“Hah… Hah…” A woman with blonde hair wielding a lance tumbled across the ground. She just barely was able to stop herself by stabbing her lance into the ground.

  Across from her was a pale purplish man with long ears. He had long white hair that was pulled all the way back. His skin was pale purple, and his ears were elongated. He was slowly walking his way to her, spinning a very long staff all the while. On his face was a tremendously bored expression.

  “You’re this era’s Time Holder and your skill with the lance is this weak?” The elf asked. “The Regressor must be ashamed of you.”

  “The first Holder of Time would not look badly on me. The only way he would is if I…” Kalina’s eyes darted from side to side. She sent out a distress signal quite a while ago but just where were her reinforcements?

  “Turned back time?” The elf finished, his voice suddenly coming from behind Kalina.

  Kalina rapidly drew a knife she had on her and swung. The elf smoothly dodged back.

  “Rewind your injuries already. You can do that can’t you?”

  After ensuring he wasn’t coming closer, Kalina spoke again. “Rewinding is what disrupts the timestream the most. Something always has to make up for it.”

  “So do it. Make up for it. I don’t care. You’re gonna die if you keep this up. You gonna keep fighting until you’re dead, or are ya gonna let this flimsy-ass timestream take the brunt of it?” The man asked.

  Kalina gauged her opponent and hesitated to answer. Anything to stall for more time.

  “Boring,” the man swung his staff at her head at incredibly fast speeds.

  Kalina, having not expected such a fast an immediate strike watched as the staff made its way to crush her head. Her mana sparked within her body, ready to act. But it was not necessary.

  [Indigo Crash!]

  A purple bolt of lightning stamped onto the staff, sending it crashing into the ground.

  “Oh?” The elf said with a smirk. “Someone fun, I hope.”

  “I’ll show you fun for trying to crush Kal’s head. I’ll make this really fun for you,” Machua who had just landed spoke.

  The purple electricity that coursed around his legs rushed into the staff and jolted straight into the elf’s arm. The elf’s arm briefly spasmed before stopping.

  “Ooh, that got me feeling something.” The elf laughed. “Same technique as the purple Storm girl yeah?”

  “You fought Mikoko!?” Machua exclaimed, his face instantly turning to a face of worry. Is she ali-“

  The staff underneath Machua’s foot rapidly shrunk in size, and the elf shot an elbow at Machua. He blocked it in kind with an elbow of his own. The elf sent a kick at him, which he blocked again. Using the force of the blow, the elf leapt backwards to some distance away. The staff rapidly grew in size back to its normal size in his hand.

  “She was with me, Machu. I took over for her when she got tired. She left to find help. If you’re here, then she must be fine,” Kalina answered.

  “… Okay.” Machua calmed himself down.

  “Yeah, I let her go. But this one though, no matter how you beg for, I ain’t letting go.” The elf spun his staff and pointed it directly at Kalina.

  “She’s the only Time Holder in the world. And Qliphoth’s got need of her Aspect.”

  “Mind telling us what Qliphoth wants with her?” Machua asked.

  The elf tapped his shoulder with his staff several times. “Something to do with the whole remake the world thing, I dunno. Point is, it’s important enough they sent a named Qliphoth member on it.”

  “And what would this Qliphoth’s member’s name be?” Machua hesitated slightly as he asked.

  “You can ask me for my name. I ain’t gonna hide it. Name’s Qimranut of the lower layer. Bottommost, to be exact. And I’m the strongest martial artist Qliphoth has.”

  “Lower layer and bottommost, doesn’t that mean you’re the weakest?” Machua asked mockingly.

  “Careful,” Kalina whispered to Machua. “I’m sure you know, but he’s anything but weak.”

  “Ha! Weakest!? That’s a fun idea. I wish! I wish I were the weakest of Qliphoth. It’ll make it so much funner to fight my way up!”

  Qimranut gave a strong hearty laugh afterwards. “Let me tell you this. Out of the 10 of us, I’m about…let’s say tied for 5th in strength? Yeah, let’s go with that.”

