Part one hundred sixty three — What Himari Was Always Capable Of

　It was during one of their quieter working sessions that Kai finally asked the question that had been nagging at him.

　"You don't know how to use any magic at all?" he asked. "Nothing? Not even something small?"

　"No," Himari admitted. "Never have."

"The failed summoning is the cause," Null-Subconsciousness offered, unprompted. "It blocked her abilities entirely at the point of arrival."

　"Can you unblock it?" Kai asked.

"Yes."

　Kai raised his hand.

　Null mana flowed gently into Himari, and her eyes began to glow.

　Her hair shifted, strand by strand, turning white with streaks of red. Her eyes settled into the exact same shade of red that Kai's own carried.

We actually look like twins now.

　Something warm and strange settled in his chest at the sight of her.

"Unblocking successful," Null-Subconsciousness confirmed.

　Then, carefully, it began listing exactly what had been waiting inside her the entire time.

"Ultimate Skill: Chronos, Lord of Eternity."

　Kai felt something that was, embarrassingly, close to genuine sibling jealousy settle in as the list unfolded.

　Time Acceleration and Deceleration.

　Time Stop, freezing everything within her range.

　Time Reversal, reverting herself or an object to a previous state.

　Future Sight.

　Past Observation.

　Temporal Prison, trapping an enemy in a repeating moment.

　Age Manipulation.

　Temporal Immunity, protecting her from anyone else's time-based abilities.

　Parallel Timeline, letting her briefly observe alternate possibilities and choose the best one.

　And then—

"Her strongest ability is Eternal Dominion," Null-Subconsciousness continued. "A temporal domain where she alone dictates the flow of time, and everyone else within it is bound by her rules."

　"Great," Kai muttered. "Wonderful. My sister can just decide time doesn't apply to me if she wants."

"There is also a Unique Skill," it continued, undeterred.

"Time Weaver — more instinctive, present even before reaching Ultimate Skill level. Temporal Perception, processing events far faster than normal. Moment Storage, returning to a stored prior state. Chrono Step, moving fractionally forward or backward through time. Delay, making an event occur seconds after it was triggered. Time Thread, marking a target's temporal position continuously. Accelerated Thought, processing enormous information in a sliver of external time."

　"That alone would make her dangerous," Kai said, genuinely impressed despite himself.

"Correct. Additional specialized skills include Temporal Barrier — a barrier that continuously rewinds damage inflicted upon it. Chrono Teleportation — rather than moving through space, she relocates to a point in time where she was already physically present. Eternal Regeneration — her body reverts automatically to its condition moments earlier whenever it sustains fatal damage. Future Calculation — analyzing countless possible outcomes for probability. Time-Space Perception — allowing her to sense distortions in both time and space, making surprise attacks against her nearly impossible."

"Her signature technique is Chronos: Zero Hour," Null-Subconsciousness finished. "She stops time completely — but rather than simply freezing her enemies, she can continue manipulating the frozen moment itself: repositioning allies, adjusting objects, preparing an entire sequence of actions. When time resumes, everything occurs simultaneously."

　Kai stared at his own sister.

　Himari, freshly transformed, was absorbing all of this with visible, growing awe of her own.

　"I dominate existence through negation," Kai said slowly. "You dominate the one thing existence can never actually escape."

　"Apparently," Himari said, faintly overwhelmed herself.

　A blade materialized in her hand without her consciously summoning it.

　It was slender and silver-black, its guard shaped like clockwork gears. The metal itself shifted between looking ancient, pristine, and brand new, as though it existed at several points in time simultaneously.

"Chronovale," Null-Subconsciousness said. "The Blade of Eternal Time."

　Chloe, watching from a respectful distance, went very still the moment the blade appeared.

That weapon is bad news.

　Some instinct within her recognized the danger, even without understanding its specific mechanics.

　Null-Subconsciousness continued its accounting.

　Temporal Severance, cutting not just the body but the target's own past and future, immune to normal healing.

　Time Rend, tearing a fracture that accelerated or decelerated anything crossing it.

　Chrono Edge, compressing countless slashes into a single instant.

　Reversal Cut, forcibly returning a struck target to some earlier, more damaged state.

　Future Strike and Past Strike, attacks landing before their own motion technically occurred.

　Eternal Lock, disconnecting whatever it pierced from the normal flow of time entirely.

　"And the ultimate technique," it finished, "Absolute Chrono Slash. A single visible motion compresses centuries of accumulated temporal damage into one strike."

　"And it can't be destroyed permanently," Kai added, having caught that detail earlier. "Because it doesn't exist at just one point in time at all. You'd have to defeat her actual temporal authority to end it for good."

Well...

　He looked at his sister.

