossible to refuse; Kurumi felt her blood surge and her whole body heat up.
3.1 Fortunately nothing else happened, or she'd have died of embarrassment right there.
After all, Rosen was still streaming live.
"Fine."
Rosen nodded.
"Now try to jump back thirty years."
At his words, Kurumi closed her eyes to sense the power inside her.
A colossal strength she had never felt before was swirling within.
Now she had absolute confidence she could beat every other Spirit except the Primordial Spirit into submission—and even hold her own against the Primordial Spirit for a while.
If she'd known a simple hand from Rosen could achieve this, she wouldn't have bothered with all that painstaking sting-operation fishing.
But she didn't get carried away basking in the feeling.
Confirming her spirit energy was sufficient, she immediately cast Yud Bet to return to the world thirty years ago.