  “Hey, that’s pretty good for a lower layer boy. One day, you just might make it to bottommost of middle.”

  “Hahaha! You’re riling me up! Okay, but enough of jokes. I do have a job to do.”

  Qimranut spun his staff and entered a combat stance.

  “So, let’s make this fun! I, Qimranut, representing Materialism, so declare. I shall make this fight an absolute joy!”

  Qimranut leapt straight at Machua with a maniacal grin. His staff elongated and was swung with incredible speed and force. Kalina quickly moved to block it with her lance and Machua supported her in that too. The sheer force shot jolts of energy up their arms.

  “Machu, I’m honestly a little injured here. I’m going to need you to take main point. I’ll handle support. I won’t let him hurt you,” Kalina said.

  “I know you won’t,” Machua responded.

  With a quick hop, Machua rushed straight at Qimranut. His dagger drawn and glowing in purple. The staff was quickly retracted and blocked the strike. Sparks flew off from the weapons clashing.

  “That’s just a ton of dimensions jammed into a weapon to make a rotating blade, yeah? Little bit like a chainsaw. Pretty sophisticated.”

  Machua did not deign to answer, as he moved his head slightly to the right. An arrow shot straight through where his head just was, aimed straight at Qimranut’s eye. He merely let go of the staff with one arm and caught it. Looking past him, he saw Kalina aiming at him with a crossbow.

  “Stop looking at her,” Machua whispered from behind him. His dagger was poised to stab directly at Qimranut’s neck.

  With lightning-fast reflexes, Qimranut quickly positioned his staff horizontally and extended it straight into Machua’s shoulder. The staff shot out and launched him back. However, it shot out on the other end too, nearly hitting Kalina as well. She dodged it ever so slightly.

  With a brisk movement, Qimranut re-grabbed his staff with both hands and begun spinning it around. The super long staff crushed straight through building debris and nearly hit both Machua and Kalina. Machua had jumped in the air and landed on it as well. Kalina had ducked underneath and was gauging the time to jump up.

  The rotation was just far too fast for her to gauge it properly though, so she had to speed up her perception and her body’s speed. In her vision, time came to a crawl and in the briefest of gaps in between spins her body was able to easily jump through. On the other side, Machua was there to scoop her up into his arms.

  “Nice to be able to repay you from last time,” Machua commented.

  “I think yours should count as extra since your arms are so comfy.”

  “Let’s not get too comfy now though. I’ll carry you as much as you want after all this.”

  “I’ll hold you to that,” Kalina sort of whispered.

  “What did you say?”

  “Right, right. More important things.” Kalina’s face seemed to turn red for just a brief moment.

  Qimranut had already stopped spinning when the two finished their brief chat. From their distance, it would take shouting to communicate, so Qimranut merely held a hand up and beckoned them. He gestured what he’d do if they didn’t come down by rapidly extending and shortening his staff in their direction.

  Machua and Kalina, slightly irked at this, both stuck out their tongue at him.

  “”Blehhhh.”” They both made the noise.

  “Die then,” Qimranut spoke, deciding to waste some mana on enhancing its volume.

  “”Woah!””

  The staff was rapidly thrusted and extended in their direction. Machua ducked down and rapidly ran to the side. Only to find the staff extended and nearly hit his head. The strikes were rapid, incredibly fast. It was all he could do to avoid getting struck by it.

  ‘Not keeping it extended means he moves it faster when it doesn’t have to be extended. No way I can outrun it when we’re so far away from him.’

  During one of the movements, Kalina shot an arrow at him. Qimranut merely batted it away as he swung at them.

  ‘No good! He can move his arm slightly and cover 10 times the distance I can run. We’ve got to get closer. Time for a hop.’

  “Kal, you wearing the shoes I bought you?” Machua asked without looking himself, his eyes entirely focused on dodging the next strike.

  “Always? What kind of question is that?” Kalina answered while sending another shot.

  “Oh, I thought you wouldn’t-“ Machua looked down briefly as he responded, only to almost receive a staff strike to his head.

