Deviant: No Longer Human

Aurora turned around, ready to hop away and return to her place. Her nerves were finally settling, and a weird tingling danced across her skin.

Probably the first time she'd done something like this.

Definitely not the last.

But just as she moved... Swoosh!

She was caught.

"Eh?" she gasped.

Before she could react, everything went blank.

Wang Xiao stepped forward and grabbed her, firmly. Her petite, warm body pressed against his chest. His nose brushed her neck, breathing in her soft scent.

Sweet... A little wild.

He tilted his head and muttered beside her ear:

"Not so soon…"

He couldn't let her go, not after this.

His fingers slowly slid down her waist, then back up, casually groping her soft abdomen, enjoying the warmth beneath the thin cloth.

He looked at her passed-out face, smiling.

He could erase everything, but… that was boring.

Instead, he decided to seal her memories.

Lock them away.

And when he returned to his own timeline, he'd release that seal, watch her expression when she remembered it all. The confusion. The fear.

That'd be a good prank.

Before leaving, his eyes slid down her shoulder.

Her teal coloured cloth had shifted slightly.

Just enough.

Her milky-white shoulder was exposed, soft, flawless. And just beneath it, a teasing glimpse of the buldge of her breast.

That tiny swell behind the teal cloth.

He didn't stop himself.

"This should be mine…" he muttered. "I don't think you'd mind."

His fingers slipped beneath her cloth.

Smooth warm skin welcomed him.

His palm cupped the mound, warm and tender. He rubbed it slowly, thumb brushing across her tiny red nipple beneath the fabric, feeling her body twitch unconsciously.

"Tch…" Wang Xiao clicked his tongue. "Not that big yet."

The one he remembered, full, heavy, addicting, was far larger.

This one?

Closer to Wenxi's size.

He paused, smirked, "Guess Xi'er going to grow nicely too…"

He chuckled to himself and continued groping her, his hand moving with practiced ease. Playing with her like a toy he already owned.

Then his eyes dropped to her lips.

Slightly parted. Soft, a tempting mix of rose and pink.

He leaned down.

Kissed her.

Once.

Then again.

A little deeper the third time.

His tongue brushed against her lip, tasting her lightly, she twitched

For the next ten minutes, he enjoyed her.

Hands exploring, lips teasing, not rushing, just recording.

Yes, he was recording this.

From inside.

A metaphysical imprint, video, burned into his soul.

When he returned to his own timeline, he'd unlock her memories... and play this scene back to her face.

Let her remember how helplessly she let him touch her, kiss her, toy with her, and never knew.

The embarrassment alone would be worth everything.

After he was satisfied, he fixed her clothes, made sure everything looked untouched.

Then gently laid her back against the cave wall.

She stirred, a light groan escaped her lips.

Eyes fluttered, but by the time she opened them fully, he was gone.

Vanished.

No footsteps.

No trace.

Just the cold cave, just her and the faint scent of something she didn't understand.

She looked around, and frowned.

"…Weird."

Something inside her shifted.

Like a memory scratching behind a locked door.

A heat with no cause.

A blush without reason.

Far above, Wang Xiao chuckled.

He wasn't laughing just at her.

But at reality itself.

Because this moment raised a question.

A deep one...

Can a being who has surpassed time… create its own past?

Could a string be plucked backwards,

so that when it finally vibrates forward, it sings the tune you always meant to hear?

Could his actions today…

Be the very reason that, tomorrow, when he pushed Aurora down, she didn't resist? Didn't kill him? Didn't understand why she hesitated?

Was this… the origin?

But if he came now…

How could it affect the past?

Or was that the answer?

The future had already decided the past.

Not butterfly effect, that implies randomness.

This was design.

He had always done this.

Always meant to.

The string of fate was already tied.

Was he a god becoming his own cause?

A future constructing its own beginning?

But then, how could that be?

If he had never met Aurora in the present, he wouldn't have interacted with her in the past.

And if he hadn't met her in the past… how did he come to know her in the first place?

He didn't know anymore whether his desires were truly his or just echoes from a destiny he had already written.

The past and future… both predecided.

But by whom?

Overthinking?

Maybe.

But what about the future version of himself?

The one even stronger than now, what is he doing?

If he could do this today… what could that version of him be doing tomorrow?

That's the real horror.

To be powerful enough to change the past… but never know if the desire to do so was ever your own.

"Sigh…" Wang Xiao exhaled, his breath heavy with exhaustion.

Any ordinary being could never comprehend the constant stress he lived under, every move, every strike, every silence planned years in advance.

Even now, he wasn't banking on directly waging war with the Netherworld or making them his mortal enemy... His attack had been nothing more than a deterrent.

His true plan lay elsewhere:

Turn them against one another.

Infiltrate their ranks.

Force them into internal chaos.

Once they bled themselves dry, diplomacy would come crawling, and he would rise as the autonomous lord of this entire universe.

A quiet, calculating infection.

Small enough to ignore.

Too dangerous to eradicate.

A plague that would one day engulf the entire Netherworld.

That was Wang Xiao.

Never fighting a losing battle... Always biding time.

But this Enforcer…

Its sudden interference forced his hand.

Now, he had to endure the past. Billions of years of history. Watching the monotony of eras crawl, even now, the age of dinosaurs was stirring on the horizon.

And he was tired.

Tired of the repetition.

Tired of the waiting.

After returning to Yanyan, he swore he'd sleep for decades, at least until Aegis resurfaced. Ideally, the fool should appear in a matter of weeks. But his rise to power? That would still take time to mature.

With these thoughts, Wang Xiao returned to his castle, stepping onto the balcony.

Just as he landed...

Boom!

Something unfamiliar slammed into him head-on.

"Umbra, no!!"

A girl's voice shrieked midair.

Wang Xiao winced. "Not again…"

The collision hit him square in the back, a loud thud, a muffled human yelp, and the fluttering of feathers. But he didn't budge.

The impact felt like a pillow thrown at a stone pillar.

He turned with an irritated sigh.

Lying at his feet was a girl, maybe eighteen, maybe wild, wearing a rough, one-piece brown cloth like she'd robbed a caveman. Her dark hair was messy, her skin absurdly fair, and her teary starry blue eyes were locked on the crow beside her, as if it had just betrayed her family.

The black crow, or whatever that miserable beast was, was the size of a large dog, twitching and gasping, beak wide open like it saw death itself.

"Umbra, you little donkey!" she yelled, kicking it in the wing. "You had one job, fly straight!"

Whap!

"That's for crashing into people!"

Whap!

"And that's for dragging me into this!"

Whap!

"—Ow!" she flinched, grabbing her own arm. "Ugh! Damn it, why do I feel it too?!"

The bird weakly flopped to the side with a single deadpan caw.

Wang Xiao blinked.

"…Are you done?"