"Hell's King..."
Those were Lloyd's last words, and they reflected his desperate desire to share what he had gone through.
Fwoosh! Lloyd's vision went blank, and he felt as if his entire body was floating in the air before his eyes popped open.
“...”
Lloyd squirmed and looked around as the sound of crickets crying beneath the moonlit sky washed over him. The sitting room was peaceful, and the curtain he had seen earlier was dancing to the breeze coming in through the partially open window.
The Ending Spoiler is over.
Noticing how hard he was breathing, Lloyd relaxed on the sofa, loosened his body, and went over everything he saw and heard in the Ending Spoiler.
It was a direct message from my future self.
Lloyd instantly felt satisfied with himself for not losing his rationality even when all hell broke loose and the restoration of destiny came sooner than expected. His future self left a message with a clear overview of his experience. Then, he commanded Javier to slash him with a sword. It was his intention to die.
He needed to die at that exact moment for me to get the words he said right before then through the ending spoiler. It was a calculated act.
What a determined man he was, Lloyd reflected, but now was not the time to praise himself. Now was the moment to reflect on the wealth of information he had gathered from his future self.
Hell's King is the one who accelerated the restoration of destiny?
Lloyd couldn't know exactly why the king would do that. But he had a rough guess.
If it's the King of Hell, it's simple to deduce his reasoning. I must have tampered with the flow of time from how often I used my Time Freeze skill.
The Time Freeze skill was a trick Lloyd gladly took advantage of, especially when he was working on large-scale constructions. He also used it to delay the start of the restoration of destiny as well.
But the Hell's King wasn't happy about that.
It seemed plausible since it was undeniably true that freezing time to postpone the restoration of destiny was technically cheating. Lloyd figured that Hell's King wouldn't let that slide, given the latter's strait-laced character.
My future self must have glossed over the reason Hell's King accelerated the whole affair as he knew I would be able to figure that out on my own. I'm certain of it. I would have done the same thing. Besides, he likely didn't have enough time to explain every little detail.
Based on his experiences, the Ending Spoiler only showed a few minutes of the future. So, he would need to focus on a few key points and take out anything that was self-explanatory or unnecessary to deliver as much information as possible in that short time frame.
That's why I was told only about what happened to the queen, the count, and the countess.
As Lloyd continued to think, the situation started to piece itself together.
I suppose this new, accelerated version of the phenomenon is the second restoration of destiny. This time, the trigger was the amputation of the queen's left arm. The trigger for the first version of the restoration of destiny was the horse accident with Count Frontera.
In the initial version, the whole situation began after Count Frontera fell from his horse. That set off a series of terrible mishaps involving the death or crippling of many people in The Knight of Blood and Iron. However, in the second version...
It began with her left arm. I have to stop it, then.
After she lost her left arm, the queen would turn into a tyrant and wage war against his family. In the process, the count and countess would be killed.
If the story proceeds as it is, Julian, Scheherazade, the sultan, orc Arosh, the two loan sharks, and I will all experience some sort of misfortune aligned with the new version of the phenomenon.
But if he could protect the queen's left arm? If she didn't lose her left arm?
She won't become a tyrant and start a civil war.
The story would develop differently. The count and countess wouldn't lose their lives. Of course, Lloyd knew the restoration of destiny wouldn't be put to a stop even then.
That's obvious. Dragon King Verkis warned me about it last time. No matter how many events I prevent, there will be more accidents and tragedies that come about in new ways. That is why my future self didn't choose to inform me about anything else.
Lloyd was able to understand the intent of his future self, who had delivered him a message through his will. First and foremost, the queen's left arm had to be safeguarded since it was the trigger for the second restoration of destiny. Afterward, a third version of the phenomenon would appear, and he would need to find the new trigger.
So, you're saying that's why it would be useless to inform me about anything else.
That was Lloyd's final conclusion. First, he would need to prevent the queen's left arm from becoming paralyzed and start decaying.
But there's something else I have to take care of before then.
Lloyd got up and moved to the bedroom adjacent to the sitting room. He then woke Javier up.
"Wakey-wakey."
“...”
"I'm relieved to see one try was enough to wake you up."
"I am a light sleeper. What is going on, Young Master?" replied Javier in confusion.
"Isn't it obvious? I woke you up because we have somewhere to go," said Lloyd.
"Where?"
"To Hell."
Javier turned and lay back to bed.
"Hey, why are you lying down again?"
"I would like for you to just be thankful that I am calmly returning to bed without a fight, Master Lloyd."
"Wow. Were you planning to hit me?"
"That is an obvious question."
"Tsk. Get up anyway."
"Why are we going to Hell again?"
"There's something I need to confirm."
“...”
Javier had a glow in his eyes. He wasn't asleep in the first place. He was rather listening from his bed from the time Lloyd vanished until the latter returned to mull over the situation in the sitting room. As a result, he felt compelled to ask Lloyd what was going on and what was bothering him so much.
