As soon as Atiste finished speaking, the “Lillian” powder on the ground instantly transformed into a tornado, sweeping toward him with a brilliant light.
Atiste did not panic at all.
He had no intention of dodging and chose to face it head-on!
As if answering a call, Atiste spread his arms wide in an enthusiastic embrace and declared passionately, “Come! Shining Storm! Let me see what kind of world you will take me to!”
“Master, watch out!”
Before the tornado could touch him, Eileen used all her strength to push Atiste away.
He was sent flying ten meters, and she took the brunt of the storm’s assault in his place.
The tornado sucked Eileen inside.
She tried to steady herself, but it was useless.
She grew flustered.
“How can this be… This isn’t an ordinary tornado… Otherwise, it wouldn’t be able to budge me an inch…”
She was swept into the air, completely losing her center of gravity and unable to use Mana to control her physical state.
It was as if the tornado had “sealed” all Mana.
To be precise, the moment Eileen released her Mana, she felt it being drained away.
Atiste scrambled to his feet.
He had been too caught up in the moment, believing he was about to have the most intimate and profound exchange with his “artwork.”
He never expected Eileen to suddenly push him away.
“Eileen, what are you doing?” he asked in dissatisfaction.
“I was just about to further understand my art! Why did you push me?”
Five seconds passed, but Eileen did not respond.
Atiste looked ahead.
The storm of brilliant light had vanished, and Eileen was gone.
He assumed Eileen was playing a joke on him.
“Eileen? Stop hiding. Bring Lillian out here right now so we can recreate that scene!”
He was still thinking about embracing that “storm.”
Another five seconds passed.
The training space was pure white, silent, and devoid of any sound.
Atiste let out a sneeze, and only his echo filled the space, along with the ground Eileen had shattered moments ago.
Atiste stood frozen in place.
He continued to shout, “Eileen! Lillian! Stop hiding! Come out! It’s so quiet here! I’m not used to this!”
Yet another five seconds passed, and Atiste remained alone.
[Beep, beep, beep. System notification: Please open the screen]
Atiste followed the System’s instructions and opened the System screen.
To his surprise, he saw Eileen and a fully restored Lillian in a snowy field.
“System, what is going on?”
Atiste asked.
[Detected that the Host has dispatched a Retainer to execute a mission. The System has confirmed the Retainer has arrived at the target location: Thor Village]
“Thor Village in the north? I didn’t send Eileen there! She doesn’t even know about the mission!”
[System… &% Error %… &]
[Re-scanning…]
[33%… 67%… 98%…]
[Scan Complete]
[Current time for Host’s Retainer: Conquest Era 441]
[Mission Information: The Holy Sword has not yet been forged. The Host must seize the raw materials used to create the Holy Sword to achieve the objective]
[Note: Retainers can be dispatched]
[Note 2: The Host can issue commands to Retainers through the System]
Atiste was stunned.
‘Could things like this really happen?’
He tried speaking to the screen.
“Eileen, can you hear me?”
Eileen, who was lying in the snow pinned beneath Lillian, raised her head and looked around for any sign of her master.
Finding nothing, she shouted, “Master? Master, where are you? I can hear your voice!”
Seeing that the communication was successful, Atiste said, “Find a passerby and ask them. Isn’t the era you’re in Conquest Era 441?”
Eileen doubted her ears.
“What? The Conquest Era? Over 500 years ago?”
Eileen hadn’t even been born back then!
“If the System isn’t malfunctioning, then you might have actually traveled to the past,” Atiste said.
“Anyway, there’s a mission you need to complete!”
Atiste briefed Eileen on the mission details.
Though Lillian had returned to her human form, she was still unconscious.
“I understand the general situation,” Eileen said.
“But even if I complete the mission, how do I get back?”
“I suspect the Crystal of Myriad Splendor caused this displacement,” Atiste replied.
“Find a way to wake Lillian. She is the artwork itself, so she must know what happened.”
Eileen looked skeptical; she didn’t quite trust this “artwork” that she had spent the whole night beating up.
“Trust an Artist’s intuition!” Atiste added.
Eileen sighed and tried to stand up.
Then she discovered — Lillian had become incredibly heavy!
Eileen summoned all her strength to push her off, but Lillian felt as heavy as a mountain!
Atiste, unable to understand what was happening, asked through the System screen, “Eileen? What’s wrong?”
“She’s so heavy…”
Eileen managed to squeeze out while straining.
“Something… is wrong…”
Eileen continued to exert force, yet she still could not budge Lillian even a fraction of an inch.
Watching this, Atiste immediately realized the System must have glitched.
“System, check Eileen’s status.”
[Instruction received]
[Checking Host’s Retainer status…]
[Scanning…]
[Scan Complete]
[Result: Error %… 5ï¿¥%221… This entity should not exist in the current timeline %… &* Error…]
[Error Message: The current entity cannot interfere with the current timeline]
[Error correction in progress… 50%… Correction failed]
[Mission continues]
In a fit of rage, Atiste punched the screen.
“What a piece of junk System! Are you even reliable?”
In the snow, Eileen cried out angrily, “Ow! That hurts! Who’s hitting me?”
Atiste froze for a moment.
After thinking for a while, he did not respond to Eileen but instead tapped her head with his finger through the screen.
Eileen immediately felt a force pressing down on her head.
She shouted at the air, “Who is it? Come out! Don’t hide!”
Atiste nodded, having figured out the situation.
He said to Eileen, “Eileen, wait a moment. I’ll get you out from under Lillian.”
Atiste long-pressed on Eileen’s body and dragged her out from under Lillian, just as if he were manipulating a character in a smartphone game.
Eileen felt an invisible force pulling her outward, and she soon successfully escaped the predicament of being pinned down.
She quickly realized what was happening and said to the air, “Master? Is that you helping me?”
“You could say that,” Atiste explained.
Eileen felt a wave of relief.
She had thought she would be trapped under that “mountain” forever.
“Thank you, Master! You’re so kind~” she said happily.
Atiste commanded her, “Eileen, for some reason, you might not be able to interfere with things there because the current you should belong 500 years in the future.”
Filled with confusion, Eileen didn’t hide it and asked him directly, “Master, I don’t quite understand what you mean. Please explain.”
“Simply put, the ‘artwork’ probably brought you to the world of 500 years ago,” he said.
“But don’t panic. Once Lillian wakes up, there should be a way to bring you back!”
Eileen was somewhat reluctant.
She didn’t want to stay with that thing that wasn’t even human, and she certainly didn’t want to be separated from her master.
“How am I supposed to wake her up?” she asked bluntly.
“We can only wait,” Atiste said.
“Huh?”