POV: Nogare Mirai
The tower loomed above the shattered streets, a monument of blackened stone and arrogance. Nogare Mirai entered through the broken archway without sound, his cloak dragging faintly through the dust. Five Valerian officers turned at once, their eyes widening.
"Intruder!" one of them roared.
The word broke the stillness. Steel rang. Boots thundered across the stone floor. Nogare did not draw his blade immediately; he merely walked forward.
Phantom Steps.
The first spear lunged at him — it passed through empty air.
Nogare's outline blurred like smoke. His foot touched the wall, then the ceiling, then descended with a whisper.
Limitless Future – Temporal Slash.
When he solidified again, two Valerians were already falling, necks opened in clean, parallel cuts.
The other officer, trembling but alive, stumbled backward toward the stairs. "Call the ogres! Sound the—"
Time itself hesitated. Blood hung in the air like crimson glass. The remaining three stumbled back, eyes wide, unsure if he had moved at all.
"Monster!" one of them gasped, raising a glowing staff.
Magic symbols spiraled outward — lightning crackled, wind screamed through the hall.
Multi-Cast – Iron Shower!
Metal spikes materialized midair, hurling toward Nogare like rain from hell.
Nogare didn't move.
The world slowed.
Nogare exhaled. His eyes glowed faintly silver.
Limitless Future - Step Paradox.
Every projectile curved in his mind, each trajectory drawn in a web of white lines. His blade rose once, then twice, the motion so soft it barely disturbed the dust.
He walked through the storm untouched, cutting between futures that never came to pass. When the last spike struck the wall behind him, it dissolved into ash.
The officer stared, mouth open. "What… are you?"
Nogare's voice was almost gentle. "A man who denies endings."
He vanished.
His blade shimmered once, then twice.
Limitless Future – Phantom Echo.
A second later, the air split with invisible force. The two Valerians collapsed as their own shadows separated from them.
It was not a cut they could see — it was the memory of a cut, an afterimage of inevitability.
When he reappeared, the remaining officer's sword hand was gone. The next breath brought the sound of the blade returning to its sheath.
Limitless Future - Zero Point Fate.
A thin silver line crossed the officer's neck — not of blood, but of unraveling. His body disintegrated silently, as though erased from existence. The world corrected itself around the absence he left behind.
Nogare stood in the middle of the room, dust swirling like a halo around him. His expression never changed. Only his eyes shifted, reflecting five motionless bodies — the remnants of an empire that believed in destiny.
Outside, the city trembled.
From the north came the guttural roar of ogres, their chains clattering against the cobblestones. Kobolds yipped in chorus, voices merging into an unholy cry for blood. The tower windows rattled under the noise.
Nogare turned his head slightly toward the open doorway, wind catching the edge of his cloak.
He sheathed his blade slowly, every motion deliberate.
Nogare heard the rumble of an army gathering beyond the tower walls — hundreds of feet, snarling beasts, the clatter of weapons. The air trembled under their weight. Yet he knew, with the calm certainty of one who had already seen too many endings, that his fate would not end here.
He walked toward the main door, each step measured, echoing softly against the cold stone floor. His fingers brushed the hilt of his blade.
"Limitless Future—" he whispered.
The doors burst open.
A flood of sound and fury greeted him — ogres roaring in unison, kobolds shrieking as they surged forward, weapons raised beneath the red morning sky.
Nogare raised his blade, eyes half-lidded.
"Fate's Nullification."
It was a skill that evaded even fate — a denial written into the laws of the world, and Nogare walked through it untouched.