《Regressor, Dimension, City, and Tree》 Prologue 1: City Fall Erelier City had fallen. What was once a bustling city had become nothing but rubble. Buildings, streets, homes, all were reduced to debris. Monsters rampaged throughout the City, eating whatever people they could find. Half-mutilated corpses littered the streets. As far as my eyes could see and as far as my mana could reach, I was the only one alive here. I was standing in front of a crater where a skyscraper once stood. It was the site of an intercity conference on how to deal with a mysterious terrorist organisation. I wasn¡¯t on the security detail, but my captain was. He had to take over after his old friend had died a few months prior, which we both thought was due to that same terrorist organisation. For good reason. I looked up at what should¡¯ve been a clear blue sky. A red barrier enveloped the entirety of Erelier. It rose up all too suddenly and before we could even begin to analyse it, monsters and people began dropping out of the sky. It was a crude method of attack. Several monsters and people were unable to survive the fall, or were injured, but any who could still move, moved to attack, and raid the City. The monsters did not distinguish between the people on its side, they were merely dropped in, allowed to act however they want. The terrorist forces did what they wanted as well. We were caught completely off guard. Once I and the hunters around me got things under control, I was sent to scout out the situation at the skyscraper. The others would try to re-establish the communications that went down. I was the fastest of them all, so I was the natural choice. Evidently though, I was too late. The entire skyscraper was gone. No rubble remained. Just a massive crater. It was strange. Not only was the skyscraper reduced to nothing, there were no humans around here too. Not even any raiders. Just a few monsters that didn¡¯t want to approach the crater. I didn¡¯t blame them though. The mana that permeated the crater was strange and ominous. Murky, deep, and dark. As if it had a will of its own. It almost didn¡¯t feel like mana. It was completely different from the ambient mana around it. It felt like something that shouldn¡¯t exist. It wanted to devour anything that got close, any mana and any living beings. It was like standing in front of a predator, a beast who only hungered. Whatever it was, or whatever it came from, was something completely unnatural. Which was exactly why I had to investigate. ¡®Purity levels are a bit high. Around 85%? That¡¯s higher than Captain Galas. And it¡¯s at the level it could kill me.¡¯ I observed the purity level of the monstrous mana in front of me. 85%. My own mana purity was 58%. With a difference greater than 20, the mana could kill me. Luckily, I knew a few spells that could filter out the mana around me, so I could probably make some progress in investigating this. But once I figured something out, I¡¯d have to leave it to the job of people with purer mana than me. Like my captain. If he happened to still be alive. I expanded my mana around myself. After taking a deep breath, I slowly made my way into the crater. The dark mana leapt at me, trying to claw its way into my body. It wanted to devour me whole. But I pressed on, slowly but surely. It was a dense packet of mana. So dense it acted similarly to fog. Perceiving anything through it would be difficult. In no other circumstance would I even dare to approach it. I just wanted to understand this even a tiny bit more. ¡®Is that¡­ a sword?¡¯ After walking slowly down the slope, I saw it. What had to be the source of the mana. A jet black greatsword half-buried into the ground. Its top half was broken off, but there was no doubt about it. Both pieces emanated this deadly, devouring mana. And the way it was broken, it was¡­ familiar. This was enough. I had to go. I turned around and slowly made my way up the side of the slope. I didn¡¯t want to risk letting my guard down for even a second. If I were to fall here, all the deaths I had witnessed, that had been for me, would have been for nothing. Make it out and start running for my life to help others. That was the plan. And if any of their higher-ups were to find me¡­ ¡®A sniper bullet in my dead angle.¡¯ I¡¯d kill them. