Noah opened his eyes wide, while Tetra looked at his back with confusion.


    "I won''t let you proceed further."


    Orion spun the spear above his head with one hand, as if he had done this all his life.


    The people inside the bracelet transmitted the weapon mastery they worked all their lives to master to Orion, who absorbed their knowledge like a sponge.


    For a brief moment, Orion was able to bring out the element used alongside the weapon, merged into one single ability.


    ''Orion... You''ve unlocked a part of the ''Shackles.''''


    In his core, Tetra spoke with trepidation.


    ''I''ll describe it as ''Wisdom of the Past''.''


    With a faint smile, he nodded.


    ''Sure, let''s go with that. Your naming sense was always a step ahead.''


    She sounded happy as a snort escaped her missing mouth.


    ''I''m glad you think this way. Anyway, go kick some asses.''


    ''Will do!''


    Armed with the spear of Hecate, Orion took a step forward and abruptly stopped the spinning motion of the spear over his head.


    He leaned on the foot he dragged forward and aimed the spear like a javelin toward the corrupt beasts flying toward the village.


    There were many birds among them, but there were also insects and bats.


    Their numbers appeared to be well over three thousand at most.


    "Spear Art: Blazing Javelin."


    He spoke the name of one of the abilities Hecate had created when she was walking on this earth.


    The spear began to ignite from tip to end in his hand.


    Orion turned his waist, breathed in, and rotated his body to throw the spear.


    Using the muscles in his hips to maintain his posture firmly and the ''Overdrive'' to throw it at full force, Orion sent the spear in a straight line toward the flying beasts.


    *Puck*


    The spear pierced a large yellow bird, ripping a hole through its body. Then, it continued piercing more and more beasts.


    Seeing a few of the corrupt beasts fly toward the ground, Orion opened his hand and pointed his palm to the sky.


    "Explode."


    The moment he clenched his hand into a fist, the pierced creatures exploded in a massive explosion that engulfed numerous beasts.


    And, as those beasts were devoured by the fire, they began to explode too.


    A chain reaction of explosions happened, destroying 80% of the entire wave of enemies.


    The spear magically vanished into the fire, only to reappear next to Orion, its tip stabbed into the ground.


    Its blade scorched the ground, slowly turning it into a puddle of magma, before Orion pulled it out.


    "Come."


    The remaining corrupt beasts were diving toward Orion in their final attempt to kill the one responsible for such a carnage.


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    With the spear held horizontally behind his back, Orion waited for the gray bat to get closer.


    The armor around his arm was holding back the injuries that the ''Overdrive'' state would otherwise cause, which made Orion able to unleash it for a brief moment.


    With the ''Second Gear'' activated, Orion took a step forward when the bat was closer to the ground.


    Right behind it, the other creatures were flying close to the ground, grazing the grass with their claws and legs.


    "Fuuuuuu~"


    Taking a deep breath, Orion began his assault.


    "Hup!"


    He leaned on his leg and came into close contact with the bat.


    With a swift movement of the spear, he sliced the bat in half, which fell to the ground without showing any more signs of life.


    Then, the other corrupt beasts followed. One after the other, they fell to Orion, who rapidly moved the spear and dodged any attacks thrown his way.


    In rapid succession, he created a pile of dead beasts behind him, until not a single flying corrupt was in sight.


    "That felt pretty good."


    After thousands of years of lethargy, Orion felt refreshed.


    But, out of nowhere, a gray eagle dropped on him from above, ready to sink its claws into him.


    He simply glanced at it and moved out of the way.


    Leaving the spear on the spot, with its blade turned toward the sky, the eagle plunged to its death.


    *KAAA!*


    It gave a cry of agony as the center of its body slid down the shaft of the spear.


    Orion grabbed the spear when the eagle touched the ground and kicked him toward the pile of dead corrupt beasts behind him.


    The moment the eagle touched the other bodies, they began to ignite into a blazing inferno that devoured their bodies, not even leaving ashes behind.


    "Thank you, Hecate."


    With a satisfied smile, Orion looked at the spear. The armor around his arm began to crack, and before long, it crumbled into embers.


    Her spear cracked alongside it, turning into embers as well.


    He moved his arm to find any inconvenience using the ''Overdrive'' state could have caused before nodding to himself.


    ''I''m fine. Nothing''s broken.''


    ''That''s a relief.''


    Tetra also agreed.


    ''Though, this was incredible. You still have it in you, don''t you?''


    ''...''


    Orion pondered for a brief instant.


    ''I can''t remember how to use the spear.''


    The faint smile on his face showed that he was expecting this to happen.


    ''This is shared knowledge, similar to a symbiosis.''


    ''Those people residing inside the bracelet probably chose what to share and when to stop, depending on the situation you are in.''


