Time Paradox
by Afuhfuihgs
The swung spear was blocked by something invisible. He used telekinesis without any movements, spells, or incantations. The original Pontiff was set up to be a warrior skilled in close combat, on par with Roel.
Yunbo (輪寶). He was set up to freely use a round-shaped sword commonly called a chakram, but seeing that it didn’t budge at all even when I kept putting strength into the hand holding the spear shaft, it seemed that the current Pontiff could freely use magic that didn’t exist in the setup.
Moreover, the magic that my companions used felt very different. Should I call it a difference in the fundamentals? It wasn’t simply magic using mana, but it felt like he was creating magical phenomena using the power of chaos. To put it simply, it was close to the appearance of a wandless, incantation-less magician.
「Wasn’t what you wanted to revive Luna? I don’t know why you’re getting excited and swinging your spear even though I’m offering help.」
Seeing him tilting his head as if he really didn’t know, I put away my spear and said.
“Hearing Luna’s name from your filthy mouth makes it impossible for me to hold back my anger.”
「So you’re saying you’ll reject my offer. There wouldn’t be much difference between reviving her with the Holy Grail or reviving her with my power… I guess you’re not that desperate after all. Or are you just trying to protect your manly pride?」
I didn’t avoid his gaze as if he was trying to see through me, and I countered.
“Because it’s too obvious that you’re trying to exploit a person’s desperation as a weakness.”
Of course, I’m desperate. But just because I’m desperate doesn’t mean I have any intention of accepting the Pontiff’s offer. He’s a bastard who destroyed countless other worlds. There’s no way he’d make an offer that would only benefit me. Luna, revived by the Pontiff’s power, was likely either an elaborate fake or a ticking time bomb whose life could stop again at any moment. Or maybe accepting the offer itself was a huge trap.
“Don’t underestimate me. Your kind can’t exploit my desperation for Luna.”
Using the power of the Holy Grail, which was a discarded setting, was the safest way to not lose Luna again. So I could reject the Pontiff’s offer without a moment’s hesitation.
The Pontiff, who was calmly looking at me, scratched his head and said as if complaining to a friend.
「I think you’re greatly misunderstanding me. Such an aggressive attitude at our first meeting, we could be good friends, surprisingly. If you just lower your aggression a little.」
At the Pontiff’s action of raising his thumb and index finger and putting them together, I said, boasting of my aggression, as I imbued mana into the shadow spear and finished preparing to swing it at any moment.
“Misunderstanding? Do you think I don’t know that you colluded with the god of the Chaos Church to trap other worlds in a cycle?”
I have a memory of meeting Roel, whose arm was cut off by the Pontiff who had revived in a different world, unlike in the novel. That first world is the beginning of this whole story. It was the god of the Chaos Church who destroyed that world, but it was clear that the Pontiff in front of me was the cause.
The lips under the wriggling mask smiled. The Pontiff shrugged his shoulders with a nonchalant attitude.
「How could I do that? I’m Ross from long after the first cycle was created. If you think about the timeline a little, you can find the contradiction in the order.」
It’s either a lie, or he used another method. But if the Pontiff’s words are true, then this is definitely a contradiction. I know that the Pontiff is the culprit because I directly experienced other worlds, but that means I don’t know how he could have trapped the first world in a cycle.
“That’s…”
Suddenly, a certain thought and memory flashed through my mind. And I realized. The identity of the strange sense of incongruity I felt when Cassis explained to me what kind of person the Pontiff was.
I said, putting strength into my voice.
“No, the timelines aren’t different. You’re the one who became the first from the end. Countless cycles continued, and new worlds were created, and Ross, each with different variables, was continuously created along with other worlds in order to escape the bondage of the cycle by the will of God. Among them, one Ross became not a variable, but a variant. He didn’t escape the cycle, but became the starting point of the cycle.”
The puzzles fall into place in my head. My experiences and memories become countless pieces, vaguely revealing the hidden picture.
