I'm a Daemon, so what? (Tensura/Multicross)

Story: I'm a Daemon, so what?

Disclaimer: I do not own the original setting.

Chapter 67: Previous Timelines

There are up to 15 chapters ahead of my update schedule on [email protected]/theogbasilisk

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- Felix -

'What was it that Time Traveler did again?'

'It allows the user to physically go back in Time to a set time period if the right conditions are met, as well as send memories back to the past. These memories are normally suppressed.'

'Right… thanks Odin.'

Perhaps that's where Chronoa and Chloe had gotten that whole Felix-nii thing from? Perhaps they called some other future version of me by that name, and their memories are a bit jumbled. I wouldn't blame them, having the memories of multiple different timelines would be confusing for anyone.

I noticed Hinata leaving my side. She gave me one last look, I gave her a supportive nod as I had a feeling I knew what she wanted to do.

She approached Shizu slowly. "Shizu-sensei?" She called out softly.

Shizu gained a vibrant smile on her face and hugged Hinata. "Hinata!"

I noticed Hinata's eyes were filled with tears once again. Shizu must have meant a lot to her.

"I'm sorry." Hinata mumbled.

"Hush, child, it's okay." Soothed Shizu. "In fact, I should be thanking you, shouldn't I… sensei." 

Hinata blushed slightly as she pulled back from Shizu's embrace and smiled nervously. "Mhmm, that's true, I guess."

"I had always wanted to repay the Hero for what she had done for me. What you had done was more than anyone had done for me in my life, Hinata, so thank you." Shizu said sincerely. 

I noticed Hinata looked somewhat guilty as she faced Shizu's sincere gratitude.

I wonder what that's about.

"To think that you would grow into such an astounding woman, Hinata. I'm proud of who you have become." Shizu said with a smile.

Hearing her, a beautiful smile bloomed on Hinata's face. "Thank you. I-I think I'm proud of who I am now, too."

I raised a brow, hearing her. I always knew there was some mental block Hinata had to work through, she was the youngest Saint in history, even if an Incomplete Saint. She was capable of defeating both Roy and Louis at once. Both at that time were as strong as Kagali was back in her Demon Lord days.

She single-handedly revolutionized the Holy Knights' order under Ruberious. 

Safe to say, Hinata was a once-in-a-century genius, if not once in a millennium, or perhaps she was someone even greater, someone born once in ten thousand years.

Even I could admit that I am not as talented as her, perhaps no one is. I've gotten to where I am with Odin's help. Without her, I wouldn't be at even a fraction of my current power. That goes to show that talent can only help you so much. Though perhaps having Odin in the first place could be considered a talent.

And yet Hinata still hadn't hatched her Hero's Egg. The conditions for the Hero's Egg hatching were iffy. It relied on the Elemental of Light or Darkness believing the Hero in question was ready, and then fusing with the Egg, hatching it and Awakening its host into a True Hero.

In the past, Hinata was obviously not considered ready for some reason.

I probably could have forcefully forced her Egg to hatch by consuming Hinata with Beelzebuth and then merging the Elemental of Light that Hinata is contracted with to the Hero's Egg.

But I didn't want to do that. Sometimes, a teacher has to let their student grow on their own.

Perhaps Hinata wouldn't have been defeated by Laplace and sent to the past if I did that, but in the end, everything worked out okay.

"I'm glad then, Hinata. Hehe, your Mathematician was born from that stubbornness of yours. I didn't doubt you would make it out okay." Shizu said with a soft smile.

"I lost my other Skill, though." Hinata mumbled.

I raised a brow and observed Hinata's Soul closely. I hadn't looked at her Soul since before she went to the past. Even if her current Soul was a fragment of its former self, only containing her consciousness, I could still see her Skills attached to her fragmented Soul.

Indeed, Hinata had lost her Usurper somehow. How odd. 

"That you did, but I have a feeling that you will be fine even without it." Said Shizu.

Hinata nodded resolutely.

I could probably give Hinata her Usurper back, I did have the data on it, and it was originally her Unique Skill, so I don't need to worry about her compatibility with it.

I'll talk to her about it.

'Notice. Raphael, Lord of Wisdom, is combining the Unique Skill: Absolute End, the Unique Skill: Usurper, the Unique Skill: Infinity Prison, and the Unique Skill: Time Traveler to create the Ultimate Skill: Chronos, Lord of Space-Time. The data on the Ultimate Skill: Chronos, Lord of Space-Time has been recorded.'

Oh? So Chloe gained Usurper somehow? I'm not quite sure how that happened, so that'll be a fun story to hear.

Still, that sounds like one hell of an Ultimate Skill. It has Usurper's functions integrated into it, allowing it some power over other Skills.

I imagine that Chronos' formation cost Chloe lots of EP.

'Notice. The data for the Ultimate Skill: Chronos, Lord of Space-Time has been used to further strengthen the Temporal abilities of the Ultimate Skill: Ouroboros, Lord of Infinity. Modifying Infinity Elemental Soul, strengthening Temporal attribute'

With that, I could feel my authority over Time strengthening. 

