The Annihilator: Killer Of Gods

Karsha held the watch in his hands with a calm yet curious gaze, focusing on the runic engravings on the strap. It appeared to be a regular wristwatch but had an ancient look to it, worn out as if it had endured countless struggles before reaching him.

The strap was brown with red pigmentations scattered throughout. The bezel, silver like most Rolex watches, had runic engravings that seemed to shift colors depending on the environment. The hour hand was broken but functional. However, Karsha noticed that despite the watch appearing to work perfectly, it would only move for 30 seconds before resetting.

"It never moves past the 30 seconds," Karsha observed. The time displayed, 12:45 PM, remained constant no matter how long he watched the watch.

"This is interesting," Karsha murmured, his curiosity piqued despite the impending battle with the Overlords looming just a day away. The curse of wisdom had found something intriguing to focus on, and Karsha was determined to explore it.

"I wonder who this unknown emperor is," he pondered aloud as he turned the back of the watch. There were more engravings there, but most of the runes were indecipherable to Karsha, despite his prowess as a universal enigma. They appeared ancient and mysterious, withholding their secrets for now.

However, Karsha managed to make out a few words: "Timeless," "Denial," and "Hatred." These three runes caught his attention.

"Timeless... Could that relate to the 30-second loop?" Karsha wondered aloud. He perceived the watch's constant reset every 30 seconds as some kind of looping mechanism. The fact that it remained stuck in this loop hinted at a deeper mystery that lay beyond his current understanding.

"Timeless," Karsha mused, contemplating its meaning as something beyond or outside of time itself. His mind began to weave intricate theories, connecting the term to the abilities of the Emperor's Curse necklace. It dawned on him why it might be called a curse—his newfound wisdom compelled him to scrutinize every detail, turning small theories into significant considerations.

While this could be beneficial in some situations, it also risked overcomplicating straightforward matters with unnecessary complexity.

As for "Denial" and "Hatred," they remained elusive concepts to Karsha. He acknowledged his limitations, knowing he wasn't an encyclopedia of knowledge. However, deciphering a few words from the runes hinted that he was on the path to understanding their deeper meanings. While "timeless" seemed linked to the mysterious behavior of the watch, "denial" and "hatred" posed puzzles he had yet to unravel.

Karsha recognized that he still had a long journey ahead in uncovering the mysteries surrounding the items gifted by the unknown emperor. With three quests yet to explore, he anticipated there would be ample opportunities to formulate and test theories about the watch and its enigmatic runes.

Unaware of what awaited him, Karsha turned to the system and began reading the description of the watch.

[Unknown Emperor's Watch]

Rank: Legendary

Tier: High

Type: Wrist Watch

-- I used to think anyone saying 'I have time, yet I am out of time' must be crazy. How can someone have time yet be out of it? It just doesn't make sense. Nonetheless, there must be some logical implications behind this sentiment. Time, in context, remains a mystery that few truly understand.

It's a mystery many still strive to comprehend, but that doesn't mean it lacks meaning. There's a reason for day and night, and in between, we mark various times: dawn, morning, midday, afternoon, evening, and midnight. This concept hinges on time. So the phrase 'I have time yet I am out of time' sounds vague yet somehow true.

Well, perhaps in some cases, this rings true, but in my case, I indeed ran out of time. It was a moment when many would say, "Time is a sneaky little thing."

If you find yourself holding this watch, whether in the future, past, or any time, gosh, my head hurts just thinking about it. I suppose if you have this watch now, you too must feel time slipping away. However, I won't let you repeat my mistakes.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Use this watch wisely, and it will serve you well. I hope you someday find the missing hour hand though. Your time is timeless; your hatred cannot be denied. Farewell, traveler.

"This is kind of sad, yet poetic," Karsha remarked as he looked at the watch once more. It must be the last item the unknown emperor left before being lost in time. "I wonder if this happened in the future or the past."