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª Machua jumped forwards, flipping in the air to look towards the direction the bullet came from. The bullet passed just beside his ear, taking with it a few tufts of hair. But where that bullet landed, out emerged a man. ¡®Teleportation. A classic,¡¯ Machua thought. The man stabbed at Machua with his ferocious dagger. Machua¡¯s eyes followed its movements steadily, and stepping off of the air, he blocked the strike with the sole of his shoe. The impact forced him back into the crater, deeper than he had ever stepped into it. The devouring mana quickly surrounded him, but he pushed it back steadily. Suddenly, what sounded like a small explosion burst from behind the man, launching him into the crater as well. Machua capitalised and sent a kick flying his way. The man, despite being caught off guard, adjusted and blocked the strike. But the sudden launch sent him rolling into the ground. ¡°If you wanted to kill me, you shouldn¡¯t have implanted mana in that bullet. It was just too unnatural,¡± Machua spoke, observing the man as best he could through the devouring mana. He could tell he had a large dagger and a huge sniper rifle on his back. That was what took the impact of the burst, leaving the man mostly unharmed. The man detached his sniper rifle from his back and quickly got up. The devouring mana surrounded him as well, but he was dealing with it much easier. ¡°Your sensory abilities are superb. And I didn¡¯t realise you had laid down a trap. I should have expected as much from a student of Galas the Mad Hare.¡± ¡°Hey, being extra is what me and my captain do.¡± Machua rapidly sped up his thinking with magic. He had to take this opportunity to observe the man as much as possible before any of them struck at each other. No doubt he was doing the same to him. ¡®Didn¡¯t realise? He expected to have known it? I sensed the area around the crater in a wide range, so he was probably outside of it. The bullet came through the devouring mana, so didn¡¯t he shoot from that direction?¡¯ Machua sighed deeply. Oh boy, the guy in front of him was going to be much more of a pain that he thought. ¡®Even with a scope, observing someone through the devouring mana is crazy. And to shoot someone and nearly hit a headshot is absurd. It¡¯s like shooting through a storm. I was both obscured and the devouring mana must have affected the trajectory.¡¯ Machua¡¯s swift thinking brought him to one conclusion. Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation. ¡®He must have experience with the devouring mana. Must be an ally¡¯s ability. Right now, even if it¡¯s affecting him, he has the advantage.¡¯ Machua¡¯s frown was interrupted by a rapid strike from the man. He had dashed forward and positioned his dagger to pierce Machua¡¯s neck. Machua swiftly backpedalled and retaliated with a fist. But just as it was about to make impact, Machua suddenly disappeared. ¡®A feint. Behind me!¡¯ The man recognised. He quickly held his dagger up to his head and blocked the powerful kick. The sheer force of it launched him away. The man did not have time to gather himself though, as Machua appeared right above his head. He leapt off of the air as if it was a ceiling and spun his body for a devastating axe kick. Quickly, the man tossed his dagger at an angle and Machua found it had almost reached his neck. At the last second, he kicked towards the side, the air repelling him like it was a wall. The man¡¯s dagger flew back to his hand. Both combatants stood on the ground again, no progress having been made by either. Machua shifted into a stance, prepared to move again at any moment. ¡°It¡¯s Major Convergence right? And Minor Space maybe? Though that bullet could have been enchanted by someone else,¡± Machua asked, not expecting an answer. ¡®Convergence is an Aspect that perfectly suits a long distance fighter. The knife looked like it flew towards my neck, almost like it was centring onto it, and it also flew back into his hand without following an angle. I think I remember a classmate having had it back in the day but I¡¯m not sure.¡¯ Machua walked forward as he thought. His foot eventually stopped on that big sniper rifle on the ground. He wrapped his mana around it, but as he expected, the spell he was casting broke. ¡°¡­ Did you really think your Major Dimension Aspect would work on that?¡± Machua shrugged. ¡°I was hoping the devouring mana would take all the mana out of it. But I guess you¡¯ve got enough protections-¡° Suddenly, Machua kicked the sniper rifle into the air and launched it straight at the man. The man¡¯s eyes widened. The sniper rifle barely missed him, but just as he was prepared to strike at the Machua who was surely following up, behind it, he found no one was there. ¡®Completely disappeared? No, he¡¯s¡­¡¯ The man rapidly turned back to his sniper rifle, just in time to protect himself from it being rapidly launched at him again. Even through the devouring mana, he could see Machua was already far up into the sky. Whether he was preparing for an attack or escaping, it didn¡¯t matter. It was a liability either way. He braced himself against the ground and prepared to take a shot. Machua flipped around in the air, steadying his feet onto ¡®solid ground.¡¯ He was poised to hop at maximum speeds. It was just as he was about to bounce, that his mana told him something was wrong. Just the slightest bit was off. ¡®Is he doing something? I can¡¯t tell, the devouring mana is in the way.