Soon, their bodies began to swell.

One by one, twisted anomalies emerged from their bodies, transforming into roaring monsters that ravaged all directions.

A moment later, a cold voice echoed:

"Indeed, coming here was the right choice."

In the next instant, the roaring monsters were swept into the sky by a mass of black clouds.

Shortly after Louis left, the Demon King Army began its attack on the Am Empire.

But it didn’t take long.

The original site of the O5 Council, blasted into the sky.

Accompanied by a peculiar, twisted mechanical sound, the void resonated with the sound of constantly turning gears.

[Detected complete annihilation of O5 sequence, confirmed level one defense is out of control, activating second plan]

[Redemption scale powering up, time reversal initiated]

[5]

[4]

[3]

[2]

[1]

[Mechanical god has taken effect, O5 Council restructured]

Accompanied by the eerie sound of turning gears, in the void, four figures blown into the sky by terrifying force appeared on the scene.

Mr. One, with a face about to cry, said:

"It’s over, out of control."

He looked towards Lady Four’s position.

Fragments of machinery rapidly integrated into Lady Four’s position.

Soon, a humanoid figure radiating fluorescent light appeared suspended in mid-air.

Swiftly, Lady Four’s skin of silver metal transformed visibly into flesh like a real person.

New clothes gathered and formed on her body.

Lady Four slowly opened her eyes and said:

"I am the new Lady Four, replacing the original battle-damaged model, taking over the O5 Council. May I ask what happened?"

Mr. One pinched his brow and said:

"First, activate our permissions and open the city’s protective array."

The Demon King Army had already begun its move; chaos had ensued within the city. They needed to isolate the main force outside the city to have time to discuss their next moves.

Soon, Mr. Two left the scene.

He needed to deploy whatever extraordinary armaments were left in the city to clean up the monsters within the protective array.

The other two also left directly, having no time to idly chat given the circumstances.

Only Mr. One remained in front of Lady Four, saying:

"The reverse clock has been taken."

Lady Four froze on the spot, then used a strange and angry voice to say:

"What are you doing? Don’t you know how important that is to us?"

"I know, of course I do, but who could have thought Helmer would use some unknown means to forcibly occupy the original Lady Four’s body, we..."

"No more words, the most important thing now is to retrieve the reverse clock."

The O5 Council harbors a secret, a secret completely non-existent to outsiders.

They are the guardians of the God of Time Cronus.

The God of Time Cronus, reputed to possess the power to control time.

Yet this god has never appeared before the followers.

Most believe Cronus has been sealed by gods wary of time’s power in some corner of the astral.

But only the guardians of the God of Time know that Cronus never existed.

Or, he is everywhere.

He has no consciousness of his own, no form of his own, no Divine Kingdom of his own.

He is the river of time itself.

But occasionally, even the river of time develops flaws.

Flaws cause issues in the river of time.

To correct the river of time, Cronus, or the invisible will of the river of time, will expel the flaws from the flow.

Those flaws will merge into special devices that record time.

These devices within the O5 Council are termed [Paradox].

Like the grandmother paradox, these devices naturally defy rules.

But [Paradox] cannot be destroyed.

It can only gradually dissolve with the passage of time.

To prevent [Paradox] from becoming the foundation of the world, Time Guardians are born.

They wander the world, disguised as zealous merchants, collecting those occasional [Paradox] devices.

The majority have been destroyed by them.

Yet a very small portion remains and has even been exploited by others.

One of them is called the Mechanical God.

Each member of the O5 Council through the ages is bound to the [Mechanical God].

When they die accidentally, a partial time reversal occurs, allowing those whose life essence has not thoroughly vanished to be resurrected.

If the life essence is completely eroded, the [Mechanical God] would pull an O5 historical shadow from a past timeline.

These historical shadows are indistinguishable from real people.

But for the O5 members, Lady Four is essentially dead forever.

The presence here is merely a shadow of Lady Four.

Although to this new Lady Four, she is genuinely Lady Four, it’s not the same for the other four.

During this time, they need to wait for the paradox devices to dissolve slowly, known as the reverse clock.

Among the paradox devices they’ve encountered, it’s one of the most outrageous.

The device can transmit a person’s consciousness to a time in the past.

If someone with intention gains control of the reverse clock, it could directly create a diversion in history.

For example, even the current peak of history, the Ense Empire, was nothing more than a small settlement many ages ago.

If someone managed to return to that time and wield some additional power, they could eliminate the ancestors of the vibrant Ense Empire.

Thus, the time turbulence created in past history would ripple upwards along the river of time.

Before you know it, the entire Ense Empire might vanish.

At that point, who would resolve today’s chaos?

The changes from the turbulent river of time might become the last straw breaking the camel’s back.

Without the core people able to withstand the seven great disasters, the whole world might suffer, left with merely a handful struggling to survive in remote corners.

Such an outcome would be no different from the apocalypse.

Of course, the transmission of the reverse clock is random, it may not appear in such extreme cases.

But as long as there is a slightest possibility, this item mustn’t be allowed to circulate and fall into anyone’s control.

The Time Guardians exist precisely for this purpose.

But now the members of the O5 Council are going mad.

The Am Empire doesn’t have many demigods.

As a newly established nation, they have only nurtured one demigod.

Yet the reason Am Empire could expand rapidly on the continent is due to the O5 Council.

Every member of the O5 Council is a peak demigod.

In theory, their strength is the upper limit of the current world.

A being capable of killing them is less than one in ten billion.

Guarding the paradox devices should be no issue.

Chosen as Time Guardians by Cronus, they cannot use paradox to interfere with worldly affairs.

Thus, the O5 serves as the final safebox of paradox.

But unfortunately, this time, the people who stole their devices are among the few in the world capable of cracking the safebox.

This time, they received Cronus’s invisible will, saying if the situation reached the most dangerous point, they could consider activating the reverse clock.

"This itself is time’s choice."

The river of time Cronus left merely this message and disappeared again.

Thus, they thought at the time, if the O5 Council were attacked by foes, perhaps they could consider activating the reverse clock, maybe thereby eliminating the Demon King in an era he hasn’t yet sprouted.

Thus, the Demon King Helmer in this era would also disappear together.

But now, variables have emerged.

Not only were they unable to activate the clock, but the clock was even stolen.

They feel as if the sky is about to fall.

The only solace is that the clock is shrouded in countless layers of mysteries, crafted with time’s power.

Even Helmer would need at least a year to unravel the mysteries.

The mechanism of this mystery isn’t simply "solve it and that’s it."

Rather, it’s "regardless of means, extend the time to solve to a year later."

"Summon them, if otherwise, Helmer uses this thing, who knows who will suffer."

Lady Four said flatly.

Mr. One nodded.

This item cannot be misused.

They suspected someone used a paradox before to disrupt world order.

Previously, they couldn’t figure out who the disruptor was.

But now... they suspect it’s the elves.