Winter in Siberia is truly cold.
In the morning, the sky no longer held the clear, bright azure of spring, summer, or autumn, and the horizon was no longer bathed in golden sunlight. The entire sky was a deathly white, as if a sheet of blank paper had been draped over its true face, stripping it of its original color. The sun, as if it too feared the cold, hid behind a layer of clouds as thick as a cotton quilt.
A biting wind howled, and the bare trees along the road looked like bald old men unable to withstand the assault. Their branches swayed in the cold wind, like skeletal hands pointing toward the sky.
Going outside in this kind of weather was clearly not a good idea. Therefore, any missions could be pushed back for now.
Li Zihan sat by the fireplace, holding a teacup, and watched the scenery outside the window, lost in thought.
"Tsk—"
And then—
That sound, tinged with a hint of disdain, reached his ears.
Li Zihan turned his head and, unsurprisingly, saw a certain girl with long purple hair.
It was Sirin.
"Good morning, Sirin."
Out of habit, the boy reached out and pushed a cup of hot milk in front of little Sirin.
"How did you sleep last night?"
Sleep? Sleep my ass!
The girl, who had spent the night in the room next to Li Zihan and Miss Mei, had a slightly twisted expression on her delicate face. She clenched her small, perfect white teeth so tightly that her eyes practically shot sparks of fury.
Her future husband was fooling around with another woman. What kind of lunatic would be able to sleep through that?!
Miss Sirin, who had been eavesdropping all night, was filled with resentment. Honestly, if it weren't for her guilty conscience, she would have stormed in and fought that woman named Mei to the death.
Yes, Miss Sirin, who had cornered Li Zihan before Miss Mei went to rest and demanded to know the exact nature of the relationship between the three of them, now had a very guilty conscience.
It couldn't be helped. After all… her future self had gone a bit too far.
As she recalled Li Zihan's story of how he and her future self met, got to know each other, and fell in love, little Sirin's gaze began to drift.
After all… the relationship between the three of them could no longer be described with a simple word like "messy."
Her future self… the role she played in Miss Mei's life seemed to be that of the best friend who eats your food, drinks your drinks, is the first to have your back when you're hurt and sad… but also sleeps with your fiancé in the room next door.
How should one put it? In every sense of the word, she could be called a "good best friend."
Even without having experienced those events, just hearing the description was enough for Sirin to imagine how many times a day her future self had to apologize to Miss Mei. Remembering the girl who seemed to want to take good care of her, Sirin felt a pang of guilt.
And what's more… she got pregnant before the wedding.
If that got out, that gentle-smiling older sister would definitely go full yandere and hack her and a certain scumbag to death.
Sea Tiger Exploding Punch: Million-Horsepower—Adulterer and Harlot Annihilation Blade!
"So, what are you going to do next?" the girl asked, looking at the boy who had said he would try to take her future self to another world to give her a proper wedding.
"Next?"
The boy, who didn't really have much to do after arriving in this era, rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
"There are probably two possibilities."
"The first is to go and beat the hell out of that Green Hat Otto in your place, take the soul I want, help you complete your Herrscher powers, and then let you sleep for a while in the Herrscher core, to be reunited in ten years."
The boy's words were not to Miss Sirin's liking.
Just leave like that, and the next time we meet will be over a decade later?
A flash of reluctance appeared in the girl's eyes.
He was the one who had extended a hand to her when she was trapped in the mire. He was the one who had crossed time to reverse her tragedy. He was her future husband and the father of her child.
What reason did she have not to like him?
Almost as if following some unspoken, conventional trope, Sirin liked Li Zihan very much. Even though they had only just met. But feelings have never been measured by time, have they?
For a girl whose heart had just begun to flutter with affection, being told that they would have to part ways right after confirming their relationship was undoubtedly a heart-wrenching affair.
"What about the second option?"
The girl, hoping for a different outcome, looked at the boy with eyes full of expectation.
"The second option… I'd probably just kill Otto, take over Schicksal, unify Anti-Entropy and World Serpent, break the time loop, and overwrite the 'future' with a new future."
The boy spoke casually of a plan that was nothing short of terrifying.
The girl, who had been hoping for a change, stared with wide eyes.
Hey, hey, hey, isn't that taking things a little too far?
And… wouldn't that cause a time paradox?
Vaguely remembering that Li Zihan didn't belong to this era at all, the girl's heart grew hesitant.
The idea was incredibly tempting. After all, if Li Zihan did that, he could stay and be with her.
But—
If he did that, would it not affect him?
"You'll get into trouble because of the time paradox, won't you?" the girl, who didn't know much about science but had picked up a lot of knowledge from the well-educated beasts in her environment, couldn't help but ask.
"Get into trouble?"
As if he had heard something very strange, the boy blinked and then laughed.
"I've told you before, the power of time has a very… touching… effect when it encounters a being that possesses 'temporal resistance.'"
He chuckled, stating a fact.
"And I, who was already adept at manipulating time and have now usurped the seat of the Herrscher corresponding to time, am the being with the strongest temporal resistance in this world. No, I might be the one with the strongest temporal resistance across many worlds."
Li Zihan's temporal resistance was terrifyingly high. That was a fact.
The Beast of Regression, Tiamat, possessed Independent Manifestation, the ultimate superior version of the special skill Independent Action. This skill represented the fact that "Tiamat exists in all of space-time," so not only were attacks using time travel to create paradoxes ineffective against her, but even all forms of instant-death attacks were nullified.
Li Zihan, as the apostle of God for time and being divinely linked to Tiamat, was completely unaffected by time paradoxes. Even if a time loop existed, he could literally pry it open and start over from the beginning.
"Then, can you stay and be with me?"
Hearing the boy's words, the girl's heart skipped a beat.
"As much as I'd like to, the other you is still waiting for me in the future," the boy sighed. "If I directly alter the worldline now, she, who is essentially your second personality, might run into problems."
"Is that so?"
The girl's spirits fell.
"Perhaps."
The boy nodded. Sensing that the topic was getting a bit heavy, he changed the subject.
"By the way, have you thought about that other matter?"
"What matter?" Little Sirin asked by his cryptic words.
"The question of where you want to hold the wedding."