Chapter 360: The Timeline Converges

Time slowly passed.

Origami Tobiichi was pulled by Haruto and quietly waited on a nearby street.

Finally, the sun moved across the sky and approached the horizon.

The golden light of the setting sun bathed the street in a warm glow, giving the scene a certain beauty.

Yet, Origami Tobiichi found herself unable to look.

Because this very ordinary moment—

Would soon be completely overturned.

As expected, in the sky above the street, the sunlight suddenly twisted. An invisible vortex formed there, devouring everything around it.

Objects, air, even light—none could escape.

A loud alarm immediately sounded throughout the street.

"Spacequake alert, spatial quake alert! All pedestrians nearby, please enter protective shelters immediately!"

"Spacequake alert, spatial quake alert..."

The sharp alarm shattered the street's peace.

Yes, by this point, spacequake alerts and corresponding protective measures were already in place.

In a small courtyard of an apartment complex—

Origami's terrified mother dragged her young daughter inside for shelter.

Thankfully, this street had recently undergone modifications for spacequake defense. Simply staying at home was enough to survive the disaster.

Origami's father rushed out from the study and pulled his wife and daughter into the bedroom.

Alloyed protective walls descended from the exterior, isolating them from everything outside.

After a period of chaos—

A spacequake hit the street.

The enormous spatial shockwaves caused by the space being torn apart made the entire street tremble. Fortunately, with the defenses in place, only the surrounding walls and pavement were damaged.

Nearly all the houses remained intact.

At the same time—

A pure white figure appeared in the sky.

She possessed large white wings, an ornate gown, and long snow-white hair.

From a distance, she hovered in the air like—

An angel.

From the ground, staring at that figure—

Origami Tobiichi's body trembled slightly.

She had seen this figure countless times in her memories and had associated her deepest hatred with it.

But now, seeing it with her own eyes, it was very different from her memory.

Origami now realized that—

She had never actually seen this 'angel' before.

Even the codename had been discovered later in the GOC's database.

And now, seeing it for the first time—

Origami fell into deep despair.

Because this 'angel' was both unfamiliar and familiar.

It was herself.

The worst-case scenario... had come true.

The Spirit 'Angel' responsible for her parents' deaths and the devastation of the street—was none other than Origami Tobiichi herself.

The 'angel' floating in the air was clearly not conscious.

She seemed to be fighting something—even though there was nothing around her in the space.

A piece of her reiryoku broke off and sliced through a house below.

And as fate would have it, that house was—

Origami Tobiichi's home.

The protective alloy was only effective against standard spatial quakes. A direct spiritual energy attack ripped through the metal, destroying half of the ceiling.

Beneath the collapsed roof, Origami's father shielded his wife and daughter.

After the debris fell, he tried to push his family toward the undamaged part of the apartment.

Then he turned around, trying to assess if another attack was coming.

And in that moment of turning—

He froze.

The figure hovering in the sky was so familiar.

It was as if something stirred in his soul, and he suddenly felt that the person in the sky was—

His daughter.

Though years had changed Origami greatly...

Her mother, after pushing little Origami into another room, turned back to grab her husband—

And when she saw the 'angel,' she had the same realization.

"Origami...!"

Her mother even cried out in shock.

Because the floating figure was clearly in great pain.

As a mother—how could she possibly ignore it?

The 'angel' seemed to be shaken by the call, briefly regaining awareness.

But—one more spiritual energy attack had already launched, heading toward the house. Seeing this—the 'angel's' eyes widened in despair.

She desperately flew downward, trying to stop what was happening.

But—she wasn't fast enough.

"The world."

Haruto snapped his fingers.

And in that moment, the world froze.

The spiritual energy stopped in midair.

The angel frozen mid-flight.

The parents stretching out their arms toward the sky, all paused—

Seeing this, Origami's tears streamed down her cheeks. She finally understood the truth behind the disaster.

The one who killed her parents...

Was herself.

Yes—even without Haruto's intervention, in the future timeline, Origami would have used Tokisaki Kurumi's power to come back here.

With the intent to kill the Spirit and stop the tragedy.

But the Spirit she became, in her confusion—ended up killing her own parents.

Upon learning the truth, she fell into despair.

Her Sephira Crystal reversed.

And everything around her was razed to the ground.

Seeing Origami overwhelmed by despair—

Haruto sighed and gently picked her up, holding her in his arms.

In fact, even if he did nothing now, the world's constraints would later correct the timeline.

But Origami needed to know the truth.

That's why Haruto brought her here.

In the frozen moment in time, Origami sobbed softly.

Her tears formed droplets, suspended in the air.

Haruto gently stroked her hair.

At least now—Origami could still cry.

That alone was already a good outcome.

Who knows how long passed.

The world began to twist.

The expanding spacequake began to reverse—and disappeared.

The destroyed street restored itself.

The angel in the sky gradually faded.

Finally, the incoming spiritual attack also vanished.

The street returned to its original peaceful appearance.

The golden sunlight fell on the earth.

Seeing this, Haruto breathed a sigh of relief.

As expected, after the initial Spirits were erased, many events were altered.

At the very least, Kurumi—the Spirit of Time—would no longer be obsessed with reversing time.

With no Kurumi to mess with timelines—there would be no more 'angel' returning to the past. The earlier events had still happened—only because the world's corrective forces needed some time to mend the timeline.

But now, the timeline had changed.

Haruto snapped his fingers again, lifting the world's stasis.

Time began to flow once more.

Origami quickly ran toward her home.

This time—Haruto didn't stop her.

Beside him, Kurumi blinked.

"So gentle~, Haruto was super yasashii just now~. But why are you always so cold to me, huh? Is it because I'm not cute enough? That really breaks my heart! Boo hoo hoo~!"

Kurumi's main body pretended to cry, and the Four Heavenly Kings around her jeered and joked.

Haruto helplessly facepalmed.

"Who do you think caused this disaster in the first place?"

At his words, Kurumi guiltily turned her head.

She understood, of course.

If not for Haruto, an ultra-powerful existence beyond the flow of time—Origami being able to travel back in time would definitely have been her doing.

And Kurumi would never waste her reiryoku just to help someone else save their parents.

She must've had an ulterior motive.

Seeing Kurumi's guilty look—

Haruto pinched her cheek.

As for this Spirit of Time, he felt some admiration, but more than that—

A headache.

Meanwhile—

Origami stopped at her doorstep.

She raised her hand, fingers trembling slightly, and pressed the doorbell.

Ding dong—

Footsteps echoed from inside.

"Who is it?"

A familiar female voice called out.

Origami couldn't respond.

She was so overwhelmed with emotion that no sound came from her throat. Despite getting no reply, the door still opened.

Origami's mother peeked out curiously.

And upon seeing Origami—

She froze.

Memories from years ago surged forth.

Even though she had only seen that girl once back in college, and only briefly—it felt like a dream.

That memory had remained incredibly vivid.

And after raising her own daughter, she would occasionally catch glimpses of that same girl in her child.

She never expected to meet her again—so suddenly—today.