Chapter 2965: The Final Chapter of Time

The hand crossbow then aimed at Helen and Grace, but the sisters disappeared immediately and appeared on the left and right of the hotel owner behind the counter the next second.

He immediately urged the light of the lamp in his hand with his spirit to cover a larger range, thinking that the miracle elements could affect the power of the Angel-level relic, but didn't expect that the black and white skirt twin sisters were completely unaffected.

The miracle of time and the miracle of space resonated with each other. At this moment, the whisper elements on the twin sisters were almost completely hidden, but the power as the Chosen One of Space was displayed.

Even if it was only the third candidate for the Chosen One, at this moment Thomas Bennett seemed to understand something:

"Relics can also be..."

His unbelievable words hadn't finished, and the invisible space cracks on both sides had already rolled his body into them. The lamp fell

"Is this the end?"

Grace and Helen returned to Xia De's side before that emerald light burst forth. The shredded remains of the corpse gathered together, and after the phantom of a towering tree flashed by, Thomas Bennett reappeared:

"I have also been maintaining the freeze of time here. If you want to kill me, you can only go to the next second, but the time here is forever frozen at the current second. This is not immortality; this is the rule of time! I have infinite time to fight you here. I am always in this second, but how long can you hold out?"

He picked up the oil lamp with its rich miraculous elements again, then crushed the lamp shade with one hand, grasped the flame in his palm, and pushed it into his own chest.

That strange miraculous element then became a part of Thomas Bennett, and both Xia De and Grace and Helen felt his connection to this building become even tighter.

There was even a moment when the shadow cast on the wall by Thomas Bennett, due to the light sphere used for illumination, was no longer in the shape of a human, but in the shape of a tree.

Wooden textures appeared on the surface of his skin, and the destiny ring rotating behind him completely broke through the eighth ring, finally settling at the tenth-ring level at the end of its rapid ascension. He took a deep breath, and his originally normal right eye turned completely black.

That deep darkness did not represent emptiness, but a power sufficient to twist time:

"Time Stop!"

Time itself here is frozen, so this Time Stop only targeted Xia De as an individual. The clear sound of a clock hand turning, *Click! *, echoed in the room, but Xia De's time resistance still helped him resist the power of frozen time.

The corners of Thomas Bennett's mouth twitched. He aimed his right palm at the position where the three were standing, and then a grand green energy wave surged toward them.

Grace and Helen stood directly in front of Xia De. The sisters drew a circle together with their hands, and the emerald light entered the circle and then reappeared from Thomas Bennett's side.

The energy dissipated his phantom, but striking the wall failed to cause any damage to the building itself; instead, it was as if it had been absorbed by the building itself.

When the innkeeper's figure appeared again, it was on the stairs leading to the upper floor. He still held his palm open toward the three of them, and still released huge energy, and then the Red Butterfly sisters again tore through space to make that energy return along its original path.

This cycle continued many times. Thomas Bennett was indeed, just as he himself said, completely in the same second within the "Time Transit Station," and no matter how many attacks were launched, none of them could produce any effect on him.

Although Grace and Helen tearing through space to divert the attacks consumed very little, Xia De could see that continuing to wear him down was completely meaningless.

It's just that the Outsider, who didn't know if he could be counted as a human, didn't want to see the elves turn into big trees. The story of Ms. Helena Carter happened in the past and was a foregone conclusion; he couldn't change it, but for Emilia's future, he still hoped to hold it in his own hands.

"Wait a moment, I don't understand what exactly you are trying to do?"

Seeing that the innkeeper had really stopped, he continued to ask:

"Having lost your wife, you still have your daughters and your son. While there is still a chance to turn back, why not strive for a normal life for them?"

"First of all, I must correct one point: I do not care about Albert Bennett."

The innkeeper said from the side of the counter:

"The responsibility of the Bennett family's heritage to turn into a tree will be realized in my next generation. This is a responsibility that comes once every three hundred years, but I do not want any of my daughters to undertake this tragic fate.

Fortunately, our family's heritage is not passed down solely through blood, so I adopted that boy who accidentally came to the transit station and was very talented. To me, he only exists to replace my daughters in the future, to turn into a new great tree to absorb the time curse. He is not my child; his future is irrelevant."

It seemed that Thomas Bennett did not know at all that the boy was actually a royal illegitimate child; he only cared about the other's talent.

"Then what about your daughters? Even if Linda Bennett has nothing to do with your family anymore, don't you still have three daughters? Are you not looking forward to them getting married? You still have a chance to turn back now."

Xia De asked again, and the innkeeper's eyes stared fixedly at Xia De:

"Of course I look forward to that day; even on the day Jane was born, I was already looking forward to it. But do you know? The person I care about most is no longer here."

"Your wife?"

"A long time ago, on the day we were married, the young me glimpsed the specific date of her death from the long river of time. I used the second half of my life to avoid this from happening. I know the rules of time, and I know that mortals are destined to die. I did not dare to reverse time to do anything, only hoping that I could do something on the day it happened.

