Born From a Forbidden Union, Humanity hates me.

Noah and Orion walked for a few hours in complete silence.

It wasn't an awkward silence, as they both had a lot to think about.

For Noah, it was time to process everything, and for Orion, it was time to gather himself and discuss with Tetra.

'We need to avoid interfering with this era as much as possible.'

Orion was the first to bring this matter forward.

'You are right. Even if Henrietta's words were correct, we need to refrain from causing her any more work.'

As much as she wanted to interact with her, she was afraid of talking to her friend.

During the big reveal of Orion's identity, he chose to hide the fact that the Tetra from his time was alive inside him.

The main worry was the paradoxical nature of having two Tetra in this world. Unless she was brought up or discovered, no one apart from Orion, a person from her time, would know of her presence.

Passing her source as an empty vessel that Orion used to break through the rift was a better idea than putting her at risk of such an event.

'From the looks of it, it has already been four years since Noah showed up on our continent.'

Hearing her recall the events of their past, she explained to Orion.

'There will be... painful events waiting for you in the future.'

'I hope you will be able to suppress your emotions and think carefully about your every move. As you said, we can't interact too much with this era.'

Orion nodded internally, keeping in mind her warning.

'What kind of events are we talking about?'

'Don't... ask me that. From what I recall, it should happen in a month or so.'

Six years. That was the deadline before Noah went to battle Miasma. It was after recalling this moment that Orion understood.

'Dramia and Drania...'

He heard a sigh in his mind, coming from a heartbroken Tetra.

'I wish you weren't so keen on picking up details like those.'

Glancing furtively around, he confirmed that the two fairies, who were humans at this time, weren't following.

'They haven't been rescued by Noah yet. I warn you, as a friend and as a Remnant, to mind your own business, Orion. You will have to take it upon yourself to not step in.'

'The tragedy that happened will have to happen, or you will never meet them again. Some of those changes are possible to happen, as far as I am concerned.'

Tetra explained what Henrietta described a long time ago.

—

"My powers border on rewriting history. It is possible, but ultimately, what needs to happen will happen."

"At least that concerns major events."

Henrietta and Tetra were sitting inside their hideout, a few months after becoming Remnants, and learning the rules of their respective concepts.

"Then you could-"

"Let me finish before making your own conclusions. I wasn't done yet."

They weren't as friendly with each other at that time, but they weren't on bad terms.

"Those creatures... they are parts of something even bigger than major events. It is remotely impossible for me to alter our fate on the matter."

"I won't be able to modify what has been done since this incident has birthed us as Remnants. If I were to do that, it would be paradoxical in nature. Not that it is possible, anyway."

Tetra nodded, listening to Henrietta.

"A cyclone is a major event. I cannot rewrite it, as it is Heto's field. But, what I can change is the fate of those who could die at the hands of that cyclone."

"Yet, I cannot do that every time. Death is a concept protected by the Remnant of life. It is remotely impossible for me to break the rules constantly."

A question appeared in Tetra's head, which she asked immediately.

"What would happen if we were to change some events?"

Henrietta pondered.

"Those concerned by the change would have a different future. If you were to return in time and save someone from a tragic experience that was meant to be, the ones close to you..."

"They could potentially disappear from your future altogether. Your memory would be wiped clean of their presence, and your destiny would be altered by creating a world where they aren't a part of your life."

—

'This is scary...'

Orion understood the danger of his actions. The most he could do to avoid affecting his era was to simply assist Noah in his battles.

Though, there was a problem with that.

Orion had lost any means of fighting. The light and dark elements weren't present, and his faction traits were sealed for a reason he couldn't comprehend.

His only grace was the void element, but even it was barely behaving properly. Something was tempering with the nature of the element.

Horizon was blocked entirely, inaccessible in this era. It was an obvious result, but he still tried to connect the two eras.

Yet, the element itself wasn't even behaving like it used to. The warping effect was barely possible, and it didn't even manifest outside his core.

And Orion knew the reason for such a state.

The void element was terrified. It was left alone when the elements that created it separated from Orion.