  “Never mind! Get ready to hop!”

  With a quick flip, Machua moved Kalina to the same position he was. His mana trickled down his feet and rushed into the air just beneath their soles. The mana rapidly coalesced and swirled into a small sphere. Its shape was just like that of a small bubble. It was frail but packed with power.

  Machua and Kalina stepped on that bubble with force, their shoes coated with mana. The bubble, at first, began to strain against the force being put on it, its surface trembled at the prospect of bursting. Until finally, it popped.

  Both Machua and Kalina absolutely rocketed straight to Qimranut. Naturally, he swung at them. Seeing this, Machua rapidly placed another bubble down, stepped on it and launched forward with a kick to move it away. Kalina sped forward with her lance poised to stab straight through Qimranut, but it was nothing for him to recover from the parry, retract his staff and block it head-on.

  “Time Dilation, right? You’re still sped up,” Qimranut commented, sending a kick to Kalina’s side.

  Kalina held a knife to block it, when suddenly Qimranut stopped. His staff batted her lance away instead and she was sent rolling on the ground.

  “Here’s the problem with that. You need to speed up your brain and perception to control the increased speed. Gotta be taxing on both your brain and your eyes. So, chances are, most of the time, you got your normal reaction speeds.”

  Qimranut turned around suddenly to block the strike from a purple shoe.

  “And you. I gotta thank you. I finally got to see the Mad Hare’s signature Burst Hop. Though now that he’s dead, you’re the master of the spell now, huh?”

  Machua’s face scrunched up, before he backed off. Machua and Kalina now pincered Qimranut, but the elf didn’t seem like he much cared. The two paced around him slowly, figuring out a plan of attack.

  ‘What kind of Aspect does he have? This entire time he’s been only elongating his staff so it must have some Space enchantment or Engraving on it. Is he a pure martial artist?’

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  “Come on, already! You got in melee range for this, right? So, let’s have a hell of a brawl!”

  Suddenly, his staff elongated, and nearly struck both of them in the head again. Machua and Kalina both rushed forward in the same instant. Lance and dagger stabbed straight at Qimranut, who happily received the attacks. He kicked the dagger out of Machua’s hand and smacked the lance away.

  Machua covered his hand with a Kaleido Shredder and chopped straight at Qimranut’s neck. He deftly dodged the attack and sent a gut punch at Machua. An arrow shot into the space between the arm and his gut though, so he didn’t follow through. Instead, he grabbed the arrow and crushed it.

  Machua stepped off of the air and rushed with a jumping knee, but Qimranut simply leaned underneath it. He bent his legs and his back into an outrageous lean. Suddenly, the dagger that had been flying found its way back into Machua’s hand. He surrounded it with another Kaleido Shredder and plunged it down.

  “Kaleido Shredder!” He shouted.

  Qimranut’s staff elongated again, this time, targeted at its own master. The staff head shot at his side, sending him rolling away from the strike, which left a deep gash in the earth instead. Qimranut grabbed the end of the staff that had struck him just before Machua could do anything to steal it.

  “This guy fights nothing like Mikoko. How can two staff users fight so differently?” Machua muttered.

  Mikoko, the purple Storm girl, a very close friend of Machua’s also utilised a staff. She channelled lightning through it and often swung in elegant motions, practiced and clean. This guy however, he used it like a hurricane. He spun his staff with wild abandon, thrusting and swinging at wherever his enemies were. It was clear he was skilled from decades of battle experience. Machua honestly felt he was fighting a brick wall. No matter what he did, he couldn’t get a single hit in. At least not without taking a hit himself, and he knew first-hand how dangerous that would be.

  Kalina ran up to Machua. “Machu, I think… we’ve been playing too cautiously. We’ve spent this entire time trying to figure out his Aspect, when other people are out there who need our help.”

  “You want to put all our cards on the table? I’m in. I’ve got dozens of knives in my dimensions,” Machua tensely watched Qimranut who made a show at how the only injury he had received was self-inflicted.