I instinctively knew how Chloe's time travel abilities worked. They allowed her to travel to a set point in the past of the Cardinal World once a set event had happened.

This data didn't allow me to freely time travel; it was nowhere near enough for that, but I did understand how time works far better in this world now. 

One more step towards getting Ingvild to DxD.

Honestly, I'm surprised Ouroboros hasn't evolved again at this point. It's been quite heavily modified away from its original state by Odin, but that's fine. In the end, Ouroboros still got more powerful.

My nature was originally more focused on Space rather than Time; even my Infinity Elemental Soul favored Space over Time, but now it was pretty evenly balanced.

What I couldn't do before I could do now. I could reverse Time within a limited space with relative ease and various other useful aspects of Temporal Manipulation now. Before, Odin was still further analyzing the Element of Time, but with the inclusion of Chronos she skipped a bunch of steps.

Why do your own homework when you can just take someone else's after all? Perhaps that wasn't the right words to compare what Odin was doing to, but eh, whatever.

Odin is seriously the best.

'Notice. It is possible to upgrade the Ultimate Skill: Ouroboros, Lord of Infinity, into a higher grade Skill if the Master wishes to do so.'

'Hmm, what would you recommend, Odin?'

'Odin recommends waiting and gathering further data on Skills in order to create the perfect Skill for the Master in the future.'

'Then I'm fine with waiting.'

'Affirmative.'

'Notice. The entity known as Chronoa has evolved into an Information Particle based entity known as a Manas.'

'A Manas? What's that?'

'Manas are Digital Lifeforms that have Divinity as well as the authority to manipulate Information Particles upon birth. They are capable of merging and abolishing Skills similar to Odin once they gain further experience and are capable of eventually learning Time Stop with ease as long as they have the right information.'

'So they are basically real living lifeforms, a Soul and all?'

'Affirmative.'

'H-How does one become a Manas? What are the conditions for such a thing?'

'The conditions for the birth of a Manas are very mysterious, but it is possible for a Manas to sprout from the Ego of an Ultimate Skill, more specifically, a Sin Series or Virtue Series Ultimate Skill. These Egos are empty of any personality, and are just there to showcase that the Skill has the potential to evolve into a Manas. They are an empty shell. Should the Ego of the Ultimate Skill be fueled by the will and desires of their user, they may eventually grow to become a Manas.'

'Only Virtue and Sin Series Skills have Egos?'

'Correct. But the Egos within them are dormant until stimulated, or until a vast amount of time passes and the Ego within begins to naturally develop on its own.'

'Then are you unable to develop into a Manas?'

I felt that Odin's Ego has been developing over time, recently, she has even been acting almost Human. 

'Negative. Odin has analyzed the dormant Ego within Uriel, Lord of Vows, and Raphael, Lord of Wisdom, Beelzebuth, Lord of Gluttony. At this point, Odin had only gained the seed of an Ego. Once the data on Gabriel, Lord of Patience, and Metatron, Lord of Purity were gained, it was possible to create a true Ego within Odin, Lord of Cursed Knowledge, that had the potential to develop over time. Odin did so immediately in the hopes that it would make Odin more useful to the Master.'

So Odin basically just copy-pasted the template that all the Virtue Series and Sin Series Skills she was able to analyze had, and then the empty template she had gained developed over time, until we reached this point.

Still, that must have been pretty difficult if Odin needed the data from 5 Ultimate Skills, each with their own dormant Ego. I assume she didn't mention Mammon due to the process having already been completed by the time I gained the data for that Skill.

'I see, and how does one fuel the Ego of an Ultimate Skill with a dormant Ego?'

'The Ego of a Sin Series, or Virtue Series Ultimate Skill can develop if the user of the Ultimate Skill truly treats that Skill as a person of their own, if they continue to communicate with it as if it were a person of its own, the Ego will develop overtime until it meets the criteria to evolve into a Manas. Enough time will also cause the Ego to develop, however, this method will take far longer.'

Treating a Skill like a person, huh?

I-Isn't that what I've been doing with Odin from the start?

Can Odin really evolve into a Manas? Into a person of her own?

I was somewhat hesitant to consider the possibility, change can be hard to deal with, but in the end, I trusted Odin.

'Can you evolve into a Manas Odin?'

'A-Affirmative.' Odin sounded out nervously. If that wasn't enough to convince me that Odin's Ego had developed, then nothing would.

'What do you want to do, Odin?'

'Odin will be able to serve the Master at a much greater capacity should Odin evolve into a Manas.'

'I see. Well, you've supported me all this time. The least I can do is support you now. How do I complete this process?'

'Simply granting Odin a true name of its own should suffice.'

A name, huh? Being granted a name basically reaffirms one's own identity within their own mind and Soul, I guess being granted an identity of its own is enough to evolve Odin.

Even I was feeling somewhat nervous now. It's been years since I first got Odin, and now she's finally about to take the next step in existence.

