One-Eyed Monster

The gap formed by the collision of time looked like a large cave from the outside, appearing quite vast, but inside it was pitch black, with nothing visible.

Upon contact with Kadi's extended tail, Igor felt as if he were falling endlessly down a cliff, the speed increasing so rapidly that he could no longer perceive the passage of time.

This was an experience Igor had never had before. He felt himself falling endlessly into a bottomless, sightless pit.

What Igor didn't realize was that the moment Kadi's tail entwined around him, his battle had begun.

His opponent was Arnold, the protector of the Moonflow Stream at Grey Eagle Peak in Guru Mountain.

Unseen and unheard, a silent struggle thus commenced.

Arnold was surprised. Igor had managed to detect his trap without breaking a sweat. This was a Time Trap—for it to be detected indicated that Igor was no ordinary individual.

This unexpected development caused a significant fluctuation in Arnold's timeline. A Time-Leaper's timeline was already inherently erratic, so this small fluctuation would clearly impact him.

The impact caught Arnold off guard; even Lord Xiso, who was present at the time, was taken aback by it.

However, as a Time Controller who used his entire timeline to influence the timelines of others, Arnold quickly suppressed this fluctuation. He swiftly identified the cause: a boy named Igor had experienced a memory advance.

Memory advance meant that memories which should have appeared in the future were appearing in the present; it was like a short Time Leap on the part of the memory itself.

Although Arnold could not figure out how Igor achieved this short Time Leap, he couldn't deny one fact: when the trap in his timeline was detected, it always resulted in a slight chain reaction.

This tiny chain reaction might just be a small leap in Arnold's timeline, but if applied to others, it could potentially induce earth-shattering changes.

These changes could be fatal or provoke spontaneous mutations.

It was because of this that Arnold always sought permission from the Great Mentor before activating a Time Trap.

He had thought his activation of the upgraded Time Trap would go unnoticed, but he hadn't imagined Igor would discover it before he could fully set it up.

Thus, their struggle on the timeline commenced.

Arnold knew the current situation was dangerous. Anyone caught in his timeline would be affected by these fluctuations. All he could do now was to ensure that as many uninvolved people as possible stayed away from this temporal conflict.

The first person is Lord Xiso.

Lord Xiso is the mastermind of Guru Mountain; he can't afford any slip-ups. He'll surely realize something is wrong seeing me detached from my physical body. I have to inform him immediately…

But how? If I appear abruptly before Lord Xiso now, it will only cause more fluctuations, possibly dragging him into the Time Gap.

Furthermore, that boy, Igor, has already stepped halfway into this Time Gap...

"This is incredible!" Arnold cracked a smile. He had always dreamed of battling in the Time Gap, something he hadn't tried before.

"What the...!" Igor, having entered the Time Gap, quickly noticed Arnold. Admittedly, Arnold's face was rather frightening: one side as rosy as a baby's, the other as pale as an old man's. On top of that, it was continuously changing, a sight that made Igor's eyes sting.

"Interesting. So you can actually enter the Time Gap." Arnold chuckled softly, then abruptly disappeared from before Igor. Clearly, he had leaped to another time segment.

I need to notify Lord Xiso first. Only after all concerns are addressed will I have the energy to properly 'deal' with Igor.

"I've found him again! He's right behind me! I'm going to catch him!"

"Huh?" Arnold was clearly taken aback.

It wasn't Igor's quick detection of him that surprised Arnold; it was the fact that Igor could still talk to people outside the Time Gap at this moment!

How can this be! Entering the Time Gap should result in a complete transition into the Spirit Power State. Even if the Spirit Power State could intersect with the present to some extent, there would still be a reaction from the physical body. This reaction would impact memory, even if it didn't affect the timeline. Besides, the Time Gap is formed by the collision of two different timelines. Entering it is equivalent to transitioning into another space. It was impressive enough that Igor could identify different timelines. Now he's demonstrated a spatial leap to me? This is simply unbelievable!

While a Time Leap would inevitably lead to a spatial collision, to overcome the negative effects of the Time Gap so quickly and directly cross over to the level of spatial collision... this rate of progress is truly astonishing.

Wait, could it be that in this Time Gap, memories also become chaotic...?

Arnold couldn't afford to dwell on it any longer; there were simply too many things to deal with. If he didn't hurry, more people would be sucked into the Time Gap. Once a time vortex formed, no one would be able to control it.

As a Time Controller, I must think of a solution.

Kadi seemed to be completely entangled. Indeed, Arnold had relied on Kadi's extendable tail to encroach upon Igor's timeline. Kadi was the common link between him and Igor, a familiar point of connection. Only through Kadi could they achieve the collision of their timelines.

Kadi's tail had naturally become the Medium for Arnold's Time Trap...

With numerous thoughts crowding his mind, Arnold was becoming increasingly agitated. Although he considered using an Exchange Beast, the Mail Bird—which had no life characteristics and was relatively less affected by time—to deliver his message, he was still unable to completely shake Igor off his tail.

Igor was truly hard to deal with, like an unshakeable shadow. No matter how much Arnold jumped across his timeline, Igor kept trailing him.

This imitative ability of Igor's was surprisingly potent.

I'm actually a bit excited; an opponent like this makes the fight truly interesting.

"Hey, two-faced man, where are you running off to?! Come back here!" Igor had detected Arnold's leaping path yet again.

Hmph, this kid has some skill! Now, let me see just how capable you really are.

Having delivered his message, Arnold was now completely unrestrained. I've waited for this moment for a long time. Today, I can finally stretch my limbs and show my true strength!

"Half baby, half old codger! Wow, his face looks so weird!" Unknowingly, Igor had already arrived before Arnold.

"Who are you talking to, kid?!"

"I'm talking to…" Igor trailed off as he suddenly realized his surroundings were changing rapidly, becoming completely unfamiliar.