Daniel was montarily stunned. For a brief instant, he truly did not understand what Karlbira ant by those words.
anwhile, the woman standing before him—Karlbira—smiled faintly, her expression calm yet carrying an unmistakable trace of deeper aning. Her voice was light, even gentle, as she spoke again to remind him:
"Lord Crossbridge, it seems you’ve overlooked one very important fact. Across all existing worldlines... you are the only being whose na has ever been engraved upon the Fate Stone."
Her gaze t his directly.
"You... are the most exceptional one."
"When you appeared before today, I saw many different endings unfold at once."
"To be precise, the final outco itself has not changed—but within that inevitable end, there have appeared several unexpected deviations."
Daniel’s brows knitted together slightly as he absorbed her words. The Fate Stone... was it truly capable of such absolute, godlike authority? And more importantly—what exactly was Karlbira trying to tell him?
If she truly already knew every possible ending, then what aning was there in eting him now? Why go through all of this at all?
Just as these doubts surfaced in his mind, Karlbira spoke again:
"Lord Crossbridge... please take with you."
Daniel’s gaze sharpened.
"If I remain by your side, I will no longer be able to see anything that happens after your future."
"Of course, whether or not you choose to take away from this place is sothing you must consider very carefully. Because the mont you do... every previous tiline will imdiately beco completely fixed."
She paused briefly, then added with a soft smile:
"If that sounds difficult to understand, then think of it this way—I beco the nail that pins down ti itself. The instant I leave this space, everything that once happened here, and every mont we shared in the past, will all be permanently sealed into absolute history."
At this point, Karlbira fell silent.
She looked at Daniel with an expression of rare seriousness, waiting.
Daniel said nothing at first.
In truth, he had already been thinking about whether he should take Karlbira with him. Yet almost the mont the question solidified in his mind, the answer surfaced just as quickly.
"Yes," he said calmly. "Karlbira, I will take you away from here."
For a split second, Karlbira froze.
Then she sighed helplessly and let out a faint, soft laugh.
"Just as I expected... Lord Crossbridge, you truly are soone who never surprises in this regard."
In reality, long before Daniel had arrived here, she had already foreseen this very outco.
She lowered her gaze slightly.
"Still... if I truly wish to leave this place, it seems that only you are capable of taking with you."
Her voice gradually grew heavier.
"This is a genuine ultimate prison. Even I—relying solely on my own power—cannot escape from it. Even if I were to fully ascend as a god beyond all limits, nothing would change."
"So, Lord Crossbridge... you do understand the price of taking away, don’t you?"
"Do you truly have no regrets?"
At those words, a flicker of contemplation flashed through Daniel’s eyes.
After a mont’s silence, he smiled faintly and asked instead:
"Karlbira... if I choose not to take you with —what will happen to you?"
Karlbira’s expression remained perfectly calm. There was no emotional ripple at all caused by his question.
"If you do not take away from here," she said softly, "then I suppose this will be the last ti we et."
"I will remain here... until the end of the world."
Daniel frowned slightly.
There was sothing off about her state—it felt wrong, subtle yet undeniable. After a short pause, he spoke again, his voice low:
"So... just how long have you actually been trapped here?"
For the first ti, Karlbira’s smile faltered.
A fleeting mont of desolation flashed through her eyes, a sadness so faint yet so profound that it almost escaped notice.
But in the very next instant, it was completely concealed.
"Lord Crossbridge," she said evenly, "you seem to have forgotten... I am the god of the ti domain. So tell —what aning does the passage of ti actually have for ?"
"Moreover... in order to conduct countless simulations, I have traveled through an imasurable number of tilines. The total amount of ti that has passed as a result of that... even I can no longer calculate it."
Just as he had suspected.
A look of quiet understanding appeared in Daniel’s eyes.
Back in his previous life, countless people had dread of immortality. Just like the emperors of ancient tis, who were willing to sacrifice everything in their desperate pursuit of eternal life.
Yet the truth was—eternal life was not a blessing at all.
It was a curse.
Even Daniel himself had only lived for a few hundred years at most across all his reincarnations and traversals. And even that limited span had already caused his inner waters to grow stagnant, like a pool so still it could no longer ripple.
If one were to truly live for millions of years... or even hundreds of millions...
The re thought of it made Daniel feel that such an existence would be the most terrifying punishnt imaginable.
At this realization, Daniel looked at Karlbira again—this ti with a trace of pity added to his gaze.
After a brief pause, he spoke with quiet sincerity:
"Karlbira... I will respect your wishes. If you truly want to remain here, then I will not force you to leave."
That answer caused Karlbira to freeze once more.
She looked at Daniel again, and this ti, a spark of light appeared in her eyes.
"I truly didn’t expect this," she said softly. "Lord Crossbridge... you would actually change your original decision for my sake."
Her lips curved upward slightly.
"It seems... there truly is so form of emotional bond between us after all, isn’t there?"
Her expression shifted.
In a subtle, almost imperceptible transformation, the familiar presence of Kartora returned.
To her now, which face she wore no longer truly mattered. More accurately, the form she assud rely reflected the fluctuations of her emotions.
And now, because Daniel’s answer had stirred her heart, Kartora erged.
"Lord Crossbridge," she said gently, "this place is a prison to ."
"So... I want you to take away from here."
Upon hearing her answer, a faint smile finally appeared on Daniel’s face.
"Kartora... it’s good to see you again."
"Since you’ve already made up your mind, then let take you away."
He paused briefly, then asked calmly:
"No matter what kind of difficulties we may face in the future... you’ll stand by my side, won’t you?"
As he spoke, he slowly extended his hand toward her.
However, what he did not expect was this—
Kartora suddenly rushed forward without hesitation and threw herself directly into his arms.
"Lord Crossbridge," she whispered softly, "I will always, always stay by your side and help you."
But in the very next mont, her voice softened once more at his ear:
"However... right now, I still cannot leave this place with you."
"There are so matters that have not yet been completed. I still need you to help tidy these chaotic tilines."
"And... many crucial things must be done personally by you."
Seeing the confusion in Daniel’s eyes, Kartora continued:
"The tiline we are currently within was the result of my careful and deliberate selection."
"If you had not co... then everything that happened before would have lost all aning."
"As for what cos next—you must..."
At that point, Kartora transmitted everything—her thoughts, her plans, and every task Daniel would need to carry out—directly into his mind through mind power.
An imasurable torrent of information flooded into his consciousness.
On the other side of that shared connection, as Daniel absorbed all of it, the fog of uncertainty finally lifted from his expression.
A look of sudden clarity erged in his eyes.
"So that’s how it is..."
He exhaled slowly, then nodded with quiet decisiveness.
"All right. I understand now."
"Leave the rest to ."
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