System's words made Daniel freeze.
Daniel opened his mouth and closed it multiple times. He couldn't say he didn't want revenge for his sister.
He put the bottle on the side and stood up.
The wind howled around the rooftop, carrying the scent of rain-soaked concrete and distant smoke.
"I'll regress again and again until I fulfill my goal.
"Now I'll do it by conditions."
Daniel jumped off the building before the system could complete its words.
The wind roared in his ears as he plummeted.
He landed with a deafening crash, cracking the pavement beneath his feet.
Before the dust could settle, he had already dashed forward.
With each step, he covered thousands of meters.
His blade sang through the air, leaving a trail of luminescent arcs.
The arc of light shot out from the blade and struck Typhaon's gigantic body.
The Father of Anomalies roared in pain.
Awakeners' eyes were wide with shock.
No one recognized Daniel.
He had remained low-key in the current loop.
The only conspicuous thing he did was sending Kronos the World Time spell diagram from an anonymous source named 'Ouroboros.'
Other than that, he leveled up by killing monsters that no one knew about.
He would move first and kill the monsters who were going to destroy fortified cities before anyone could get a whiff of it.
"Who are you?" Emma asked.
The other Awakeners were looking at him with eyes filled with hope or distrust.
Crumbled buildings loomed around them, casting long shadows in the flickering glow of burning debris.
Daniel cracked his neck and ignored them.
He walked towards Typhon with calm, measured steps.
"I will hold him back. Go and activate the World Time Spell," he told Kronos
"What do you mean by that?" Kronos questioned.
"I am Ouroboros," Daniel answered.
Without waiting for a reply, he jumped up, reaching as high as a skyscraper.
The wind howled around him as he slashed towards Typhon's head.
The Father of Anomalies roared.
He was taken by surprise by the appearance of an unknown, powerful awakener like Daniel.
The other awakeners—Gaia, Emma, Rhea, and Titan—were preparing to rush to Daniel's aid when suddenly, Kronos raised his hand, halting them.
"Let's leave and help others complete the Spell," Kronos said.
"The boy said he will handle Typhaon. We should trust him."
Kronos didn't have time to explain that Ouroboros was the one who had sent him the blueprints of the World Time Spell.
Clearly, Daniel was Ouroboros.
Gaia didn't ask why Kronos was trusting Daniel so much, though confusion flickered in her gaze before she relented.
"You heard Kronos. We are leaving," Gaia told Apollo and Emma.
The awakeners fighting Typhaon left.
Only Daniel remained, standing alone amid the carnage.
"Don't bother," Daniel said while dodging a massive clawed strike that shattered the ground where he had stood.
"I might not be strong enough to kill you, but I can hold you back easily."
Daniel, half-drunk, continued to move around the battlefield like a rabbit, weaving through the destruction with unnatural grace.
He blocked and dodged attacks that could blow cities apart with ease.
His uncaring attitude only further enraged Typhaon.
The Father of Anomalies' glowing eyes narrowed with growing irritation.
Just then, Daniel opened his mouth.
"You know, I heard something from Kronos a few cycles ago."
Typhaon's slitted eyes narrowed, but Daniel didn't wait for a response.
"He said a guy from another timeline defeated you with a single attack. Isn't that a bit too absurd? I can't defeat you even after seventy tries."
Suddenly, Typhaon froze.
The massive storm swirling around him halted for just a heartbeat.
"I… was… defeated in one attack?" His voice rumbled, quieter but filled with disbelief.
"Oh, you're talking? That's a first for me." Daniel smirked.
Daniel knew Typhaon could speak.
However, the Father of Anomalies never spoke to anyone he considered beneath himself.
"It's him! That damned red-eyed swordsman!" Typhaon roared.
His aura flared with violent energy, splitting the ground anew.
"If you know about him, you must be his friend!"
"Wait, why are you entering the second phase already!?" Daniel shouted in panic as he rolled away.
Typhaon's attack intensity grew exponentially.
Cracks spiderwebbed across the scorched earth beneath his feet as bursts of violent energy radiated from his form, distorting the air with shimmering heatwaves.
As a Time element user, Typhaon had dreams about previous timelines too.
He knew he was the undefeatable Great Emperor.
The world would always bow to him in every timeline.
It was proof that Typhaon was the rightful owner of the earth.
There was just one timeline where Typhaon couldn't be the Great Emperor.
In that timeline, he was treated like a third-rate monster—insulted, imprisoned, and mocked by the red-eyed swordsman.
Despite never having met the swordsman in reality, Typhaon carried intense hatred towards him.
Daniel fell under Typhaon's frenzied attack.
Dust filled the air as he was slammed into the ground.
Typhaon looked down on Daniel, satisfied and with a mocking smile.
Yet Daniel grinned weakly and raised his middle finger.
The world was blanketed in a white light.
The battlefield vanished.
The lingering heat, the scent of scorched earth—all replaced by blinding purity.
Kronos and the others had activated the World Time Spell.
The familiar disgusting sensation of time travel returned.
Daniel woke in a hospital bed.
The sterile scent of disinfectant filled his lungs.
The steady beep of the heart monitor echoed softly in the boisterous room.
Blinding fluorescent lights illuminated the white ceiling above him.
"I'm sorry. There is no one named Selene in the rescued people list—"
"Amanda! What are you saying to a patient who just woke up!?" another voice interrupted sharply.
Daniel shifted in bed.
The sheets felt cool against his skin, but his chest felt hollow. He was sick of hearing those same words.
"I'm back here again."
No matter how far back Daniel tried to time travel, he couldn't go beyond this day.
It wasn't due to an error in the Spell.
Daniel had checked the spell multiple times for faults.
It had to be Fate's doing.
The damned Fate wasn't allowing him to go too far back.
[It has been detected that Host has undergone 73rd regression.]
[Adjusting Divine System…]
[Please pick one of the rewards:]
[1. 100% of pre-regression stats.]
[2. Any ten skills from your previous life (the skill level will be reset).]
[3. Any ten System Items.]
"Pick stats," Daniel muttered while ignoring the doctor and nurse, who were giving him a weird stare.
He had gained all of his skills and times already.
With the addition of more stats with each loop, Daniel predicted he could fight Typhaon on an equal basis within 15 loops.
It was why he had been happy.
Just fifteen more loops where he leveled up and carried his stats to the next loop.
He could finally see the end of the tunnel.
But then the System gave him a new Quest, telling him a new, powerful enemy was waiting on the horizon.
Daniel stopped caring.
For the next 23 loops, he focused on having fun.
Gambling, drinking, traveling in space, raiding human settlements.
Daniel did every batshit crazy thing that came to his mind.
Since once he looped again, people would forget what he had done, he did not hold back.
His best and most fun achievement to this day was lighting Zeus's beard on fire and playing farting noises on a speaker when Ares was giving a speech to the Awakener Association.