Chapter 67: Cross And Straw [16] Memory Of A God

A lack of information did not mean that their reasoning was wrong; it simply meant that it was incomplete.

Like a baker making a cake without sugar, the product would be the same, yet the taste different. So, Leonidas moved forward, assuming what he knew could and would apply to his situation.

"Moving on, there are four different types of time."

Leonidas picked up where she left off, which made Willow smile. She continued:

"Mental, Personal, Domain, and finally Universal."

"Mental Time affects our perception of the world, how the world suddenly slows to a crawl during an intense battle, how it speeds up when we’re doing something we enjoy."

By now, they had arrived at a decent location to settle for the time being. It was a crevice in the endless tunnel, a hole wide enough to easily accommodate them.

Leonidas set Blush against a wall, its surface brown and hard, like stone covered in dirt. He let out a sigh and slid against the wall, eyes closed. Willow, meanwhile, had closed off the entrance, her transmutation doing wonders once more.

Taking a deep breath, he continued, eyes still closed.

"Where were we...ah, yes, Personal Time. It’s time that governs our body, time that belongs to us and us alone, just like Mental Time."

He paused, and Willow took over, cycling their perspectives on time with ease. They had often debated over their philosophy, and this was no different.

"Domain Time and Universal Time are relative. Domain Time is time that affects everything within a specific boundary, and Universal Time is one that affects all things equally."

At any given moment, three of the four types of time affected a person, with Mental and Personal always present, while Domain and Universal switched depending on where one was.

Leonidas was stuck in a time loop; he had regressed who knows how many times, dying and dying again until he beat Root and its Manifest: Mantis.

At that exact moment, Leonidas snapped open his cerulean eyes, brilliance burning in their luminous depths; his eyes met Willow’s, and the answer left them at the same time.

"Domain Time"

"Domain Time"

The reasons for their conclusions, however, couldn’t have been more different. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

"We are under a domain where time moves slowly...more specifically, Art, you have been under the domain."

It would make sense, Willow and the others had been traveling over the span of four months, and they had moved a lot.

It would only be logical to assume that Leonidas, the one who had been mostly stationary, was under the domain instead of them.

Furthermore, he held information that Willow didn’t know, information about a certain god and his shroud.

Is Sacrifice somehow behind this?

"Well, that would certainly suck."

He sighed and summoned a handful of flowers, pulling them out of nowhere. He handed them to Willow. She took them with a silent question, brows raised.

"Turn them soft, please, I’m going to sleep."

If only he had something to record her expression. Willow’s face was frozen in shock, mouth slightly agape at his shamelessness.

"What an annoying bastard. Should I stab him?"

She whispered to herself, loud enough for Leonidas to hear. An involuntary shiver went up his spine, Willow’s soft smile making him shudder.

"Of course, anything for you, my dearest Art."

I don’t like the sound of that.

If Willow called him ’dearest,’ it either meant she was teasing him or was about to smack him on the head.

He certainly didn’t mind the latter, but the former...

No, thank you.

Willow worked swiftly, both hands cupping the flowers like they were something precious, something worth protecting.

Soon enough, the flowers started to melt, a crimson liquid that glistened under the light from the crackling fire that was stationed in the center of the room.

The ruby liquid boiled and bubbled, the scent of roses spreading through the room, enveloping it in a peaceful feeling.

Leonidas saw Willow pouring a little Insenium into the liquid, the flow increasing steadily as the properties of his roses shifted.

With a final pop, they settled into a flowing fabric, soft and plush. They glowed softly, as if enchanted.

Willow handed the fabric to Leonidas, a chilling smile on her face.

"Just be careful while you sleep...a sudden crimson spike to the head does not sound comfortable."

His hand stopped just above hers, a quiet thought making way into his mind.

Should I take it?

Alas, he had no choice. With a dejected sigh, Leonidas grabbed the fabric, soft and flowing, which wrapped around his arm like a living being.

Something was beating loudly in his chest, heart slamming into his ribs with enough force to put a bull to shame.

Mostly from the excitement he felt from Willow’s words. Had she truly done something that would make his pillow attack him, or was it all just a bluff?

He could never know what was what with the woman. His love for the unknown was far beyond what was healthy...what was sane, too, but Leonidas had never said he was normal.

The other reason was his little crush...a growing cancer that would devour him sooner or later if he didn’t bring it under control.

But did he truly want to? Why would he give away something this amazing...his only source of happiness in this infernal world?

He would...he would? An intense pain assailed his mind, something like hot iron striking true, yet it vanished as quickly as it came.

What was I thinking about...?

He couldn’t remember; maybe it wasn’t important. Shrugging mentally, Leonidas laid the cloth beneath him with a soft smile, Willow’s words echoing in his mind.

Yet the gnawing feeling of something being wrong didn’t leave him; if anything, it grew worse, as if he was forgetting something essential.

But that can’t be, I have the Memory of a god after all.

Maybe he was just too shifty from everything that had happened to him.

If I can’t remember it, it mustn’t be important in the first place.

His heart settled, and he drifted to sleep, the fire crackling softly beside him.