  “I’ll use every artefact I have at my disposal too. Erelier is in ruins, I don’t think anyone would call me out for using them without permission. At least I hope Granny won’t,” Kalina slowly reloaded her crossbow as she spoke.

  “Speaking of. Where is she? Doesn’t all this warrant her intervention?” If she was here…” Machua trailed off, not wanting to finish the sentence.

  “It does. It’s even got me wrapped up in it. But she’s busy dealing with a bunch of disasters all around the globe. Qliphoth struck just when she couldn’t make it,” Kalina explained.

  Kalina took a deep breath, then finally fished out a pocket watch. She placed it in Machua’s hand and grabbed its cord. Machua placed the pocket watch on his shirt pocket. He felt the familiar, yet strange mana that filled it thump against his chest. It was Time, but not Kalina’s.

  “Ready?”

  “Always. I love doing this.”

  With a deep breath, Kalina pulled on the cord and shouted.

  “Overclock: Double!”

  Kalina’s golden mana and the mana in the pocket watch seeped all throughout their respective persons. Behind them, the translucent figure of golden clocks shone.

  Kalina took the first step forward. She dashed off at insane speeds, her legs moving twice as fast as normal. Her lance strike came soon after, which was only barely blocked. Kalina swiftly retracted her lance and stabbed at him several more times. He blocked or parried each one. Suddenly, he swung his staff at a dead angle, but Kalina swiftly dodged it.

  “Ooh! So your reaction speed can keep up now, huh?“ Qimranut exclaimed.

  Qimranut suddenly blocked the dagger of Machua’s again. The mana that flowed in his dagger spun at twice the speed, colours flowing incredibly fast.

  “It sure can,” Machua spoke, the words flowing out at twice the speed. Qimranut could barely understand it.

  Kalina and Machua rushed at Qimranut with incredibly ferocity. Their blows and their strikes began to finally pierce through. He couldn’t block each and every strike, not at double the speed.

  “Gotcha!” Machua shouted as he stabbed the blade towards Qimranut’s shoulder.

  It was a feint, but he didn’t think Qimranut would take the blow head on. The dagger dug into it just a little as Qimranut raised it.

  “Machu!” Kalina shouted. “Stop him!”

  That momentary confusion was enough for Qimranut to get his chance. He threw his staff deep into the ground, easily piercing through rock and rubble.

  “Let’s get a change of scenery!” Qimranut shouted and made a hand sign.

  The ground very quickly cracked. Innumerable cracks radiated from the staff, and then very suddenly, the ground was pushed out. In a small circle around the trio, rock and rubble shot into the air. The ground beneath their feet shot into the air faster, however.

  Before the two knew it, Kalina and Machua were now standing on a gigantic pillar high into the air. They could see several districts of Erelier from up there. Several explosions detonated in the distance, and Machua could even spot that crater. He didn’t spot any signs of life there though.

  “How did you manage to get your hands on the Space Ripper’s chitin!?” Kalina screamed. “Her body should have been destroyed a thousand years ago! Any remnants of it left, even the Hour Hands couldn’t find any!”

  “Don’t compare your Hour Hands to Qliphoth,” Qimranut spoke with a grin. “You’re just following in the footsteps of the Lancets, we’re gonna unmake their world and remake it to our own will. You’re their secret No. 0 and you’ve barely touched me. We’re not even close, aren’t we?”

  “Are those earthquakes?” Machua suddenly muttered.

  Before his eyes, buildings had begun shaking and dust had risen from the ground. Cracks spread out from their location.

  “Eh. Mighta shoved it in a bit too deep. Half the staff’s underground ya know.”

  ‘The damage isn’t too bad though. Erelier’s underground was built tough. Shouldn’t affect much outside of our district,’ Machua observed.

  “Throwing your staff away’s a very dumb move. You can’t even claim it back without falling. We push you off, we win,” Kalina spoke, vehemence in her voice.

  “Same to you, right? You can’t fly. You don’t know if I can. But chances are I’ll survive the fall. You won’t, or at least, you’ll take a long time to glide down with slowed time. That’ll give me all the time I need to bash this guy’s head in.” Qimranut snarled and thumbed at Machua.

