The ground split open like a wound as the Demikruel roared, its voice was a scary mixture of two souls crying from the same throat.
The entire bunker shook; the walls twisted, metal groaning as the creature's sharp claws dug deep into the floor. A pulse of red-black energy burst outward, and everything in its reach began to rot.
Grace could barely breathe. Every muscle in her body screamed. Her knees hit the cracked tiles as she struggled to keep her power stable. Her hands glowed blue-white, forming a temporary temporal wall to stop the next surge, but the barrier cracked almost instantly under the Demikruel's strength.
"Stop it...." she whispered, coughing blood.
The Demikruel screeched, its twisted, fused faces twitching as if arguing with one another. "Deeieee.… graaace.… kiiiiill.…"
It powered up again.
The air thickened. The monster's chest opened like a blooming flower of flesh, and a core of liquid time floated inside. Its own heart pulsing backward in rhythm. Around it, a new gold, black and translucent shield had formed. Layers of warped dimension folding over each other like books. stacked in infinity.
Grace barely managed to anchor herself as the shockwave hit. She slid backward, her blade scraping against the ground, sparks flying. The survivors screamed from behind the bunker walls.
Grace threw her arm forward, trying to slow the beast again, but the Demikruel charged faster. Its barrier absorbing every attack and reflecting bursts of warped time that knocked her back even harder. Her ribs broke with a loud snap.
The monster's claw came down.
Grace raised both hands to block and barely managing to catch the strike in a flickering field of energy. The impact crushed the ground, sending ripples through the air.
Her bones broke apart cruelly.
The shield around the Demikruel expanded again, a dome of distorted light swallowing half the bunker. Grace's body was barely able to move, her fever returning like fire under her skin. She gritted her teeth, forcing herself to hold the barrier back, even as her knees gave way.
The Demikruel leaned close. Its twin mouths drooling black ichor, breath hot and rancid. "Ti…me... en...ds…"
The claw rose again.
A pink streak tore through the air.
A loud clang! recalled as something deflected the strike mid-swing. The Demikruel stumbled back a step, a dent marking its own barrier.
Grace blinked through the dust.
Standing between her and the monster was our Mr. Princess Poet, Rosario Enrico.
His long pink hair whipped in the heat, and his red sentinel robe flowed like fire. His eyes glowed faintly crimson, expression calm but sharp as a blade.
Grace could barely speak out any word. "R–Rosario.…?"
He didn't look back. "You did enough," he said quietly, voice steady. "Go take a breath. I'll handle it from here."
The Demikruel roared again, its shield flickering with violent energy. Rosario smirked faintly, cracking his neck. "Loud thing. Guess you don't remember who you're dealing with."
He extended his right hand, and from thin air, he manifested his Omen, a black dagger.
Rosario twirled it once, letting sparks dance across the floor. "Let's see if your barrier can hold against fate-saw."
Grace tried to stand, but her body refused. She could only watch as Rosario stepped forward, the black reflection of his Omen glowing brighter with each stride.
The Demikruel hissed, energy swirling, and its shield thickened even more shimmering layers upon layers of golden reflections. Rosario narrowed his eyes. "So that's what's keeping you smug."
He stabbed the dagger into the ground. The shockwave burst outward, pure omen energy yet even that powerful surge bent around the shield like wind around a mountain.
Rosario grinned slightly, half-impressed. "Heh…. now that's annoying."
The monster lunged. Rosario blocked, the impact sending a red ripple through the entire chamber.
Grace, half-conscious, whispered weakly, "That shield.… That is troublesome.…"
Rosario looked at her from the corner of his eye, fire burning in his voice. "Then I'll break the law of troublesome."
He raised his Omen again, crimson light crawling up his arms, veins glowing as he prepared to fight the impossible.
Grace lay against the wall, half-conscious, her breathing shallow. Dust floated through the air like falling snow, and the cracked ceiling let small streaks of dying sunlight spill through.
The Demikruel stood in front of her. A horror of fused bodies, its shape constantly twisting like wet clay. Two heads merged into one, eyes dripping liquid blood, fangs uneven, and its long arms flexing with the sound of tearing tendons.
That barrier was what made it impossible to touch and in front of it stood Rosario, alone.
His robe fluttered slightly, torn at one shoulder, his pink hair glowing faintly under the red light. He didn't look at Grace or the bunker behind her. His entire attention was fixed on that monster.
