Leonidas let out a startled gasp, his breathing heavy for no apparent reason. He had just emerged from his phosphene space, and yet, it felt like he had done something monumental.

What the hell is this feeling...

His instincts were screaming, and his mind was bubbling. He felt weak, more so than usual. Yes, he had just witnessed a dead god try to punish him, but this particular feeling was more of the mind than the body.

He swayed, clutching his head as a headache assaulted him. Shortly after Leonidas heard a scream...he immediately knew it was Willow, not a shred of doubt in his mind.

Hell, he had expected the scream to arrive before it even did.

Why am I thinking this way...why did I know?

It was wrong, yet felt right all the same. A flash passed through his memories, disappearing as soon as it came. Yet Leonidas had caught it, not entirely, but enough to somewhat understand his situation.

Is Willow going to die...?

But how could that be possible? She was the single toughest woman he had met, stronger than him, with a will so tyrannically vast that it seemed boundless.

But above that, her determination to live was larger, very much so. The woman had killed a god just to successfully finish her trial, and yes, it may have all been Contract’s plan, but she had done it all the same.

Which was exactly why Leonidas couldn’t understand how she could die.

Yes, she was the same rank as him, but her Mark allowed her to be supremely adaptable. It allowed her to thrive when survival wasn’t in sight.

Yet she dies all the same...

He sighed and then sat down. He crossed his legs over each other, eyes closed, in a seemingly meditative position.

Since my memories have been somehow altered, I should focus on regaining them.

From what Leonidas could gather, after the Shroud of Sacrifice had fused with his face, he had seen a memory Sacrifice had lived. He had also met Bloom, his Elemental Parent, and Sacrifice’s lover.

And after coming back to the real world...Leonidas had felt his instincts go haywire. He had felt his mind scramble in ways only possible when faced with certain death...and he had heard Willow scream, and somehow known with absolute certainty that she would die...as if he had witnessed it many times before.

This led Leonidas to a conclusion.

Either the Shroud had granted him some form of future sight...or, far more likely, it had altered the nature of his memory.

The latter made more sense. The Shroud’s description had spoken of the four core concepts of individuality.

So that meant only two possibilities remained.

Either he was remembering experiences his future self had yet to live through...

Or he had already lived them once before.

How annoying.

If it were the first option, he would have to run in to save her without any preparations. But that would mean that he wasn’t stuck in a loop, and could die.

But if it was the latter, he would sit and try to regain his memories, only then would he think of a way to counter the being that had killed him and Willow, find a way to transfer his memories back to the past, and then rush in with his already tested battle plan.

A gamble...

Sighing, Leonidas stood up and walked towards the exit, Savior manifesting behind him in a burst of luminous silver flames.

Her infernal eyes burned with a deep desire to kill, as if she, too, was experiencing something trying to burrow into her stern mind.

They ran towards the exit, rushing down hallways that fixed themselves behind him, ghostly blue flames burning away the darkness.

He stepped out of the titanic gates of darkness, a grating sound echoing through the surroundings. Leonidas’s cerulean eyes swept across the clearing, taking in everything that was happening all at once.

Most things were on fire or shattered under a colossal weight. A woman stood facing an enormous root. It blotted out the sky, moving with the grace of a snake and the strength of a lion.

Holy fuc—

"Willow, get out of there now!"

Leonidas screamed on top of his lungs, but either she didn’t hear him, or chose not to, because the next moment the root descended with all the fury of an angry deity.

He glanced at Savior, who was already rushing in to save her lookalike. Her form rippled like bubbling water, and then she erupted like a geyser.

A ten-meter-tall giant met the root mid-descent, her blade carving deep into the fleshy tendril. Green blood burst from the wound, a waterfall of sticky pus cascading.

Willow barely registered the whole fiesta, her body moving on instinct as she escaped the area of impact. Savior held on for a few more seconds, but under the harrowing force behind the Root’s assault, she barely mattered.

The infernal knight was thrown away like a toy, flying across the clearing before slamming into an obsidian pillar connected to the Sanctum.

I forgot she got downgraded to an enlightened.

The battle would have been so much easier had she still remained at her original level. Cursing under his breath, Leonidas grabbed Willow’s arm and assessed her injuries.

Her armor was near shattering, held together by sheer stubbornness, while her sword was similarly cracked. Numerous cuts marred her body, blood dripping from them in slow droplets.

Her eyes met his, full of questions, yet she spoke none. They held gazes for a while longer, then turned to face the behemoth that was slithering towards them.

Root was already healed, the massive wound Savior had given him replaced.

"How lucky we are. We’re gonna be the first people to kill a Vis-ranked pilgrim as newly enlightened." 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

Leonidas’s eyes went wide, a sudden fear taking hold. He had been treated like a rag doll when he had fought Toothpick, a mere Superus, a whole rank beneath their current enemy.

Then Leonidas chuckled.

"Life truly is unfair, isn’t it, my dearest Willow?"

"It sure is."

They charged forward, meeting the infernal plant head-on.