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Time is but a river. It flows indefinitely until the end of the stream, where it joins the big body of water. There is a beginning, and there is the end of time. It will always flow until it must end, before it flows again as a different time stream.

Nice analogy, but apparently that does not make any sense in our current problem. That analogy has a problem: it does not count if there is an external force or mechanism that can turn the water around, keeping it in a constant spiral where the beginning is the end, or vice versa.

It is safe to say that our current problem is similar to the premise of that movie called 'Groundhog Day'. It is basically a movie about a human guy who is stuck in a time loop in a town where everyone, except him, reset after the end of the day. Don't worry, it is just a light-hearted comedy movie, so it is good to watch. It was 1993, I guess. Yeah, apparently I was bored and decided to watch this movie. It might be better if I watch it with my wife.

Ironically, I am stuck at that moment in time, and worse, this is not a comedic moment.

I immediately realized that this is a Discord ability with a control of time loop, which for us is even more dangerous that I thought. The day always ends right after we board the plane and goes to sleep at 8 PM, when the plane is airborne. This time loop then happens right after I went to sleep, waking up on my bed, alone, in my room at the motel.

At the first time loop, I didn't suspect a thing because apparently this time loop ability also resets our memories, making us not being able to remember anything. After the third loop, on the other hand, an accidental use of time magic made me realize of the loop, and right now it prevents me from getting another reset from the Discord ability. Guess that anything that manipulate time itself is immune to this ability, huh?

It is very strong; I can say that. My best bet is that we have been trapped in this indefinite time loop for 10 years. We are waiting for the plane for 12 hours, and that is a sufficient time for the time loop to happen.

Suicide attempt does not help either, nor did using some sort of time magic. Even if my magic is compressed to the point that I can use the normally fatal time magic with only one tenth of my mana, it somehow cannot change the fact that time still resets. I lost in a battle of wit with time itself, for this ability does not need any rest. I need rest, too. I can only stop and rewind time for at least 2 seconds before I need to rest, and during that rest period, he has won. Even if anyone have an ability to stop time as a Discord ability, I doubt they can also succeed.

So the only thing I can do to prevent myself to forget the events is to make a chrono shield around myself. I may be able to compress magic, but unlike stopping time, time shielding, if abused, can tear the time-space continuum, so I can only apply it to myself. That means Hal, Liz, and the others are trapped in this loop.

The loop goes this way: In the morning, I wake up at my bed at 8 AM. Because I am immune from the loop by chrono shielding, I do my independent research. Around 9 AM, Jet greets me by my door, before he offers me coffee at the hotel's café. In some loop, I refuse, but at some loop, I accept. I will focus on the accept part because that is what I am doing right now.

We go to the café. Jet will order a black coffee while I want a cappuccino. After we get the order, Jet will come to me and say, "How are we supposed to find Moghes if we don't even know if he is still at Ebony Devil Rocks or not".

By this point I have many indefinite options, some of them is to say to Jet that we are in the middle of a time loop. He needs some convincing before he is convinced that there is a loop happening. It is a useless gesture, since I can't protect him from the time loop. That looper asshole prevents me from doing that since it effectively makes Jet and the others into a part of the time loop, meaning that I can only be the one that becomes the anomaly.

Hal and Liza does not feel threatened, so they go around doing what they are doing as usual. Young people dating does not look weird by me, and now that the kiddo have awakened his Discord, I think they will be fine. In fact, this time loop is not designed to kill us (whatever you do to kill yourself will be undone by the time the time loops). That is the weakness of this time loop. This guy might not be the assassin, but apparently he is an assistant.

The moment the assassin finally kills all of us, this time loop will be undone. But then it does not, because apparently despite of knowing this, both of them does not have a clarification that we have all died. Even if they had blown an aircraft with all of us in it, I survived, which is exactly what happens many loops before. But I do not find the user in time, and by the time it is 10 PM, I return back to my bed, waking up like normal.

The user somehow realized that I am the only one who noticed the loop and has been trying to kill me ever since. 10 years of being trapped in the loop helped me find many ways to find this killer and prevent the deaths of my companions. This time, though, after thoughtful strategy, I can go straight to the airport, find the bomb that will blow the plane up, disarm it, find the killer, and end the time loop before I must board the plane at 9 PM.