At this point, Orion was a human on the tougher side of the spectrum, knowledgeable in martial arts.

His knowledge of hunting became useless, as it became impossible to bring out elemental crossbows.

The Abyssal Sovereign power was sealed alongside his demonic trait, and his healing capabilities and enhancements were locked alongside his angelic features.

It was no laughing matter.

Suddenly, Noah stopped.

"We've got company."

Brought out of his thoughts, Orion looked in the same direction, noticing an army of corrupt beasts making their way toward a human village.

Without a single moment of hesitation, Noah pulled a piece of ore the size of a pebble from the pouch.

The five elements flashed brightly behind his back as Noah leaned forward.

Orion did the same. He leaned forward and followed behind Noah.

"Could I let you deal with this? I would like to observe how you fight."

"Sure, fine by me."

Noah agreed to fight by himself.

"Then, I'll go first."

A burst of wind magic exploded from him, pushing him forward at an unrivaled speed.

'That speed... this looks like the 'Second Gear'.'

Orion tried to activate the power of the 'Shackles', and, miraculously, managed to bring it out, to his greatest surprise.

'...'

Tetra kept quiet, which made Orion turn his attention to her as he let go of the 'Shackles' power.

'What is it?'

While watching the carnage take place in the distance, he spoke with Tetra.

'It's... nothing, really.'

Hearing her reluctance to talk in her tone, he spoke freely.

'We're past secrets at this point. Henrietta already told me when we met that she was the one who influenced destiny to merge this artifact with my soul.'

'But... I find it strange that I am able to use the 'Shackles' while the lost elements are unavailable. I thought they were unseparable?'

At this point, Tetra unexpectedly opened up.

'This was... my idea. Putting the artifact in you. Not Henrietta, not Nature, me.'

'You know how I feel about him. I was enraged. I couldn't endure the pain of living without him, so I brought up the idea of creating another Hero...'

Orion opened his eyes widely.

'This artifact... is an item Noah fiddled with all the time. It broke into two pieces, and Henrietta managed to recover a fraction of seconds before he... exploded.'

'One piece became imbued with the light and dark energies, while the other became the vessel of his five elements.'

With a nod, Orion confirmed this revelation.

'The 'Shackles' and the 'Key'.'

'Correct.'

Tetra continued with a perplexed tone, as if she wanted to keep this to herself.

'In reality, they aren't close to being that. Henrietta created that tale from scratch, modified their appearance in your and Amelia's souls, and led you to believe they were artifacts.'

But Orion felt otherwise.

'They are artifacts. Whatever you've created is indeed the source of our power. I don't see the problem.'

'...'

This silence coming from her was enough to pique his curiosity. With a quick thought, he understood her completely.

Surprised by it, he exclaimed out loud.

"You're feeling guilty..."

'I told you to stop picking up on these subtleties... Damn it.'

She sounded frustrated beyond belief.

'Yes, that's right! I'm feeling intense guilt! Happy?'

Orion smiled faintly. He preferred her being feisty more than gloomy.

'Your creation as a Hero came from me being a petty woman! I wanted some form of revenge against Miasma, who survived while Noah sacrificed himself.'

'But I started to realize the mistake I committed. I forced something on an unrelated individual and sealed their fate in the process.'

Explaining all this made her raise her voice. She spoke her reason with anger filling her soul, she released everything.

'I've forced a piece of Noah, albeit it being an item he used, into the next Hero. This is the reason for this title being unique. It cannot exist if a shard of the previous titleholder's isn't present.'

A detail caught his attention.

"What about Amelia?"

'We've made sure she wasn't one. She acted as an 'on-off' switch. Still, from the looks of it, she is on a path to becoming as great as Noah at his peak.'

Suddenly, silence. Only the sound of the wind passing through the branches of trees and the grass entered his ears.

'Orion...'

"Yes?"

Tetra asked for a favor from Orion as Noah walked back toward them with a breaking sword in his hand.

'Would you mind teaching Noah how to use his power like you did with Amelia?'