"Wha.. haa... the hell happened?"

Feeling my rough breath and looking down at the Priest's body in front of me, I didn't know what to make out of the situation.

Tik, tik-

Lowering my head to stare at the stopwatch - 5:19 P.M. — a thought crossed my mind.

'Did I travel back in time?'

.... It would make sense considering how time had shifted back by about half an hour.

Everything that I had experienced felt so real from the hand at my throat to the tension that I felt when trying to get out of this place.

"No, wait."

That was when it finally hit me.

Shifting my attention towards my status window, my eyes fell on a specific skill. "...!"

My eyes immediately widened when I noticed the skill appear in gray; [The Eyes of the Seer]. From its color, I knew that the skill was in some sort of cooldown. I didn't know for how long, but at the very least, I was now sure of one thing.

'So that's the case.'

What had happened a few moments prior was all because of the skill.

"Rather than time travel, it's more like I caught sight of the future."

A possible scenario that would occur had I gone through with my original plan. The thought made me break out into cold sweat.

'...I was so close to losing everything.'

Fiddling with my hands, I paced around the room, adjusting my mind accordingly and calming myself down. After a little while, my gaze fell on the priest who sat by the chair.

Considering how he was still passed out, I didn't worry too much about him doing anything and started to search his body.

"It's here."

That was when I finally caught sight of a communication device and pulled it out.

'I was too hasty. I should've known better.'

Given the abruptness of the situation, I didn't think about the communication device. It never really crossed my mind since my plan was to get rid of the two of them. However, it was now clear to me that the communication device was important.

Tzzz-

A notification flashed suddenly flashed across the device.

-Is something happening? What is taking you so long?

It was a message from the other priest.

-....Marian?

-I will be coming to the room if you don't answer me soon.

"As expected, he's about to come."

Tik, Tik-

It was; 5:20 P.M.

I still had just about ten minutes before he would come to me.

'No, by then it will be a little too late.'

Without hesitation, I started to type a message on the communication device. However, just as I was about to send the message, I stopped.

"Wait, this is not it."

My main source of trouble wasn't the two priests.

The one that I was troubled with was the white-robed man. He was like a source of impending doom that was breathing heavily down the back of my neck.

It was as if he was watching every step that I made, waiting for me to inevitably slip before taking me away.

"Even if I do manage to get out, it feels like he'll still come for me."

If so, what could I do?

...I needed to find a way to get him off my back.

"But how?"

How exactly can I do that?

Clench.

Clenching my teeth, I bit onto my lips and massaged my chin. All sorts of ideas surfaced through my mind as I tried to think of a way to get out of this situation.

I had a lot of ideas, but all of them seemed fruitless before the Keeper.

It felt as though he could see through everything.

"How? How can I-"

My steps paused and I looked down to my hand.

Finally, a thought crossed my mind and I felt a lump form in my throat. Eventually, biting my

lips with even more force, I put the communication device away.

"This is crazy. This is absolutely crazy. But..."

What if?

***

Tik, Tik-

It was; 5:28 P.M.

"What is taking him so long...?"

Priest Kyle checked the time and frowned. It had been a while since Marian had left and he had yet to contact him. Was there some sort of situation?

"I'll wait for a little bit more."

Kyle stood at the entrance of the building for a further few minutes, contacting Marian in the process. He was hoping he'd receive an answer soon enough but that answer never came.

His heart slowly started to sink.

'Did something really happen?'

The two of them were currently in charge of a very important mission.

Although ten minutes of no communication seemed like nothing, for a mission as important

as theirs, it was a lot of time. Priest Kyle understood the gravity of the situation and decided to send a message to the Keeper.

[Priest Marian has entered the Confessional room. He has yet to respond to me. I will be going to check it out now. If you do not hear a reply within the next few minutes something happened to the two of us.]

The message was clear and straightforward. It was just a safety precaution in case something happened inside.

If something really did happen, it would be best if the Keeper was alerted.

"Okay"

Once he was done sending the message, priest Kyle directly made his way toward the room

where the special guest was staying.

Tak-

The corridor was long and each step quietly echoed throughout.

Moving with careful, deliberate strides, the priest finally arrived at the designated room,

stopping just before the door.

To Tok-

"Marian?"

He silently called out after knocking on the door.

A strange silence followed after his knock. It was an unsettling silence that made him hesitate. Holding onto the communication device tightly, he placed it in his pocket before

opening the door.

Tik, tik-

It was; 5:33 P.M.

" ["

Kyle's eyes shot wide open the moment he set his eyes inside the room - Sitting in the middle of the room was the cadet who looked at him with a calm expression. Beneath him were two bodies. One belonged to Marian while the other one belonged to his holiness.

They both looked dead.

Especially the Pope. He... "W-what?"

The priest's body shook.

Alternating his gaze between the two bodies and the cadet, Kyle's expression changed

dramatically.

"W... What did you do?"

Kyle unsheathed his sword.