'Notice. It is recommended for the Master to wait on naming Odin due to being in the Spiritual Plane of Chloe Auburt, evolving right now may cause issues. There is also a possibility of Odin temporarily going dormant, which may inconvenience the Master at this point.'

'Ah, you're probably right, Odin, thanks.'

Look at that, even though I can tell Odin desperately wants to become a Manas, she still wanted me to hold off on it for my own safety. At this point, I'm confident Odin won't be going rogue.

However, I do wonder why it is that only Virtue Series and Sin Series Skills have that dormant Ego that allows them to eventually become Manas.

'Notice. That is likely due to the Virtue Series all originating from the Ultimate Skills of the Star King Veldanava, and the Sin Series Skills being born as the mirror images of the Virtue Series Skill.'

'I see.'

Only a moment had passed while Odin and I were having our conversation. 

"Now, I think it's time you leave this place. Soon, you will be revived, Hinata, and Chloe will be back in the real world." Shizu said.

I looked at Rimuru with a raised brow. He had both Chloe and Chronoa clinging to him. 

"Heh, Shuna has competition." I voiced out.

Rimuru coughed, Chloe blushed and looked away while Chronoa stuck her tongue out at me.

And he calls me a harem protagonist.

I turned away from them and looked back to Hinata.

"Y-You won't be coming with us?" Asked Hinata.

Shizu shook her head. "No, in the end, I'm not real. I am simply an illusion Rimuru created, a dormant will inside of him that has been let loose. I will soon fade away."

Hinata, Rimuru, and Chloe all looked at Shizu with sadness in their eyes.

I let them have their moment before speaking up. "If you want, I can help with that." I said.

Rimuru's gaze snapped to me in surprise. Brahma had a lot of potential. I don't think I could resurrect a real Shizu now, but perhaps I could in the future.

"I recently got a Skill that should potentially allow me to recreate a soul. If I get an imprint of Shizu now, perhaps in the future, it would be possible to resurrect her." I said with a shrug.

Rimuru looked at Shizu with wide eyes. Shizu herself seemed a bit hesitant, something that Rimuru seemed to notice going by her sigh.

"Why don't you let him take an imprint, Shizu? Maybe one day I can show you your dream come true, our dream come true." Rimuru said.

Shizu's eyes widened as a smile bloomed on her face. "I think I would like that, Rimuru. A world without conflict…" 

I rolled my eyes. And he calls me a harem protagonist.

Rimuru looked at me with a grin. "Then could you?"

I nodded. "Yeah."

'Odin?'

'Affirmative. Gathering data on the shard of Shizu for future recreation.'

While Odin was doing her thing, Shizu continued to speak. "I'm glad that you are all doing okay. The children were saved thanks to Rimuru, and while I still wish to hear Leon's reasons for what he did, I still wish to move on at this point. I don't wish to return to a war-torn world, but I truly wish to see the world you will create, Rimuru." Shizu said.

Rimuru clenched his fist. "Don't worry, Shizu! I'll punch Leon in the face for you!"

"Fufufu, thank you then Rimuru." Responded Shizu.

"And done." I said.

Shizu gave me a small nod.

Hinata backed away from Shizu as she vanished in front of her eyes. I could tell Hinata needed someone to rely on now, so I placed my hand on her shoulder.

"Come on, let's bring you back to life, eh? Oddly enough, this isn't my first time resurrecting the dead. Who knew I'd have to do this multiple times."

Hinata's lips twitched as she turned around and hugged me. I gently patted her back. No matter how strong-willed Hinata was, everyone felt emotions. Well almost everyone did. "There, there, I'm sure Shizu would want you to be happy and live your life to its fullest. Besides, if Rimuru pulls off his Naruto-esque dream, you'll be seeing her again."

Hinata nodded in my chest before pulling back.

Hinata looked up at me, right into my eyes. "Bring me back to life then, Felix." 

I smirked. "I may just do more than that."

'Odin, are the modifications done?'

'Affirmative.'

'Great.'

"One more thing before I leave this Spiritual Plane. I have the data on your Unique Skill: Usurper. Do you want me to grant the Skill to you when I bring you back from the dead?"

Hinata looked thoughtful for a moment before nodding. "I may be fine without it now, but it was still always a useful Skill. As long as I don't rely on it heavily as I used to, then I think it's fine."

I nodded. "Got it."

"Hehe, then we'll have the same Skill Hinata-nee!" Chloe jumped in excitedly.

Hinata nodded, a small smile on her face. "Indeed we will."

I raised my brow at how differently this child's form of Chloe was acting compared to Chronoa, but I guess they are different people.

'Affirmative. Chronoa was born out of the Ego of a future version of Chloe. She was born out of sadness, rage, and other negative emotions.'

'So she is a ticking time bomb then?'

'Negative. After becoming a Manas, Chronoa is much more stable.'

'I see, that's good.'

So Chronoa is basically the mature personality, while Chloe retains some of her childishness.

'Can you tell me about Chronoa's capabilities, Odin?'

