The Extra's Rise

I inhaled sharply at Tiamat's words, though the revelation didn't shock me as much as it might have. The possibility had been gnawing at the edges of my consciousness for years, and Isolde's cryptic comments had practically confirmed my suspicions.

But now, I knew it with absolute certainty.

The original Arthur was a regressor, and this was a different timeline—a new iteration of events that had somehow gone wrong before.

"Your mind is truly sharp," Tiamat nodded with approval, her crimson eyes seeming to read my thoughts as easily as an open book. "Isolde already told you much of this anyway, so the revelation itself matters little. We were able to create a method to edit the past through the use of regression magic."

I nodded, my mind racing through the implications. How many times had this cycle repeated? How many versions of Arthur Nightingale had walked this path before me?

"But I am not here merely to confirm what you already suspected," Tiamat continued, her expression growing more serious. "I wouldn't have brought you all the way to my lair just for that. I'm here to warn you about something that will happen as a direct consequence of your choices."

"My choices?" I asked, though I had a sinking feeling I already knew where this was heading.

"You saved your daughter and removed the Body aspect of the Heavenly Demon from her physical form," Tiamat said, her voice carrying the weight of cosmic significance. "However, your Grey power—remarkable though it was—wasn't dense enough to truly destroy something so fundamentally woven into reality. Instead, the Body aspect has dispersed and will eventually reconstitute itself somewhere in this world."

My eyes widened in horror as the full implications hit me.

"How long?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.

"By my calculations, approximately four years," Tiamat replied with the clinical precision of someone who had witnessed the rise and fall of civilizations. "And when the Body aspect fully manifests again, it will trigger the Second Calamity."

I sucked in a sharp breath as Luna's form beside me trembled with shock and fear. The qilin's golden eyes were wide with the terror of someone who understood exactly what a Second Calamity would mean.

Tiamat's expression grew even more grave. "The Second Calamity is not something this world can overcome through conventional means. The first nearly destroyed everything despite the combined efforts of every major power. A second occurrence would be... final. For that level of threat, you need to reach the level of a demigod within four years."

The level of a demigod.

Instantly, my mind flashed back to that final moment with my Master—the strike that had split the very sky, the technique that had transcended normal magical understanding and touched something approaching divine authority. That was the benchmark I needed to reach.

'So far,' I thought despairingly. The gap between my current high Ascendant-rank power and true demigod status was vast beyond imagination. Even with accelerated advancement, reaching that level in four years seemed...

"Almost impossible, I know," Tiamat said, once again reading my thoughts with disturbing ease. "The path from Radiant-rank to demigod is impossible for even the most gifted individuals. But you have surpassed my expectations completely, which is why I have prepared something that might give you the advantage you need."

She turned toward the deeper recesses of her lair, gesturing for us to follow. "You've already demonstrated remarkable innovation in your magical development. Your method for seven-circle magic was inspired—creating a completely new approach that bypassed traditional limitations while achieving superior results."

We walked deeper into the crystalline cavern, passing pools of what appeared to be liquid light and formations that hummed with contained power.

"However," Tiamat continued, "developing your own methodology for eight-circle magic will be significantly more challenging. The complexity increases exponentially, and the margin for error becomes vanishingly small. Nine-circle magic..." She paused, her expression growing troubled. "Nine-circle magic would likely stall your development entirely if you attempt to innovate from scratch. The time required would exceed your four-year deadline."

We reached what appeared to be an altar carved from a single massive diamond, its surface perfectly smooth and reflecting light in impossible patterns. Resting upon it was a crystalline container holding what looked like a perfectly preserved heart, its surface gleaming with scales that shifted through every color of the spectrum.

"This," Tiamat said with reverence, "is the heart of Bahamut the Eternal, a dragon who once stood at the absolute apex of magical understanding at Radiant-rank."

I stared at the preserved organ with awe and a growing sense of unease. The heart pulsed with its own inner light, and I could sense the vast magical knowledge contained within its crystallized structure.

She carefully lifted the container, handling it with the reverence due to a priceless artifact. "I propose that you study this heart's magical resonance patterns. The knowledge within will guide your development of eight and nine-circle techniques, allowing you to build upon foundations that took a genius millennia to perfect."

"And eventually?" I asked, though I suspected I already knew the answer.

"Eventually, when you've grown strong enough to handle the strain, you will consume the heart itself," Tiamat confirmed. "Bahamut's magical essence will integrate with your own, providing not just knowledge but actual enhancement to your magical capacity."

I stared at the dragon's heart, understanding that this was more than just a magical artifact—it was a lifeline. The difference between success and failure in the impossible task ahead of me.

"Thank you," I said, my voice carrying genuine gratitude. "This is... beyond generous."

"It is necessary," Tiamat replied simply. "The Second Calamity cannot be allowed to succeed. Too much depends on your growth, Arthur Nightingale. Not just this world, but the very concept of hope itself."

As I carefully accepted the crystalline container, I felt the weight of destiny settling on my shoulders once again. Four years to achieve the impossible, armed with the accumulated wisdom of a legendary dragon and the desperate hope that love and determination could overcome even cosmic threats.

The countdown to the Second Calamity had begun.