After waving to Liza and Hal, I directly go to the airport. This time, though, I might be able to go through this time crisis by using my wings like a proper dragon Mythar.

But I also realize this gesture is very dangerous. Despite of the assassin being confined in the rules of the time loop (so much that I can predict his next movements), I know many chances where he can shoot me. Five of the ten buildings by the avenue have a flat roof patio, which he can shoot from. I think the Discord user have known of my interference of his time loop that he gives some random instructions to the assassin on each time loop. This poses a problem. If I decide to abandon the bomb and kill this assassin, I might not be able to find the bomb and disarm it in time before the plane flies away, killing everyone except me and resetting the timeline. We were given extended chances because like us, the user does not know our schedule, but by this point I am pretty sure he has predicted their movements. By this point, the assassin might have picked on each of them and killed everyone, then he starts hunting me. This is a twisted game of chess in which I only have myself as a pawn while he/she has an assassin who may or may not have a Discord ability.

Just as I fly up, the hotel's café explodes. By impulse, I return towards the building and hastily tried to find anyone who is still alive. I am stunned when I see the corpse of a goat anima before a familiar, long-tailed one emerged from the stairs, coughing some dust.

"Is this a Discord user's work, Segara?" said Jet to me. "Whoever that is, this is one hell of a bomb."

"Jet, are you going to believe me that we are currently in a time loop?" I said, out of impulse. Jet is clearly confused, but I know that he won't believe me. But apparently, he understands.

"So that's the reason of the déjà vu feeling since this morning," said Jet. Oh yes, I forgot to mention that those that does not get shielded experiences déjà vu. I guess I can put that as one of this ability's weakness. 10 years of time loop can make this ability more and more vulnerable to repetitions.

"Do you have any idea in particular? This is not even and offensive ability."

"Right now try to not getting ourselves killed. By this time those kids are vulnerable since he knows our routine."

"I understand." Jet quickly turns toward a place and pulled a concealed rifle. He shoots towards the position, but he quickly said, "It's useless to escape!"

But right at that time the assailant quickly jumps behind a building, and the bullet hits the building. Jet curses and said, "Is there any loop where I show my weakness?"

"They have 10 years to analyze. We are in a disadvantage."

Despite of my concern, we are not entirely vulnerable. I have been at a continuity where he killed me, but time resets regardless. The looper somehow realized that, despite of our fixed time tables, any apparent change in the timeline will affect the events around. For example, when Yulli was shot through her head in one loop, she had a slightly different schedule, apparently because of this déjà vu Jet mentioned. Due to the bomb explosion by the plane, I managed to convince Jet to come down, but both Hal and Liz got caught in the explosion, and I was dying because of not protecting Jet sufficiently.

All I can say about this is that if the assailant or the user does not confirm our deaths, they reset the timeline. There somehow is a set time to reset, which is 10 PM.

Again, despite of their predictions can prove to be false, there still stands the fact that the Discord user is an accomplished strategist if we can be killed in separate loops despite of this déjà vu side effect. First rule of using a Discord ability is to know its weakness. The user must've known the weakness and find a work-around scenario.

"Either way, Jet, get to Hal and Liz while I go to the airport. Stay vigilant and use your ability to the maximum."

"What the hell are you going to the airport for? This is not the time for clarifying our departure time!"

"If we succeeded in this loop, we might still be able to get to the plane without losing our lives. I am just making sure that we have a plane to board. Take both of them to the airport. Find Yulli before she is attacked by that assassin by 12 PM!"

I know Jet is confused, but he nods nonetheless and starts running towards the strip mall's direction. I know that attack was just a distraction, but right now, getting to the bomb at the plane is one of my prime problem.

If I don't survive this loop, I might still be able to remember the bomb, even though I am not a bomb squad back in Raz, the least I can do is to mitigate the damage with my ability. All I need to make sure is that anyone still survives. Even if no one actually survives, I cannot let their deaths be confirmed, or...

The shield I have erected on me was pierced, but it is enough to know that I am being targeted by a sniper. I can sense the trajectory and quickly turn towards the position. As suspected, the person shooting me a cover to prevent facial recognition. Damn it, he really knows I am the only person who is not affected.

"You know, I am getting bored with meeting you again and again," I said while landing. "It is rude not to show your face to a person when meeting, hmm?"

