Chapter 153 Melting like ice

Second rewind.

"Getting the heart of someone special..." I repeated the phrase over and over again.

Chaos is currently reigning my surroundings. Ah, don't think anything rude. I didn't do anyhting.

I didn't rouse a war between nations. I didn't exterminate a village through indirect means or managed to gain the hatred of someone.

"Do I need to literally rip off the heart of someone or need to make them fall in love with me?"

First and foremost champions can receive from their Entity patron the necessary hints and informations to conquer a domain, and Mother Nature other than this so called 'heart' she didn't exactly told me something useful.

Black smoke filled the sky and the forest was engulfed by flames. Whether it were it be humans, animals or plants, everyone could feel the overwhelming heat and suffocating air approaching ever so slowly.

And no, I wasn't the cause of such thing. It occurred naturally.

"W-What are you doing...?" A man was sprawled in the ground. "W-We are going to be submerged by lava if we remain here!"

"Don't worry about it, won't the view of being around lava be fantastic?"

At first the man was relieved as he expected me to somehow protect him but the moment the last words escaped my mouth his face began to pale.

"Wha-"

"Hush now, we already met don't you remember...?"

"I've never saw you in my life! We are champions! How could we even met in the past and I don't recognize you!"

"I'm talking about the last rewind..."

Ignoring the confused face of the man I continued.

"By chance, we met in this forest and as champions attempted to end each other's life. I vividly remember how you used your spells to freeze me."

"How-"

"Your weapons, items and artifacts...I took them from you...but before I could even burn your corpse a rewind occurred once again."

As a magnanimous person I gave the man ten seconds to process the words I said.

Ten seconds passed but it wasn't enough for the approaching lava to surround us completely, but in a few minutes the lava should surround the barrier I conjured. We are after all near to the volcano. The raging volcano or the noise of animals desperately running away...none of those noises could enter inside my barrier yet just the sight of it can bring one's heart to palpitate in fascination.

Then I continued, "No matter how many I killed they would continue to exist in the next rewind but if that's the case then killing every champion might even not count as winning since they would exist in the next rewind..."

I sighed.

Is that why Mother Nature told me to take this 'heart' so that this paradox could be solved?

"My friend, " My gaze landed to the face of the man. "Your possessions are worthless and extremely weak that I cannot find the reason as to why you are a champion..."

My sneer, my cold tone and my provocations were enough for the man to glare at me with hostility. Akin to stepping on a dog's tail the man started to bark. However, with the ropes binding him and with everything of his possessions taken from him the man was just but a cattle ready to be butched.

Ther is, however, a reason as to why I didn't kill this man the moment I found him.

"Can you even take the 'heart' we all seek of?"

An enviroment where your life is in someone's hands. A place where you won't be able to even be able escape or die the moment you do so. And coupled that your enemy is openly mocking you and your abilities...

"Don't joke with me!Everyone has a chance to conquer her heart!"

You'll protect the last thing you have...your pride.

"No matter how one's strength is weak or strong, in love as long as you know how to use well your opportunities then there's nothing that's impossible!"

And in no time your mouth will open itself just to protect your meager pride.

"You said you remember everything, right?! I don't know how many times you experienced a rewind but since you are here means you failed to protect her from death!"

Sweating buckets of sweat the man yelled and laughed. In contrary to his image I wasn't sweating. It wasn't due to the heat transferred from the outside to the inside of the barrier but it is the barrier itself that is protecting us from both the lava and heat while releasing a heat on its own inside the barrier affecting only the man.

Huh. So death is the trigger for a rewind.

A dying man cried as pain overwhelmed his body.

"*hic* W-why...give me pain...!You know I'll continue to exist in the next rewind!"

"..." Without giving him an answer the man was further driven insane by the pain. The tears would evaporate even before they could land in the soil.

If I were to put a chunk of ice inisde this barrier then one would be able to witness a fast process of melting. And one could compare such thing to what the man's body is undergoing. The man was already dead but the body was still melting like snow exposed to the sun.

"Hmm." Several minutes passed and not a single trace of the man could be seen.

A miserable death. It is not because it was painful but also that this man will continue to exist ignorant of how many times he died or suffered.

"How sad." The perpatrator, me, pitied the man's fate.

I don't know how many rewinds this world has suffered nor how many this man has died or repeated the same actions over and over again.

But the fact that the world and the people aren't able to progress in life just by the death of someone is really saddening.

There wasn't that much of information that he gave me but it was enough to get that the target is a female and the trigger to rewind is by death.

If we presume that the target does not have her memories erased by a rewind the next action I should do is not interfering too much and observe every event of the world, by doing that If I notice a slight change of an event I should find the people involved in it and find the target...or find another champion and follow them until they reach the target.

"Don't look at me like that. I, by no means, am not a cruel person and gave him company to his final breath." Towards a Violetta, I innocently smiled.

Since I didn't have any other business I conjured several pillars to bring me to the surface of the sea of lava and quickly ran off to another direction.

"It was a battle of wits, Violetta. If I just beat him up while asking information he would most likely remained silent. There were many other methods but we were close to an erupting volcano that I couldn't help myself and there's also one thing...we know how a rewind happens but we can't exactly tell when is going to happen...in fact it might happen tomorrow or in a year so it was the best that I made him talk that quickly."

And just before I could take another step. A familiar scene unfolded just in front of me...no everything around me.

My body took a step back once again.

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