Bayonetta stood still for a moment, waiting.
Sure enough, not long after, that golden figure who had pierced the Quaternity Angel came surging up from below the cliff, wrapped in steam and accompanied by the roar of engines. On his way up, he casually destroyed several dozen-meter-long living angelic warships. The witch from the past momentarily set aside the attack on their base, watching with amusement as her daughter adjusted her expression to greet her lover. But Bayonetta was greeted not only by the Arcanist—there was also a whole crowd of witches in hot pursuit, tracing the trail of the Arcanist's meteor-like descent.
Seeing the witch beside Bayonetta made many of them slow their pace. Some seemed unsure whether to approach and say hello.
Only a few younger witches, like the one who earlier demanded Solomon remove his helmet, cheerfully greeted him without a second thought. The others, more familiar with ancient taboos, approached with caution.
"Should I praise your charm, darling? You managed to attract this many women in such a short time," Bayonetta said crossly, hands on her hips as she pushed her glasses with the muzzle of her gun. Even though the Arcanist had just crash-landed in front of her clad in heavy power armor, she held her chin high, full of pride. "Maybe you'd like to explain your relationship with all these companions of yours?"
"I just ran into them on my way to pursue the target. They insisted on taking me to the battlefield. I believe the target's there," Solomon replied, deliberately vague since others were present. He turned—and saw two pairs of identical gray eyes. "This lady is… uh…" He looked at Bayonetta, who gave him a small nod in confirmation. That immediately made Solomon nervous. He glanced around warily, afraid he might bump into the Bayonetta and Jeanne of this era.
"Good evening, boy," said the witch from the past with a smile. She quickly gave orders to the witches who had followed Solomon: pull back the defensive line, regroup at the tower, and activate their most powerful war machines. Though some grumbled, they ultimately agreed—when the fate of their entire race was at stake, personal grievances could be set aside.
"Rosa, that's the last time I take your orders," the lead witch said coldly before turning to leave. She seemed to have some history with this Rosa, Bayonetta's mother. On her way past the unhelmeted Arcanist, she shot him a vicious glare and received a vague, apologetic smile in return. Once the group had moved on, Solomon finally turned his attention to the witch standing beside Bayonetta—not the shattered marble fountain nearby. Under Rosa's watchful gaze, even Solomon found it difficult to speak. For once, he didn't know what to say.
He sent Bayonetta several urgent telepathic messages, trying to coordinate a cover story so her mother wouldn't find out their real mission—to kill Baldur. He feared Rosa might oppose them. But Rosa, perceptive as ever, smiled kindly and said nothing. She deliberately stepped aside, giving them space to talk.
"What about the boy?" Bayonetta asked.
Solomon shook his head, his voice filled with concern. "I'm not sure if he was transported to this time."
They both had a good idea of the boy's true identity.
Legend said the Eyes of the World were created when the immortal chaos god Aesah looked upon the world from atop a sacred mountain. For reasons unknown—though Solomon had plenty of uncharitable guesses—he split his power in two and gifted one half to the sages, the other to the witches. The purpose was to help humans gain free will and break free from divine control, while also assigning the two clans the task of monitoring the lower and upper planes. A being like that couldn't possibly die so easily. Thus, Solomon suspected the boy was actually the original holder of the Eyes of the World—an aspect of Aesah himself.
This would explain why, when the two Eyes reunited with their original owner, they unleashed their true power—sending the Sage, the Witch, and the boy back to this era, to the stronghold on Sun Island. That was the Eyes' true function: not to grant power, but to send their bearer into the past to rewrite history. This would inevitably lead to multiversal tremors and paradoxes, such as the creation of parallel timelines. But when the survival of an entire race was at stake, any price was worth paying.
Given the inverted mark on the Seer's forehead and scattered bits of myth, it was easy to deduce that the so-called Seer was the other half of Aesah—chaos split in two, a duality in eternal opposition. Perhaps that was why the boy's memories hinted at "becoming one again."
But no one knew why the boy had lost his memory, or why he appeared as he did in the future. Solomon speculated it might relate to the imbalance of power after Baldur's death, but that still didn't explain why Baldur—here in this era—had aligned himself with the Seer to hunt the boy. That motive remained shrouded in mystery.
Until Bayonetta told him what she had seen while traveling through time with the Eyes of the World: a moment where Baldur stood before Rosa, questioning someone. But the scene had no context—no cause, no consequence—leaving them baffled.
"We're tangled up in something huge—and we have no choice but to see it through," Solomon said, gently touching Bayonetta's shoulder, his expression uncertain. They both knew how this battle would end. The real question was whether Bayonetta—having returned to this time—could endure that ending again. She had dreamed of it many times, revealing a rare vulnerability. And she had a choice now—she was the bearer of the Eye of the World. If she chose to rewrite the past and save her mother, not even Solomon, her partner, could stop her—unless he sided with Kamar-Taj and intervened.
The witch seemed to sense Solomon's unease. She took his hand and gently patted the back of it, as if comforting him. To an outside observer, it looked as though he were the one in need of reassurance.
"It's okay," she said with a smile, rainwater dripping from her hair. Her tone, though composed, carried undeniable sorrow. Solomon couldn't help but lean in and kiss this woman of unimaginable strength.
He told her how he had arrived in this time—though he treaded carefully around the topic of the silver key. Why it had resonated with the Eyes of the World wasn't something he could figure out yet. He also showed Bayonetta the spell the Elder had placed on him—likely a protective enchantment from the Eye of Agamotto that had shielded him during the time jump.
"All right, you two," Rosa said after a while, clapping her hands and drawing their attention. She winked at Bayonetta, clearly approving of her daughter's taste. Bayonetta blushed furiously, leaving Solomon confused—he had no idea what had just passed between mother and daughter. Bayonetta certainly wouldn't tell him that she had planned to "raise him from a young age" the moment she first laid eyes on him. Even now that her scheme had succeeded, it was far too embarrassing to say out loud. A proud witch like her would rather die than confess something that mortifying.
"This isn't the time for flirting—we've still got work to do!"
(End of Chapter)
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