¡¯ Machua figured it would be best to take out a dagger just in case. He bounced. And he shot. It was at the very last second that Machua spotted something coming his way. On sheer instinct, his mana flowed into his dagger and he hurriedly blocked the strike. The dagger¡¯s blade broke clean off, but the impact forced the bullet¡¯s trajectory to move slightly off its path. Instead of penetrating Machua¡¯s neck, it pierced his collar instead. The sudden pain made him lose control, and he crash-landed onto the ground instead of striking his target. Machua¡¯s hand grasped his wound and his mana flowed into his blood to quickly clot it. ¡®Went straight through me. At least it didn¡¯t break my collarbone.¡¯ ¡°Hah¡­¡± Machua deeply sighed. ¡°You laid your rifle on the ground when it still had a shot in it?¡± Unexpectedly though, nothing came at him. Normally, his enemy should have lunged straight at him, opportunistic as he was. It gave him time to treat his wounds a little, but he couldn¡¯t help but feel an ominous feeling. A feeling that was quickly proven right when all the devouring mana began swirling towards the centre of the crater. The dark and ominous mana stopped trying to devour Machua, revealing the red sky above. Machua quickly stood up and watched as the devouring mana retracted and began to reveal more and more of the crater. First was the broken pieces of a sceptre, something he didn¡¯t recognise at all. And the other was something he¡¯d recognise anywhere. A pair of shoes that were the same brand as his. A piece of wear he had seen almost every day and had stamped on his face too many times. Machua¡¯s hands gripped tighter. His face scrunched and grew serious. There was no more room for joking. The devouring mana rushed to the centre of the crater, to a half-broken greatsword that the man was now holding. His hand gripped it tightly, and his face was sweating as if it took a great amount of effort even just to hold it. ¡°Akzeriyyuth, it¡¯s me,¡± he mumbled. ¡°Get ahold of yourself for just a few minutes so we can accomplish the mission.¡± Machua didn¡¯t say anything. He spotted that the man had dropped his large dagger on the ground, so he went and picked it up. It was a finely enchanted piece of work, but rather bulky for a dagger. It must have been made for monster hunting rather than hunting people, but with the threat in front of him, it might as well be a monster. With the devouring mana having returned back to the weapon that made it, Machua finally had a full view of his opponent. He was a muscular middle-aged man with dark blue hair tied into a ponytail. He wore a bandanna on his head so his hair wouldn¡¯t get in the way of his eyes. His clothing was sleek and almost skin-tight, designed for flexibility above all. He had a belt and pants that held various little pockets and items on them. But other than that, the first thing to be noticed was that he was missing an arm. His left arm was missing, and it looked like it was blown off. It was recent, as the bleeding hadn¡¯t stopped and the bandages on it were hastily put together. As best as one could with just one arm anyhow. It was clear the left section of his chest was also injured as well. ¡°That¡­¡± Machua pointed with his hand, ¡°must have been because of my captain, right?¡± Once he confirmed the blade stopped wriggling in his hand, the blue-haired man allowed himself to sigh. ¡°You¡¯re right. Your captain blew us all up, killing not only himself but at least one of my allies.¡± ¡°And injuring you. Now that you¡¯ve met me, I¡¯ll make sure the job is finished.¡± The ferocious dagger in Machua¡¯s hand glistened with his mana. The mana began to glow in its natural colour, purple. But amidst all the purple, steaks of green, red, blue and a bevy of other colours shone as well. Machua¡¯s eyes, now that he wasn¡¯t restraining himself, began to shine those same colours. The man held out his greatsword. The greatsword began to emanate that same black and sinister mana as well. Both combatants took no time in rushing at each other. Their blades clashed with a heavy clanging noise, quickly superseded by the sound of scraping. The purple mana on Machua¡¯s dagger rotated like a chainsaw, each colour taking its turn clashing against the heavy greatsword. Machua¡¯s other hand quickly grasped the back of his dagger and pushed. ¡®Come on! Break through, break through damn it! Let me just cut through this guy and finish him off! I¡¯ll add as many dimensions as I need to!¡¯ His blade was losing steam though. Streaks of colour fizzled out into the air. Each one that was lost meant less and less power flowing through. And the less power meant that that broken greatsword was slowly making its way to him. Machua gritted his teeth and pumped even more mana into it. *Clang!* Suddenly, another sword lodged itself into the clash. It pushed back against the greatsword alongside Machua¡¯s dagger. After a second, it then easily launched the greatsword and the man behind it away. The sleek sword then tapped the tip of Machua¡¯s dagger, absorbing all the mana inside of it. The purple mana with all of its colours now swirled around the new sword and it swung towards the man. Clear flashes, with each colour coalesced in each of them appeared. Each one impacted the greatsword with great impunity. [Kaleido Shredder] ¡°Suka!