"Yo... you don't m-move," the guard stammered, his spear shaking in his grip.
The demon slowly turned its head toward him, its blackened horns glinting under the fractured sunlight. "You are moving more than me, human," it said dryly, its voice like gravel dragged across steel.
"HEY! WHERE ARE YOU LOOKING AT?!" Sunfield barked, stepping forward.
The demon tilted its head. "Apologies, missus. I didn't realize you were in such a rush to die. But you'll have to wait. The boy goes first."
Stan inched backward, just a step, enough to lean close to Nito. He whispered, "Hey... what happens if you die? Like, with your powers?"
Nito scratched his head like it was a pop quiz he didn't study for. "Uh, I go back in time… like five to ten minutes. Why?"
Stan blinked. "...Means I don't have to protect you?"
"Wow," Nito frowned. "First you don't care if Sunfield lives, now me? What are you, a monster?"
Stan said nothing. He simply looked away with a face so blank it could've been a loading screen.
"Hey! Don't ignore me!" Nito snapped.
Suddenly—"INCOMING!" Sunfield screamed.
The demon lunged—lightning-fast, ignoring Sunfield completely. Its gauntlets aimed straight for Stan.
Steel clashed.
Stan raised his sword just in time, catching the demon's gauntlet mid-swipe.The force of the impact sent shockwaves through the air.
Then, chaos.
The demon unleashed a flurry—faster than most eyes could follow. Stan could only block by instinct, each motion of his sword a heartbeat away from death. Every contact between blade and gauntlet was deadly silent, as if the sound itself was too afraid to echo.
Wind danced. Magic stirred.
"Don't forget me!" Sunfield's voice rang out like thunder. She raised her bow, the string glowing with raw wind energy. She loosed the arrow—a streak of whirling green light that howled like a storm.
Stan saw it. He moved—leaping backward, leveling his blade forward.
The arrow hit.
A vortex erupted. The demon was yanked off its feet, sucked into the cyclone. Buildings groaned. Debris flew. The street itself cracked as loose crates, shattered glass, and everything vanished into the swirling wind.
Stan gritted his teeth. "Isn't this way too much collateral damage?!"
Sunfield didn't answer directly. Instead, she asked, "Can your power—that slash thing—stop the demon from coming back in time, too?"
Stan's mind flashed back to the first time he cut through the distortion. Behind him… the world hadn't changed. The broken windows had stayed shattered. The air had remained still.
He nodded. "Yeah. It can."
"Perfect," she said, stringing another arrow. "Here's the plan. We kill that bastard. No matter what it takes. Don't worry about collateral—Nito will reset time if things go too south. And you," she turned to Stan, "make sure the demon doesn't cheat his way back from the past again. Got it?"
Stan and Nito nodded together—synchronized, for once.
Sunfield tossed something to stan.
'What's it?' Stan asked.
From this you can communicate with us from far away.
'Stan put the com in his pants pocket.
---------
The dust began to settle.
The demon rose again. Its armor cracked, blood dripping, eyes burning brighter than before. But slower. Weakened. Breathing heavier.
Three figures stood firm before it.
Stan, sword glowing faintly black.
Sunfield, her eyes cold, her bow ready.
Nito, cracking his knuckles and trying to look way braver than he felt.
The battlefield was set.
And the real fight was just beginning.
-------
The demon healed.
Sunfield narrowed her eyes. "Tch… regeneration."
"Great," Nito muttered.
Stan gripped his sword tighter, " deep breath "
The demon didn't wait.
It lunged again—faster, meaner. This time, its gauntlets moved in more unpredictable patterns.
Sunfield fired enchanted arrows from the flank, weaving wind into each shot—but the demon dodged mid-combat, using Stan's sword as cover.
"Move!" she cried out.
But she was too late.
The demon vanished and reappeared behind her. One blow.
A sound like thunder cracked the air.
Sunfield was struck through the chest. Her body flew back, skidding across stone, her bow clattering beside her.
"No—!" Stan shouted, panic and fury igniting inside him.
Sunfield didn't move.
Nito froze, his usual bluster gone. "Sunfield...?"
Stan stood in front of her fallen form, sword trembling. He looked up at the demon, whose gauntlets dripped with her blood, and something inside him snapped.
He turned and ran.
The demon, curious, followed.
Through shattered streets and collapsed buildings, across bridges and broken alleys, Stan led it—fast and desperate—until the town ended.
---------
Stan led the demon to where the gigongomos appeared.
Flat earth scattered with massive craters—footprints the size of small lakes.
Stan stopped at the center of one enormous footprint. Dirt and cracked stone surrounded him. He turned to face the demon.
"Hey ugly!" he shouted, waving his sword. "Come get me!"
The demon roared and charged.
"Nito!" Stan yelled, glancing over his shoulder. "Now! Bring time back! Bring it back to when the Gigongomos first attacked!"
Nito, still back in the city ruins, heard the command through their comm stone. He didn't hesitate—clasped his hand to his chest, closed his eyes, and activated his chronomancy.
The air cracked.
Time reversed—a ripple expanding like shattering glass reforming.
Stan felt it. The pressure of the moment returning—the quake of giant steps, the wind pushing against him as time bent.
But he had one more move to make.
As the world began to rewind, Stan thrust towards the distortion— cutting past the demon.
SLASH!
A clean, sharp cut through the distortion.
The demon stumbled forward—stuck in the present—just in time to look up.
THOOOOOM!!
The shadow covered them both.
A gigantic foot—dark, rough, mountainous—descended from above like a god's punishment. The Gigongomos had arrived in the rewound timeline, unaware, uncaring.
The demon had no time to flee.
CRASH.
The ground shook as the foot approached. The wind swirled. The dust spreads up.
Silence
the dust settled…
Nothing remained.
Only a crushed crater beneath the Gigongomos' heel.
Stan panted. He barely passed the foot of gigongomos.
Stan didn't speak.
He just looked at the crushed demon.
BOOM!!
Stan looks up and sees that like before two arrows.
As before, the arrows split—each into four deadly shards. The first wave targeted the creatures' eyes, the second went for their feet. One of the beasts leapt to dodge the arrows, as expected.
But the second arrow set—a twist.
The shards that had scattered upward suddenly angled downward, trampling the exact spot the creature landed. It stumbled. Its foot slipped on destabilized ground, and it collapsed with a thunderous crash.
Second takedown—executed perfectly.
Nito perfectly rewound the time.
'Not bad teamwork nito' stan said into the air.
----------
Later…..
Stan heading towards his office saw the Imperial officers heading towards the fallen gigongomos. Just like before.
Stan quietly stepped between the horde.
--------
Stan reached his office. Where he found Nito and Sunfield talking to each other. More like clashing. With words.
Stan reached them. 'Why clashing folks'
Nito and Sunfield faced towards stan.
'I was just telling her what happened.' Nito says.
' your plan was good, well it's not like if I have time i wasn't able to defeat that demon though' Sunfield speaks.
Stan stepped towards his office main gate and opened it pointing to get in.
Stan quietly headed towards the second floor where his office room is.
Stan entered His office gate tailed by Nito and Sunfield.
Told them to sit on the 2 chairs on one side of his desk and sat towards the other side.
'Water?' Stan asked.
'No' they replied in unison.
'alright then'.
Stan sitting in front of Nito and Sunfield. With hands folded. An unsettling smile on his face.
Breaking the silence Sunfield speaks.' Hey, why does it look like an interrogation?'
'Because it is' stan replied swiftly.
'Now shall we begin, "folks"'.