Power of Runes Chapter 539: Lost in Time

The current of the River of Time carried Ash through an endless blur of worlds, timelines, and moments that he could neither understand nor distinguish from one another, until suddenly, without warning, that overwhelming sensation disappeared and the space around him became strangely still.

At the same time, somewhere in an ordinary alley, between two rows of old but well-maintained buildings, the air suddenly warped as though reality itself had been bent from the inside, and a thin, unstable portal appeared so quietly that it almost seemed to blend into the surroundings before anyone could notice that it had even formed.

The portal trembled for a brief moment, its surface flickering between transparency and darkness as though it was struggling to remain connected to whatever place existed on the other side, and then, without giving the world any warning, it violently spat something out.

A naked body crashed onto the stone ground and rolled several times before finally coming to a stop against the side of the alley, while the unstable portal immediately collapsed behind him and disappeared so completely that, only a moment later, there was no trace left behind to prove that anything had happened.

Ash remained motionless on the ground.

His body was completely unharmed, not even carrying a scratch despite the violent journey he had just endured, yet he was covered in dirt and dust from head to toe, his hair was a complete mess, and his otherwise pristine body looked as though someone had thrown him into a muddy field and then decided to launch him into an alley without bothering to give him his clothes back.

A few moments passed before his fingers finally twitched, followed by a faint movement of his head as his consciousness slowly returned.

Ash opened his eyes, only to be met by a sudden flash of sunlight that forced him to squint.

As he shifted his body, the first thing he saw was an unfamiliar alley with a trash bin a few steps away. Yet something about the space felt strangely familiar—enough to instantly alert his half-awake mind as he slowly turned to take in the narrow walls surrounding him.

He tried to move, only to realize that his entire body was still slightly disoriented, as though the River of Time had left some lingering effect on his senses, and after spending a few moments simply trying to understand his surroundings, one thought slowly emerged from the confusion.

Ash looked toward the end of the alley, where a narrow opening revealed a glimpse of the city beyond, and the more he looked, the more certain that strange familiarity became until the answer finally surfaced within his mind.

Ash forced his body to stand, but his legs felt strangely unreliable, as though his body was still adapting to the aftereffects of travelling through Time, and he ended up placing one hand against the nearby wall to keep himself from stumbling.

"Eva, can you hear me...?"

There was no immediate answer.

Ash frowned and called out again, this time with slightly more urgency.

"Eva? Eva? Are you alright?"

{I can hear you, and can you please stop shouting? I am perfectly fine. Your Soul Space was not affected by the River of Time, at least for the time being.}

A deep sigh of relief escaped Ash.

"That’s good. It’s good that you’re fine, because from the looks of things, we might have a very long journey ahead of us."

{Then you should probably wear some clothes first, otherwise people are going to see you as a pervert wandering naked through the streets.}

Ash glanced down at himself.

There was not even the slightest trace of embarrassment on his face.

"Fair point."

His senses had already recovered enough for him to stand without support, so he immediately summoned a large mass of water and washed the dirt from his body before using elemental energy to create a set of pristine white robes decorated with elegant golden and black patterns, the long garment reaching down toward his ankles while the hood was large enough to cover part of his face.

The clothes consumed a steady trickle of energy to maintain, but they were certainly better than being naked.

{Well, it might not be the first time you have been thrown into some Timeline, so perhaps you appeared somewhere covered in mud, spent some time there, and then got thrown here where you woke up this time.}

Ash paused at that possibility.

"...Honestly, that sounds disturbingly possible."

He adjusted the hood over his head before finally beginning to walk toward the exit of the alley, his footsteps becoming steadier with every passing moment.

"I had the same thought. My body probably took all this time to properly adapt before allowing me to wake up. Regardless, we should survey the area first. If we truly are in the past of Akumia, there are several things I want to check."

The instant that thought crossed his mind, however, something went horribly wrong.

Ash’s vision suddenly twisted.

His balance vanished.

The entire world seemed to spin around him as though reality itself had suddenly grabbed hold of his body and thrown it somewhere else, and before he could even understand what was happening, the familiar sensation of being swept away by the River of Time returned with terrifying force.

He had no time to call for Eva, stabilize his footing, or even curse the Rune of Time.

-SPLASH!!!

A naked body suddenly crashed into the middle of a pristine river, sending a huge wave of clear water in every direction as several startled people nearby screamed and hurried away from the scene.

