The Timeline Changed

CHAPTER SEVEN

The footsteps grew louder. I slipped the Seed of Agility into my pocket and tightened my grip around the Widow-Maker. There were at least five people above me.

I knew this place.

The basement had only one entrance, and whoever had entered the cathedral would have to pass through the main hall before reaching me.

In my previous life, Saint Jude had become one of the first shelters in Oakhaven.

Hundreds of survivors eventually gathered here. But that hadn't happened immediately. On the first day, only a handful of people had come looking for safety.

And among those people was someone I had desperately needed in my first life. Someone who had died before I ever realized how important she was.

I heard voices above me. "Check every room."

"Do you think the creature is still here?"

"It shouldn't be. The rift closed."

My eyes narrowed. These weren't ordinary civilians.Their voices were too calm.I moved toward the staircase. Then I stopped.

A strange feeling crawled across my skin as if someone was watching me. I looked toward the dark corner of the basement, there was nothing there.

Only broken stones and shadows.

The Temporal Echo pulsed inside my mind.

Once.

Twice.

Then a faint image flashed before my eyes. A woman standing at the top of the stairs. Long black hair, with a bloodstained jacket and a silver sword in her hand.

Her face was familiar.My heart tightened.

"Elena."

The image disappeared.I stared at the staircase.

In my previous life, Elena Cross had saved my life during the third month of the apocalypse.

She had been one of the strongest survivors in Oakhaven.

A swordswoman who eventually reached a level that most people could only dream about. But I had never met her before the apocalypse.

By the time our paths crossed, she was already injured. This time... She was here on the first day. The footsteps stopped. A man's voice came from above.

"Someone is down there."

I immediately stepped behind a stone pillar. The basement door opened. Five people descended the stairs. Four men and one woman.

They carried backpacks, weapons, and enough supplies to tell me they hadn't come here randomly. The woman stepped down first.

It was her.

Elena Cross.

She looked younger than I remembered. Of course she did. Five years of surviving the apocalypse had changed everyone.

The woman I remembered had scars covering her face and arms. Her eyes had been colder.

But this was the same person. One of the men raised a metal pipe.

"There's someone here."

The others immediately spread out. I stepped from behind the pillar.

"Don't."

The man stopped. His eyes moved over me.

He looked at my cheap clothes, bloodstained shirt, and the knife in my hand.

Then he laughed.

"You're just a kid."

I didn't answer. The man took another step.

"Where's the monster?"

"Dead."

Silence. The man's smile disappeared.

"Dead?" he asked shocked, "you killed it?"

I nodded.

He looked at the others. Then everyone looked toward the empty space where the Shadow-Stalker had disappeared.

Elena's eyes narrowed.

"You killed it?" she asked again as they didn't believe me.

"Yes."

She studied me carefully.

"Alone?"

"Yes."

One of the men laughed.

"That's impossible."

I looked at him.

"You can check the body if you want."

"There isn't a body."

"Exactly."

The man's face changed. Elena stepped forward.

"Show me your hands."

I frowned.

"Why?"

"If you killed a monster, the System should have rewarded you."

My eyes sharpened. So she had already seen the System.Interesting. I slowly raised my hand. A faint blue screen appeared.

[Host Status]

[Name: Aeron Miller]

[Level: 2]

[Class: None]

[Strength: 8]

[Agility: 9]

[Endurance: 7]

[Sense: 6]

[Skills: None]

Elena stared at the screen. The others went silent..The man holding the pipe swallowed.

"Level two?"

I closed the screen.

"Now you know."

Elena didn't look impressed. Instead, she looked suspicious.

"How did you know where the monster would appear?"

I said nothing. Her gaze became sharper.

"You were waiting for it."

Still nothing.

"You knew."

That was enough. I looked directly into her eyes.

"I knew the monster would appear here."

"How?"

"I can't explain that."

She studied me for several seconds. Then she lowered her sword.

"Fine."

One of the men immediately objected.

"Elena, we can't trust him."

"I didn't say I trusted him."

She turned toward me.

"But if he killed that creature alone, he's more useful alive than dead."

I almost smiled. That sounded exactly like the Elena I remembered. Practical.

But there was something else. The Temporal Echo pulsed again. This time, the vision lasted longer.

Elena standing beside me. A burning city behind us. Her sword covered in blood. Then a giant shadow descending from the sky. Her body falling. My own hands covered in blood. I blinked.

The vision disappeared.

I stared at her. In my previous life, Elena had died during the Siege of Oakhaven.

I remembered watching her sacrifice herself so hundreds of people could escape.

But now the timeline had changed.

She was standing in front of me on the first day.

Alive.

Uninjured.

And completely unaware that she was supposed to die years from now. I looked away. I couldn't save everyone.

But this time, I would at least try to save the people who mattered. Elena sheathed her sword.

"What are you planning to do now?"

"Leave."

"Where?"

"The financial district."

One of the men laughed.

"You're going to the financial district?"

"Yes."

"That's where the second rift is supposed to open."

I turned toward him. My expression changed.

"Supposed to?"

The man nodded.

"We heard an emergency broadcast before the communications went down. Something is happening around the banks."

My heart started beating faster. The second rift.

The Gold-Hoarder Golem. The infinite-stamina ring.

It was supposed to appear there. But there was something wrong.

In my first life, nobody knew about the second rift until after it opened. Nobody knew the exact location. Nobody knew what treasure it contained. Yet these people were already heading there.

I looked at Elena.

"Who told you about the rift?"

She shook her head.

"Nobody."

"Then how did you know?"

Her expression became serious.

"We didn't."

She looked toward the ceiling.

"We were following someone."

My stomach tightened.

"Who?"

Before she could answer, a deafening roar shook the cathedral.

BOOM!

Dust fell from the ceiling. The men immediately raised their weapons. Elena drew her sword. I looked toward the entrance. Another roar followed.

But this one was different. It wasn't coming from the basement. It wasn't coming from outside. It was coming from directly beneath us.

My blood ran cold. I looked at the floor. A thin crack appeared across the stone.Then another. Then dozens.

The ground began glowing violet. Elena stepped backward.

"What is that?"

I stared at the cracks.

This wasn't supposed to happen. There was only one rift beneath Saint Jude. I had killed the Shadow-Stalker. The rift should have closed.

But the violet light continued spreading. A System notification appeared in front of me.

[Warning.]

[Abnormal spatial activity detected.]

[Timeline deviation exceeds acceptable parameters.]

My eyes widened.

Another message appeared.

[Unknown entity approaching.]

I slowly raised the Widow-Maker.

The floor exploded.

Something enormous began crawling out of the darkness beneath us.

And this creature wasn't in my memories.