"She was the most malicious force I''d ever met in my short life. I recognized her from the stories Leona told me, though I couldn''t get a good look at her. I don''t remember the words she said to me before the two threw me into one of 7 capsules that surrounded 1rger capsule in the middle of the room.


    Every other capsule had a ck light filling it, except for mine. After that point, I cked out. Whatever happened between then and when I awoke, I have no clue about.??


    But then, when I did re-awake, I saw something straight out of a nightmare. The capsule I was in was now floating high above the continent so I could see the entire thing within my view. But, it wasn''t the continent I knew.


    The metropolitan city of Naji, burned to the ground. The central city of Zacrozir, decimated with no trace. Aquifa, the city of sirens, sunken and flooded with water. All other cities, destroyed, dead bodies piled over each other across the vastndscape.


    I had no clue what just happened, it was almost like a curse had been unleashed upon the entire world… but the truth was much scarier than that…"


    "What… What in the living hell happened..?" Core uttered as he stuck his face to the edge of the ss capsule he was being held in, gazing upon the chaos-riddenndscape under him.


    "No way… why is this ce floating above the continent? This is the ce that woman put me in… why is it floating in the air..? Is this all my fault?" Core''s mind was in a scramble as he couldn''t hold his tears back, letting them drop on the ss that held him.


    "Heh, so the immortal one''s awake then? Perfect. He can watch as his beloved foster mother is sacrificed," Core heard a voice emerge from an elevated tform above him, looking up to see 2 white-haired women standing atop it.


    "L-Leona! What are you doing here? What happened to the continent?! And you''re… Melina Alister?! Where''s everyone else?!" Core yelled, making the other white-haired woman startughing hysterically.


    "Oh this is too funny! It would seem Leona has already told you about me! I''m honored! Though, I can only imagine the despair that you must be feeling! To awaken after a long slumber and see such a sight? It must be a spectacrly hopeless sensation!" She eximed as Leona stood there with an angry expression, unable to do anything.


    "Shut up you bitch! You''re ugly as hell!" Core insulted, making the woman recoil in offense.


    "Wha! How dare you!"


    "Leona?! Why are you just standing there?! Do something! Teleport around her and kill her! And why isn''t Julianne here with you?! What about the Seeking de?! Or the Roaring Tiger?! Where''s the rest of the guild?!" Core panicked as he mmed his hand on the ss barrier.


    "They''re all dead…" Leona uttered to him, making his eyes widen and pupils shrink in utter despair.


    "What..?"


    "You didn''t hear her the first time, boy? Everyone''s dead. We 3 are the only ones left alive. Every other living being on this continent has been eradicated," the other white-haired woman imed.


    "And I''ve lost my Spring… somehow, it was stolen away…" Leona informed.


    "Yes, thanks to Luther''s handiwork, Drevius'' annoying time hop Spring won''t be an issue anymore," the womanughed as she grabbed Leona by the hair, dragging her across the tform, making her stand on a nk extending to the middle capsule.


    "Why?! Why are you even doing this?! If your goal was to kill everyone, you''ve already aplished it! Why did you keep Leona alive?!" Core interrupted the woman''s actions, stopping her with her leg up as she readied herself to kick Leona into the middle capsule.


    The womanughed at Core''s remark, putting her foot down as herugh turned to rage, veins beginning to pop up on her forehead.


    "You are an idiot, child. Why would my goal be to kill everyone in the continent? What a shallow goal to have. I''m actually quite appalled that you suggested that. Here, I''ll educate you. The poption''s eradication was just a prerequisite. The real show begins after one gathers all 7 cursed Springs, 3 of the 4 special Springs, and kills all living beings. Only then will my goals be fulfilled," the woman proudly exined.


    "Kill all living beings? By my count, there''s still 3 of us alive," Core imed as he desperately continued to stall in vain.


    "You really are a moron. Your life doesn''t count you cursed mongrel. Of course, my life need not end since I am the master of this operation. And as for my niece here, she has a very special role…" She once again pulled Leona by the hair, making her squirm in pain.


    "Special role..?"


    "You need… a female descendant of the Alister family as a catalyst and to act as a sacrifice for the inception of thepleted curse, don''t you?" Leona eximed, which surprised both Core and her aunt.


    "Oh? So you already knew? You knew about the curses and about my n all along? That is quite concerning to find out, but it hardly matters now. And if so, then you must know what happens when ites to fruition, yes?"


    "Of course I do… but it''s not like I have the power to stop it anymore… it''s pointless to resist the inevitable," Leona spoke with a hopeless expression, making her auntugh with her chest.


    "It seems you finally understand your situation! Oh, it''s good to have such an obedient niece! The total opposite of that devil child of a nephew! Good girl Leona!" Her aunt happily patted her on the head as Core looked at Leona with a dreadful expression, Leona noticing his gaze, subtly winking at him from the side.