¡± Machua happily called. Suka turned to Machua with a gentle smile. He was wearing some dirty clothing and had purplish-black hair but the most prominent features he had were his large and twisted horns and the shining, sleek sword in his hand. ¡°Even when I¡¯m its inventor, you¡¯re still the best wielder of Kaleido Shredder, huh?¡± ¡°You¡¯re the only one who can coat a weapon in all the dimensions for it to work,¡± Suka responded. ¡°Well, now that you¡¯re here, we can finish him off together! Let¡¯s get this done!¡± Machua exclaimed and walked past his friend. ¡°No, Machu.¡± Suka¡¯s hand laid on his friend¡¯s shoulder. ¡°You have somewhere else to be.¡± ¡°Wha-? He¡¯s right here, Suka! This is the guy that killed my captain! Galas of Erebus Squad! We already lost 2 of them, Suka! You¡¯re telling me to let him go!?¡± Machua¡¯s voice raised higher than he wanted to. Suka waited for Machua to finish. ¡°Suka, he¡¯s one of their higher-ups, he has to be! He fought my captain right here in this crater! He might even be the reason why¡­¡± Machua trailed off. Suka slowly balled his hand into a fist and thumped it against Machua¡¯s chest. ¡°I know. Jing¡¯s dead. And your mother is too. You¡¯ve lost practically everything. But I¡¯m not telling you to give up on vengeance. I¡¯m telling you to go help out Kalina.¡± That singular word. Kalina. It shook Machua out of his stupor. As if all the resentment, sadness and anger that built up in his body had disappeared. ¡°Where is she?¡± He asked. ¡°She¡¯s somewhere near Monad Square. All the buildings around it collapsed and there are hordes of monsters around it. You¡¯re the only way we can reach her. She¡¯s fighting a higher-up right now.¡± Machua knew the location well. Monad Square had a department store and movie theatre around it. Places he had frequented with his friends and his mother many times. He could definitely reach her in time. ¡°Machu. I¡¯ll cut him down for you. You focus on saving Kalina and everyone else. And after that, you can cry as much as you want, okay?¡± ¡°I¡¯m not a crybaby anymore, Su. But thanks for the offer. I¡¯ll be going now. And you better not lose.¡± ¡°Have you ever known me to lose a battle of swords? And besides, this man isn¡¯t a swordsman. In his hands, what he¡¯s wielding might as well be a hunk of junk.¡± ¡°Still, be careful. It¡¯s alive or something like that. It can emanate mana that devours other mana or living things. Bet you haven¡¯t seen that before,¡± Machua warned. ¡°I¡¯ve seen something similar,¡± Suka coolly responded. ¡°You¡¯ve- WHAT!? Aagh, never mind. I¡¯m really going now! Win!¡± Machua tapped Suka¡¯s sword and surrounded it with the same purple mana as before. After giving him a nod, he took off to the skies and began running on the air away from the crater. ¡°Thank you for waiting,¡± Suka said as the blue-haired man slowly carried his great sword. ¡°This wasn¡¯t a mercy. In my injured state, I thought it best to fight only one of you.¡± ¡°I see. Thank you regardless. It let me comfort Machu. Now, I can fight you with no worries.¡± The blue-haired man looked at the direction Machua was going in. ¡°You¡¯ve just sent him to his death. The Qliphoth member fighting Kalina Arswell is a brutal man who relishes in combat. He will destroy the both of them.¡± ¡°Then you underestimate their friendship. But why don¡¯t we stop this here? I¡¯m not a chatterbox like Machu is. And you don¡¯t like talking. Let¡¯s focus on our duel.¡± More mana emanated from the greatsword and the two rushed at each other. Prologue 2: City Fall (2) ¡°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?¡¯Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings. ¡°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. Prologue 3: City Fall (3) Millions of lights flew across the starry sky. Each one of them radiating a colour of their own, each light streaked across the starry sky, shooting down towards the earth. The sun gently shone in the background. My eyes slowly opened to that scene. My eyes were no longer tired, and my body no longer hurt. I stood far above the earth which was slowly reversing its time. I didn¡¯t know what I was at the moment, but I could watch all the events that had happened in the past 5 years go in reverse. ¡°Ah, that skyscraper. Captain Galas¡­¡± I muttered. ¡°¡­¡± ¡°I know you¡¯re there Jing.¡± I turned to my back. ¡°I could spot you a mile away.¡± Jingyun, my best friend, was awkwardly scratching the back of his head. He had a fierce-looking expression on his face, though that was just how he looked. His hair rough and tumble hair was let down for the first time in a long while. And he had a long brown lizard tail coming out of his behind. The tail dragged on the non-existent floor. ¡°¡­ Thanks. For finishing me off cleanly,¡± Jingyun stuttered as he thanked me. Jingyun was the arrogant and prideful type, so it was hard for him to say sorry. Always has been, ever since we were kids. ¡°You¡¯re welcome.