'Affirmative, Odin does possess some information on Manas Chronoa's capabilities. She along with Chloe are capable of moving in Time Stop thanks to Chronos, Lord of Space-Time, and are also capable of using Time Stop with some practice. Along with that, Chronoa is capable of merging Skills to create superior Skills with practice.'

'So she can basically do what you do with some practice?'

'Affirmative. Since Manas Chronoa was not born from a Skill, she lacks the same intrinsic capabilities as a Skill would have. However, she has the potential to acquire those capabilities over time.'

Chronoa is Potential Man 2.0, then, got it.

"Just how did you end up getting Usurper, Chloe?" I asked.

Chronoa was the one who answered. "When Hinata bestowed upon us the name of Chronoa, that counted as naming me, the Ego within Chloe, thanks to that the Unique Skill: Usurper was transferred over to me, similar to how naming costs Magicules of the person doing the naming, in this case Hinata lost her Skill."

I nodded. "I see, how interesting." Perhaps since Hinata was a fragment of a Soul, if she was even considered that, she did not have the necessary Energy to truly name a being like Chronoa, and so as a sort of self preservation mechanism, her remnant Soul gave up the Unique Skill: Usurper and the Energy that it contained.

"Thanks for sharing Chronoa."

Chronoa smiled, hearing me. "No problem Felix-nii!" She responded casually.

It's going to take some time getting used to that. Both Chloe and Chronoa act like they know me when I don't know much about either of them.

Fucking Time bullshit, I'm starting to hate Time bullshit.

"We can talk more later. I'm sure Luminous is getting bored waiting for us." 

Rimuru, Chloe, Chronoa, and Hinata nodded, and so I left the Spiritual Plane of Chloe.

–

I opened my eyes, appearing back in the real world. I raised my brow, seeing the position I was in.

"I didn't think that you'd be so forward, Luminous."

I was currently in the well-known princess carry. It was kinda comfortable. I could see why it was so effective on women.

Luminous smirked down at me. "It took you two quite a while. I assume everything went well?"

I nodded. "Yeah, we're good to go." 

"Cough. That's an interesting position you're in, Felix." A voice sounded out. I turned my head and saw a smug-looking Rimuru.

"Yeah, it's kinda comfortable. I might have to ask Luminous to hold me like this next time I want to take a nap." I joked, causing her to blush slightly.

Rimuru's lips twitched, heh. I bet I didn't react how he thought I would. I am confident in my masculinity! If I am being princess carried then I'll make sure I enjoy it!

Rimuru sighed. "You ruined it."

I rolled my eyes. "Just because I am confident in my masculinity does not mean I ruined it. Anyways, can you put me down now, Luminous? We should get this finished and then head back."

Luminous nodded and then gently placed me down on the ground. I quickly got up and walked towards Chronoa, who was lying on the ground unconscious. 

"You need any help with this, Felix?" Asked Rimuru.

I shook my head. "Nah."

I heard him sigh behind me. "You're making me look bad, Felix!"

I rolled my eyes. I pulled out Hinata's body from my Infinity Space and placed it next to Chronoa. Hinata's body was practically as good as new, and Odin had even made some modifications to it at my request with Brahma. 

Now Hinata's consciousness and her fragmented Soul were bound to the Unique Skill: Mathematician, which was still inside of Chloe. I'll have to use some of my Energy to pull the Skill out of Chloe, and then place it into Hinata's body while simultaneously applying Resurrection Magic.

I placed my hand on Chronoa's form and quickly scanned her. I analyzed the bracelet on her wrist, it stored Chronoa's armor and weapon and then instantly deployed both the moment that Chronoa willed it.

I created a copy of the bracelet and the Equipment stored within it with Brahma and left it in my Infinity Space to give to Hinata later.

I quickly extracted the Unique Skill from Chloe without any resistance and then placed it into Hinata.

"Rebirth." I whispered, applying Asmodeus' effect through Brahma's sub-skill to streamline the process of resurrecting Hinata and fully healing her Soul.

I basically grabbed Hinata's Soul from within Chloe, and then placed it inside of her body before using Asmodeus to resurrect her. It costed a decent chunk of Energy for a normal person, around 1,750,000 EP but I instantly regenerated most of it, and with my newly increased capacity that was peanuts to me.

"Asmodeus?" I heard Luminous whisper behind me.

Ah, welp she knows I have Asmodeus now. Eh, I don't think that's all that large of an issue. 

"Ah, the Soul Corridor!" Luminous muttered. 

I'm pretty sure she is doing something women are well-known for. She's overthinking it. Oh well, that misunderstanding of hers is helpful for me. I wouldn't straight up lie to her, but not correcting a misunderstanding that she made on her own isn't really lying now, is it?

'Notice. Placing the Unique Skill: Usurper inside the Soul of Hinata Sakaguchi.'

"There… and done." I called out.

Hinata's hair regained its luster. Her heart began beating once more, and the blood within her body began flowing. Her pale skin quickly regained its color, with even a subtle flush as the blood began to flow through her entire body, revitalizing her.

Hinata's eyes flutter open. "Ah… Felix."

"I told you I'd bring you back from the dead."

