The Martial Unity

Chapter 4643: An Unfair Life

The memories that Amare shared with Rui had stunned him into silence. She gazed at him with deep eyes, trying to gauge his thoughts. She already recognized her husband’s greed for the power that future Rui had demonstrated, despite his vain attempts to hide it. She could already tell that a part of him was already contemplating how he could get his hands on that power without the deep costs of Gigabrain.

She couldn’t blame him for that. That was how extraordinary his power was in that state. She had seen the technique and even experienced it herself numerous times, but she could say with confidence that the power that Rui possessed in that state of mind as a Transcendent exceeded the boundaries of what she thought was possible. If Rui could harness that kind of power without the costs, he would reach a whole other level of power.

However, she would be lying if she said she was comfortable with him even entertaining the idea. The consequences and the risks were too severe. She would rather he sealed the ability forever and just forgot about it.

"...I have a lot to think about," he finally said after several minutes of engrossed thought. He ultimately heaved a deep breath before turning towards her. "But there are more pressing matters at hand. Your phenomenological stamina is almost completely drained. What are you going to do from this point on?"

His question reminded him of her current circumstances. She had traveled to the past, and not by one nanosecond, but by more than an entire week. She had traversed between times, and now she wasn’t sure if she belonged in either time.

The embarrassing part was that even though she time-traveled, she didn’t have a holistic theoretical understanding of time travel or time. She did have a phenomenological understanding of time which was part of her phenomenological uniformity, but the mechanics of time travel and the mechanics of time itself were beyond her.

She wasn’t Rui who created robust theoretical and mathematical models for everything he delved into. She was an old-school Martial Artist, perhaps the oldest school of them all, given that she was also the Martial. She learned through instinct, intuition, and muscle memory. She learned with her body rather than mind.

That was why there were many things that she was unclear about.

The future that she had sought to change, did it still exist? She had hoped it would be undone, but it was possible that by traveling to the past, she had simply created a branching timeline with a different future.

As lacking knowledge she was, she was aware of the paradox of time travel. She had traveled back in time to prevent the future, which caused the future to change, erasing the cause of her time travel such that she wouldn’t time travel.

She heaved a deep breath, gazing out at the young night that covered the illuminated Vargard City. Despite the fact that the state of emergency had yet to be lifted, the city shined brightly as the light of civilization cut through the darkness of the night sky. The last time she had seen this city, it had been completely destroyed along with the entire planet.

It was very much a future she didn’t want to return to.

And yet, she knew that, in a way, she didn’t belong to this time. Even if it had been just a week, that one week she had experienced was separated from all other people in the universe. More than anything, the biggest impediment to her remaining was the fact that there was an existing Amare in the present who was still training in the manifold.

As long as that Amare existed in this timeline, she could not be here.

And yet, the future she was from no longer existed, unless the nature of time and the multiverse was different from their limited understanding of it. In other words, the moment she chose to time travel to the past with her entire existence, it meant that she no longer had a place to belong.

It was possible for her to simply remain and live her life in this world, but... the existing Amare might not appreciate that. She knew that she was very possessive of her husband and especially their daughter. She might be willing to tolerate another Amare for her husband, but she would never tolerate another mother for Ria. That’s what Amare would do.

In other words, there was a conflict of interest between their very existences. Similar to how clones fought each other to lay sole claim to their shared identity, though there were differences. In this case, both Amares knew they were the real Amare and that the other was also equally real, but the shared claim over their lives was something neither could tolerate.

Especially when they were different people. Even though it was one week, it hadn’t been a banal, mundane week. It had been a life-changing week where the foundations of her life had been completely crumpled, affecting her deeply. She was already different from who the current Amare was, and that wasn’t even including phenomenological uniformity. She was darker, her obsession with her daughter had grown, and... her love for Rui had all but disappeared. It was best that she followed suit herself.

She heaved a deep breath, getting up.

"It is best that I cease to exist forever."

Rui’s expression tightened. He seemed to understand why she said that. His expression revealed that he didn’t like it, but he understood why it was necessary.

His fists tightened as he got up.

"It’s not fair."

He directed a deep gaze at her. "You... saved human civilization. Twice. You saved my life twice. And yet, rather than enjoying the fruits of your labor, your only choice is to erase yourself from this world permanently."

Amare smiled bittersweetly. "Life is Martial. It is never fair."

Her amber eyes were filled with a glint of acceptance. She turned towards Rui, walking slowly in his direction.

There was a distance between them that hadn’t existed before.