Chapter Fifty: The Power to Amend History

Having completed the second task, he had now accomplished two of the main missions assigned by the Lord God. Once he obtained the final reversed spirit crystal, all of his objectives in this world would be fulfilled, and perhaps he could use this as a means to leave this world. Although he had no idea whether he would return to his former life on Earth, it was his only hope of going home.

Moreover, he had unexpectedly gained the ability of accelerated regeneration from the spirit crystal, which at least meant his life was much safer now.

But before he could truly rejoice, his expression darkened immediately.

Just now, in order to snatch the spirit crystal from Phantom, he had deliberately used time manipulation to accelerate his own time by dozens of times. That was how he managed to appear beside Phantom in an instant and slice off her arm with his sword. These actions had seemed impossibly fast, but in reality, it was all thanks to his accelerated time.

However, he had just realized that after using the ability only once, his lifespan had been reduced by an entire year.

The sensation was vague—after all, no one truly knows how long they’ll live—but ever since he acquired the power to control time, he could strangely sense that he should have had sixty years left. In that moment, one year had simply vanished.

“Good grief, I just used the ability a little and lost a year of my life. If I do this a few more times, am I going to drop dead on the spot?”

He went pale with fright. Even though this move was highly effective, unless he found a way to extend his life, he decided to reserve it for truly life-or-death situations.

Having made up his mind, he finally looked up at Phantom, who stood before him.

Meanwhile, Phantom, having come to her senses, realized the spirit crystal had been stolen from her grasp.

Even with her arm freshly severed, Phantom showed no sign of pain or distress. Under Su Mo’s gaze, her arm regrew anew; but in the eyes of others, the scene was obscured as if censored, making it impossible to see clearly.

“I didn’t expect to meet you, Mr. Su Mo, under such circumstances. What a surprise!” Phantom’s voice finally sounded, electronic and androgynous, making it impossible to discern gender. Most astonishing of all, she called out his name without hesitation.

This was their first meeting, and yet Phantom recognized him instantly.

It was utterly incredible.

“Though I’m delighted to see you again after so many years, I must ask you to return the spirit crystal, Mr. Su Mo. It’s very important to me.” Phantom’s voice was light and ethereal, but the words themselves were resolute.

Return the spirit crystal to you?

He had already absorbed the thing—he’d have to die to give it back.

Su Mo grumbled inwardly; this was exactly his little scheme. As soon as he snatched the spirit crystal, he immediately handed it over to the system to complete his mission. He doubted Phantom could snatch anything out of the Lord God’s hands.

“I absolutely cannot return the spirit crystal to you,” Su Mo refused outright.

He had come back five years in time specifically to prevent Kotori from becoming a spirit—how could he hand the crystal back now? Seeing his refusal, Phantom let out a soft sound of puzzlement.

“How strange. Wasn’t this all at your request, Mr. Su Mo? Are you going back on your word now?” Phantom tilted her head and stared at him, then suddenly called out, “Hey, Tokisaki Kurumi, you can hear me, right? What’s going on? This was all agreed upon…”

“Agreed upon?” Su Mo was completely confused. He reached out with his mind to contact Kurumi. “Kurumi, what is this about? You seem very familiar with her.”

“Do I?” Kurumi’s laughter echoed in his mind. Soon, she added, “We are indeed very close, but I can’t tell you about this for now. But please, Mr. Su Mo, remember—I would never harm you.”

Su Mo didn’t doubt her. After all, ever since they formed their contract, Kurumi’s life was in his hands—there was no way she’d betray him.

Still, something about this situation felt off…

No matter how much he pressed, Kurumi refused to answer, eventually pretending to be unconscious and falling silent. It infuriated him, but there was nothing he could do—even though the contract allowed him to seal an elf’s power or even take their life, it was useless against someone as fearless as Kurumi. He couldn’t bring himself to kill her over something so trivial.

With no one to answer Phantom, Su Mo was left completely bewildered, while Kurumi kept up her act, establishing only a private mental link. Even if she wanted to answer Phantom, she couldn’t.

“I don’t know what’s really going on, but for the sake of my plan, I’m afraid I’ll have to offend you, Mr. Su Mo!” Phantom’s tone was calm as she turned into a blur and closed in, intent on taking the spirit crystal by force.

As soon as Phantom attacked, Su Mo snapped into action. He raised the Xag Eide Sword and sent a slash of sword energy to block her, then summoned his throne and leapt atop it, speeding away.

He wasn’t a fool. He’d gained many powers from the elves, but compared to Mio, he was still no match. He’d only managed to catch her off guard to snatch the spirit crystal, partly thanks to luck. Now, fighting Phantom head-on would be sheer lunacy.

He wasn’t about to bring such trouble upon himself.

His only offensive tool was the Xag Eide Sword. This sword’s power was limited by his imagination, but the stronger the attack, the greater the spiritual power required.

For example, even if Su Mo imagined splitting the Earth with his sword, he simply didn’t have enough spirit power to support that fantasy.

He had only gained the elves’ abilities, not their spiritual reserves.

In the anime, Shido Itsuka sealed the elves’ powers within himself, giving him immense spiritual energy. In Su Mo’s case, the contract power meant the elves’ strength still resided in Tohka and the others. Su Mo’s spiritual energy was less than half that of an elf, and thus the Xag Eide Sword’s output was extremely limited.

The mission was complete—why stick around any longer?

Controlling his throne, Su Mo darted all over the skies of Tenggu City.

Unfortunately, Phantom was relentless, tailing him like a shadow, refusing to give up unless he returned the spirit crystal.

“Does this woman have a screw loose? I just took one spirit crystal from her—does she really need to chase me like this?” Su Mo was exasperated by Phantom’s persistence. If he didn’t know her true identity, he’d never have connected her with the sleepy, airheaded, and adorable Muramasa Reine, the analyst.

Standing atop the throne, Su Mo swung the Xag Eide Sword continuously, sending wave after wave of sword energy, but Phantom was far too agile—most attacks missed, and those that landed only stripped away a piece of her “censorship.”

Yet, Phantom would instantly recover, rendering his attacks futile.

Witnessing this, Su Mo was even more convinced that he couldn’t win a direct fight—she was essentially immune to physical attacks. Luckily, for reasons of her own, she wasn’t trying to kill him, only harass him. Otherwise, he’d already be a dead man.

He’d acquired the spirit crystal, and the great fire of Tenggu City five years ago had been resolved.

Now Origami’s parents would survive. All he had to do was wait for the time travel effect to wear off, and he could return to five years later.

Thus, a chase unfolded in the skies over Tenggu City, with Su Mo and Phantom weaving this way and that—every time Phantom closed in, he’d fire off a wave of sword energy to slow her, while his throne darted wildly about.

Just when Su Mo thought everything was going smoothly, history’s corrective power seemed to intervene.

As Su Mo sent another blast of sword energy at Phantom, she finally snapped. With a casual wave of her hand, she reflected his attack. Startled, Su Mo dodged just in time, but the sword energy continued on, slicing through the air until it struck an apartment building.

A ten-meter-long gash split the earth, cleaving the building in two.

Not far from the building, a ten-year-old Origami Tobiichi was skipping home, only to find her house cut in half, the structure collapsed—her parents nowhere in sight.