On the continent, every human—no, every life, every presence—was bound by time. The time of their existence was perpetually held captive, and their very lives were measured by it. To live was to gain time, and death was merely the end of one's allotted time.0

Therefore, time was the absolute shackles that bound even the smallest aspects of nature on the continent... but Epherene was not included in that natural order, and she was neither subject to nor constrained by time.0

Epherene, a mutant cast away from the straight line of time that none could escape, belonged not to time but to an interval. The beginning of this interval was the moment Sophien's regression entered her body, and its end was the activation of the lighthouse—which meant the continent's destruction.0

Therefore, the end of the interval clearly existed, and Epherene was endlessly repeating the time between its beginning and end. Like a radio's loop playback, Epherene had been enduring that mere two-year time for decades, all alone.1

Rustle—0

This place was somewhere in the Empire, and a newspaper, swept in by the murky wind of the city, fluttered around her ankles, which Epherene merely lifted with a subtle gesture of her eyes.0

… Lead Elite Guard Deculein Faces Expulsion Crisis0

The newspaper's headline was concise, detailing Deculein's ruin. He, who had always radiated authority from on high, was crumbling, and everything he had built was precarious and...0