I think I'd rather not get on my sister's bad side, ever, under any circumstances.

　With Himari's own considerable help, her Time Weaver abilities proving unexpectedly precise for the delicate calibration the Genesis Core process actually demanded, the energy finally stabilized properly.

　Kai's genuine joy at the breakthrough was immediate and total.

　He called for Nero at once.

　"I need materials," he said. "The best available. For a vessel — my mother's new body."

"An ordinary material won't suffice for this," Null-Subconsciousness clarified before Kai could even finish. "The vessel must contain her Chaos Core — power genuinely capable of destabilizing reality itself. Seven supreme materials are required."

　It listed them properly, one at a time.

　Primordial Dragon Bone, for a skeleton capable of containing True Dragon-level energy.

　Chaos Origin Crystal, forming the vessel's central network and synchronizing with the core itself.

　World Tree Genesis Wood, for a living, regenerating internal structure.

　Voidsteel, reinforcing the body against the Chaos energy's own destructive potential.

　Genesis Essence, allowing continuous reconstruction wherever Chaos threatened to tear the vessel apart.

　True Dragon Blood, for biological compatibility — which Kai himself could provide, his own Null-infused blood potentially making the vessel stronger still.

　And finally—

　Eternal Soul Crystal, giving her consciousness somewhere proper to anchor once transferred from the core.

　"The Chaos Origin Crystal's the rarest piece," Null-Subconsciousness continued. "It can't simply be mined. It must be created — Chaos Energy, Genesis Energy, True Dragon Essence, and Void Energy, compressed together inside a proper Genesis Forge. The result becomes the Primordial Chaos Crystal, functioning as the vessel's actual heart."

　"And the finished body," it finished, "would be classified as a Chaosborne Vessel — a Primordial Dragon Incarnation. You're not resurrecting her into a corpse, Kai. You're building her an entirely new body, purpose-made, and the Chaos Core becomes the source of her existence within it. She isn't possessing anything. She's being reborn."

　Kai sat with that for a long moment.

　Something profound settled into his chest.

　"Nero," he said finally. "Can you gather all of this?"

　"Don't worry," Nero said, already moving toward the door, something genuinely warm beneath his usual dry confidence. "I know exactly where to find every single piece. She deserves nothing less."

　He left to begin collecting them immediately.

　Kai turned back to his work.

　Closer now.

　Genuinely, finally closer—

　to bringing his mother home.

　It was during one of their quieter working sessions that Kai finally asked the question that had been nagging at him.

　"You don't know how to use any magic at all?" he asked. "Nothing? Not even something small?"

　"No," Himari admitted. "Never have."

"The failed summoning is the cause," Null-Subconsciousness offered, unprompted. "It blocked her abilities entirely at the point of arrival."

　"Can you unblock it?" Kai asked.

"Yes."

　Kai raised his hand.

　Null mana flowed gently into Himari, and her eyes began to glow.

　Her hair shifted, strand by strand, turning white with streaks of red. Her eyes settled into the exact same shade of red that Kai's own carried.

We actually look like twins now.

　Something warm and strange settled in his chest at the sight of her.

"Unblocking successful," Null-Subconsciousness confirmed.

　Then, carefully, it began listing exactly what had been waiting inside her the entire time.

"Ultimate Skill: Chronos, Lord of Eternity."

　Kai felt something that was, embarrassingly, close to genuine sibling jealousy settle in as the list unfolded.

　Time Acceleration and Deceleration.

　Time Stop, freezing everything within her range.

　Time Reversal, reverting herself or an object to a previous state.

　Future Sight.

　Past Observation.

　Temporal Prison, trapping an enemy in a repeating moment.

　Age Manipulation.

　Temporal Immunity, protecting her from anyone else's time-based abilities.

　Parallel Timeline, letting her briefly observe alternate possibilities and choose the best one.

　And then—

"Her strongest ability is Eternal Dominion," Null-Subconsciousness continued. "A temporal domain where she alone dictates the flow of time, and everyone else within it is bound by her rules."

　"Great," Kai muttered. "Wonderful. My sister can just decide time doesn't apply to me if she wants."

"There is also a Unique Skill," it continued, undeterred.

"Time Weaver — more instinctive, present even before reaching Ultimate Skill level. Temporal Perception, processing events far faster than normal. Moment Storage, returning to a stored prior state. Chrono Step, moving fractionally forward or backward through time. Delay, making an event occur seconds after it was triggered. Time Thread, marking a target's temporal position continuously. Accelerated Thought, processing enormous information in a sliver of external time."

　"That alone would make her dangerous," Kai said, genuinely impressed despite himself.