"I can say that it is a ploy for you to remember my face," said the muffled voice behind the turban. "Now, what are you going to do? Even if you kill me right here, right now, this hell will not end until all of you are killed."

I know talking to this person is useless, so I just quickly dispatch the person with a fast magic that goes through his heart. I can sense that he is trying to counter, so I can deduce that his race is Magi. Hmm. Between the both of us, I guess I cheat a little for having the ability to compress magic. That laser magic shot is enough.

I need to get to the airport before the time loops, but apparently, when I am just some moments by the airport, I am being shot by a machine gun. I quickly take cover. When I peek over the cover, I can see the same person is attacking me.

"Are you a different person or am I seeing a Discord ability in work?" I asked, half-hoping he will be answering that. Guess in real life people does not announce their arrivals and tell their secret powers as if they will win, huh? I think he knows the futility of our current situation, and his downfall when he accidentally tells me everything (of course, I will remember by the time we reset).

"I don't have the fucking time for this! The lives of my comrades matters more than your goddamn intervention!"

"And this job gives me more money than my usual wage," replied the assassin. "I don't care if I am stuck in this loop forever. I will be the one who will survive and get that money from Moghes!"

"What's your business with the arms dealer anyway? Just get the fuck out of my way!"

I induce an explosion to the floor with a bomb magic. The diversion is enough for me to push on to the airport. Another surprise comes in the form of a grazing shot, which grazed my shoulder. When I turn my head to the bullet's path, I see the bloodied corpse of the assassin (or may be a different person) being shot in the head from the side. I can see Jet using his folding rifle to shoot him from a blind side. He gives me a thumbs up before disappearing behind the building. I can also see Hal and Yulli fighting the robed figures from afar, which means that they found out about this time loop from Jet.

Before I reach the airport, I can see Art and Jet together. Knowing the Anima, he will do good to protect that young blacksmith. I fly over the gate and lands before an automatic snare catches me. I quickly fold my wings and make a roll, taking care not to cause my wings to be crushed by my own weight. Without heeding the airport security, I quickly dash towards the plane.

I have been doing this for so many times I remember the plane's registration number by heart. Not only that, I know where the plane's cargo is. This is still too early for the plane to arrive at the airport, but I now know that the bomb cannot be armed when the plane is not even here.

Just when I almost reach the bomb, I have a sudden bad feeling based on my instinct, then I quickly turn around and managed to deflect an anti-magic bullet before it shatters the shield. I try to move, but a voice sternly stops me.

"Stop where you are." The voice is clearly feminine, and when I turn towards the source of the voice. I can see the owner of the voice, and apparently the Discord user.

"Not one step closer, Segara of Dornthal, or I'll force the reset," she said. "Yes, this game of wits ends here."

I make a smile. "My, my...who would've thought that the chess master is a young dragon lady? Personally, I like red, but I am still married, so I'll pass."

"I am not flattered, if you think I would," said the dragon woman to me. I can hear her closing in to me. She quickly walks in front of me and said, "But thanks anyway."

"So, this ability of yours...it is remarkable, if I would say. Never in my life did I ever wonder how I can be stuck in an indefinite loop for 10 years."

"I have known time-based magic is a weakness to this ability," said the woman. "And it is practically suicide to be trapping a Mythar with magical capabilities of a high mage. True Reset still follows the law of time and space. But for you to be trapped for 10 years is a great feat."

"So what is this about? Moghes paying you a considerable sum of money for you to live? That assassin you employ to kill our group is saying that."

"No," said the dragon woman with a smile. "Who said that Zenido Moghes is the one paying her? Yes, I know who Zenido Moghes is. We knew each other just for being in the trade. It is just a coincidence that my goals are the same with him, that which we make a deal, except that I get to keep your head."

"And why is that?"

"Because..." The dragon woman then pulls her sunglasses off. I am surprised and suddenly feel guilty. She has that stark red coloring on her eyes that is never mistaken. Only dragon Mythars from a particular place have those eye color.

"Y-you're..." "That's right, Segara of Dornthal. I am an Azberan, the native of the nation you invaded and destroyed just for your world's politic."

So I cannot run from my past. Is that what I cannot run from?

I never thought...the horrors of the Razber Wars followed me in the form of a vengeance.