But in the end, I still failed. Even though she was sleeping right beside me, even though my hand was still holding hers, I ultimately could not save her. This is a destined death... I stand in this transit station of time helping others seek a second chance, but I myself could not even grasp the first chance."

He took a deep breath:

"I kept the date of her death hidden in my heart and loved her for a lifetime. But in the end, I did not have the courage, nor did I want to violate the rules of time, like that fool from the Bronte family, to let her skip her own death. I hoped that a miracle would happen; I even sought the help of that Ancient One, but in the end, what was meant to come still came.

She and I spent more than twenty years living an ordinary life. Now that she is dead, some things I used to care about no longer need to be cared about."

He finally said what he really wanted to do:

"I will not violate the rules of time to change the past, but that Ancient One promised me that as long as I complete the final task, Albert Bennett will inherit the transit station. The responsibility here will have nothing to do with my daughters, and I will be granted complete freedom. I will roam the long river of time, and one day I will find a way to bring her back to life.

If the Sixth Era doesn't work, I will go to more ancient eras, until I reach the end of time. This world allows for miracles; I have always believed in that. As for my daughters, when I disappear from this time, that will be true freedom for them."

He reached out and pointed to the inn's front door, and the door swung wide open:

"God-Awakener, you cannot win against me today, and I cannot win against you.

The Ancient One in the forest is also the omniscient one of time. He knows everything about the past, present, and future. The three months of Saturday, Sunday, and Monday will be full in succession; this is the time to hold the Chosen One ritual. Now, I issue the invitation for this decisive battle—

On the night the Silver Moon shines, Saturday night, the Paradox Worms born here over ten million years will awaken from the dense forest and attack Vista City. Do not evacuate the population in advance, otherwise, the target will be Willandale.

At that time, I will act as the third-ranked candidate for the Chosen One of Time, waiting here for you and your candidate. Only by defeating me, defeating the army of Paradox Worms, and defeating that 'Clockmaker' who has received the grace once more, will you have the qualifications to meet that Ancient One."

He stated the fact that Xia De had long guessed, a fact that was also very cruel to Amelia:

"The first candidate for time is the Ancient One born from the remains of the World Tree. Now that the Tree Father has long since departed, He is the incarnation of time, and He is the true master of this woodland. He knew everything before it happened, including your arrival and my choice. He overlooks the stories of mortals from the forest; He is cold and ruthless, yet absolutely powerful.

Before challenging Him, I will be the gatekeeper of the first level. I look forward to our reunion on Saturday, God-Awakener, and look forward to your arrival once again."

"Hmm... I only asked about your daughters, you didn't need to say so much, right?"

Xia De said hesitantly:

"So, the fact that you encountered my attack today was something that Ancient One had long anticipated?"

Thomas Bennett did not answer, so Grace and Helen both looked at Xia De. Xia De also understood that continuing to fight today would not lead to any results; as long as time in the transit station did not flow, he truly had no way to completely defeat Bennett. Moreover, now that Amelia was not here, even defeating Bennett would be meaningless:

"Today is Thursday... then on Saturday night, I will bring an end to this story. Also, are you really willing to be the gatekeeper for that Ancient One? Perhaps you are right that it is very powerful, but after I bring the candidate I support on Saturday night, are you sure you can beat us?"

Only regarding this point did Xia De have incomparable confidence. This was not because he thought he or Amelia were very strong, but because he already knew Bennett's ending.

The innkeeper just looked at him and still did not answer, so Xia De walked toward the door with the two sisters, and then returned to that snowy forest.

Not until the door closed again did Thomas Bennett finally sigh with relief. He looked at the familiar interior of the transit station, knowing that his life could never truly return to the past, and that he and his daughters might never see each other again.

The Ancient One had arranged everything; he never had the power to plan his own life from the very beginning. The end of the story was about to begin, and he was merely participating in the final story as a whetstone.

Thomas Bennett looked down at the leaf pattern emerging on the back of his hand, thinking of his life, thinking of how he had once begged the Ancient One to save his wife, thinking of the past when he lived happily with his family, and finally looking in the direction where the "God-Awakener" had just left.

He could no longer escape this place, and defeating the "God-Awakener" was something he didn't even dare to imagine. Next time they met, the "God-Awakener" would surely bring a way to defeat him, while he could not find any possibility for himself to win.

Even if the "God-Awakener" did not kill him in the end, he would likely have no freedom for the rest of his life, let alone any chance to find a way to resurrect his wife. After hesitating for a long time, he finally gritted his teeth and pulled open the bottom drawer on the far left of the counter.

After Linda Bennett was taken away because of the Love Lake incident, there were actually some of her personal belongings left in the house that Thomas Bennett had secretly hidden. And at this moment, that exquisite little mermaid statue was placed inside the drawer.