    It wasn''t difficult to guess how this ability worked. This ability was a temporary means for Orion to fight back in this time period, where his elements were gone and impossible to manifest.


    Until his fighting abilities returned, or he were to find a way to use the void element again, they would assist him as long as he needed.


    "Orion."


    Noah approached from behind and looked at the fire, which was starting to die down.


    "This was... incredible, to say the least."


    The living Tetra followed behind him with a cautious stare, aimed at Orion.


    "Was I able to help you?"


    With a nod, Noah gave a thumbs up.


    "That was more than I hoped for. I won''t pry into why you suddenly obtained the power to fight again, but I''m glad you did."


    He crossed his arms.


    "Flying enemies are a pain to deal with."


    Orion felt good in many ways. He was finally able to be useful, he was able to exercise, and he obtained a new ability.


    But most of all, he learned something incredibly important. A secret his father kept hidden even from his son and wife.


    But Orion wasn''t angry anymore. He knew why Reon did what he felt was right to do.


    Not discussing it was his way of fighting back against Elliott, or Miasma in this case.


    It was his standoff against total annihilation. If Orion had known and inadvertently revealed it where Miasma would be able to listen, the bracelet would have been the first thing Miasma would have destroyed.


    He would have focused everything in his power to kill Orion and break the device.


    And Orion knew that he had to keep it a secret from the entire world. All he could say to Noah was a sentence that wasn''t the whole truth while not being a lie.


    "There are many people pushing my back. I have to find my way home, so I can''t stay weak anymore."


    "That is true."


    Tetra relaxed behind Noah, seeing that he hadn''t changed and showed no traces of hostility even after having this newfound power.


    "Tetra."


    Noah glanced over his shoulder and looked at her.


    "What is it, Noah?"


    "Are there the usual second and third waves coming?"


    She nodded with a serious expression on her face.


    "There is. Enri was able to help me see a bit of the future."


    Something unexpected left her mouth, which made Noah frown.


    "There are four more waves coming your way."


    "The two incoming are your usual weaker beasts, but the last two are... different."


    With only the vision of those incoming beasts as a way to gauge the situation, Tetra''s stress was going up.


    "The fourth wave is a few hundred of those corrupt beasts that use magic."


    The expression on Noah''s face wasn''t pretty.


    "The ''Corrupted Lords''... this is worse than I thought."


    But Tetra shook her head.


    "There is more. The last wave... is composed of three giants."


    A heavy sigh escaped Noah''s mouth.


    "That is definitely strange. Giant corrupt beasts aren''t a common sight, so three of them are a rather perplexing sight."


    "Something absolutely happened with Miasma. As Orion stated, he might also have moved through time after their battle and began to influence the past."


    The expressions they were making weren''t pretty. There was a mixture of confusion, cautiousness, and seriousness on their faces.


    "Do you think it will be possible to defend the village?"


    "..."


    Both Tetra in Orion and the one next to Noah spoke at the same time.


    "Impossible."


    ''Impossible.''


    Orion closed his eyes and smirked slightly before taking the matter more seriously.


    "Why is that?"


    This era''s Tetra looked at Noah and shook her head.


    "You are still only one human. Even if you possess the power to annihilate their armies, those giants are too difficult to deal with by yourself."


    "One, maybe two. You''ve proven multiple times that you can kill them before disaster strikes. But this time is different."


    Noah listened with great attentiveness. He did not take Tetra''s words as an offense, but actually as advice.


    "We are against a giant octopus, a massive reptile, and one enormous caterpillar."


    He rolled his eyes and sighed.


    "I get why you said it would be difficult. What a painful situation we are in..."


    Slowly, Noah turned to look at Orion.


    "I was waiting for you to look my way. You want my help, right?"


    With a simple nod, Noah relaxed.


    "You seemed to have enjoyed that fight earlier, so maybe it could help you evacuate those frustrating feelings inside of you."


    Then, he looked over his shoulder toward the village of beastmen.


    "I would like to request your help to protect these people. I understand they are not from your time and that you might think they are unrelated to you, but I would like to ask you nonetheless."


    Noah approached Orion and extended his head toward him.


    "Would you fight alongside me?"


    A slight hesitation appeared on Orion''s face. He wasn''t reluctant to; in fact, he wanted to agree.


    But he had to ask Tetra for her opinion.


    ''Tetra. What was the fate of that village in our past?''


    ''Right...''


    She pondered for a very brief instant.


    ''They survived. There were no flying corrupt beasts of any kind at that moment, and it only ended with three ground-level waves that Noah dispatched successfully.''


    Orion grabbed Noah''s hand without any hesitation in his mind. Tetra''s words were enough to


    convince him.


    ''We don''t know what will happen if something changes in this era. We ought to respect the destiny Enri managed with an iron hand.''


    ''I agree.''


    With both on the same line of thought, Orion and Tetra prepared themselves to fight this unprecedented event.