    "Huh? She winked at me? Whenever she does that, it always means that she has the situation under control… but what control does she have here? No Spring, no allies… what hope is there in such a desperate position?!"


    "Well, it pains me to do this to my beloved niece, but down you go!" She said as she pushed Leona into therge capsule in the middle, dropping her into a ss cage in the center of all the other capsules, now eye level with Core.


    "I''ve no means to kill you myself up here, so I''ll let you die from the presence of the curses. As soon as a woman of the Alister family dies in these conditions, the curse will finally beplete!" Leona''s aunt furiouslyughed as she turned around and walked back through the nk and sat on therge couch that resided on therger floating tform, waiting for Leona''s slow death toe.


    "You have a n, don''t you Leona? Please, let me hear it," Core whispered to the capsule in the middle, the waning Leona replying weakly.


    "You''re not going to like it, but it''s our only option," she whispered back, Core sternly nodding at her words.


    He didn''t care what the n was at that point. The world was in shambles, everything he knew had been destroyed. Whatever Leona hade up with would have to do.


    "I''m going to use the curse," Leona stated, Core raising an eyebrow, but not reacting loudly so the other woman wouldn''t hear.


    "Use the curse? Melina Alister mentioned something about you knowing the oue… but is that really true? And how will you use it if you''re the sacrifice?"


    "If my theory is correct, if I use the curse, you, Core, could fix everything that has happened so far… and I won''t be the sacrifice, she will," Leona exined as Core''s confusion continued to grow.


    "She will? So you''re going to kill her? But how? You don''t have your Spring anymore."


    "I know. There''s no point in exining it to you right now. You don''t need to understand what''s about to happen. To put it simply, the technique I''m about to use doesn''t require a Spring. It''s a special Alister family technique. It is the same thing my father, the Timeless Blitz, used in the Elven forest 40 years ago. After that, my attack will not only kill my aunt, but it will also destroy everything else around me and bring this floating tform to the ground. You will be the only survivor Core," Leona exined, Core choking on his breath to stop himself from reacting with a loud voice.


    "The same attack the Timeless Blitz used?! But wouldn''t that kill you as well?! Are you going to leave me alone in this world..?" He cried, Leona warmly smiling at him.


    "I''m sorry kid… this is quite literally the only way. Before I die, I''ll use the curse''s power to open a hole in time 34 years back. Saphri and I have already nned this. Once the hole opens, you are not to go through until you''re fully prepared. Go down to the Hasbin Gulf, in the SXpany building, we''ve prepared a safe with equipment inside of it. Take that equipment, along with a slip of paper that has ''Voron''s inter-dimensional ticket'' written on it.


    Once you have those,e back to the hole in time and go through. You will likely reappear 34 years in the past, at the very center of the continent, just north of Lifah. Once you arrive, the first thing you should do is bring the slip of paper you took with you to the Elven Forest. In the center of the forest, you will find the elves dwelling. There, you''ll find an old man living with his 4-year-old daughter. That daughter would be Saphri Xilris, and the old man would be Voron Xilris, the legendary mechanic. That slip was something he gave his daughter for her 3rd birthday. It was so if she ever time traveled, he could have proof with a replica of the slip.


    If you give him that slip, he''ll take you in. Tell him about your situation and befriend him, but don''t stay with him for too long. You still need to do something else. Back in that time, the Ranger guild had just lost contact with a mercenary agency that had just turned rogue. The guild used to work with them, but then they cut ties with them suddenly. Today, they''re known as the ''inexplicable mercenaries''. The same ones that were hired by my aunt to attack my father in the Elven forest. They were called ''Checkmate''. They had just lost their master, their most important piece at the hands of my father.


    We now know where they were hiding back then. In the northern Econican region, the town of Loyogo, in arge cavern near the shore of the gulf. Head there and be their new master.


    Once you do that, wait until the year 1200. That was when Crypt attacked my vige. You''re to intercept their mission and destroy their encampment directly northwest of the town using Checkmate''s power. After that, you can steal the request by talking to my aunt in Kanirah. She''d be d another mercenary group had taken the request instead of the useless Crypt, and will happily ept.


    Thenes your most important role. This will determine the future of the entire continent. You must fulfill this one task so that the future of mankind will be guaranteed," Leona''s voice became stern, furrowing her eyebrows as she stood up and assumed a fighting stance, which would be thest fighting stance she would ever assume.


    "And what''s that..? What''s my ultimate mission? What do I have to do to ensure the future of humanity?" Core eagerly asked as the worry in his heart began to overflow, the heavy burden ced on his teenage shoulders enough to kill anyone who wasn''t immortal.


    Summoning her swords, a white light began emanating around Leona as her hair blended in with the blinding glow, turning around to utter 5 final words to Core before the atmosphere became engulfed in a luminous sh.


    "Kill me. That is all."