Are you finally planning to share your concerns with me?
Javier asked himself as he rose and looked at Lloyd. His wish must have come true. The words he had been waiting to hear came out of Lloyd's mouth.
"To be honest, I do have a concern."
“...”
"The restoration of destiny will likely begin much earlier than expected and manifest in a different way as well."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah. I'm sure." Lloyd nodded and proceeded to explain everything about the new turn of events, skipping the parts that involved his real identity and the Javier-or-Lloyd dilemma.
"If what you said is true... Her Majesty's left arm will start to decay, and the count and countess will be in danger."
"Yeah. Somewhat."
"When and where did you find out about this?" asked Javier.
"While I met with the queen earlier, something was odd about the movement in her left arm. So, I questioned her, and she indirectly admitted that it was paralyzed."
"And as for-"
"How did I predict the events that follow?" interrupted Lloyd. "I saw everything in a dream. It felt like some sort of premonition." Lloyd changed the Ending Spoiler into a dream, the same way he did when he first explained the phenomenon to Count and Countess Frontera. To his relief, Javier remained silent instead of casting doubts, so Lloyd went on, "Of course, I'm not acting solely based on a silly dream. But what I saw was too real. It has made me nervous. I need to confirm it myself."
"With Hell's King?"
"Yes," said Lloyd. "If my dream is right, the Hell's King is responsible for why the restoration of destiny is happening earlier than anticipated. He has a problem with how I freezed the flow of time."
"You wish to confirm the matter by confronting the most likely suspect."
"That's the plan." Lloyd nodded. The thing was, he could have consulted the Jewel of Truth. But in this case, he wanted to confront Hell's King.
I want to see with my own eyes what he wants from this. And if I can... I should negotiate.
He wanted to meet the king directly and see his chances of delaying the destiny restoration phenomenon.
"Anyhow, we need to move fast. Get out of bed. There isn't even time for you to wash your face."
Lloyd remembered what his future self said. The queen's left arm was already decaying two months after it became paralyzed. As such, he didn't have time to hesitate or waste too much on meeting with the King of Hell. Ten minutes later, they were ready to leave.
"Let's go!" After urging Yong Yong to fly as fast as possible, they reached the North Pole in a matter of hours. Upon spotting the entrance to Hell, Lloyd exclaimed, "Throw us in, Yong Yong!"
Boom! Both of them broke through the blast of snow that covered the gate, and when they persevered and reached Hell, a fierce heat surged toward them.
"Whoa!"
Lloyd immediately searched his inner pocket and brought Ggoming out, who was already on standby.
"Hey, it's your turn now."
Lloyd held out the red sunflower seed. Ggoming ate it and became huge in an instant. He fluttered his giant wings and carried Lloyd and Javier, freefalling into the pit of ash.
"Ggoming! To Hell Castle!"
"Ggoming!" exclaimed Ggoming.
It had been a long time since Lloyd last breathed the musty air of Hell. They flew for a seemingly endless amount of time through the hazy heat and landed on the ground when the castle finally came into view. Upon landing, a large group of demons greeted Lloyd, making him feel like a celebrity at an airport. However, he was too busy to say hello to everyone.
"Run!"
Lloyd and Javier forcefully made their way through the cheering demons to King of Hell's office. They stood in front of the massive desk in the room, where Hell's King looked to be no different than when they last met him.
Scribble! Scribble! Scribble! The king's throne was as plain as an office chair. His massive desk didn't have a single decoration on it but was completely buried under paper. And surrounded by the paper piles, there was someone who looked like they were on the verge of death from being overworked. It was the King of Hell. He briefly glanced at Lloyd and proceeded to ignore him. The only thing he was focused on was the paper piles surrounding him. While writing his signature down one after another at a rapid pace, he muttered a complaint.
"Can't you see that I'm swamped right now? Tell me what you want. Make it quick," grumbled the king as he signed off the papers.
Lloyd felt glad that the king was busy and willing to jump into business straight away. He said, "It has been a while, the ruler of karma and overlord of 19 purgatories. I, Lloyd Frontera, would like to dare ask you a question."
"Ask what?"
"Did you accelerate the arrival of the restoration of destiny?"
"Yes, I did."
Scribble! Hell's King carelessly answered the query with a faint and uninterested nod as he continued to sign off papers at rapid speed, and Lloyd bit his lips at the sight, plainly upset by the lack of seriousness in a situation that may ruin his own life.
"May I ask why you did that?" asked Lloyd, suppressing his emotions.
"I certainly can," Hell's King said, his attention now fixated on Lloyd. "It is a very simple reason," he added, flashing a huge smile as if he was looking at a pot of gold. "I want you, Kim Suho. You are the perfect talent for Hell."