  “No need. We’ll end this now,” Machua’s voice grew serious.

  ‘Finally got used to it again. I think now I can probably Burst Hop at double speed.’

  “Ready?” Machua asked, before jumping backwards into the air.

  A bubble formed beneath his feet. And it burst. Machua hopped at incredible speeds, his dagger flying at Qimranut. His ever-present grin grew wider when he received the first slash.

  “Alright, here we go! Come at me!” Qimranut spread his arms out wide, then moved into a martial arts stance.

  Machua flipped in the air and hopped again with renewed speed. Qimranut coated his arm with mana and blocked. But it didn’t end there. Machua hopped continuously, changing slight directions with every new bubble. His movements grew faster and faster and all of him swiped at Qimranut. Bouncing around the air like a ping pong ball, Machua rushed at Qimranut with must have seemed like dozens of blows.

  Kalina took a deep breath and calmed herself down. That reveal shocked her for sure, but now was the time to end this. She felt in her bag for the tools that would end this.

  ‘Everything’s ready. We’ll finish this.’

  Kalina lunged at Qimranut just after he blocked a strike from Machua. Suddenly though, he turned to her and rapidly parried the move. He push kicked her straight off of the side of the giant staff and after making a leap, his staff shortened and returned to his side. A maniacal grin shone on his face, as he raised his staff up high.

  ‘Couldn’t resist the bait, could you?’ Kalina smirked.

  Suddenly, two legs had wrapped themselves around Qimranut’s head. Machua’s momentum hurtled the two of them off-direction and spinning incredibly fast. It was at the height of their speed, Machua rapidly twisted his legs and aimed his captive straight at the ground.

  [Hopping Twister Frankensteiner!]

  Qimranut crashed into the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust. As he expected, he survived without much effort. He could still fight, nothing too important was broken. He casually got up in that dust cloud and lightly stretched his body. The first thought on his mind was not how to best defeat his opponents or that he was thrown into another district. No, he had only one thing on his mind.

  ‘That Machua guy’s really fun!’

  To his joy, he was proven right again when the dust cloud cleared. Dozens of daggers were stationed around him in the shape of a dome. And each and every dagger were glowing purple, each one of them had Kaleido Shredder applied to them. He was by all means, completely surrounded.

  Machua stood just outside the dome. The golden clock behind his back had disappeared and he was moving at normal speeds again. He now had equipped two gauntlets on his arms. The hilt of the daggers all had strings attached to them, and all the strings flowed straight to Machua’s gauntlets. The strings attached to the gauntlets’ fingertips, and Machua gripped each and every single one of them. His mana flowed through the strings, coating each one of them in his signature spell.

  “Allow me to broaden your horizons. See for yourself all the worlds I see and make on a daily basis. Kaleidoscope: Solo.”

  Machua elegantly swept his hand across the air. Rows and rows of daggers shot out at the elf that was trapped inside the dome. As expected, he deflected most, if not all of them. Machua continued. His other hand twirled and daggers followed suit. His hands began moving lightly and elegantly as if commanding an orchestra.

  ‘I’m supposed to be inside beating the shit out of him. Rasa should be controlling the daggers, but I don’t even know where he is. So the best I’ve got is to replicate him as best I can.’

  Bright light filled the dome. A myriad of colours sparked; orange hues clashed against blue. Red and then black engulfed the area. Machua couldn’t see how Qimranut was doing, but he could tell he was slowly but surely breaking down and deflecting the daggers. Strings continuously snapped, bit by bit.

  All until, no strings were left attached. Qimranut was finally in view again. He had just finished deflecting the final dagger and held it in his hand. It was that blue-haired sniper’s ferocious dagger.

  “Hey, you killed Chemdah! He must’ve been real tired from fighting your captain for you to do tha-“ Qimranut paused all of a sudden.

  Beneath his feet, a giant triangle of mana had formed. An enormous amount of mana flowed from it. It was enough that even Qimranut was worried. At each end of the triangle were ornate lances, all of them pierced into the ground. Each one of them had designs that told anyone that these were special lances, almost mythical even.

