Chapter 1405: Memory Without Recall

Ethan’s control over time power was still incomplete, but he could sense the intense danger in that beam.

White wings spread from his back, and a high-speed vortex formed beneath his feet. He concealed the energy sphere inside his palm, closed his hand into a fist, and surged forward along the edge of the green beam.

Vesperhart didn’t meet him head-on.

Its four hooves struck the ground in rapid succession as it retreated at high speed. Energy spread outward from between its antlers, forming a transparent shield around it.

A second green laser shot from its antlers.

Ethan beat his wings and dodged the beam.

This time, though, he felt a strange sense of familiarity.

The laser kept missing his flight path by a narrow margin.

It was as if Vesperhart knew in advance how he would dodge but hadn’t expected him to change his movements this time. The green beam adjusted its course repeatedly, yet it could only graze past Ethan.

Inside the shield, Vesperhart finally began to panic.

That wasn’t what had happened last time.

"Why do you keep changing things?"

Ethan froze for a moment.

"Me?"

What had he changed?

His confusion didn’t slow him down. He continued forward as dozens of white energy spheres appeared around him. They spread out at different heights, then shot toward Vesperhart all at once.

This time, Vesperhart was the one caught off guard.

It immediately lowered its antlers toward Ethan while glancing at the clock around its neck. Energy finished gathering between its antlers, and a green beam fired straight ahead to force Ethan back.

But they were already too close.

Ethan reached the outside of the shield. He noticed Vesperhart’s subtle glance downward but had no time to think about it. White lightning wrapped around his fist as he hammered the same spot over and over.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The transparent shield buckled inward with every blow.

The energy spheres following Ethan also struck the barrier. Some exploded against the outside, while the others slipped through the tiny cracks created by his punches.

The pure white spheres, laced with white lightning, sank silently into Vesperhart’s body.

Red warning lights flashed across the shield.

Cracks were spreading outward from the point Ethan had been striking. If this continued, the barrier would shatter completely.

Vesperhart charged out of its own shield.

It swept its antlers around and fired energy spheres at the surrounding trees. The green attacks struck trunks and roots alike as it tried to seize control of the forest again.

Seconds passed.

The trees didn’t respond.

No matter how much energy Vesperhart poured into them, the surrounding branches refused to obey.

It had no choice but to abandon the plan.

Another green energy sphere formed between its antlers, but instead of firing it at Ethan, Vesperhart cast it on itself. Accelerated time spread through its limbs, instantly increasing its running speed as it fled into the distance.

Ethan punched through the abandoned shield.

His wings blasted the air behind him with a thunderous boom. Breaking the sound barrier, he shot after Vesperhart.

The stag didn’t turn around to attack. It simply kept changing directions in an attempt to widen the gap.

It also stomped both hooves into the ground. Tremors spread through the soil, but the surrounding trees still didn’t react.

No branches moved to block Ethan.

No roots rose to help.

Nothing worked.

Vesperhart lowered its head and looked at the clock around its neck.

The hands were almost back in position.

If once wasn’t enough, it would try twice.

If twice wasn’t enough, it would try a third time.

Ethan couldn’t avoid making a mistake forever.

The clock erupted with dazzling white light again.

Its hands moved backward. Vesperhart retraced every step of its escape, while Ethan was dragged back to his previous position. The shattered shield restored itself, and the scattered energy returned to its respective owners.

Once again, the two of them returned to the start of their clash.

Ethan’s fist was about to strike Vesperhart.

This time, the stag raised both forelegs in advance, ready to block an attack it had already seen several times. Energy gathered between its antlers, waiting to fire the instant Ethan closed in.

But as Ethan approached, a powerful warning surged through him.

This felt far too familiar.

And Vesperhart had raised its hooves with suspiciously perfect timing.

His white wings snapped open.

Instead of following through with his punch, Ethan flew backward and put some distance between them.

Vesperhart stared at him in complete disbelief.

He had changed it again.

"You..."

The stag looked at the wary Ethan in the distance, momentarily at a loss for words.

The energy between its antlers had already finished charging, so it had no choice but to fire. The green beam shot toward Ethan while Vesperhart spat out a seed and dropped it onto the soil beside its hooves.

It diverted another stream of energy into the ground and fed it into the seed.

Ethan watched from a distance, utterly baffled.

Why did Vesperhart keep acting as if it had something to say to him?

What the hell had he done?

The green beam was already closing in.

Ethan stopped waiting.

His energy wings beat with all their strength, launching him past the sound barrier. Ignoring the beam pursuing him from the side, he charged straight at Vesperhart again.

The stag immediately raised another shield around itself.

It stopped using the continuous lasers Ethan could easily dodge and began releasing energy spheres one after another. Some flew toward the seed at its feet to accelerate its growth, while the rest attacked Ethan from different directions.

Ethan weaved through the air.

The first sphere passed over his head. He twisted aside to avoid the second and shattered the third with white lightning. As he advanced, he hurled his own energy spheres, sending streaks of white light ahead to bombard Vesperhart’s shield.

Yet that sense of familiarity refused to go away.

Hadn’t he already experienced this?

The seed on the ground sprouted.

Green energy continued pouring into it as accelerated time acted on the young plant. The sprout put out branches, its slender trunk rapidly thickened, and within moments, it had grown into a towering tree.

Its dense branches spread in every direction.

They curved around Vesperhart’s shield and lunged at Ethan from the left, right, and above, ready to stop him midway.

Ethan had no intention of paying them any attention.

Real men charged straight through!

His white wings accelerated again, and he continued forward into the converging branches.

Watching from her hiding place at the edge of the tree wall, Auri was at a loss for words.

How many times had he done this now?

Was something wrong with Dad’s head?

Despite her confusion, Auri wasn’t about to let the branches attack him. Fairy power spread from her palms into the entire forest under her control.

More trees immediately sprang into action.

Thick branches reached in from both sides, intercepting the attacks released by the central tree. The branches twisted around one another and tore at each other, cutting off every path that could reach Ethan.

With nothing left to block him, Ethan easily reached Vesperhart’s shield.

His fists rained down on it.

Every strike caved the transparent barrier inward, while the energy spheres concealed inside his fists slipped through the tiny cracks. Even Ethan had lost count of how many spheres of white energy had already entered Vesperhart’s body.