Descending Into A Novel-Chapter 85:Rayleigh Von Mez (15)

He had done the unthinkable.

He had gone back in time. Punishment be damned, he had returned to two years prior. Before the war started.

He felt his body growing stronger. His mana reserves becoming larger. The system level up. From how much he improved, he clearly underwent several just now.

He laughed freely, for the first time in centuries. Countless questions he had held now being answered all at once.

He realized now his previous fears were false. He didn’t want to travel back in time for fear of causing an effect that may cause him to be wiped from existence.

If he saved William or his mother. It may lead to a future where he never became such a powerful mage. Then he wouldn’t be able to travel back in time to save them. A paradox

Yet the same situation applied here. If he traveled back in time and stopped the war, he wouldn’t have gotten the motivation to go back in time to prevent it. Another paradox.

But the body he was in currently was his body from the future that was now erased. He could tell, the version of him that should have existed at this time was gone. Replaced by him.

In other words, if Rayleigh went back in time. The child Rayleigh would disappear and be replaced by the current him.

The future would be erased, returning to its state of being in constant flux. Meaning his fears were completely false.

He could change the future as much as he wanted. His existence would always remain as a constant.

Hope flared up inside of him. Something he hadn’t felt in a long, long time.

He could do it. He could save William! He could save his mother! He could save Sophia and prevent the war without any negative repercussions to himself!

The only problem left was the issues that occurred when the past him was suddenly replaced by the current him and

The Punishment.

Even now, he still waited for the Punishment. It was usually instantaneous. Striking him right after his offense.

But now, aside from his body feeling weaker then he was used to. He didn’t feel any signs of the Punishment.

Thunder didn’t strike him. He didn’t feel any fires that burned his skin and melted his flesh. There was no winds sharp enough to cut through his bones. He didn’t fall into a coma.

Nothing. But that only intensified the dread he felt.

Gazing even a few years into the future caused a punishment that seriously wounded him. Largely due to the fact that, by gazing into the future. He had essentially locked it in place. Causing the future he viewed to occur no matter what rather then remain evevchanging. The only workarounds were to not see too far into the future, or merely predict what would happen rather then actually seeing it.

How could Rayleigh even gaze into the future if it was in constant flux? Now that it was locked in place, he could use his future spells like Borrow Future Strength and True Future Clone.

He could also utilize the everchanging aspect of the future to utilize different futures rather then locking in one. But that was a whole different ball game and would require an entirely separate explanation.

Rewinding time by two years...the punishment it brought would definitely be severe. Possibly enough to kill him.

But if it wasnt going to strike him now. Then that was perfectly fine to him. He couldn’t afford to be weakened right now.

The war started with the death of a human caravan. One that just so happened to contain a decently high ranking noble.

His death was enough jus ad bellum (right to war) for the Virex Empire. Preventing his death wouldn’t stop the war. His father would simply wait for another cause. If necessary he would create one.

He also had to help the races get ready, to go into even deeper hiding. He also needed to sufficiently weaken the Virex Empire to the point causing a war would destabilize it.

He had a lot to do.

Rayleigh smiled slightly, Sophia said that she kept a mental list of things she wanted to do—as well as a list of the more mundane things. According to her, it was a good way to be reminded of what the main goal was when you were constantly aware of it.

He put all his current objectives onto his newly created mental list in order.

-stop death of noble

-help the races hide better/prepare for war

-weaken Virex Empire

-visit Sophia

-save William and mother

-kill father

The last two goals would have to wait. Rayleigh already struggled to go back two years into the past. Trying to go back a full 350 something would be suicide. Rayleigh also had zero confidence in being able to kill his father at his current level.

He cracked his neck, stretching slightly as he gripped his hand around his wand.

Only for his hand to clench around nothing. Looking down at his empty fist, he could only laugh at himself.

***

Rayleigh let out a massive sigh. He had donned a disguise, pretending to be a mage in hiding to save the noble.

The noble had wanted to return the favor by treating him to a meal. Only for him to privately message the Empire to tell them he had ’caught’ a mage in hiding and wished to be rewarded for it.

How utterly foolish and incredibly bold. Selling out your own saviour for some money.

Rayleigh was tempted to kill him on the spot right then and there, but that would cause even more issues. So he wiped his memory and left after beating him up a little.

He could have disguised himself as a wandering knight instead. Using a random sword or spear or even just his fists. But he would also rather be tortured then use such a thing ever again.

He only had bad memories with the Von Mez Fighting Style, Sword Style and Spear Style. The hundreds, if not thousands of hours he put into training each Style. Even when performing a regular punch, his body would instinctively move to perform the Von Mez Fighting Style.

Maybe the Spear Style was alright. Knight Yudeus was a true knight, unlike those who simply held the title due to the power they wielded. Knight Yudeus stuck true to the knightly principles, always following the code of chivalry no matter what.

Knight Yudeus was easily their best teacher. Although his competition didn’t make it hard. Rayleigh still wished to at least give him a present. His death previously was undeserving for someone like him.

He quietly added it into his list.

He was currently supposed to be a temporary Magic Marshal still. Faithfully teaching, as well as the occasional times he had to go out to kill someone or something.

Naturally, he couldn’t do that and prevent the war at the same time. So he used one of his true future time clones to take his place. The him from a month forward in time.

Only when he gazed too far would a Punishment occur. Small periods like a few weeks or months? Perfectly fine.

After all, oracles and divinations was something that had existed for thousands of years before Rayleigh, and he had never heard of any attracting Punishment.

He flexed his fingers, forming several hand incantations. Teleporting himself halfway across the continent. Before repeating the process over again.

Finding himself in a snowy landscape, Rayleigh squinted his eyes slightly. Familiarizing himself with the location.

Rayleigh was probably one of the only few individuals who had traveled to nearly every part of the continent. The beastkin north.The dwarven south, human west, elven east.

Most wouldn’t even leave their own part of the continent, as for the other rarer races like the vampires he was about to meet. Even Rayleigh had never been to any of their cities.

Finally, the hidden continent on the other side of the world, the sky kingdom and the merfolk cities. Rayleigh probably could travel to each of these places. But there was really no point in doing so.

’Should be somewhere around here.’

Despite being dressed in only his regular robes. He was perfectly fine despite the intense snowfall. Barely feeling the cold at all as he continued searching for the vampires.

After several nights of trekking around the same area. Rayleigh finally got to meet the damn vampires.

They held a slight resemblance to elves. Fair, pale skin, pointed ears. The only difference was that most had some shade of red or black for their hair. Rather then usual blonde or silver for elves. The fangs in their mouths also have it away.

Rayleigh could have probably barged right into their city. But he was here to help them, and he needed to make a good first impression. So he played along with their little game. Approaching them the traditional way.

These isolationists had secluded themselves for so long. They were only aware of the war after a year, when their beastkin allies requested help.

Despite them only numbering in the thousands however, the vampires played a crucial part in the northern battlefront. Because in terms of quality they were better then even the Virex Empire.

They also had the second most say in the coalition of races—only behind the elves,with the merfolk at a close third. So gaining their trust now would help to convince the others in the future.

Seeing their snickering grins at him however, the smug faces as they laughed at him.

...he really wanted to beat them up for wasting his time so much.