Treatise Of A Failed Knight

"There is such a thing as the timeline of events in the world. Reality can be roughly divided into the past, present, and future... though if we are speaking on more complex terms, it comprises several innumerable frames that are all linked by Aego... forming this grand tapestry of reality."

Alistair Wormwood’s tone is sullen.

His gaze towards me is filled with deep consideration as well as a hint of nostalgia.

It’s almost as though he is in recollection of the time he was also told of the secrets he now bestows upon me.

"Those of the Leaper Pathway can use Aego to replace any of the frames that exist within their Temporal Layer of influence and travel to those points. This is how we Leapers travel through time—by replacing the ’us’ that exists in those frames."

I slowly nod in full understanding.

As much as this does not correlate with my own experience as one who returned from the future, I can understand the logic itself as a concept.

"In that vein, since they are now in a different period, we can alter certain things and change the world as we see fit. We can travel to the past and prevent certain occurrences, and we can travel to the future to witness things that are yet to happen. It appears to be an invincible power, especially if one operates within their sphere of influence, but there are two major constraints to a Leaper besides the more common things like Interference Power or Risk of Failure."

"What are they?" I ask, my heart racing impatiently.

"The first is known as the Law of Fixed Present Continuity, while the other is the Aego Mark."

"...."

These are two things I have never heard of before.

"The Law of Fixed Present Continuity states that the world constantly operates at a determined present. In essence, although the world is divided into several frames, there is a particular point that is recognized as the present. Everything else is either the past or the future. The present constantly changes, moving forward one second at a time. It never goes back but keeps moving forward, under the influence of the Temporal Layers of Existence. Basically, we are at the present moment. When I first started speaking, we were at the present, but that is now the past. This is the present. What I will say next is the future. Once I have said what I intended to say, it has become the present. And now it is the past. The present consistently changes... it always moves forward... and it is constant... And the reality it offers is fixed."

"But it isn’t fixed." I quickly rebut. "Changing the past alters the present. It happened to me during my investigation."

Alistair Wormwood nods with a gentle smile, not surprised by my words.

"Yet you remembered everything that happened before the change, correct? That’s because to you... The present hasn’t changed. Or rather, your perception of the Timeline. Do you know why that is the case?"

"Because I am a Leviathan?"

"Yes..." He nods yet again. "And that brings me to my next point—The Aego Mark."

Yes... What are they?

"Upon becoming a Leviathan, you are branded with a certain ’mark’ by the world. It recognizes you as a special entity, which is what allows you to peer into its secrets and resonate so well with the Aego. It is a kind of permission... an authority that you possess. Those who have this brand are said to possess an Aego Mark. They cannot be affected the same way normal people are affected by Leviathans, and they also have the power to affect others since they are Leviathans."

"So the reason why I recalled things differently is that the alteration to the Timeline, the frames of the past that were changed, and replaced, were not affected in my own perception of the world?"

"Correct." Alistair Wormwood grins. "As proof of this, we still possess all the research materials that were destroyed by the Leaper."

"R-really?!"

To say I am merely surprised would be an understatement.

My stupefaction is beyond palpable.

"Jamie here, our Conjurer, helped us retrieve them, even though they were destroyed. This shows that his Aego Mark rejects the new reality that Lucien created. This inconsistency in reality is described as the 3rd Leviathan Paradox."

"I-I see..."

"You don’t fully understand, do you?" Alistair smiles knowingly at me.

Realizing I have been seen through, I nod shamefully.

To be honest, this is confusing.

How can something exist and not exist at the same time?

Since Lucien interfered with the timeline and we never received the package from Regulus, we never conducted the investigation. If we had never conducted the investigation, we would not have all the documents that contained all the fruits of our efforts. If we never got that, then it should follow that these Ouroboros Sect people would not be able to have access to them.

It makes no sense!

"As you must know, Conjurers can summon objects within their Temporal Fields—from the past and future to the present. Due to the Aego Mark, the change to the Timeline did not affect you, right? It also did not affect us. Thus, Jamie simply brought the documents from the past, summoning them to us."

"But that should be impossible."

"Hence the 3rd Leviathan Paradox." Alistair raises three fingers while speaking. "How about I ask you a question so you can better understand the situation?"

Swallowing my saliva deeply, I nod in affirmation.

"A Conjurer uses ’Call’ and draws a mountain from the past to the present. Naturally, the mountain should no longer exist in the past. Yet when Leapers traveled to that moment in the past, they still saw the mountain. Conversely, another Conjurer used Call to draw the same mountain to the present, and it also worked. Now, there are three confirmed mountains—the one summoned by Conjurer A, the one summoned by Conjurer B, and the one that remains in the past. I ask you... Which one is the real mountain?"

"I... I..." Stuttering and stumbling on my words, I am left flabbergasted.