Rosario rolled the dagger between his fingers once, breathing slow.
His expression calm, eyes narrowed.
Inside his head, his thoughts were moving fast, calculating upcoming moves. His dagger is capable of changing possibilities or cut fate of ones it hits.
If I strike the shield a hundred times, there's only a ten percent chance I'll break through…. but I only need one hit. One that lands right, will end right.
He slid one foot back, shifted his body low, his stance almost like a dancer preparing for rhythm instead of war. The Demikruel screeched, its voice like a broken trumpet. The air rippled.
Then Rosario vanished.
A blink, a whisper of air and the flash of red appeared beside the creature. His dagger sliced through the side of the shield, sparks of energy bursting outward. The shield bent but didn't crack.
The monster's arm swung at him. Rosario ducked, then reappeared on the other side, stabbing again. Another hit.
He teleported in a short distance, sharp jumps through shadows, using the dagger's link to distort his position. One moment he was above, stabbing downward. The next, he was behind it, slashing at the ribs. Every movement came with a planned force, like the world couldn't keep up with his speed.
But the Demikruel was adapting. Its claws swiped wider, its energy turned thicker. Rosario dodged by a hair's width, rolling back across debris, using broken pillars as cover. The monster slammed down, breaking the ground where he stood a second ago.
Rosario stood again, wiping blood from his mouth. He had a cut across his cheek, a bruise on his shoulder, but his eyes never left the target.
Alright, he thought, flexing his hand, you're faster now. That means your defense is stretching thinner.
He vanished again. One stab, two, three. His dagger cracked a little on the tenth hit. The shield rippled violently but stayed whole.
The monster screeched, frustrated. It raised both its twisted arms and slammed down. Rosario barely dodged but was sent flying from the shockwave. He hit the ground hard, rolling across rubble. His ribs ached. He sighted roughly.
Grace weakly shouted, "Rosario!"
He didn't answer. He spat blood, stood again, and smiled slightly. A crooked, mischievous grin that didn't match the chaos around him. "You're tough, huh Luck's still mine."
He teleported again, this time moving unpredictably. First left, right, up, then suddenly behind its head. The dagger flashed, hit the shield again. No good result.
The monster twisted and tried to grab him, claws closing around air. Rosario jumped backward, teleporting mid-air and reappearing beneath its belly, stabbing again. The shield....
He was getting slower, cuts and bruises marking his body. Each failed strike made his hands tremble slightly.
Ninety hits.... I'm almost there. I just need that one gap.
The Demikruel roared. Its eyes flared white. It raised one arm, energy gathered into its claw.
Rosario teleported at the same moment, appearing at its shoulder, and stabbed forward with every ounce of strength left.
CRACK!
The shield split, a thin fracture running down like glass. Rosario's eyes widened and he smiled sharply, victorious grin of a man who'd been waiting exactly for this.
The dagger sank deeper through the shield straight into the monster's flesh.
The Demikruel screamed, its voice shaking the whole bunker. Rosario twisted his wrist, and the Omen flickered with black lightning. The shield shattered completely, collapsing into thin air like ash in the wind.
Rosario whispered, almost to himself, "Fate is my slave, dummy."
He pulled the dagger out, then moved faster than sight, twice faster than light. His arms blurred. His feet barely touched the ground. Every motion was a cut, a slash, a strike that came and vanished before sound followed.
The Demikruel tried to regenerate, but Rosario didn't stop. Each hit left streaks of black light in the air. His dagger howled through the unstoppable force of motion cutting arms, chest, legs, faces, splitting through bones like smoke.
Pieces of the monster fell in every direction, then dissolved into red mist. Its scream faded into static. Rosario didn't even pause. He kept slicing swiftly until the Demikruel was no longer there. Just only air, dust, and the atoms dissolving away.
Rosario finally stopped. His dagger dripped, steaming black liquid. His hand trembled a bit, but he smiled exaggeratedly—half exhausted, half proud.
He turned his head slightly toward Grace, who was still sitting against the wall, tears in her eyes, staring at the space where the creature had been.
Rosario exhaled. "This is.... the omen of our victory."
He slid the Omen back into his belt, the dagger humming softly before fading into smoke. The wind blew through the cracked bunker doorway, carrying away the last of the Demikruel's ashes.