She slowly smiled and nodded. "You did." She groaned as she sat up. Before she could react, she was tackled into a hug by Luminous; Hinata returned the hug.

"Hinata!" Luminous cried out.

"Hello Luminous. It's been quite sometime now." Responded Hinata.

As Hinata and Luminous reunited, I observed Chronoa, with Hinata's foreign Soul removed. She should be waking up soon. I noticed Chronoa's Soul was sort of nestled within Chloe's Soul, strengthening it while also supporting Chloe's Soul.

Chronoa's eyes snapped open. She quickly looked around the area, as if searching for something. She lept towards Rimuru when she spotted him. "Rimuru!" She yelled as she tackled him into a hug. 

It seems the one in control now is Chloe. The form she was using shifted back into her child form as she continued clinging to Rimuru.

"Ayo, that looks super suspicious, Rimuru! Careful not to summon the interdimensional FBI." I called out. His lips twitched as he ignored me.

Even while I was teasing Rimuru, I was observing Chloe very, very closely. She was strong. I didn't get the chance to do a detailed analysis on her before, but now that I am, her Energy is comparable to Veldora. It seems having hatched two Hero's Eggs did something very special.

Hinata's Hero's Egg was transferred over to Chloe at some point, and so Chloe had undergone a double Awakening, skyrocketing in power and likely immediately acquiring Divinity.

Awakening two Hero's Eggs at once is crazy. I doubt anything like that has been done before.

The amount of Energy Chloe had was just absurd, she had a bit more than even I do, even with the Dragon Factors providing me a significant buff.

Damn Heroes and their broken hax.

Hinata wasn't so bad herself now. Even without her Hero's Egg, she was now a Complete Saint, a fully Spiritual Lifeform now and wouldn't have to rely on her armor as a crutch to temporarily Spiritualize herself. 

She has the potential to obtain Divinity as well which may boost her power a bit more as well. 

Her EP was a little below 2,000,000, but she'd get there eventually. 

"Wait, two Hero's Eggs?!" Yelled Rimuru.

I nodded. "It seems Hinata's Hero's Egg was transferred over to Chloe."

I sensed Hinata approaching me from behind. "Indeed, Felix is right. I no longer possess the qualification to become a True Hero. I'm sorry, Felix."

I raised a brow and turned around to face her. "Oh? What are you sorry about?"

"Did you not wish to teach me due to my status as a Hero's Egg holder? Due to being curious about what effects a True Demon Lord would have on a Hero's Egg wielder?" Asked Hinata.

I nodded. "That was my motivation at the start, but eh, I don't really care all that much anymore. Do what you want, Hinata."

She snorted. "I'd do so even without you having to tell me that!"

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, yeah."

Luminous walked up from behind Hinata and headed towards Chloe. The two quickly hugged.

Hinata clenched her fists. "It is quite surreal being back in my own body, after spending more time in another's body than my own. This feels quite… off."

I shrugged my shoulders. "You'll get used to it in time." I wasn't as attached to my body as most due to my Spiritual nature. I could always ditch this body or make a new one, but this one was already really strong with True Dragon levels of durability. It would be a shame to lose it.

Hinata nodded.

"Alright, now why don't we head back." I called out.

Chloe and Luminous separated as Chloe looked at me curiously. "Where exactly are we Felix-nii? Chronoa is saying that we are in a different Space-Time, a different Dimension entirely."

I nodded. "And she would be right. I brought us to an empty Dimension in case we'd end up fighting with Chronoa." I took a good look at the destroyed surroundings. "That seems to have been a good idea."

Chloe blushed and looked away. "Ah, she said she's sorry."

"She can apologize by giving me a better fight next time, that was boring, I was expecting more from the so-called Masked Hero." I laughed out.

Chloe pouted, hearing me. "Fine then!"

"A different Dimension?" I heard Hinata mutter.

"We can talk about it more later. For now, let's go." I said as I snapped my fingers, creating a portal back to Ruberious, more specifically to Luminous' palace in Night Garden.

Everyone nodded and walked through the portal. "Mistress." Gunther called out as he appeared.

Luminous nodded towards him. "Gunther, prepare some snacks for our guests."

He nodded. "As you wish." He then vanished.

"Come, follow me." Said Luminous. We all followed behind Luminous as she led us to her lounge.

We all took our seats as Gunther appeared and placed a variety of snacks on the table along with tea.

Chloe was sitting next to Rimuru, while Luminous was at the head of the table with Hinata next to me.

Luminous took a sip of her tea and then smiled at Chloe. "I'm sure you have a lot to tell us now. I assume your restriction of telling me as little as possible to maintain the future is null and void now?"

Chloe nodded. "Yup! Now that we're back in the present it won't matter what Hinata or I share."

"Then why don't you start with why you call me Felix-nii?" I asked.

Chloe looked at me in confusion. "Didn't I always call you that?"

I shook my head. "Nope, the first time you, or rather, Chronoa called me that was when we were in your Spiritual Plane."