Shing!

"What did you do!?"

His voice billowed throughout the room. While he wasn't very strong, it should be enough to

deal with a second-year cadet.

Albeit...

We were talking about the strongest of the four Empires.

'No, wait. I need to quickly let'

"Don't bother."

A calm voice filled the room. Kyle's expression changed as he raised his head.

"....You were about to contact the Keeper, right? Don't bother. You won't have a chance to use

it before I kill you."

The cadet raised his hand and threads suddenly shot out of the room.

Kyle's expression shifted and he dodged. Seeing that the situation had turned out like this, he

stopped thinking about the communication device and charged at the cadet.

"The Keeper should be here soon. I'll just have to resist for ten minutes. Even if I can't defeat him, I

should be able to resist for that long!'

Tik, tik-

It was; 5:35 P.M

Swoosh!

Kyle leaned forward, narrowly dodging the threads that shot down from above. Though

incredibly thin and nearly invisible, he managed to track them, each thread laced with faint

traces of mana that glimmered just enough for him to sense.

Being famous wasn't exactly a good thing.

It enabled people to understand how their skills worked and Kyle understood Julien's skills well.

That was why he wasn't surprised by his thread skill and was in fact even able to bypass them

and get near him.

Just as he dodged, a chill crawled up the back of his neck. Instinctively, Kyle planted his foot firmly, pivoted, and swung his sword in a swift arc behind him, aiming to intercept whatever

was coming from behind him.

Clank!

Sparks flew in the air as Kyle was forced to take several steps back.

As his chest rose and fell he looked at his sword where a dent had formed.

"This..."

He could hardly contain his surprise. It had to be noted that his sword, while not exactly a

powerful relic, was still quite sturdy. Made from a relatively rare metal and monster bone, it

would take a lot of power to dent it.

For the cadet to dent his sword with his threads...

"This is bad.'

Sweat trickled down the side of Kyle's face.

His palms felt sweaty and panic started to settle in his mind.

'Can I even last ten minutes....?'

At the rate that the fight was going, he wasn't so sure he could even last that long. However,

he didn't have much time to dwell on his situation. Feeling a faint trace of a mana movement

up ahead, his expression tightened and he quickly jumped to the right side.

Xiu! Xiu!

Small holes formed on the ground where he once stood as threads appeared from out of thin

air.

'So quick!'

Kyle's expression shifted, his eyes scanning every corner of the room.

He was trying to shift the situation in his favor.

The urge to bolt nearly overtook him, but he resisted, realizing that rushing for the exit would

likely play right into the cadet's hands. Instead, he steeled himself, and his mind raced with

all sorts of possibilities.

Eventually, an idea formed in his mind.

A bold and reckless idea, but what else could he do?

Clenching his teeth, Kyle shifted his attention around the room before the right side of his

chest started to glow.

Bone skill; Sun's Glare.

A bright light instantly shot throughout the room, blinding his vision. Hastily closing his

eyes, Kyle darted forward. Towards where the cadet was.

He had imprinted and memorized the layout of the room in advance so he knew where to

head.

"Haa!"

His speed was fast. In moments, he arrived before where the cadet was, and without wasting

his breath, he slashed down.

Spurt!

His blade connected with something solid, followed by a wet, sickening splatter across his

clothes. A metallic scent of blood filled the air, clinging to him.

'Did I do it?!'

Elation filled the priest who blinked his eyes a couple of times in order to recover his sight and

when he did, he looked down to see the result of his actions.

"....!"

Only for his breath to leave his body shortly after.

"W-what?"

He took a step back, his hands trembling as he stared at the scene ahead - Priest Marian lying

on the chair with a deep gash over his body.

"....H-how could, how could?"

Wasn't the cadet over there? How could this...?

"Pftt."

A certain chuckle filled the room and Kyle's head flicked down towards where Marian's body

used to lay. It was there that he finally realized he had been tricked as Julien appeared on the

ground, a mocking smile marring his features.

Tik, Tik-

The clock ticked.

"You!"

Kyle's eyes turned bloodshot.

An uncontrollable rage that made him lose his cool. Without thinking, he raised his sword and

slashed down directly at Julien.

Swoosh!

His sword drew a straight arc down, directly aimed at Julien's neck.

Julien's gaze remained locked on the blade, unnervingly composed, not even a flinch crossing

his face.

In that tense moment, as the sword's tip hovered mere inches from his neck, a force suddenly

yanked Kyle's body sideways, flinging his body to the nearby wall.

Bang!

"Uekh!"

As the wall caved in, blood spewed out from the priest's body.

Thud!

Sliding down the side of the wall, clarity returned to the priest's mind as he raised his head.

"Cough...! Cough!"

'W-what...? What the hell happened?'

Lifting his head, he looked up to see a white figure standing by the entrance of the door. His

eyes widened at the sight.

"What do we have here?"

Tik, Tik-

It was; 5:41 P.M.