The fact that time plays a role in this situation means nobody truly knows when the last emperor perished. It could be in the distant future or the farthest past. "Gosh, my head hurts."

Karsha entertained numerous theories in his mind, but his strong mental fortitude kept him grounded. He was curious about many things. Who was the emperor, and why was he out of time if time is indeed the essence of space and its entirety? Did that mean, time indeed conspired against him?

"Or is it just a metaphor, and I'm overthinking it?" Karsha pondered aloud. If the unknown emperor was simply messing with him, did that mean he was overanalyzing things?

"That's not possible. Maybe he truly was out of time," Karsha sighed, then turned back to examine the only ability that came with the watch. Perhaps he could gain some understanding from it.

Ability: [Rewind]

[Rewind]: Before losing all his time, the unknown emperor inscribed his remaining moments onto his watch. This act was meant to grant the chosen one some mastery over time, a feat he himself could never accomplish.

-- Decode the 24 runes and utter the incantation; you will gain the ability to rewind or reverse time for a limited duration.

Structure:

3 Runes = 30 seconds

8 Runes = 60 seconds

15 Runes = 90 seconds

24 Runes = 120 seconds

"Oh, so that's what those words are for. I suppose this explains why he's running out of time even though he still has time." Karsha must have partially deciphered one of the words, but not entirely correctly.

Here's an improved version of the passage:

The fact that the unknown emperor could imprison time suggests he possessed ample time yet faced its scarcity. He likely realized that regardless of the amount of time he had, he could never escape its grasp.

He must have exhausted every conceivable combination, only to eventually run out of time. "But how is that possible? How does one imprison time?" Karsha gazed at the watch once more.

The watch in his hands contained imprisoned time, yet time itself remained unfettered. If time is free, how could he have imprisoned something so inherently unrestrained? How did he manage to ensnare time, even if only for 120 seconds?

"My head seriously hurts. All this talk about time is making me dizzy." Karsha placed the watch back on his wrist and drew a line on the ground. Taking a deep breath, he then uttered—or rather, thought—the three words.

"Timeless," "Denial," "Hatred." In an instant, his vision darkened. He felt his mind stretch for a split second and then return to normal. However, as his vision cleared, Karsha experienced a slight headache.

"It's gone." Searching the floor, Karsha couldn't find the Rune he had inscribed, indicating he had successfully rewound time by 30 seconds. The line on the floor was to tell him if indeed time has been rewounded and seeing it no more means the time has been moved back 30 seconds.

"This is incredible, but I don't think I can endure another 30 seconds." Despite his remarkable achievement, he sensed that wielding such power wasn't meant for him.

And he was right. Karsha was merely a Grandmaster stage cultivator, lacking comprehension of laws or Spiritual Qi in his body. The fact that he could breach the barriers of time, allowing it to flow around or through him, meant he had violated the fundamental principles of law comprehension.

Without any understanding, he had not just broken the first rule but all rules, and time was unforgiving. What he experienced felt more like time dilation, his mind stretched to encompass the entire process, making him endure the entirety of the experience in a single flash.

Millions, if not billions, of pieces of information, surged through his mind in the blink of an eye—an overwhelming torrent that left Karsha reeling. Yet, he knew he would acclimate to it in time. He had a long journey ahead, and understanding the concept of time was now at the forefront of his plans.

Unbeknownst to him, Karsha's mind had already begun to grasp the intricacies of time. Each use of the watch brought him closer to unraveling its fabric. The process will be painful but if he endures and never back down, he will one day gain the ability to harness time in any form he deems necessary.

His first task was to comprehend time itself: its essence, its flow, its weave, and how to wield it. These were daunting concepts beyond his current grasp. However, one certainty remained: deciphering all 24 runes would lead him to the answers he sought.

After quenching his thirst with a few mouthfuls of water from his bottle, Karsha retrieved a black book from his inventory.

"The Book of Annihilation."