Fragments flew everywhere. With a loud crash, Alina had destroyed the wooden round table. A biting cold wind that could freeze one’s skin whipped through the conference room.

Though the pressure wasn’t as intense as when Deneb had raged earlier, the chilling dread running down their spines felt stronger from Alina.

“What... did you just say?”

If ice could burn like fire, this would be the feeling. Mana churned and seethed through the room like a blast of white frost as if someone had plunged a block of dry ice into a pool.

Amid the raging cold wind, Kwon Oh-Jin flatly said, “In the near future, Alphonse Vladimir will die.”

“You...!” Alina’s hand lashed out like a blade.

She grabbed Kwon Oh-Jin by the collar and bared her teeth. The power of her Stigma rippled and released a murderous aura that made the air hard to breathe.

“You are incredibly wrong if you think I’ll let this slide just because we’re both Seven Stars.”

“I understand,” Kwon Oh-Jin said with a bitter look. “It’s hard to accept.”

“What could you possibly know...!”

“I know because I saw it with my own eyes.”

Alina remained silent.

“I watched it, heard it, and lived it. Therefore... I know.”

Alina’s face twisted into a savage scowl. “Rubbish.”

“You will be broken by the loss of Alphonse. Your mentality will shatter, and you will resign from your position as Supreme Commander.”

Alina simply stared at him.

“And then you will...” Kwon Oh-Jin trailed off and bit his lip as if it was hard to say. “Betray humanity and follow the Heavenly Demon.” He squeezed the words out.

He sounded mournful, which added a strange truth to it.

However, Alina scoffed. “Ha. I thought something was off from the start. Now it’s clear. You just made a mistake.” She swept her silver hair back. “I am not the weak person you take me for. Even if I lose my son, I would never do what you say and join the enemy.”

She knew that about herself better than anyone else.

“And your story is logically inconsistent from the outset,” Alina coldly said. “Whoever killed my son would be an underling of this Heavenly Demon you speak of, right? If that’s true, why would I avenge him by siding with the Heavenly Demon?”

“That’s...”

“Or tell me, do I have any rational reason to betray humanity?”

Kwon Oh-Jin bit his lips and shook his head. “I... don’t know either.”

Alina scoffed. “Of course, you don’t. Sounds like you were grasping for straws to get support from the Alliance.”

Kwon Oh-Jin remained silent.

“Whether you’re truly a Regressor or not isn’t important. You’ve already proven that you can’t change the outcome even if you know the future.”

“Miss Alina...”

“I have no intention of wasting any more time with a scammer like you. I’ll be leaving.” Alina turned away with a sneer.

Kwon Oh-Jin clenched his fist as he watched her back recede. Then, he squeezed the words out. “... Back then, too.”

Alina paused and looked back because she couldn’t hear him clearly. “Hm?”

“That’s... what you said back then too!” he shouted as the buildup of emotions burst. “You said it’d be fine! To not worry since you’ll avenge Alphonse! That’s... what you said. So why! Why did you betray us?”

“Are you really asking me that...?”

“I told you I don’t know why you betrayed humanity!” Kwon Oh-Jin cried out and vomited the lump of grief lodged in his chest. “Do you think I know everything? I told you, I only know what I saw, heard, and experienced myself!”

Alina could only remain silent.

“I thought I could stop it. I thought I could change it!” He pressed his face with both hands and sobbed. “But... there was nothing I could do alone.”

He had fought and flailed to change fate. In the end... he could not change the raging torrent of fate with his strength alone.

“Help me... Please, help me.” Kwon Oh-Jin bowed and clenched his fists so tightly that his veins bulged. “To change the future, I need your help, Miss Alina... No, not just yours, but everyone.”

Alina bit her lip as she looked down at Kwon Oh-Jin with his head low.

Her eyes trembled, but she shook her head and turned away. “Unless you can present tangible proof of what you just said, the Alliance will not involve itself in this matter.”

Without another word, she turned and walked out of the conference room. A heavy silence settled over the room in her absence.

Kwon Oh-Jin stared blankly at the doorway where she had left. Then, he slumped into his chair as if collapsing. He dragged a hand down his face with a long sigh.

“Hm. So, you’re really a Regressor from the future?” Bianca approached him with a curious look in her violet eyes. “Then, what about me? What happens to me in the future?”

“I heard you fought to protect the last survivors till the very end... and died at the hands of the Heavenly Demon.”

“Kyahaha! Me? Dying to protect survivors until the end?” Bianca doubled over with laughter and clutched her stomach. “No wonder that lady was angry. Do I look like the type to do that?”

