Fiya then earnestly explained to the Goddess Baiya that, even with time reset, beings on the level of Evil Gods would remain unaffected!
“Honestly, Baiya-chan, you should have told Fiya something this important before we rewound time! If you had, Fiya could have wiped out all those annoying troublemakers, but now there’s nothing Fiya can do. Interfering too much in the remade world would get Fiya scolded to death by Chiwushi-kun.” Fiya lowered her head and muttered softly, her golden ahoge drooping dispiritedly atop her head.
“Fiya! What will happen if the Evil Gods aren’t completely destroyed?” Goddess Baiya grew anxious, her voice trembling as she hurriedly asked.
“They’ll notice the time adjustment, and they’ll also discover that the former deity Baiya-chan has become the mortal Baiya-chan. After that, they’ll try every means to kill mortal Baiya-chan.” Fiya pressed her index finger to her lips, pondering.
“As long as mortal Baiya-chan dies at the hands of the Evil Gods, the divinity of the Lord of Dominion will shatter completely. At that point, the whole world will fall into chaos and eventually turn into a Shura hell that allows Evil Gods to evolve. Mhm, that’s pretty much how it’ll go.”
“Then hurry and think of a way, Fiya!” Goddess Baiya was about to burst into tears from panic. Being targeted by an Evil God in her current state was the worst thing imaginable!
“It’s fine.” Fiya shook her head, a mischievous and relaxed smile blossoming on her face. “Fiya just wanted to see how cute Baiya-chan looks when she’s flustered. Don’t worry, Fiya will take care of the Evil Gods. Baiya-kun will be just fine.”
“Thank goodness…” Goddess Baiya breathed a sigh of relief. She lifted a hand to wipe her tears, wanting to pretend to be angry and scold Fiya for teasing her, but then she noticed Fiya’s smile slowly fading.
“Baiya-chan, I’m sorry. Fiya has to go back on her word. As for Baiya-kun, you’ll have to take care of him yourself.”
Pure white wings spread out behind Fiya. Like a little angel, the adorable girl flapped her wings, and her petite body slowly lifted off the ground.
“Unfortunately, the horn of twilight has sounded. Baiya-chan, in a way, you’re no longer a deity, so you’ve lost the right to join the battle. Fiya, as the Creation God of all realms, can’t refuse the call.” Fiya closed her eyes. When she opened them, her pupils glowed a dark gold, exuding a majestic aura unlike her usual self.
“From now on, you must save yourself. Do your best, Baiya-chan.”
“Fiya, I can’t do it alone! What am I supposed to do?” Goddess Baiya shook her head desperately. Besides Fiya, she’d always relied on herself, but if Fiya left, she felt she’d be incapable of doing anything at all!
“What Baiya-chan needs to do is simple: just believe in Baiya-kun. He’s a very reliable young man~”
Before disappearing from the Divine Land of Ailtia, Fiya bowed her head, nostalgia flickering in her eyes. As if recalling something, she couldn’t help but giggle softly.
Inside the crystal palace, Goddess Baiya slumped weakly onto the throne. She felt wronged, almost wanting to cry her heart out. When her gaze returned to the crystal ball projecting Baiya’s current situation, she sat up straight, patted her cheeks, and forced herself to look calm and determined despite her nerves.
—I can’t let Fiya look down on me. I don’t want to lose anything ever again!
“The Lord of Dominion has made a foolish move.”
“If we devour her, we can reach even greater heights.”
“But the law of time prevents us from interfering too much. If we alter a significant causality, we’ll be erased by time itself.”
“Not being able to interfere too much doesn’t mean we can’t interfere at all.”
“The Lord of Dominion has never been so vulnerable. This is a once-in-a-millennium opportunity.”
“Of course we won’t let it slip by.”
Thump.
“Did you hear that?”
In the arena, Baiya suddenly looked up, a heavy and solemn voice echoing from within her helmet.
“Miss, what is it?” Tabu bent down, cupping his hand to his mouth and lowering his voice as he spoke to Baiya. His eyes stared coldly at the advancing guards.
The guards felt as if they were being watched by a viper under Tabu’s gaze, and the overwhelming threat of death made them shudder uncontrollably. But soon, anger replaced their fear at being intimidated by a gladiator. Determined, they resolved to vent their fury by stabbing Tabu full of holes with their spears.
“It’s a heartbeat.” Baiya closed her eyes, recalling the unusual sound she’d just detected. The matter wasn’t over yet, so she kept her guard up, wary of every movement around her.
Just now, she’d heard an intense heartbeat.
“Heartbeat? Miss, that’s…” Tabu scratched his head, completely baffled by Baiya’s mention of a heartbeat—perhaps his brain just didn’t work that way.
But since Baiya had brought it up, Tabu quickly left her side, passing word of the heartbeat to several other gladiators, who in turn relayed it to the rest.
When all the gladiators, including Luo Shi, understood Baiya wanted them to pay attention to the heartbeat, they looked at her with complicated expressions—wasn’t this making a mountain out of a molehill?
“Potential threat? Heartbeat? What on earth is she thinking…” Luo Shi sighed. He really couldn’t make sense of it, even suspecting Baiya was just toying with them.
“No matter how small the detail, you can’t afford to overlook it, or you’ll suffer for it. That’s what I’ve learned from hard experience.” Baiya murmured to herself, supporting her arm and shaking her head from side to side as she tried to connect every object in her field of vision to the heartbeat.
In the arena: gladiators, guards, weapons stuck in the ground, nobles, ogre corpses, buildings, tunnels…
One by one, everything she saw was sorted and eliminated in her mind, and after a moment, Baiya suddenly thought of a possibility.
So she decided to act on it.
She walked out from among the gladiators, ignoring the threat of the guards’ cold spears, even pushing them aside forcefully, looking completely unfazed.
The guards snapped back to their senses and were instantly furious—never had a slave ignored them so brazenly. They raised their spears to thrust, ready to stab this reckless gladiator to death!