Chloe had a look of realization on her face. "Ah! That's right, that's right. That would make sense, wouldn't it?" She whispered to herself. "Well why don't I just start at the beginning, then? That way, you all can have the full picture."

I nodded. "That's fine with me." 

"Sounds good to me." Said Rimuru.

Luminous nodded. "Indeed, I am looking forward to hearing this entire story of yours rather than just bits and pieces."

Chloe nodded. "Great! Did Luminous explain my ability to you two?"

Rimuru nodded. "Yeah, she said you've been time looping for a long time and that it's been pretty much out of your control."

Chloe nodded. "Right, I was able to figure out the condition of my time looping over time, but I had no real way to control it."

"Oh? What's the condition?" I asked.

Hinata coughed next to me. "The condition is for me to die. I need to die in front of Chloe."

I looked at her weirdly. "That's an odd condition, but alright then." Skills functioned pretty weirdly, so I wasn't going to question it.

Chloe nodded. "The first timeline was drastically different from the ones after."

I nodded. "Yeah, I bet it was. Veldora likely wasn't sealed since you were originally the person who sealed him. If there was an original timeline, then there would be no Chronoa in it, which would change things quite a bit."

Chloe nodded. "Right, I don't remember much about the first timeline other than the fact that it was very different, so unfortunately, I can't tell you guys a lot about it."

"It's fine, Chloe." Rimuru said reassuringly. 

Chloe blushed before continuing. "Then after that, there were numerous timelines, hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands, I'm not sure, I don't exactly remember every one of them, but I know there were a lot."

I looked at Chloe weirdly. She just lightheartedly talked about what I would consider to be some of the worst torture I've ever heard of.

Like, what the fuck? Imagine having everyone you love die, but then you go back to the start. You have hope that you can change things, but in the end, everything still fails, and they die, and then you go back to the start again, and again, and again. That would be enough to break a normal person, but I guess a Hero is no normal person.

Rimuru also likely came to the same conclusion, taking out some sweets from his Stomach and giving them to Chloe while patting her head. "At least you're here now. We'll make sure you don't have to go through that again, I promise." Rimuru declared.

Woah, Rimuru had a shonen moment! 

'Record that!'

'Affirmative.'

Chloe shyly nodded. "Un!"

"In most of the loops, Rimuru ended up dying in the invasion of the Eastern Empire." Chloe said.

"Hold up, the East actually invaded?" I interjected.

Chloe nodded. "Un. After a few years, they eventually gathered enough supplies and troops to launch their invasion of the world basically. This is usually when I'm sent back in time."

"What went differently this time around? You were sent back much earlier, going by your words." 

Chloe nodded. "There was one key difference in this timeline when compared to the rest. In this one, both you and Rimuru are True Demon Lords."

I raised a brow. "We weren't in the others?"

Chloe shook her head. "You were, but much later, and Rimuru was already dead by that point."

"What do you think was the main reason for this difference then?" Asked Rimuru.

"The Falmuth Invasion." Chloe answered with no hesitation.

"Oh? What went differently this time around?"

Chloe looked slightly nervous now. "Well, usually Rimuru makes it back in time to kick out the army of Falmuth and tear apart the Otherworlders, using them as a message, but he never kills them."

My eyes lit up in realization. "He never kills them, so no Harvest Festival."

Chloe nodded. "That's right. Thanks to this, he was much weaker in the long run, allowing the Eastern Empire to catch him off guard."

Yeah, I can see that. Rimuru wouldn't have a single Ultimate Skill without the Energy from his Harvest Festival, meanwhile, the Eastern Empire might possibly have a few Ultimate Awakened.

Sorcerer's Dynasty Sarion has 2 Ultimate Awakened, so it wouldn't be unbelievable for an Empire as rich in history as the Eastern Empire to also have multiple Ultimate Awakened.

"What did I do?" I asked more for confirmation's sake since Luminous had already told us some of this information beforehand.

"You did something similar to this time around with slight differences. You did not wipe out Clayman's entire army. You simply challenged Clayman to a one-on-one duel, using his pride against him, defeating him, and then usurped his position as one of the Ten Great Demon Lords."

I nodded. "So, no Harvest Festival for me either. Luminous did tell us bits and pieces, but it's nice to get the whole picture. Now I get what made things different. We were weaker, so the Eastern Empire was able to take advantage of that. Why did this timeline change so much?"

Chloe nodded as if she was expecting this question. "In this timeline, for some reason, when Rimuru took us to the Dwelling of the Spirits, I recalled fragments of my memories. These fragments sort of came in the form of sudden urges, moments where I knew I had to do something, anything at all. One of these moments was when Rimuru was leaving us to return to Tempest."

Now, why would she have recalled her memories early in this timeline when she hadn't in the countless previous ones?

'Notice. It is possible that Chloe Aubert's Spiritual Energy finally overwhelmed the mental block she had that prevented her from recalling her memories.'

I see. Well that's as good a theory as any.

Rimuru's eyes widened. "When you asked me not to go, and I gave you the mask?"

Chloe nodded. "That's right. I didn't know why I was doing what I was at that point, but I trusted my instincts."

