The group trudged back toward the Goblin colony. Two students were in critical condition, forcing the team to rotate carrying them, which slowed their pace to a crawl. Joffrey's face was a mask of suppressed rage; his gritted teeth told the story of a man cursing their retreat. Yet, he followed in silence.
Dan's mind was a whirlwind. The demon, Falric… he had been so calm, fighting with a restrained elegance as if intentionally giving them a sliver of hope. Then his partner appeared, and that hope vanished in a heartbeat.
Dan realized then: Falric wasn't just a killer. He was a sadist who waited for the perfect moment to watch the light die in his victims' eyes. How can a creature possess such chilling malice? Dan wondered, glancing at the trembling survivors.
He carried a secret he couldn't share. Every time he tried to explain his ability to regress upon death, his tongue felt heavy, as if an invisible force was gagging him.
His thoughts were interrupted by a sight that made his blood run cold. Black smoke was billowing from the direction of the colony.
"Smoke!" Dan shouted.
Roen and Liam didn't wait. They bolted forward. As the charred ruins of the colony came into view, Dan's heart sank. The settlement was a smoldering graveyard.
"Everyone! Where are you?" Dan yelled into the haze.
He found Roen standing frozen, staring at a patch of scorched earth. Dan followed his gaze and stopped dead. Charred, unrecognizable corpses lay scattered in the ash.
"That's... Zalin and the others," Roen whispered, his voice a jagged mix of grief and simmering fury.
The rest of the group caught up, their faces pale with shock. One student let out a stifled sob.
"Was this the demon's doing?" Cain asked, his voice barely audible.
"No," Joffrey snapped, clinging to logic. "He uses lightning. I've never seen him touch fire."
A heavy, hellish silence followed. Then Dan spoke, his voice like a cold blade. "There's another one."
They all turned to him. "Another demon," Dan confirmed.
"How can you be sure?" Cain asked.
Roen closed his eyes, sensing the atmosphere. "He's right. The residual mana here isn't human... it's demonic. And I can tell which way he went."
Not toward the cave, Dan noted. He tightened his grip on his sword. "We move now! if we want to leave this Gate alive, we have to take one of them down while they're separated."
Liam nodded in grim agreement. Joffrey ordered one student to stay with the wounded and turned to his scout. "Cyril, you're with us."
Cyril hesitated, his face pale, but he followed. He was their best tracker, and his speed was his only insurance.
As they neared the source of the mana, Cyril raised a hand. "Wait... look."
Ahead, the Fire Demon was "playing" with a monstrous insect—a gargantuan creature with a shimmering black carapace laced with glowing red cracks. It snapped its metallic mandibles, lunging at the demon with frantic desperation.
The demon danced around the beast, dodging its serrated legs with mocking ease. He fired a small burst of flame, testing the creature's armor. It was a cruel game of cat and mouse.
Dan caught Roen's eye. Roen understood instantly and launched a surprise lightning strike. It wasn't a killing blow, but it created an opening. The demon, startled, was caught by the insect's massive claw. He roared in pain and fury.
"NOW!" Liam bellowed.
The group surged forward, exploiting the chaos. The Fire Demon was weaker than Falric. Under the combined pressure of the group and the enraged insect, he began to falter.
Suddenly, the demon raised his arm, and a pillar of fire erupted into the sky, piercing the clouds.
"What is he doing?" Dan muttered.
The fight intensified, but just as they thought they had the upper hand, a bolt of lightning struck the insect, killing it instantly.
Falric stepped out of the shadows, his trademark mysterious smile firmly in place. "Need some help, brother?"
"Where were you? Why so late?" the Fire Demon snarled.
Dan's heart plummeted. The pillar of fire hadn't been an attack—it was a distress signal.
Cyril, overcome by terror, turned and fled into the woods. "Coward!" Joffrey yelled, but he couldn't leave the front line.
"One of you ran away... I can't blame him, honestly," Falric said with a mocking lilt.
Dan knew the ending of this script. They were going to die. Again.
He decided then to die on his own terms. "Don't retreat!" Liam screamed as the battle turned into a slaughterhouse.
Dan stepped forward, his gaze unnervingly calm. He knew there was zero hope as long as the two demons were united. He needed to reset.
When Falric lunged at him, Dan didn't lift his sword. He didn't even flinch. He let the claws pierce his chest without resistance.
Falric paused, his head tilted in cold curiosity. "Strange... you wanted to die."
His teammates screamed in horror, unable to comprehend his actions as Dan's blood soaked the earth. Dan closed his eyes, welcoming the darkness as the sounds of battle faded away.
"The injured won't survive until morning," Joffrey said, pointing to Liam.
Dan took a deep breath. He looked at Roen, Joffrey, and Cain. They were alive. He had successfully pulled the thread of time back.
"Dan," Cain called out. "What's the verdict?"
Dan looked at the path toward the cave, then back toward the colony. He knew now that the colony was a trap, and the cave was a dead end.
"We're going back to the colony," Dan said firmly.