  The mana in the triangle rapidly flowed upward, prompting Qimranut to look the same way. Kalina was gliding in the air, her crossbow aimed straight at the centre of that triangle. And she had just finished chanting.

  “Maximal Arrow: Trishula!” She shouted.

  The arrow left the crossbow at incredible speeds. The arrow rapidly expanded and turned back to its true form. A lance with 3 prongs at the end, all pointing at each end of that triangle. A lance that heralded destruction.

  Qimranut’s worried face was quickly eclipsed by the massive explosion that ensued. A gigantic eruption of flame burst from within that triangle, engulfing anything inside. It was such an incredible force that had it not been for that triangle, it would have surely engulfed the entire district.

  Machua deeply sighed and looked up at the explosion. It was still burning whatever was inside. The smoke would surely signal their allies to their location.

  ‘Still got a lot of people to save. But I spent way too much mana here. Think I’ll just take a rest and wait for someone to pick us up.’

  Machua allowed his lips to form a smile as he watched Kalina glide down. She smiled hesitantly back, still surveying the damage. But all of a sudden, her smile turned into an expression of deep worry.

  ‘He-!’

  Machua swung his head towards the explosion, but it was too late. A singed Qimranut was already swinging his staff at Machua’s head.

  The staff made impact. Machua reeled back from the blow and spat out blood. He covered his mouth with his hand and attempted to parry. Qimranut grabbed the strings that were still attached to that gauntlet and swiftly moved his hand aside, allowing his knee to find its impact in his gut. Machua was launched back onto the ground.

  “Haha!” Qimranut still smiled that same damn maniacal smile. “See what I told ya!”

  Qimranut gestured to Kalina at Machua. She was already speeding up her descent, but like Qimranut had said, she couldn’t possibly descend fast without injuring herself. Despite that, she went as fast as she could.

  “Ha!” Qimranut kicked Machua in the stomach. He spat out more blood.

  “Alright, stand up! Try to put up a fight! Just cause you’ve got a crack in your head doesn’t mean I’ll let you go!”

  Qimranut grabbed Machua’s shoulders and raised him up to his feet. He then holstered his staff and gestured at Machua.

  Machua’s head was spinning, his mana limply followed his command. But still, he had to do something. He stored the gauntlets back in a dimension. He sent out a punch, which was easily blocked. Qimranut shoved his fist into Machua’s guts.

  Machua coughed up even more blood. He held his chest with one arm. Several ribs were broken. They had to be. He had been coating his body with mana defensively as best he could, but Qimranut could easily break through his defences.

  ‘I have just one thing that might, just might…’

  Machua’s thoughts stopped once he saw Qimranut’s palm shoved to the front of his chest. It was touching it.

  Machua’s instinct hurriedly told him he had to get away. Get away now. This move was going to kill him. It’ll crush his chest, his heart, his ribcage, it’ll totally destroy him.

  ‘I have to do something! I have to move! Hop! Come on!’

  But he couldn’t move.

  [Internal Palm Destruction]

  Mana entered Machua’s body, and it exploded. Machua was sent launched into the ground, his chest in unimaginable pain.

  ‘Is… everything in there broken?’

  Machua’s mana moved to try to fix things, however it could. Each rib bone had to be broken. The organs were heavily impacted but recoverable. Probably. So long as someone with medical skills got here soon. Very soon, preferably.

  “I made sure you didn’t die instantly in that move. You’re a bit tough, so you can probably move a bit. Maybe even stand. But it’s over.”

  Qimranut no longer had his joyous smile on his face. He slowly walked up to Machua, who was struggling to sit up. Suddenly, Kalina rushed in between the two of them and stretched out her hands to obstruct Qimranut.

  “Knew you’d come back for him. Your world’s screwed now cause of you. You just threw away the whole damn world for one boy,” Qimranut said disparagingly.

  Kalina’s face did not change. “I don’t care. He’s… everything.”

