The wind howled through the desolate ruins, carrying the scent of ancient stone and decay. Leafa, her green cloak billowing, stood at the edge of a jagged canyon, her sharp eyes scanning the crumbling structures below.
"Just like the Council stated," she muttered, her voice steady despite the unease prickling her skin. The Great Seal, a mystical barrier forged centuries ago to imprison an apocalyptic evil, was fraying.
Faint cracks of dark energy pulsed from the ground, like veins of corruption spreading through the earth. She tightened her grip on her sword and descended into a cave, its mouth yawning like a wound in the mountainside.
Inside, the air grew thick, heavy with an unnatural chill. Leafa's boots echoed on the damp stone as she called out, "How about you come out and show yourself? Save us both the time!" Her voice rang with defiance, but her instincts screamed caution. A low, gurgling hiss answered, and from the shadows slithered a creature of nightmare—a writhing mass of black slime, its surface rippling with glowing, malevolent eyes. Darklings, Leafa named them in her mind, recalling ancient texts.
Most sword strikes would slide uselessly through their gelatinous forms. They're trying to trap me in here, she realized, her heart quickening as the cave's walls seemed to close in, the Darklings multiplying in the gloom.
Two days earlier, in the bustling city of Eldoria, Sekai Kuzuno reveled in his own private paradise. Time stood still, the world frozen in a perfect snapshot. The bathhouse before him was a steamy haven, filled with women unaware of his presence, their forms bared in the misty air.
"Dang," Sekai grinned, his voice echoing in the silent void, "who wouldn't want to be here? Time to do the job they all dream of—touching the melons, the peaches, and the tacos to my heart's content!"
His laughter was boyish, unapologetic, as he wove through the frozen figures, his hands grazing soft curves with the glee of a thief in a treasury. His allies—Ninya, Fury, and the others—stood outside, oblivious to his mischief, caught mid-stride in the paused world.
Satisfied, Sekai slipped out of the bathhouse, resuming time with a snap. The women's startled gasps faded behind him as he swaggered toward the quest hall, his pouch heavy with gold coins from his latest exploit.
He'd completed a job, something about freeing a cursed tower, but the expected fireworks, a rare signal of a stage clear, didn't come. "No sparkles this time?" he muttered, disappointed. Fury, his fiery-haired companion, smirked beside him. "What, hoping for the rare fireworks?" Sekai nodded, unabashed. "Yeah, my stage clear."
The townsfolk, once dismissive of the scruffy outsider, now whispered in awe as he passed. "Unbelievable," one muttered, "he freed the tower single-handedly." Sekai's ego swelled, but his eyes flicked to the invisible timer in his mind, only forty-eight hours left. Piece of cake, he thought, grinning. The curse that bound his life to these quests was a game he'd mastered, or so he believed.
Over a hearty meal with Ninya and Fury, the ground shuddered violently, rattling plates and spilling ale. Ninya's fork froze halfway to her mouth. "What was that?" she demanded, her thief's instincts on edge. Sekai shrugged, still chewing. "Earthquake? No big deal. This stage is mine." But the tremor lingered in his bones, a warning he couldn't shake.
Hours later, as Sekai dozed, Ninya's sharp elbow jolted him awake. "Sekai, Wake up. Aren't you supposed to be doing some quest?" His eyes widened, the timer's cruel countdown flashing in his mind. Three hours? How'd I lose a whole day? Fury, leaning against the wall, nodded toward the door. "Envoy guard's asking for you. Sounds urgent."
Sekai bolted to the guard, expecting another easy quest. The man, clad in royal armor, looked grim. "Did you feel the tremors?" He asked. Fury cut in, her voice low. "That was no earthquake. That's powerful Earth magic." The guard's face paled. "Princess Clau was sent to the Great Seal yesterday. King Belltree III personally requests you, Sir Sekai Kuzuno, to check on her condition."
Sekai's grin returned, undaunted. "Rescue a princess? Count me in!" The guard handed him a map to the ruins, and Sekai set off, the promise of glory and a royal reward fueling his steps.
In the present, Princess Clau and her all-female guard stood battered within the same cave Leafa had entered. Their armor hung in tatters, scorched by acid that had burned away cloth and dignity alike, leaving their forms exposed to the damp air.
Clau's red hair clung to her sweat-streaked face as she gripped her sword, her voice trembling with resolve. "This is no ordinary beast," she said, staring at the towering mass of black slime before them. "The Dark Shoggoth… the monster that once brought the world to its knees. How did it break free of the Great Seal?"
Her team, exhausted and wounded, braced for another assault. The Shoggoth's acid had melted stone and bone alike, its writhing form filling the cave with a suffocating presence. Clau's heart sank. "If it escapes, we're all doomed."
A sudden stillness fell, unnoticed by the frozen warriors. Sekai appeared, time halted around him. He stood at the cave's entrance, eyes wide as he took in the scene, Clau and her guards, their tattered clothing revealing more than their armor ever had.
"Well, well," he chuckled, "Guess I don't need a disarm spell to see perfection like this!" His voice echoed in the silent void, his usual mischief undimmed by the danger. But as he circled the Shoggoth, his grin faded. "Swords are useless, huh? And my Earth magic won't do squat against this thing."
He paced, the frozen Shoggoth's countless eyes staring blankly. Think, Sekai. You've got the ultimate cheat code—time itself. His timer ticked, counting down. It was less than three hours now.
Sekai rummaged through his pouch, pulling out a vial of alchemical fire and a bundle of enchanted salt, stolen from a merchant during a previous pause. If I can't cut it, I'll burn it. He froze time again, moving with desperate precision. He climbed the cave wall, positioning himself above the Shoggoth, and poured the salt in a circle around its base, hoping to weaken its form. The alchemical fire he saved for the core, if he could find it.
With time still paused, Sekai crouched on the cave's jagged ledge, his breath shallow in the frozen silence. The Dark Shoggoth loomed below, its gelatinous mass a grotesque tapestry of writhing tendrils and glowing eyes, each one seeming to mock him even in stillness.
The enchanted salt circle glittered faintly, a fragile barrier that might slow the beast but wouldn't stop it. The vial of alchemical fire rested heavy in his hand, its contents a gamble—too small to destroy the Shoggoth's core, too risky to waste on a failed strike.
Sekai's mind raced, the curse's timer pulsing in his thoughts: less than three hours to live unless he cleared this stage. This thing's no pushover, he admitted, his usual cockiness tempered by the sheer scale of the threat.
He studied the Shoggoth, searching for its core. Leafa's earlier encounter with the smaller Darklings echoed in his mind—blades slid through their slime like water, and his Earth magic, tied to the ground's stability, would likely dissolve against this creature's chaotic essence.
If I can't cut it or blast it, what's left? He glanced at Princess Clau and her guards, frozen in their battle stances, their expressions a mix of defiance and despair. Clau's sword was raised, half-melted by acid, her eyes locked on the beast. Sekai's grin flickered back, fleeting but stubborn. Gotta save the princess, right? That's the quest.
He slid down the wall, landing softly in the paused world, and approached the Shoggoth. Its surface rippled even in the frozen moment, as if defying his power. He reached out, testing a tendril with his finger, cold, slick, and faintly corrosive, stinging his skin. No way I'm diving in there without a plan.
He considered the alchemical fire again, then shook his head. One vial won't do it. I need more… or something else. The cave's walls caught his eye as they cracked and pulsed with the Great Seal's fading energy. Maybe the Seal itself is the key. But right now, saving the princess and her team comes first!