Leviathans of the Conjurer Pathway have four Conceptions, one of which is Call. It allows the Conjurer to summon things from the past or future to the present. However, this must exist within and must fit into their Temporal Field.

No Rank 1 or even Rank 2 can possibly summon an entire mountain, but since the Temporal Field increases per Rank, such a feat is theoretically possible.

Since I don’t fully understand the Conjurer Pathway, I can’t be expected to dissect the Conception in its entirety. Still, after analyzing the rather straightforward question and using my sense of logic to deduce a satisfactory explanation, I find myself falling short.

The answer eludes me.

"All three of these things cannot exist at once, and since something can’t be made from nothing, the situation has turned into a conundrum. That is the 3rd Leviathan Paradox. It is the problem that arises because Leviathans with the Aego Mark cannot be affected by alterations to the timeline. As such, it is almost as though they have their own timeline that remembers the world as it was before the alteration. This is why the Leapers can return to the past and find the mountain, and the Conjurers can also summon their respective mountains. In fact, if ten thousand Conjurers summon the same mountain, it will work... because none are affected by the other’s Conception." Alistair explains with an uninterrupted flow, his gaze fixed on me.

"So... to you people, nothing has changed as well?"

"Yes."

"But it has changed in the world."

"Well... It’s complicated." Alistair sighs deeply. "Think of it this way... If we took the documents, where do you think we got them from?"

"Um... myself and the other investigators?"

"Do you have memories of anything stolen?"

"No."

"Yet we took the documents from your coffers. In the same way, Lucien made it so that the documents never existed. None of those affects you as a Leviathan, but it affects the others who do not have the Aego Mark. This includes the documents themselves, which will be affected by the Conception of a Leviathan."

"The 3rd Leviathan Paradox, huh...?" I mumble to myself.

I can’t help but wonder what the 1st and 2nd Paradoxes are or how many Paradoxes exist in the Leviathan world.

Although it is confusing, I think I understand it all now.

"So Lucien cannot affect us, who are in the present. Even if he somehow kills us in the past, it won’t take effect in the present, since our Aego Mark protects us from that happening."

"Yes, exactly... although a Leviathan killing another Leviathan in the past refers to another Paradox that requires another long-winded explanation."

"E-eh? For real?"

"The 5th Leviathan Paradox." Elma suddenly speaks up, an amused expression on her face. 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂

This time, I don’t bother glancing in her direction.

Instead, I hear a soft giggle.

Likely hers.

"It is indeed the 5th Leviathan Paradox. As I told you, the present is continuous, but also fixed. No Leviathan can alter the past, which will change the present for us. It will only alter it for others, and if they wish to affect us, they will need to do so in the present as well. This is the first limitation of our Leaper opponent. His actions are futile unless he executes them somewhere in the present. If he doesn’t, Leviathans will not be affected and can easily affect any change he makes. Just as we were able to retrieve the documents he made nonexistent, his other schemes would not really have merit unless it is done in the present. After all, imagine if there were never a mountain. Or if, at a certain point, someone destroyed that mountain. No matter how much time passes, or how powerful a Leviathan is, they would never be able to summon that specific mountain from that period any longer... because it no longer exists. It’s the same situation here."

"I see... I understand that."

Essentially, Lucien Zevalis—regardless of his schemes that transcend conventional understanding of time—requires his actions to take place in the present if he wishes to affect us as Leviathans.

Why?

It’s the Aego Mark, which is embedded in all of us.

One could also say it is because the present is the only period where an action ’actually’ matters.

The past has taken place, and the future is uncertain.

But the present is where the opportunity for progress, growth, and all other kinds of possibilities exists. So, even if Conceptions can affect the past as well as alter the future, the present is what truly matters.

At least, in the eyes of a Leviathan.

"I have a question..." Raising my hand rather abruptly, I blurt out a pressing issue regarding the 3rd Leviathan Paradox. "What would happen to the humans who lived on the mountain?"

"... What?"

"The normal humans. You said the Leaper who goes to the past will see the mountain, as though it were never taken. But what about the mortals living on the mountain? If they are affected by the alteration to the timeline, it means they should not exist on the mountain, right? Since it no longer exists. But that also makes no sense if the change to the timeline should hold no merit to the Leaper, which means the Leaper should be seeing people who live on the mountain. But that would not happen if these mortals were affected by the change of the Conjurer. And what about the present? If the mountain were taken away a year ago, what would happen to the mortals of the present? Would their memories of the mountain be altered? Normally, it should be, right? Since they do not have the Aego Mark. But, if the Leaper interacts with the people on the mountain, since to him they never left the mountain, should the mortals in the present not remember their encounter with the Leaper on the mountain? So which is it?" I ask with a hint of perplexity.

"Which memory will they possess?"