  “Everything huh? Betcha the Regressor felt the exact same way when he regressed. Turned the whole world back to save everyone from apocalypse. What a guy, right? None of us would be here if it weren’t for him.”

  “What are you getting at?” Kalina asked hesitantly.

  “Regress.”

  That one word rung in Kalina’s head. Regress. What an absolutely inane word. Regress. The world was built on regression. A thousand years ago, the Regressor regressed to save the world from the impending Mana Emergence. An event that could have caused an apocalypse. Since then, he broke the Time Aspect. So that no one could ever change history like he did again.

  ‘It’s impossible. No way. No Time user since him has ever done it. No matter how hard they tried.‘

  “It’s your only out.” Qimranut abruptly continued. “Qliphoth just wants your Time Aspect. All I need to do is kill ya, and they’ll capture the Aspect that flows out and apply it onto Kaitul. And then he can do the Time stuff we need. But isn’t that boring?”

  “Boring? Shouldn’t you just kill me for your boss’ sake?” Kalina almost wanted to laugh. Didn’t he see what kind of insane feat he’s asking of her? He wanted her to literally turn the world’s time back.

  “That’s right. It’s boring! The only thing we need from you is to use your powers to its maximum. Completely burn out the Time Aspect you have. A regression would do that. And a regression is just so, so interesting,” Qimranut laughed.

  “What happens if you do that? Does my time go back too? Do I forget everything? Or do I keep going? Does this timeline keep going? If it does after you succeed, we win. If you fail, we win. But if everything regresses with you, then…”

  Qimranut flashed a sinister smirk. “You’ve got a shot at taking all of us down. A shot at changing the events of today. Saving your dear Machua’s life. Dontcha wanna give it a shot?”

  Kalina’s face did not change. She merely closed her eyes and turned. She turned to look at her dear Machua. Crumpled on the floor, blood spilling out of his mouth. He looked back at her with resolved eyes, as if telling her not to even consider it.

  “Machu…” Kalina spoke. She slowly knelt down by his side and gripped his hand.

  “Don’t… it’s not even… possible,” Machua forced the words out of his throat.

  Kalina grabbed the pocket watch she left with him and stared into its clock. The hour hand on it was ticking like usual. She turned it around and read the inscription on its back one more time.

  It read Durante. Ever since she received this from her Granny, she had wondered what it meant. Her Granny, who knew almost everything and had lived for so long, who was a comrade of the Regressor, said she didn’t know. It might just be a name.

  Machua’s hands gripped onto Kalina’s. The blood dripped down and stained her clothes. “Kal… seriously… don’t.”

  Kalina paid those words no mind. She dug her fingers into Durante and ripped the hour hand out. The clear blue hour hand, now freed from its watch case floated upwards and rested itself above Kalina’s head.

  Slowly, the other parts of a clock flew in from elsewhere. An hour hand, a minute hand, a casing, a ring, each and every single point for each hour all came flying in. The hour hand of the pocket watch rested on the clock and finally pressed into it, serving as the second hand. A second hand that was half the length it should have been.

  “Qliphoth’s letting me use the Time Halo you all stole?” Kalina asked.

  “Like I said. All we need’s for you to burn yourself out. Everything’s at your disposal.” Qimranut mockingly bowed. “So, please. Turn back the clock. I’ll be here ready to kill you the second you’re done.”

  Kalina closed her eyes. Her breath hitched at the monumental feat she was about to try. She hadn’t even reversed anything back for more than a minute. But now, for the first time. She had over her head the Time Halo. An incomplete one, missing half of its Second Hand. The other half was with her Granny, so it was impossible to retrieve. But it was the same halo that the Regressor, the Time Angel left behind. It was the most powerful Time artefact in existence.

  “Machu… I’m not the one going to regress. It’ll be you.”

  Machua’s eyes widened. His voice hitched in his throat, but before he could say anything he coughed up more blood.

  “I won’t remember anything. You’ll be the only one with memories of the future. I’m sorry.”

  Kalina’s voice grew hitched. Tears slowly started streaming out of her eyes and dripping onto Machua’s face.