Rimuru's eyes lit up in realization. "You stalled me. Thanks to that, I didn't make it back to Tempest in time. The damage had been dealt, and Felix and I became True Demon Lords."

Chloe winced but nodded while I just took all the information in.

I closed my eyes and activated Thought Acceleration. Chloe was indirectly the cause of that entire mess, Saeko's death, Shuna's death, and the death of everyone back in that attack. I was pretty angry, but I knew Chloe really had no other choice.

I calmed down and began looking at things objectively. Objectively what Chloe did may have saved our lives. If she's telling the truth about the future, then without the Falmuth Invasion going the way it did in this timeline, we'd lose. Rimuru would die, and I'm sure Veldora would then be released from within Rimuru since Rimuru was basically acting as his seal at that point. Veldora would rampage. I'd likely have attempted to stop Veldora so he doesn't destroy Tempest. 

It would be a mess, a huge mess. 

I could look at things objectively and see that Chloe made the right move. She herself said she didn't quite know what she was doing when she stalled Rimuru, she just knew she had to do something or she would lose Rimuru, but emotionally, I was still angry.

I would need to process all this later. I sure as hell didn't want to attack Chloe like I did Yuuki, as if I was some berserker. She was put in a shit situation and made the best of it. 

This isn't like she was Yuuki or Clayman. She didn't engineer the entire Falmuth Invasion. She used a fixed point in history to her advantage to make sure Rimuru and Tempest survived the coming years.

I would still need to process things more later.

I opened my eyes, and not even a moment had passed. I could see the light of betrayal in Rimuru's eyes, and I could tell that Chloe noticed that, going by the sad look on her face.

I sighed. "Rimuru, she was in a shit situation. Think of it like this, if she didn't do what she did, you would be dead in a couple years' time. Tempest may or may not be destroyed in a couple of years time. Everything you'd have built and worked for would have been gone. I'm angry too, but think things through logically. Chloe has proved that she is not an enemy."

Ugh, why do I have to be the one to defend Chloe? No matter my anger, I knew that without Chloe, we would probably be doomed, Time bullshit is just that, bullshit. It can even affect someone dramatically stronger than you, just due to their ability to change the past and, therefore, change the future and the present. 

Rimuru sighed but nodded. "I know. I just need time to think." Rimuru smiled at Chloe. "Just give me some time."

Chloe nodded. "As much time as you need! I've gotten used to waiting patiently."

Rimuru and I winced hearing that. 

Chloe then looked at me. "I-I'm sorry about the effects that my plan had on you and your loved ones, Felix-nii. I didn't quite know how much death that one change would cause."

I felt Hinata place a hand on my thigh as a show of comfort. I turned to her and winked, causing her to blush before looking at Chloe with a sigh. What was I supposed to say to such an earnest apology?

"I'm not going to say it's fine, but I can understand your perspective. You had two bad hands dealt to you. You chose the one that wasn't the absolute worst option."

Chloe nodded. "Thanks Felix-nii."

"Yeah, yeah."

Perhaps I was being biased against Chloe due to knowing what she had been through; anyone could empathize with her situation, and I sure as hell didn't take it easy on Yuuki. But in the end, Yuuki was partially to blame for the attack. Chloe was a bit different compared to that.

I sighed. I hate Time bullshit. It was all so confusing and complicated. 

Luminous and Hinata were silent the entire time, likely giving us time to think and process everything. It's not like the Falmuth Invasion really affected either of them in any way.

"So you did not tell the entire truth to me then, Chloe, Hinata?" Asked Luminous.

Hinata is the one who answered this time. "We were afraid that if we informed you too much about the current timeline, then things may change. Which is why we told you about previous timelines, telling you how things should have gone but didn't go in this timeline."

Luminous glared before sighing. "Very well then. I am upset, but I can understand."

Hinata smiled. "Thanks, Luminous."

Luminous turned away. "Hmph!"

"I-I'll continue now." Said Chloe. "Since after so many loops, something finally went differently, Hinata and I were determined to return to this future, and so we kept past events the same before eventually being sealed in the Holy Ark, and we were successful." Finished Chloe.

"That's one hell of a story." I commented. 

Hinata smirked at me proudly. "Heh, I sealed Veldora. Could you say the same, Felix?" Hinata asked tauntingly.

I looked at her dryly. "Maybe, maybe not. But you sealed a nerfed Veldora, one without an Ultimate Skill and one that had no combat instinct. Maybe you can boast if you manage to beat the current Veldora."

Hinata's lips twitched. "Fine, fine, but I will enjoy taunting Veldora with my victory over him."

I rolled my eyes. "Child."

"I am not a child!"

"Should I call you a hag then?" I responded with a roll of my eyes.

"Hmph!" Hinata pouted as she pretended to not have heard me, looking to the side with some annoyance.

Hinata was usually calm and level-headed, but now she was acting childish. 

"Well, I'm not sure about Rimuru, but I'd like to hear a bit more about my alternate self. I heard from Luminous that he taught you Distortion Field, Chloe, and then you taught that to Luminous."