¡± ¡°Ahem, I didn¡¯t see Suka here, soooo, he¡¯s the only one of us that survived.¡± ¡°Yeah¡­¡± I trailed off. I recalled the memory of having to finish Jingyun off. He came to the rescue of a few civilians and put himself into harm¡¯s way just to ensure none of them were hurt. His Penetration Aspect didn¡¯t pierce all, as he had always claimed it would. Ultimately, he was left bloodied and injured on the ground, gasping for air. He begged me to finish him off, and I obliged. I couldn¡¯t even carry his corpse out with me. ¡°Hah. Sword freak¡¯s a sword freak, it was expected. Of the 3 of us, he always was the battle maniac,¡± Jingyun sarcastically chuckled. ¡°¡­ If you don¡¯t mind me asking. Since you¡¯re and I¡¯m¡­ you know.¡± ¡°The person I fought was a warrior with raging red hair. She breathed flames at me and had a long red lizard tail. Her scales were tougher than any lizard. She must be a named member. And she might even be¡­¡± ¡°I¡¯ll do my research on her when the regression is done. I¡¯ll make sure you get your vengeance. I promise,¡± Machua raised a fist in Jingyun¡¯s direction. Jingyun reciprocated the gesture. ¡°While we¡¯re at it, tell me anything else that¡¯ll make you happy,¡± Machua added. ¡°Tell me all your wishes, now!¡± ¡°I-¡° Jing¡¯s cheeks went flush red. ¡°Come on! You¡¯re gonna forget anyway! No need to be embarrassed.¡± ¡°I-No. I¡¯m not doing that. I¡¯m not embarrassing myself in front of you again. You¡¯re going to have to find out yourself. And you have a good idea what it is anyway.¡± I folded my arms in indignation. ¡°Fine. Be that way. Stupid.¡± ¡°Stupi- Come here, I¡¯ll kill you.¡± ¡°Now, boys. Please calm yourselves, won¡¯t you?¡± That voice. I paused myself. It came from behind me, and I recognised that voice instantly. How couldn¡¯t I? That voice was the same voice I had been hearing for all my life. Teaching me, raising me, scolding, advising me. She¡­ was the eternal pillar of my entire life. I turned and ran straight into her arms. I hugged her as tight as I could. I tried my best to hold back the tears, but they slowly dripped out. I didn¡¯t care. My mother was here. ¡°Machu, didn¡¯t you say you weren¡¯t a crybaby anymore?¡± My mother sweetly asked. I slowly pulled back and stared at her. ¡°You heard that, mami?¡± ¡°Of course I did. I¡¯m dead after all. If I was haunting anyone, it would have to be you. At least until you¡¯re in a safe place. Though knowing you, I¡¯m sure that¡¯s not gonna happen until it¡¯s all finished. Isn¡¯t that right?¡± Mami wiped away my tears gently and comforted me. Briefly, I remembered how our house look. Totally destroyed. The rubble had crushed her underneath, so I had only seen just one piece of her. But now, she was here, whole. Mami, who had long black hair in the same wavy way I had. People often said I looked like a mini-her, though just without the chest. I took pride in that statement. Her eyes were as warm as ever and her face was as comforting as they were decades ago. I almost felt like a child again. ¡°It won¡¯t. Not until everyone¡¯s happy. That¡¯s the promise I made to Kal.¡± ¡°Speaking of. Since she¡¯s the one who sent you here instead of me, you better take good care of her in the next one, okay? Her, Carmine, Mikoko and everyone else.¡± ¡°Why¡¯d you single those 3 out?¡± I asked reflexively. ¡°I intend to take care of everyone. That counts for everyone I failed and everyone that died here too. I¡¯ll make sure they live and that they can have another chance at a new life.¡± ¡°That¡¯s my boy.¡± I smiled at my mami and then at Jingyun. For now, I was happy as can be that these 2 were here. Even if they were going to forget this and past 5 years, my connection them was all the way from childhood, so there¡¯s no way we would lose our bonds. ¡°Oh yeah. Speaking of. Why are you guys here? I thought I¡¯d be the only one.¡± ¡°It¡¯s a regression du-¡° Jing paused to correct himself, ¡°-dummy. Everyone who died in the past 5 years is coming back to life. So all of our souls have to make the journey back to our bodies.¡± ¡°Then why aren¡¯t you? Or you, mami? You two died recently,¡± I asked. ¡°The two of us already went. Us two here are just pieces of our original souls, small pieces that could be discarded. We came here so you¡¯d have company.¡± ¡°Company watching the renewal of the world. That sounds nice.¡± I sat on the ¡®ground¡¯ and watched the Earth flow back in time. I didn¡¯t know how far it had gone, but it must have been at least halfway done by now. Mami and Jing sat down next to me. They silently watched the world turn back with me, with streaking light shooting down as it went. I noticed a particularly big cluster shot down at one spot. A lot of people had died there. ¡°That¡¯s¡­ Lemuel¡¯s death,¡± I muttered. Lemuel was my captain¡¯s comrade on Erebus Squad. He died a few years prior protecting an entire City in a monster attack. Thinking back on it, Qliphoth must have engineered his demise. With his mastery of Barriers, I had to save him this time. ¡°Hmm¡­ There¡¯s that event and then that one too. Oh, I should see if I can solve Carmine¡¯s family issue with her little sister too. Maybe I¡¯ll visit¡­¡± Suddenly, I received a chop to my head.Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit. ¡°Ow! Mami!¡± I exclaimed in pain. ¡°Just watch, Machu. No need to tire yourself out. You¡¯ve got all the time in the world to plan, don¡¯t you? I¡¯m here, and I¡¯m telling you this is break time.¡± ¡°Aahh¡­. fine.¡± The world continued to turn back. Volcanoes un-spewed their magma, tsunamis flowed back into the ocean, the earth reformed from their earthquakes. All the disasters that existed in this world reversed itself. The vast land I was born in reshaped itself like a mould, fixing itself up as if it was brand new. I wondered if the Time Angel looked on the world as I did. I wondered; did he have the same view as mine? In his time, he went through the Mana Emergence. An event that was caused by the surging of the underlying mana of the world. The mana shot into everyone and forced them to evolve or die. 90% of the world died trying to evolve. And the rest of the 10% had to adapt to a disaster-filled world and monsters no one knew how to fight. And then he regressed. He turned back the clock. Pre-Mana Emergence, a time without mana. And he went on to unite and save the world. He formed the Lancets and allowed at least 30% of humanity then to survive in Cities. But that was after he regressed. I wondered how he looked like when he looked upon the world like this. Tens of millions, no, billions of souls must have streaked past him. The Earth must have changed so radically it was almost unrecognisable to what it was before. What giant monsters he must have fought. I heard he fought dragons and giant sea serpents. I heard he fought the Moon at one point in time, but that clearly wasn¡¯t true. Him and his Lancets must have gone on so many adventures together. And I was supposed to be the next regressor? Me? Just a Dimension boy grown and raised in one measly City? I wasn¡¯t even this era¡¯s Time holder, that was Kalina. ¡°I guess¡­ I¡¯ll just have to ask her next time I see her. I¡¯ll prove to her I¡¯m a regressor even though it shouldn¡¯t be possible,¡± I muttered while relaxing my back. ¡°Oh! It¡¯s time!¡± Mami suddenly exclaimed. ¡°Come on, Machu you have to go!¡± ¡°Yeah, you have to return back to your body,¡± Jingyun added. ¡°Return back?¡± ¡°Yeah. You¡¯re a soul too right now, Machu. Otherwise you wouldn¡¯t be up here. You¡¯re the only one going to remember so it makes sense you wouldn¡¯t be down there. Now go!¡± Mami slapped me on the back and pushed me towards the Earth. I found that my body was pulled by a strangely familiar mana. The same kind of mana that laid in Kalina¡¯s pocket watch. ¡°¡­ Okay! Mami, I¡¯ll be the best son ever! Jing, I¡¯ll help you become a real dragon! Even though dragonkin don¡¯t exist!¡± I started running. Running towards the Earth. I didn¡¯t give a second look back. I knew they must have dissolved by now. They were just shards of a soul, not even the full thing. But that didn¡¯t matter. I had a job to do. I ran and I ran and I ran. Past down the clouds. Past the Flying City. Flying monsters reversed their movement while I ran past them. I soon saw Erelier, but I ran past it too. That wasn¡¯t where my body was 5 years ago. Nah, if it were 5 years ago, I would have still been on that intercity trip. So, it must be¡­ ¡°Sicuso!¡± I exclaimed as the City came into view. I ran into Sicuso, finally planting my feet on the ground. The bustling City of Sicuso, where I spent a few weeks training to be a baker. I felt my soul pull in the direction of the hospital, but I wanted to check on the old bakery first. I sprinted down the street of reversing people and finally skidded to a stop right next to it. Berry Your Bread. I almost wanted to step inside, but I realised I could just do that as soon as I got back. So, I didn¡¯t. It was still doing good. Suddenly, the door opened backwards and a trio of people walked backwards out of it. The guy at the front instantly irked me. ¡°Maybe I won¡¯t visit the bakery then,¡± I muttered as I looked at his stupid face went backwards into the crowd. That stupid scarecrow haircut that covered an eye. The most garish man I had ever met. The most annoying too. What kind of gangster loves bread so much he visits the bakery every 3 days anyway? I¡¯ll just avoid him when I get back. With a slight hop, I went back to sprinting. I climbed up a building and began hopping my way across town. In the distance I spotted the hospital I was staying in at the time. I ran up the hill it was on top of. Excitement filled my heart as I shot up the hill. It was all gonna be great. This regression was gonna go perfectly. I ran and ran until I finally spotted myself. My body, whose hair was shorter than what it was in the future. He was sitting on a bench, looking at the sunset. I must have been recently discharged. I sat down next to the past me and gazed at that same sunset. I wondered, how many times had I seen a sunset? I had seen so many in all the dimensions I created. But none of them ever compared to the real thing. Yeah, none of them ever would. So I had better get back to looking at the real thing. I practically lunged into my own body. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª I opened my eyes to see that same sunset looking back at me. My hair was shorter now and I was missing all the scars I once had. To be sure, I checked the year on my phone. 994 AR (After Regression). Though I guess it¡¯s 0 AR now, wasn¡¯t it? It was the right time. I got up from the bench and stretched my body. My body was much weaker than it used to be or will be. As I was stretching though, a mysterious object fell out of a pocket. ¡°This is¡­ Kalina¡¯s pocket watch.¡± I bent down and picked it up. I held it up to my face and observed the clock. The hour hand was no longer spinning. I sent my mana through it, but the strangely familiar mana was no longer emanating from it. This pocket watch was broken. ¡°The price to pay. That¡¯s right. But I can use this to prove to Kalina I¡¯m the regressor.¡± I flipped the pocket watch to confirm the inscription on the back was still the same. Yep, ¡®Durante.¡¯ So, Durante was the one thing that came back with me. ¡®I guess this thing¡¯s mine now. Kalina has one of her own anyway. She doesn¡¯t need 2,¡¯ I thought. I placed it back into my pocket. I flowed my mana throughout my body. It was my mana, just a bit stranger to me now. ¡°Right! I didn¡¯t have an Aspect at the time,¡± I exclaimed aloud. I closed my eyes and felt the changes in my mana. I felt the same Dimension Aspect I was used to, but I could feel something else. Dimension was still a part of me but to a lesser degree. This extra part of me, it was unfamiliar. After a few seconds of feeling it out, I figured it out. ¡°Major Ephemerality and Minor Dimension? So regressing changed my Aspects too.¡± I didn¡¯t know how I felt about this, but I realised soon that it didn¡¯t matter. I was going to save everyone. I was going to change fate. With that hope in my heart, I looked at the sunset. ¡°I¡¯ll do it, Kal. I¡¯ll make everyone happy.¡± ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª ¡°Once again, we at Erelier Airport would like to apologise for the late arrival. Due to unforeseen complications, the next flight aboard the Errant will be delayed even further due to maintenance. Any passengers who were aboard the Errant are entitled to their next flight on the Errant free.¡± ¡°As if I wanna ride that airship ever again,¡± murmured a black-haired woman. The woman had just left the in-airport showers and was carrying some of her dirty clothes in a very bloody plastic bag. Even after all her effort scrubbing herself off of all the monster guts, you could very clearly smell them on her. ¡®I should probably just throw away these clothes,¡¯ thought the woman. She grimaced at the thought. The clothes she wore when the airship was attacked were some of her favourites that she purchased abroad, so it was pretty disheartening to lose them so soon. If there was one thing to be thankful for, it was that the monster attack was pretty weak. Every Hunter onboard dealt with the monsters easily and there were no casualties. The only casualty was the cleanliness of everyone inside, as one of the giant bats somehow got past the Hunters. It was killed before it could do anything, but the result, well, the result was that everyone got a face full of monster guts. Which led to a bunch of yelling and then a bunch of showering and so on. The woman made her way towards the airport exit, dumping her dirty clothes along the way. She sighed again as she walked out. She was originally planning on heading straight home to surprise her mom, but the whole smelling like bat guts thing would make it awkward. She considered if she should stay at a hotel first, but with how her mom was, she¡¯d press her on it and make it annoying. ¡°Ah, she¡¯ll understand,¡± the woman waved away the issue. As the woman made her way through customs, she finally headed out to the exit. There was quite a bit of people there, all waiting for loved ones. She, of course, didn¡¯t have any. This was a surprise trip after all. Suddenly, the woman stopped straight in her tracks. In the middle of the crowd stood a person who looked exactly like her. It wasn¡¯t a passing resemblance either, they wore the same clothes she did and even did up their hair as she did. In their hands, they held a sign that said: ¡®Looking for the person who looks exactly like me!¡¯ The person was carrying a cheeky smile on their face. The woman grimaced at that smile. It was the same smile she made whenever she was planning on pranking her friends. Only now did she get why they hated it. Before the woman could avert her gaze and try to escape though, the person called her. ¡°Machua! Over here!¡± The person wasn¡¯t particularly loud, but Machua felt as if she could hear him even in the thickest of crowds. ¡®Okay, okay. He can¡¯t try anything in the middle of an airport. And if he does, just call for security and whack him with your suitcase.