"The future changed yesterday!" Juan Yatin declared.
"What do you mean the future changed?" Colt asked, though a creeping unease was already beginning to stir deep in his chest.
He had a guess what Juan was referring to.
"I meant exactly what I said. A catastrophe was approaching this planet. But now, I can't see the full future—something is blocking it."
"Sir, please let me tell you my story," Colt said. He needed answers, and he had already promised to share it.
So he told Juan everything—even about his regression.
But Juan's face twisted into something dreadful.
"You shouldn't have done that!" he shouted.
"But... why? I thought killing him would stop everything before it began."
"Do you really think that creature came here on his own? Someone sent him. And now that he's gone, they'll send another."
"Sir, isn't that fine? You're still here. You could fight them if they come again," Colt suggested.
"You think it's that simple? They won't let me stay. Five years means nothing at my level—but if I remain, they'll see it as interference from an ascended.
Also, even if they don't see it that way, they can send a stronger opponent. Maybe stronger than me. My level is high, but I am just a Seer, not a warrior.
I'm sorry, kid, but I am also about to ascend. I won't stay back here. The world is not doomed, just in danger.
I wish you had used your knowledge of the future to unravel their plans quietly. The ones behind that creature aren't interested in conquering this world.
If the creature had died at the moment he was supposed to, they wouldn't have sent another.
But now… now you'll have to start over when the new one arrives.
Don't worry, though. You still have time. They won't find out that the creature is dead right away.
And even if they do, they won't send someone much stronger. You probably still can easily defeat them.
But please don't!"
The creature they were talking about was Kayden.
So, killing him had been a mistake. But it was fine.
Colt would do it again if he had to.
And he'd be ready when the next one came.
---
After speaking with Juan Yatin a bit more, Colt had a clearer sense of what was happening behind the scenes.
Juan couldn't reveal everything, but Colt had made his own deductions.
Still, it was time to leave.
Juan was expected to reach level 500 in five years, and after that, he would ascend.
Colt had no reason to stay. In fact, lingering around might interfere with Juan's training.
So he left.
But he didn't know where to go. He needed time to gather his thoughts. Eventually, he found a city and stepped into a tavern-like place.
After sitting alone at a table and ordering something, he let himself think.
Killing Kayden had been a mistake—one he accepted. But the side bosses were still a question.
Would the new final boss choose them the same way Kayden had?
It was possible. So, for now, he decided not to kill them.
If needed, he could deal with them any time.
The second problem was the new last boss.
Colt had no idea who was pulling the strings or what they truly wanted. But Juan had told him it wasn't world domination.
So maybe they wanted chaos. Or something else entirely in this world—Arte.
Even Colt didn't know the full extent of Arte's mysteries. He'd left the country many times and fought powerful monsters.
But there were still places, areas even, even he couldn't enter.
They could be looking for something in those areas.
Whatever it was, it wouldn't happen soon.
According to Juan, it would take at least a few years for them to realize Kayden was gone.
Colt knew that was true. Kayden would have grown much stronger in five years, so that was likely when they would have contacted him.
They might even pick a side boss to take his place, which would make things easier for Colt.
Either way, it could take up to ten years for the new final boss to appear.
While he was thinking about all this, he didn't notice that someone else had started watching him.
A boy, around Colt's age. But unlike him, the boy had the air of nobility.
Colt was undeniably good-looking, but he didn't look like a noble.
The boy wore a cloak, hiding his noble status from everyone in the tavern—everyone except a few.
He slowly approached Colt. "May I bother you by sitting here? All the other tables are full."
Colt was surprised. It had been a while since someone had approached him so casually.
Before he regressed, his guard was always up. He never knew when an enemy might strike.
He was famous, both to allies and enemies. Constant awareness was the only reason he had survived so long.
That's why he had created a spell he would like to call Echo Sense. It worked like a radar.
By sending pulses of magic, he could sense everything within up to two hundred meters of himself.
But keeping that range active at all times would fry his brain.
So instead, he always kept his senses on alert within a fifty-meter radius, even when sleeping.
But that was before he regressed...
After the regression, no one knew him anymore. So, he deactivated it to rest his mind for the first time in years when he was in Arte.
If someone directed murderous intent toward him, he would still sense it. That was how he'd noticed the Wise Lions.
And if some petty thief tried something, he didn't need to sense them—they couldn't harm him even with a surprise attack.
But when the cloaked boy approached without him realizing it, Colt realized something important.
In his past life, he had been immortal. Not in the truest sense, but close enough—because he wasn't even really in Arte.
His real body had been on his old planet, inside a Zeno capsule.
So even if he died in Arte, he'd either revive like in a game.
In the worst-case scenario, if he were killed by the boss, he would wake up back in his world, never to set foot in Arte again because of the rules of Zeno.
But now, things were different. If he died, that would be it.
And when someone got that close without him noticing, he felt something he hadn't felt in a long time.
Fear.
He vowed then to never let his senses go dull again. It was a reminder of how far he still had to go.
But the real shock came when he looked up and saw the face of the boy who talked to him.
"Hei?"