"Correct. Additional specialized skills include Temporal Barrier — a barrier that continuously rewinds damage inflicted upon it. Chrono Teleportation — rather than moving through space, she relocates to a point in time where she was already physically present. Eternal Regeneration — her body reverts automatically to its condition moments earlier whenever it sustains fatal damage. Future Calculation — analyzing countless possible outcomes for probability. Time-Space Perception — allowing her to sense distortions in both time and space, making surprise attacks against her nearly impossible."

"Her signature technique is Chronos: Zero Hour," Null-Subconsciousness finished. "She stops time completely — but rather than simply freezing her enemies, she can continue manipulating the frozen moment itself: repositioning allies, adjusting objects, preparing an entire sequence of actions. When time resumes, everything occurs simultaneously."

　Kai stared at his own sister.

　Himari, freshly transformed, was absorbing all of this with visible, growing awe of her own.

　"I dominate existence through negation," Kai said slowly. "You dominate the one thing existence can never actually escape."

　"Apparently," Himari said, faintly overwhelmed herself.

　A blade materialized in her hand without her consciously summoning it.

　It was slender and silver-black, its guard shaped like clockwork gears. The metal itself shifted between looking ancient, pristine, and brand new, as though it existed at several points in time simultaneously.

"Chronovale," Null-Subconsciousness said. "The Blade of Eternal Time."

　Chloe, watching from a respectful distance, went very still the moment the blade appeared.

That weapon is bad news.

　Some instinct within her recognized the danger, even without understanding its specific mechanics.

　Null-Subconsciousness continued its accounting.

　Temporal Severance, cutting not just the body but the target's own past and future, immune to normal healing.

　Time Rend, tearing a fracture that accelerated or decelerated anything crossing it.

　Chrono Edge, compressing countless slashes into a single instant.

　Reversal Cut, forcibly returning a struck target to some earlier, more damaged state.

　Future Strike and Past Strike, attacks landing before their own motion technically occurred.

　Eternal Lock, disconnecting whatever it pierced from the normal flow of time entirely.

　"And the ultimate technique," it finished, "Absolute Chrono Slash. A single visible motion compresses centuries of accumulated temporal damage into one strike."

　"And it can't be destroyed permanently," Kai added, having caught that detail earlier. "Because it doesn't exist at just one point in time at all. You'd have to defeat her actual temporal authority to end it for good."

Well...

　He looked at his sister.

I think I'd rather not get on my sister's bad side, ever, under any circumstances.

　With Himari's own considerable help, her Time Weaver abilities proving unexpectedly precise for the delicate calibration the Genesis Core process actually demanded, the energy finally stabilized properly.

　Kai's genuine joy at the breakthrough was immediate and total.

　He called for Nero at once.

　"I need materials," he said. "The best available. For a vessel — my mother's new body."

"An ordinary material won't suffice for this," Null-Subconsciousness clarified before Kai could even finish. "The vessel must contain her Chaos Core — power genuinely capable of destabilizing reality itself. Seven supreme materials are required."

　It listed them properly, one at a time.

　Primordial Dragon Bone, for a skeleton capable of containing True Dragon-level energy.

　Chaos Origin Crystal, forming the vessel's central network and synchronizing with the core itself.

　World Tree Genesis Wood, for a living, regenerating internal structure.

　Voidsteel, reinforcing the body against the Chaos energy's own destructive potential.

　Genesis Essence, allowing continuous reconstruction wherever Chaos threatened to tear the vessel apart.

　True Dragon Blood, for biological compatibility — which Kai himself could provide, his own Null-infused blood potentially making the vessel stronger still.

　And finally—

　Eternal Soul Crystal, giving her consciousness somewhere proper to anchor once transferred from the core.

　"The Chaos Origin Crystal's the rarest piece," Null-Subconsciousness continued. "It can't simply be mined. It must be created — Chaos Energy, Genesis Energy, True Dragon Essence, and Void Energy, compressed together inside a proper Genesis Forge. The result becomes the Primordial Chaos Crystal, functioning as the vessel's actual heart."

　"And the finished body," it finished, "would be classified as a Chaosborne Vessel — a Primordial Dragon Incarnation. You're not resurrecting her into a corpse, Kai. You're building her an entirely new body, purpose-made, and the Chaos Core becomes the source of her existence within it. She isn't possessing anything. She's being reborn."

　Kai sat with that for a long moment.

　Something profound settled into his chest.

　"Nero," he said finally. "Can you gather all of this?"

　"Don't worry," Nero said, already moving toward the door, something genuinely warm beneath his usual dry confidence. "I know exactly where to find every single piece. She deserves nothing less."

　He left to begin collecting them immediately.

　Kai turned back to his work.

　Closer now.

　Genuinely, finally closer—

　to bringing his mother home.