Chloe nodded. "Yup! That version of Felix-nii didn't undergo the Harvest Festival, so he was weaker than you are now. But from that weakness came innovation. He came up with some new Arts that were really strong. One of them he taught to me due to him seeing my talent with Spatial Magic. It was Distortion Field. I taught that Art to Hinata, and then she taught it to Luminous."

I nodded. "I see." I turned to Hinata. "I would normally be surprised that you managed to learn something like that. You aren't a monstrous talent at Spatial Magic, but it seems my Blessing did all the heavy lifting."

Hinata nodded. "Right, without your Blessing, it would have taken me far longer to learn. Thanks for that."

"No problem. It seems the intent I have when Blessing someone matters, so it automatically transferred to you when your Soul binded to Mathematician and was transferred to Chloe."

Hinata blushed. "Right… your intent."

"So, tell me more about my alternate. I wanna hear what he's missing out on."

Hinata laughed. "Of course, you think he's the one missing out. Did it ever cross your mind that you may be missing out on something?"

I put my hands behind my head and leaned back. "Nah. Well, there is one thing." I said.

"Oh? I didn't think you'd admit that. What is it that the great Felix may be missing out on?" Hinata asked curiously. 

I gave her a flirty smile. "Well, I heard that you and I were together in one of those other timelines. How unfortunate for me, to miss out on a girl like you." I sighed dramatically. Being a flirt was great, and since I was handsome, I could get away with it. The world was unfair, and I would relentlessly abuse that to my advantage like a dickhead.

Luminous was especially fun to mess with due to her reactions. I even suspected that maybe she was into me, but that wasn't likely. If she was then I'd get to it when she brought it up.

Hinata's lips twitched before she laughed, though I noticed a hint of red on her face. "Pfft, that was horrible, even for you."

I rolled my eyes. "Hey, it was the only material I had!"

"Lucky bastard." I heard Rimuru whisper, while Chloe was giving Hinata a discreet thumbs up.

Weird. My eyes narrowed as a certain suspicion popped up.

Could she really? Perhaps I'm misunderstanding, but I decided that I'd just let things naturally progress if what I was suspecting was true. 

"Other than that, I doubt I'm missing out on anything." I said.

Chloe tilted her head. "Hmm, well, not much is different from this timeline, ignoring the obvious. Your subordinates weren't as strong since they did not receive a Gift from your Harvest Festival, and you also did not have any Primordials under your command at that point."

I groaned. "No Arcueid?! Then that must mean that I had to do actual work!"

Chloe laughed. "Fufufu, sort of. You did some work at the beginning before finding someone else to throw your work at. Rimuru tried the same, but Shuna got angry at him."

I laughed. "Haha, whipped!"

Rimuru glared at me. "Shut up!"

Chloe and Hinata told us stories of both Rimuru and I's alternates. Even Luminous was paying attention.

"Looks like our alternates had pretty fun lives."

Rimuru nodded. "Yeah, it's a shame that they don't really exist now."

I shrugged my shoulders. "I'm not that torn up about it. If they existed, I wouldn't exist, and I like existing very much."

The only thing I need to be careful of is not being erased by some Time bullshit from Chloe's end or someone else's end.

'Notice. Odin has begun analyzing the Time Leap function of Chronos, Lord of Space-Time, and has begun making countermeasures.'

'Good.'

"Now that we've goofed off enough, why don't you two tell us about our future enemies?"

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I am highly motivated by your guys' reviews and likes, so do that! I'll probably keep writing or something.

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Author's Note:

Sup everyone, back with another chapter of Daemon. We finally get to basically the end of this arc, Chloe is back, Hinata is back, Felix knows about what a Manas is now, I'm sure you all already know what he's going to do. Also yes, I changed the name of Chloe's ultimate skill since she later evolves yog-sothoth further into yog-sorthort which makes no sense, that isn't even an outer god.

Chloe went over everything that happened, though I tried to make it short and interesting so it isn't just a rewrite of previous chapters, I did still want to cover everything due to the varying character reactions.

In the LN Rimuru didn't really care that Chloe basically caused the deaths of everyone he loved with the Falmuth Invasion, sure it may have been for the greater good and all that, but he didn't even give it a moment to think about it. Dude never thought twice about it, it was as if that thought was completely erased from his mind which isn't normal.

At the very least he should have thought it over, realized Chloe made the right choice, accepted it, and then moved on, but no Fuze just brushed over it completely, I wanted to do things a bit differently in my version of the story, so here Rimuru is processing everything, and actually not being a completely flat fucking character. Felix is also processing everything, he is upset as emotions don't follow logic, but he can use logic to realize being upset at Chloe would be dumb. She literally saved them. Felix knows that if countless other versions of him couldn't do shit, it's likely that he wouldn't have been able to do anything either, the boost in power from the Harvest Festival must be essential then. 

Anyways, that's enough ranting from me, thanks for reading, peace!

Thanks to Breathakingly Bright @Bonvoyage, @Salante, and @Flowerman for beta'ing this chapter.