She, known for roaming the world freely without belonging to any faction, would sacrifice herself to defend the last survivors? It almost sounded like a bad joke.

Still laughing, Bianca shook her head. “Honestly, at least make it believable if you’re going to lie—”

“Do you truly think that?” Kwon Oh-Jin cut her off, his gaze locking onto her violet eyes. “Even while nations crumbled and countless refugees died like insects on the roads... Do you really believe you would have just drifted around the world carefreely?”

“That’s...”

“When the world changes, people change with it,” Kwon Oh-Jin said with a long sigh. He looked at her with exhausted eyes and faintly smiled. “And whether you change or not, you’re someone who would reach out to the wounded.”

“Ahem. A-Are you sure I’m the type to do that?”

“You know better than anyone here that I’m not wrong.”

Bianca pressed her lips together, unable to argue.

He was right. If the world really collapsed like Italy had, with millions dying and countless refugees spilling into the streets, would she really keep wandering freely as before? She already knew the answer.

Edward coughed to break the awkward atmosphere. “Ahem. In any case, let’s end the meeting here for today and reconvene tomorrow.” 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

“Yes, let’s meet again tomorrow.” Kwon Oh-Jin nodded and left the temple without hesitation.

The stares on his back stung like needles.

Vega hurried after him. “W-Wait! Hold on!”

Once outside the temple with Vega at his side, Kwon Oh-Jin casually stretched and yawned as if he hadn’t just been crying his soul out earlier. “Man, it’s been a while since I put on a show like that. I couldn’t even do it properly.”

“Don’t tell me... You were lying about everything just now?” Vega’s jaw dropped, and her eyes widened.

“Hmm? What do you mean? You already know that I’m not actually a Regressor.”

“Yes, I knew... but I thought you had actually seen the future through your Foresight!”

“Haha. Didn’t I tell you before? That’s not a skill I can just use whenever I want.”

On top of that, his Foresight only allowed him to glimpse seconds into the future at best. He couldn’t experience events far in the future as though he had lived them.

“Wait. Then, what about that boy, Alphonse? You said he dies...?”

“Of course, that was a lie.”

Kwon Oh-Jin had only briefly seen the boy outside the temple before the meeting. How could he possibly know when he died?

Vega stared at him in exasperation. “Ha... What about Bianca’s so-called future? How could you sound so certain?”

According to Cassia, Bianca never cared to help others. She was too busy wandering the world. Even during this meeting, she hadn’t opposed leaving the captives in Italy behind.

“Because she’s Alioth.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“If she were really someone who only thought of herself, she would’ve never become one of the Seven Stars in the first place.”

Kwon Oh-Jin knew better than anyone that they didn’t hand out the title just based on strength. One had to pass trials that tested their character.

“Sure, there are differences between them, but the Seven Stars all share one thing. They are people capable of helping the weak. Without that, they couldn’t have earned the title.”

“That’s why you said what you did about her future?]

“Sounds convincing, doesn’t it?” Kwon Oh-Jin shrugged.

Vega could only deeply sigh. “But in the end, you failed to win Alina over, didn’t you?”

“Hm? Failed?”

“Did you forget what she said as she left?”

“She said if I bring proof that I’m truly a Regressor, then she’ll cooperate.”

“Ah.” Vega gasped and snapped her fingers, nodding as if she had expected it all along. “You’ve already prepared that proof, haven’t you!”

“Nope. I don’t have any.”

“What?” Vega narrowed her eyes and glared at him.

He chuckled and shrugged again. “Proof? I can just find something later, so don’t worry.”

Vega looked at him with growing concern. “This is hardly the time to be so relaxed. What if she decides to leave before you find that so-called proof?”

“That won’t happen. Ever.”

“And how can you be so sure?”

Considering the way Alina had looked on her way out of the temple, it wasn’t even certain whether or not she would show up for tomorrow’s meeting.

“Vega, do you know why people fall for lies?”

“Hmm... I’m not sure.”

“It’s because they doubt.”

“Because they doubt?”

Didn’t it make more sense for people who didn’t doubt to be the easiest to deceive?

“Even when someone’s certain, there’s always a little voice inside whispering, ‘What if?’ That seed of doubt never really goes away.”

Once that seed of doubt was planted, it would linger no matter how much one tried to ignore it.

“And every time she looks at her son, that thought will surface over and over again.”

That her child would die in one month according to the so-called Regressor.

“Alina won’t walk away. If anything, she’ll come looking for me.” Kwon Oh-Jin smirked as his gaze shifted toward the temple grounds where Alina and her soldiers had set up camp.

***

“I need to discuss something with you...” Alina Vladimir had come to see Kwon Oh-Jin at Vega’s temple.