The call ended.
A young man with deep blue hair and matching deep blue eyes stood in front of the museum. He slipped his phone back into his pocket and gazed up at the building's grand entrance.
"Alcrypna... Nexus Sapphire..." he murmured to himself. "And I'm certain there should be one more artifact connected to this incident. But what artifact is it?"
He turned around, his coat billowing slightly in the breeze.
"I hope he knows about this," he said quietly, and began walking.
He swung his right arm forward. The space in front of him tore open like ripped fabric, and in an instant, he stood directly before the laboratory door.
And there, waiting for him, was Allied.
"Just as I expected. You're already here," Ao said.
Allied leaned against the wall, arms crossed. "I just arrived myself, so I decided to wait for you, Ao."
Ao stepped forward, his expression cool. "I'm not your junior anymore. You don't have to act like that."
Allied's lips curled into a faint smile. "You've probably realized it too. There's no way only two artifacts are involved in this."
Ao nodded. "Of course. But we don't know what the third artifact is. That's why we need him, isn't it?"
He pushed open the laboratory door.
Inside, Diego immediately turned to face them. The moment his eyes landed on Ao, his expression flickered. He knew—this was going to be bad for him.
"What business do you have here?" Diego asked, his voice guarded.
Ao met his gaze evenly. "You already know."
Diego's eyes shifted to Allied, who had just stepped into the room behind Ao. The professor's body began to tremble—whether from tension or fear, it was hard to tell.
Allied's smile widened. "Finally found you."
In an instant, Diego activated his ability. His body dissolved into a swirling vortex of blue light, vanishing from sight.
Ao clicked his tongue. "Damn it. He ran again."
Allied remained calm. "Relax. He's not getting away. I've already marked him."
Gengar emerged from Allied's shadow, reaching out with its ghostly claws. It pulled Allied back into the Shadow Realm.
Inside the Shadow Realm, Allied could see Diego hovering among a tangled web of timelines—countless threads of possibility stretching out in every direction.
Diego floated there, surrounded by shimmering strands of time, thinking to himself, *Maybe I should jump to another timeline. Or perhaps I should rewrite the timeline again.*
But Allied was already sprinting toward Diego's essence. When he reached it, he reached out and grabbed hold—pulling Diego out of the cluster of timelines and into the Shadow Realm.
Diego, being dragged against his will, yelped in frustration. "Damn you, Shadow Realm master!" he shouted, his voice echoing through the dark dimension.
Allied didn't reply. He simply pulled Diego back out of the Shadow Realm and into the laboratory.
Diego materialized on the floor, disheveled and irritated.
"Eh... wait a minute. He actually got captured? How is that possible? How?" Zayn stammered, his jaw hanging open.
Xavier and Rayne were equally stunned.
"How is this possible?" Xavier said, already analyzing the situation. "He can travel between timelines, see the past, the future, and even alternate possibilities. Why did he still get caught?"
Rayne, on the other hand, looked more confused than analytical. "I just found out the Shadow Realm could even do something like that."
Professor Miranda adjusted her glasses and explained calmly, "The Shadow Realm is one of those domains that disregards space and time. No matter how far you go—it will still reach you."
Zayn turned to her. "Even across different timelines?"
Miranda nodded. "Yes."
Raizer, who had been quietly observing, turned to Ao. "Wait a minute. How was the timing so perfect? Shouldn't time in the Shadow Realm be random?"
Ao replied without looking away from Diego, "That's only if you're still an amateur. The Shadow Realm can actually be controlled—if you have access to the Shadow World."
Raizer's eyes narrowed. "What does he have access to?"
"Shadow Castle," Ao said simply.
Raizer glanced back at Allied with newfound respect. "No wonder."
He turned to Ao again. "I'm guessing you're a student from Brighton Academy, right?"
Ao nodded. "That's correct. And he," he said, gesturing toward Allied, "was my senior back then."
Allied crouched down in front of Diego, his voice calm but firm. "Okay, Diego. If you know something, tell us now. You can see events in other realities, can't you?"
Diego rubbed his wrist, avoiding Allied's gaze. "To be honest... I don't know anything about that either."
Ao stepped closer. "But you can see events in other realities. Why can't you see the third artifact?"
Diego sighed heavily. "That's not how it works. You should know—alternate realities and *other* realities are different."
He stood up, brushing off his lab coat. "The alternate realities I can see are those that share at least one common memory with this reality. No matter how small. But this is a completely *other* reality. I can't see anything there."
Rayne tilted her head. "What do you mean by 'shared memory'?"
Diego explained, "Alternate realities, as the name suggests, are other versions of *something*. That something could be a choice or an event. The 'shared memory' I'm talking about is like this: imagine you have a choice to go right or left, and you choose left. There's an alternate reality where you chose right. The shared memory is that in both realities, you *knew* both choices existed."
Xavier rubbed his chin. "So what's the difference between that and an 'other reality'?"
Diego spread his hands. "In short: an alternate reality is an alternative version of *this* world. But an *other* reality is completely different—it doesn't share the same memories or the same world at all."
Zayn frowned. "So the Kyle from that other reality isn't an alternate version of me?"
Diego threw his hands up. "That's exactly what I don't know. I already told you—I don't understand that kind of thing."
Allied smirked, his tone dripping with sarcasm. "And here I thought you knew everything."
Diego shot him a glare. "You'd be a fool to believe anyone knows everything in this world."
---
Rayne leaned toward Professor Miranda, lowering his voice. "A moment ago, he was explaining timelines like a genius scientist. But now that those two showed up, he's acting like a teenager."
Professor Miranda chuckled softly. "That's Diego for you. He's never really grown up. Especially around his friends."