Ash’s head emerged from beneath the water a moment later.

And the first thought that crossed his mind was remarkably simple.

He wiped the water from his face and looked around, only to find himself in the middle of a wide and surprisingly peaceful river, with green hills rising in the distance and a few small boats drifting along the current, their occupants now staring at him as though some lunatic had just fallen out of the sky and decided to take a bath in the middle of their journey.

Ash ignored them.

He simply sighed and once again formed the same white robes around himself, complete with the golden and black patterns he had used moments ago.

He rose from the river, using his ability to float above the water before slowly moving toward the riverbank while looking around to find out where he was, and when his feet finally touched the ground, he took only a single step before the familiar sensation suddenly returned.

The world twisted.

Ash’s expression went blank.

The surroundings vanished before he could even finish that thought.

A moment later, Ash appeared in the middle of a dense forest.

Massive trees towered over him from every direction, their trunks wide enough to require several people standing together to surround them, while strange blue lights floated between the branches and illuminated the mist that covered the forest floor.

Ash looked around carefully.

He took two steps and the world twisted again.

This time, he appeared on a mountain covered in snow.

A violent blizzard swept across the peak, forcing Ash to narrow his eyes as he looked toward the distant horizon where an enormous fortress had been carved directly into the mountain itself, its towers disappearing into the clouds.

He barely had enough time to register the sight before the River of Time dragged him away again.

Then came a city.

Then a desert.

Then an ocean.

Then a ruined battlefield where broken weapons were scattered across the ground and the smell of blood still lingered in the air.

Then a quiet village where children were playing in the street.

Then a gigantic underground cavern filled with glowing crystals.

Then a place in outer space.

Ash barely had time to understand one place before River of Time took him with its flow and threw him somewhere else.

At first, he tried to keep track of them.

Then another transition came.

Another.

Another.

The River of Time did not care about his questions.

It simply kept throwing him forward and backward through the endless flow of History, sometimes giving him several minutes in one Timeline, sometimes only a few seconds, and on more than one occasion Ash barely had enough time to understand what he was looking at before reality twisted around him once again and dragged him somewhere else.

All this while, his body has adapted completely and he did not feel any disorientation due to Time Travelling now.

Eva eventually stopped talking and just simply watched everything in amusement. It was actually quite entertaining seeing Ash behave so unlike his usual self.

Then, after seeing Ash disappear from one Timeline for the 33rd time in what felt like no time at all, she began to worry that this was not going to end anytime soon.

Another transition came.

Ash appeared inside what looked like a royal banquet hall, with hundreds of people staring at him in confusion.

Eva remained silent for two seconds.

{....Those dishes look quite delicious. Try eating them Ash, your stomach must be empty after travelling so many places.}

Ash looked around at the unfamiliar nobles surrounding him.

Before he could even take another step, the entire banquet hall suddenly stretched around him, the faces of the nobles becoming nothing more than blurred streaks before the current of the River dragged him away once again.

He reappeared on the deck of a massive ship sailing across an endless sea.

He barely had time to enjoy the breeze before the world beneath his feet vanished, and the ship was swallowed by another violent pull of the River.

A moment later, Ash found himself underneath the sea.

The water disappeared just as quickly, replaced by the interior of a vast temple filled with people wearing strange white robes, all of whom immediately turned toward him, their eyes glowing with reverence as though his sudden appearance had been interpreted as some kind of divine miracle.

He didn’t even get the chance to move before the scene shattered around him, and the next place he found himself standing was a city already engulfed in flames.

The heat had barely reached him before another force pulled him away, carrying the burning city out of sight and replacing it with an empty field beneath a strange purple sky.

Ash took a breath.

The purple sky rippled.

By now, Ash had completely stopped trying to control his expression whenever the River of Time dragged him away, because there was simply no point anymore, and the endless uncertainty of where he would appear next had already become more exhausting than the actual journey itself.

{May the River of Time have mercy on you, Ash.}

Ash heard her.

"You do realize I can hear you, right?"

{Good. Then you can also hear me praying for you.}

"You are not praying."

{I am absolutely praying. In fact, I’m becoming very good at it.}

Ash sighed softly.

"Are you working on the thing I asked you about earlier?"

{I am, but it will take some time.}

Ash’s expression instantly fell as though a tiny piece of his soul had just left his body.

**