  Golden mana emanated from Kalina. Her mana, which had been used up, surged all of a sudden, renewed by the Time Halo she was wearing. The Time Halo which had been spinning clockwise, begun to slow down. The hands of the Time Halo strained against an invisible force trying to push it in the other direction.

  “I’m so, so sorry to put this on you. Regression can be something so painful. You’ll wake up alone. With no one by your side. With no one to remember you. I won’t remember you. I won’t know you.”

  Machua shut his mouth. He couldn’t stop this. He didn’t even have the energy to knock her out or anything like that. All he could do was sit here and cry. Allow all of the emotions he had been keeping inside of himself all this time to finally spill out.

  “When I think about that, I think that I’m sending you straight to the deepest inferno. I can’t think of anything worse in the world. For you to forget me. And now, I’m going to forget you.”

  Kalina’s mana spread all throughout the area. It gently coloured everything in a golden tint.

  “Machu, you might feel alone when you wake up next. You might not be able to bear it when you realise that nobody knows you anymore. That you’ve lost each and every one of your connections. But Machu. Remember that I’m sending you with all our hopes. Let everyone’s existence here fill your heart.”

  Kalina tried as hard as she could to force a smile amidst her tears.

  “If it’s you. I know you can make everyone happy. I know you can…“ Kalina trailed off, a little afraid to finish.

  “I’ll make you the happiest in the world, Kal. I’ll make everyone the happiest they’ll ever be,” Machua promised.

  Kalina allowed herself to finally relax and allowed herself to smile. Machua smiled back in turn as well. The two of them stared into each other’s eyes, reminiscing at the many times this had happened before. Finally, as her mana began to engulf the district, she worked up the courage to continue.

  “I-“

  Kalina stopped. She didn’t dare continue. She didn’t want him to live his second chance of life with that phrase stuck in his mind.

  ‘If it was you, I’m sure that I’d fall in love with you all over again. And someday, you’ll hear those words from my lips under better circumstances.’

  “So, how far back are ya sending him?” Qimranut suddenly asked.

  Kalina shot him a mean look. She looked back to Machua, hesitant to continue. After a second, she decided it would be best if she didn’t.

  “5 years. You’ll be 19 again, Machu. You’ll have to meet your squad and your captain again. But I hope you can make even more happy memories with them.”

  “5 years… I like that look on your face.” Qimranut spoke, gazing back at the hateful stare Machua was giving him.

  “Machua Purin. You’re gonna be this world’s next regressor. So I feel the need to tell ya all this, just to make it fair.”

  “Qliphoth has always been prepared for regressors. It’s happened once before, it could happen again, even if we all think it’s impossible. Hell, this might still not work, and I might be wasting my breath. But if it does, it’ll be the best decision I’ve made in my life.”

  “Machua!” Qimranut suddenly shouted.” You better kill me as soon as you can! You better crush me with so much force I can’t possibly kill any of your friends! You better destroy Qliphoth, or we’ll destroy all of Erelier again!”

  “This’ll be your only chance. That Second Hand in the pocket watch will become inert when you return. Maybe even more parts of the Time Halo will. That’s the cost that has to be paid. You only get the one regression. So, you better make this count.”

  Qimranut took his staff from his back and spun it several times.

  “I am Qimranut of the lower layer of Qliphoth, occupying the bottommost position. My Major Aspect is Amplification and I have no Minor Aspect. I wield a staff forged with pieces of the Space Ripper’s chitin. And I am the person who has forced you back in time. I am the reason why you are suffering. The reason why you fight. When you meet me again, you better not let me find out. Cause I know I’ll go absolutely crazy over it.”

  Qimranut raised his staff to strike.

  “You better crush me.”

  Before Machua’s eyes, Qimranut swung his staff straight towards the side of Kalina’s head. This was a full power strike. This would kill her. This would cave her skull in. Machua mustered as much of his mana to move, to do anything. He went to scream, but suddenly, the staff stopped.

  The Time Halo’s hands had begun spinning counter-clockwise.