Ethereal Ascendance: A Journey of Transformation

"Of course, it now looks like only Liana has this possibility," Michelle said very definitively. It seemed that because of the Condensation Sword, she had already taken Nicola as the inevitable culprit.

"But in fact, the person you want to find maybe me..." I saw no other way, so I had to reveal myself. I'm not as stubborn as Nicola. If I voluntarily go with them, I can at least ensure that everyone's lives are not threatened.

"Feliciana!" Nicola was anxious when she heard this. She immediately reached out and grabbed me.

"Hmph, do you think I can't see through your abilities and be fooled by you?" Michelle didn't look convinced at all. She glanced at me and snorted coldly.

"But an angel with only six wings, not even as good as Camille. How could someone so weak have killed Claudia?" What she said made a lot of sense. I was speechless instantly and didn't even know how to defend myself.

Although from a certain point of view, I did defeat the succubus Camille, it was with the help of others. In terms of personal ability, I really am not as good as her.

As for why I was able to kill Claudia, the reasons behind it are too complicated to explain clearly to them in a short time.

Nicola was also stunned for a moment. She didn't expect the other party to not believe this big truth at all. Her hand grabbing me slowly retracted.

Seeing that neither of us spoke, Michelle thought we had admitted to lying. She sneered and raised her right hand.

"Don't think that just because angels are immune to most elemental attacks, I have no way to deal with you..."

"Huh?" Immune to elemental attacks? Do angels have such an against-the-sky hidden attribute? How did I not know about this before?

"It is said... it should be like this, but it probably cannot be completely immune." Seeing me staring dumbfounded at her asking for confirmation, Selene hesitated for a few seconds and nodded at me.

"I have not witnessed it myself..."

"But didn't my wings get burned by that Face Fly's lightning before? That kind of lightning should also be an elemental attack, right?"

I have to say, my first experience of getting injured is still fresh in my memory. The pain from the wing injury was much stronger than that of the body injury.

"This is... maybe because angel wings and bodies are different..." Selene also didn't understand the reasons behind it, and could only helplessly guess.

But now a strong enemy was right in front of us. There was simply no time to discuss this kind of problem. Just as I wanted to turn my head and look up at the sky, I saw a familiar scene unfold.

"What is that?"

A long, translucent red sword slowly rose from Michelle's palm, carrying fiery flames. Its shape and style were exactly the same as Nicola's Condensation Sword.

"Could it be..." I looked at Nicola in shock and doubt. She didn't expect the other party to know this technique too. She showed me a wry smile:

"That's right! It's the same as when you lost consciousness before, only hers is red."

"It looks like the relationship here is more complicated..." I watched as Michelle grasped the summoned weapon in her hand. All I could do was smile wryly too.

"Although my Hephaestus Sword is made of fire elements, it still cannot escape the physical realm. Let's see if you can withstand it this time..." As Michelle was about to slash at us, I hurriedly shouted to stop her, while desperately thinking of ways to get out of this almost inevitable deadly situation.

But could solutions be thought up in just a few seconds? Facing this fire goddess, I have no combat power at all now.

Moreover, she is not a creature of darkness without a trace of dark elemental aura. Even my best purification technique has no effect. At this moment I realized I have no way out.

"Still trying to buy time?" Michelle waited a few seconds and saw I made no moves. She probably guessed my intention. Just as she was about to continue attacking, Nicola suddenly spoke:

"Is it true that I can control time?"

"What? Do you think I'm lying to you?" Hearing this, Michelle paused her offensive posture and stared gloomily at Nicola.

"Although we have always disagreed, I also disdain to pretend and deceive on this kind of issue."

"Then can I travel through time?" Hearing her say that, Nicola hurriedly asked her next question.

I don't know what her intention was. At this critical juncture, the question seemed strange. Could it somehow help us escape? I certainly didn't see how.

"Why are you asking this?" As expected, Michelle was also confused, not understanding what she meant.

"Are you thinking of traveling through time to escape? Unfortunately, with your current strength you simply can't achieve this at all. Not to mention everyone present, you alone won't be able to do it!"

"Then I will be able to do it once my strength grow?"

It seemed Nicola's concern was not on escaping or resolving the predicament, but only on anxiously confirming her guess with the other party.