「…Heh heh, it’s a sharp guess, but the contradiction is still there. What if the very statement that I became the first from the end is a lie? In the first place, I can only be born if a cycle exists, so how can I, who was created long after the cycle was created, become the starting point of the cycle?」
I was about to answer right away, but I swallowed the words I was about to say. My companions and Konfucion were also focusing on my words. I let out a shallow breath and told everyone the most profound secret of this world.
“This world is reality, but it still hasn’t escaped the novel.”
I don’t know how this confession will sound to Raelan and Ellie. They may feel a great sense of betrayal towards me, or they may not be shocked at all due to the memories they received. But I have to reveal this secret in order to explain the Pontiff’s contradiction.
「…How can you prove that statement?」
For the first time, coldness settled in the Pontiff’s relaxed voice. I wasn’t flustered by that question. Because the evidence to prove my words is right in front of everyone.
“It’s simple. It’s because of the reason why you only appeared in front of me now.”
「….」
“If you know that Ross will become a variable, you can just kill him before he grows up. It would have been a simple matter if you had ordered Konfucion to attack when the Saintess possessed Roel with Jinshian’s soul. But you didn’t. No, you couldn’t. Because that’s as unlikely as a Demon King attacking a beginner village where the story begins and killing the hero.”
I turned my gaze away from the Pontiff and looked at Ellie. I looked straight at Ellie, who was looking at me with an unknown look, and I said.
“Reality doesn’t need probability like a novel. Unlikely things happen all the time, like the only friend you got along with being hit and killed by a drunk driver, or a perfectly healthy person suddenly dying while eating. But this world still has an absolute law called probability…”
I trailed off, but seeing Ellie’s affectionate smile, I turned my head to the Pontiff and added the last words.
“…Just like a novel.”
I felt a strong energy from Konfucion’s side. It was because the Apostle of Extinction, Katers, was emotionally shaken by my words. As if rebuking that action, the Vice-Pontiff turned his head and sent a gaze, and Katers quietly lowered his head.
And the Pontiff… was laughing. It was a laugh stained with ink, which suddenly brought to mind the words heinous, false, alien, and impurity.
「If I, from the 1000th world, go to the starting point of the first world, what would that be? It’s the present for me, but it’s a time paradox because I, from a world that doesn’t exist yet, have come to Roel of the first world.」
Time paradox. If I, from the future, go back to the past and kill myself in the past, I in the past will not be able to grow up, so I in the future will not exist. But if that happens, my existence in the future, who came to kill me in the past, cannot exist, so it means the paradox that I in the future, who killed myself in the past, cannot exist from the beginning.
「I, the present, who is experiencing the past world, am a future existence that does not exist in that past. But the first world was trapped in a cycle due to my intervention, who came from the end to the beginning. Time was twisted by the time paradox, but I didn’t violate the laws of the universe. Since our time in the novel doesn’t flow, the time paradox was a law that didn’t exist in this universe in the first place.」
The mask, which looked like muscle and flesh, wriggled and opened up to both temples. A face completely identical to mine came into view. The Pontiff continued speaking in a voice of indifference, devoid of any emotion.
「Because the concept of time outside and inside the novel is different. The past, present, and future coexist. The difference between the outside, where you can always go back to chapter 1 and read the novel again even after watching chapter 256, and the inside, where there is an absolute law that requires you to continue the flow of the story from the prologue to the epilogue, is proof of that.」
“The misunderstanding you mentioned has finally been revealed to be a lie.”
At my point, the Pontiff laughed, putting his hand on his forehead.
「Because I was born from a lie, lies come out of my mouth without me even knowing it. Heh heh, you would understand, right? Because it’s our chronic disease.」
Slowly lowering his hand that he had placed on his forehead, the Pontiff formally introduced himself to us.
「Yes, I am the one who inflicted defeat on Roel of the first world, the one who became the Pontiff of the Chaos Church in the 1021st world…」
Chaos wriggles. It feels like an invisible ominousness is spreading into the air. It had the property of sticking to the skin and turning into unfamiliar fear and dread.
「…Ross.」
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