# 1853
Chapter 1853: Lina
Beneath the deep starry sky, Lin Qiye slowly carved the numbers "-97" onto the ground.
He looked back, and the surrounding ice was almost covered with various numbers. These numbers crisscrossed each other, each leading to a different point in time.
The Ame-no-Murakumo's "incurable" attribute made every mark he carved almost eternal. These numbers were the "anchors" Lin Qiye had dropped in the maze. With these "anchors," he would never lose his way.
And if things went as expected, Unit 22 and the others were now completely lost in the Temporal Maze...
"I was hoping they could be more useful... What a pity." Lin Qiye sighed.
Lin Qiye glanced at the number marks around him and chose a direction to continue forward.
Through these thousands of number marks, Lin Qiye had gradually sensed the pattern within this maze. The time sequence here wasn't entirely chaotic—all locations leading to the "past" were actually converging toward the same direction.
Take the area around Lin Qiye now, for example. There were three number marks: "-97," "-41," and "-50.5," each leading in a different direction. According to Lin Qiye's rule of constants, the larger the number after the "-", the more distant the time it led to. The more distant the time, the more precise the subsequent time would point toward the "past."
Lin Qiye chose the direction of "-97." Without surprise, he arrived at the oldest point in time yet. When he looked back, all the number marks had disappeared.
He carved "-98" on the ice beneath him.
Then came "-99," "-100," "-101"... In other words, Lin Qiye had found the path to the "past" within this Temporal Maze.
Actually, at the very beginning, Lin Qiye had also tried to find the direction toward the "future." But no matter which way he went, the largest number mark he could find was only "3." Perhaps within this maze, there simply was no direction leading to the "future."
Lin Qiye passed through the location marked "-103" and continued forward. Everything around him was now completely different from when he first entered the maze.
Lin Qiye knew he was in the "past," but he didn't know how far back it was. Was it months ago? A few years? Or even a decade?
"Mother... where exactly are you?" Lin Qiye muttered to himself as he pressed forward.
Just as Lin Qiye took another step forward, the scene before him suddenly shifted!
On the previously empty ice plain, a small ice mountain suddenly appeared. The surface of this ice mountain was covered with cracks, as if it had been struck by something heavy. And at the foot of this ice mountain, a massive shadow stood motionless.
"Who's there?"
A wary voice came from within the giant shadow.
Almost simultaneously, Lin Qiye raised Ame-no-Murakumo, channeling divine power into the blade, about to strike—only for his body to freeze in place.
From within the black giant shadow, a girl wearing a mask suddenly emerged, clutching a broken sword, her eyes equally filled with wariness.
When she saw Lin Qiye, her eyes narrowed slightly:
"It's you..."
At this moment, Lin Qiye finally got a clear view of the giant shadow beneath the ice mountain. It was the demon wolf Fenrir, dragged out from the icy waters. And the masked girl was the self-proclaimed "God of Trickery," Si Xiaonan, leader of [Hidden Gods].
She had entered the Temporal Maze first, yet she had already ventured this deep. Whether it was purely good luck or that she, like Lin Qiye, had found a method, was unclear.
"You're not Si Xiaonan—who are you?" Lin Qiye asked calmly.
"Why should I tell you?"
"I saved your life."
"I didn't ask you to save me."
Lin Qiye narrowed his eyes at the masked girl before him, surging divine power flooded into Ame-no-Murakumo once more. An aura of annihilation filled every inch of space around them.
"Tell me... or I'll kill you."
The girl: ...
Under the terrifying Seraphic might, the girl hesitated for a moment before silently removing her mask.
The mask seemed to have the effect of masking one's presence. The moment it was removed, the girl before him seemed like an entirely different person. She was a girl roughly the same age as Si Xiaonan, but with Western features. Her gaze was sharp and fierce, like a blade with its edge drawn, constantly radiating danger to those around her.
At this moment, Lin Qiye could clearly sense that the girl before him wasn't a god... but a human.
"You're human?" Lin Qiye said in surprise.
How could a human tame the demon wolf Fenrir and disguise herself as the "God of Trickery" to lead [Hidden Gods]?
"Yes." The girl replied calmly.
"What's your name?"
"Lina Perring."
"Are you a Divine Proxy?"
"Proxy? I'm not such a lowly thing." Lina shook her head. "I am the rightful heir to the ancient King Arthur, a completely different tier of existence from those proxies. Though, they don't seem to understand my status. They even grouped me with them under some title called... [Ten Frontline Champions]?"
"[Ten Frontline Champions]?"
Hearing this familiar name, Lin Qiye's heart stirred. "What rank did they place you in?"
"First, of course." Lina said proudly. "I never wanted to participate in such a meaningless title in the first place. Not being first would be an insult to King Arthur... At that point, I would have no choice but to slaughter all the [Ten Frontline Champions] to vindicate King Arthur's name."
The heir to King Arthur...
Lin Qiye clearly remembered that King Arthur was the knight assisted by Merlin in English mythology. Though English mythology had long since declined, judging from Merlin's power, the former King Arthur must have been terrifyingly strong as well—absolutely at the Supreme level.
Lin Qiye still didn't quite understand. What was the difference between this so-called "heir" and a "proxy"?
But that didn't matter anymore... For the current Lin Qiye, he had long since broken free from the ranks of proxies. His level was far beyond that.
"If that's the case, where is King Arthur now?" Lin Qiye asked.
"He vanished long ago in the river of time, along with English mythology." Lina pointed to her own chest. "But I am his heir, so he will forever live here, within me."
Lin Qiye glanced at the mask in her hand.
"If you're the noble first among [Ten Frontline Champions], why disguise yourself as Si Xiaonan? I remember that before Si Xiaonan became the God of Trickery, she was ranked fifth among [Ten Frontline Champions], wasn't she?"