"I'm not sure about that... but so what?" Michelle didn't have a clue what she was getting at.

"Anyway, you can't escape from my palm now. Today you have to come with me! Otherwise don't blame me for being impolite!" After saying that, she raised her sword and rushed towards us without another word.

"In that case, I'll take a gamble!" Hearing the other party's answer, Nicola's next move completely exceeded everyone's expectations. She unexpectedly smiled and put down the Condensation Sword in her hand, looking completely at ease.

"What are you doing! Have you taken the wrong medicine?" This is purely giving up, alright? Seeing Michelle rush right in front of me instantaneously, well, it was completely hopeless now. I could only despairingly close my eyes, not wanting to watch her get taken away before my eyes.

"Fe...Feliciana..." Selene's stuttering voice suddenly rang in my ears.

"Look quickly..."

Look at what? At Nicola being forcibly dragged away by Michelle?

Although I already knew this would happen, urged by Selene, I still couldn't help but open my eyes and glance over.

"This... am I seeing things?" When I saw the scene before me, I simply couldn't believe my eyes. I kept wiping and rubbing but the result was still the same.

"There are two Nicolas!? I'm not seeing wrongly right?" Now it was my turn to grab Selene's shoulders and shake her violently.

This is just too crazy! That's right! This was not some eye-deceiving illusion or legendary clone technique. Standing in front of me and Selene were two real Nicolas.

And why am I so certain? Because in addition to the previous Nicola who put down her weapon and took on a resigned posture, the other Nicola was dressed completely differently, including the twelve grayish-white wings unfurled behind her back.

"I've come back as promised to save you... past me!" The twelve-winged Nicola smiled, holding the Condensation Sword in her hand, standing in front of the six-winged Nicola to block Michelle's attack without even turning her head, and said:

"This is cheating!" From just these words, I instantly understood what was going on.

Too awesome! Why didn't I think of it before? Isn't this just the "Promise Machine" from Doraemon!

Although there was no such machine here in actuality, through her firm belief and ability to travel through time in the future, Nicola perfectly reproduced its function by promising her future self to come back and rescue her present self.

"Success!" The six-winged Nicola excitedly took a step forward and stood beside her future self, pointing at the twelve-winged Nicola and saying to Michelle in front:

"Let me introduce, this is my future self. Just now I made a promise to myself - as long as I can get through this crisis, when I grow much stronger in the future, completely crushing you, I will travel back in time to save myself, and... teach you a good lesson!"

Michelle originally had a confused look at the sudden appearance of the twelve-winged Nicola, not understanding what was happening.

Hearing the six-winged Nicola's explanation now, plus the murderous stare from the opponent, she finally understood.

"You can even do this? You're cheating!" Hearing this, she yelled loudly and instantly retreated dozens of meters back. She could no longer pretend to be calm, looking warily at us.

It was clear this twelve-winged Nicola's strength was extraordinary, putting great pressure on her.

"Where did you learn this kind of tactic? Even Liana in the past has never been so shameless..." This meant the opponent had reached an invincible position. It was no longer as simple as dealing with two Nicolas. Michelle felt a little headache coming on and couldn't help rubbing her head.

"Sorry, this is my tactic. Don't you feel unhappy? But I just like it. Come bite me if you dare!" The six-winged Nicola said arrogantly. She had wanted to let out this grievance for a long time. Finally seeing the other party eating humble pie, how could she not take the chance to kick them while they're down to the fullest.

But her smug and rampant attitude was a bit too much. Not only could I not stand watching, even the future Nicola turned her head, unable to face her past self.

"Shut up! Do you think I have no way to deal with you like this?" Michelle waved the sword in her hand irritably.

"The root cause still lies in your current self. I only need to kill you while you still have six wings. The one coming later will disappear along with you..." Saying so, she flashed and suddenly disappeared from the sky, instantly appearing behind the six-winged Nicola on the ground, mercilessly chopping down at her.

"Nicola!" In the emergency, my shout was aimed at the twelve-wing version. Didn't she come back to protect her past self? Why was she just standing there watching Michelle pounce on the six-winged Nicola without moving a muscle, seemingly not wanting to stop her at all, and even having a hint of a smile on her face?

"Why don't you save her..." However, the scene that happened next almost made my jaw drop again—