¡¯ Machua calmed herself down and slowly made eye contact with the person again. He smiled as she did so, the exact same sort of smile she¡¯d see in the mirror all the time. If it were anyone else, they¡¯d think the two were twins, but Machua knew for a fact she was an only child. It was undeniable that this was a stranger. Yet, despite that, she made her way closer to them. ¡°Who the hell are you!?¡± Machua asked vehemently, her finger pointing at their¡­ everything. ¡°I¡¯m you?¡± The person tilted their head in confusion. Machua¡¯s hand tightened on her suitcase. At any moment, she was ready to strike. Despite that, this other ¡®Machua¡¯ still acted carefree. ¡°Or to be more precise. I¡¯m probably your summon or your clone or something like that.¡± Machua gauged whether this statement could be true. After a millisecond of it, she came to the conclusion it was total bullshit. This guy was not telling the truth, they were lying to her, this was probably a twin scam or something. ¡°I don¡¯t have an Aspect, I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re talking about creep. Now, stay the hell away from me or-¡° Before Machua could continue, the man interjected. ¡°It¡¯s been a year since I first appeared in Sicuso, you know?¡± Machua froze. A year ago in Sicuso? If it was a year ago, then her mind instantly focused on one specific event. ¡°When I was stuck in the hospital suddenly? It was one of the worst mana drainage of my life.¡± ¡°That¡¯s right. You were stuck there because I appeared. I think,¡± the other Machua added. ¡°No. That still doesn¡¯t make sense. How the hell did-¡° ¡°Hah¡­¡± The person deeply sighed before suddenly flicking Machua on the forehead. For a second, Machua¡¯s eyes glazed over, but in the next she saw a sight that couldn¡¯t have been real. She and the man before her were now standing in the centre of a dense forest. In the next second, they were standing in a broken down city with destroyed buildings all over the place. And after that, they were standing in a vast plains. Before they could move to the next however, the person interrupted her. ¡°Focus on one thing Machua. This is your Aspect, you can choose the setting, so take us back.¡± With that instruction, the world around them rapidly shifted back to the airport. Machua was still holding her luggage and the person was still holding their sign. ¡°That¡¯s my Aspect?¡± Machua wanted to ask what its name was, only to be interrupted by herself. The mana in her body roared, and after a second of calming her mana down, a singular word rose to her head. ¡®Dimension.¡¯ ¡°Who¡­ who the hell even are you?¡± Machua asked, her voice no longer raised so high. ¡°I told you. I¡¯m you. Or your clone or summon or something like that. I don¡¯t know the details,¡± this other Machua shrugged like it was no big deal. ¡°That doesn¡¯t explain anything, you know that.¡± ¡°As far as I know, I¡¯m a version of you that was born a guy. Might have something to do with our Dimension Aspect and World Trait,¡± Male Machua shrugged again. It seemed like he already made his peace with not knowing fully. ¡°Prove it then. Tell me something only Machua would know. You could still be doing a big scam on me.¡± ¡°You nearly burned down the house cause you couldn¡¯t cast Fireball correctly. It was in our room, and you wanted to just make a tiny ball between your hands but it got on the curtains and-¡° ¡°Enough, enough! I get it, okay? You don¡¯t know how you got here. But you¡¯re here now. There¡¯s a whole bunch of other issues, so let¡¯s tackle them slowly.¡± Machua turned to walk out of the airport with her suitcase. Her double followed along. She had a slight skip on her step. Her dream had just come through, after all. She finally got her Aspect. ¡°Sooo, what¡¯s your name?¡± Machua asked with an upbeat attitude. ¡°I¡­ I¡¯ve been using Machua,¡± Machua but a guy hesitated. ¡°What? So you¡¯ve been running around for a year using my name!?¡± Machua exclaimed a bit louder than she wanted to. Male Machua raised his hands in a false surrender pose. ¡°What else was I supposed to use?¡± ¡°Hmm¡­ Since you¡¯re me but a guy¡­¡± Machua muttered. Her brain went into overdrive thinking up potential names. This was a really important choice. This was naming basically another human being. She couldn¡¯t fuck this up. No way. ¡°How about.. Machia? Ki-a.¡° The other Machua paused, taking his time to consider it. He looked a bit sad at the idea of renaming himself. Though, looking at her smile so innocently, so proud of herself made him accept it on the spot. ¡°Machia. That¡¯s good. But won¡¯t it get confusing?¡± ¡°Oh, it¡¯s fine. If people get us confused, we just have to tell them straight. You¡¯re here and they¡¯re gonna have to deal with it.¡± ¡°Oh!¡± Machua suddenly exclaimed. ¡°We have got to prank Yoona and Naiya. And mami! Come on, let¡¯s go home!¡± ¡°Yeah, Machu. Let¡¯s go home,¡± spoke Machia.