Taking a deep breath, Audrey's posture slackened and slowly hardened to be as straight as a pillar; her eyes closed, hands clasped in a tight, formal prayer.
In response to her prayer, a soft gold began to outline her silhouette.
The Hunter instinctively realized that this was a trump card.
Ignoring the earlier restrictions set on her aura, the teenager forcefully unleashed her aura to bridge the gap quickly.
"GO DOWN!"
Even with her eyes closed, Audrey could feel the winded up powerful kick heading towards her head.
Her face scrunched up, but she didn't let the fear get to her.
She whispered under her breath:
"Blessing's Burden."
The kick was mere inches from her cheek when the world seemed to hold its breath. Suddenly, the air around the Hunter grew thick, a resonant, hummed melody that sounded like a thousand voices in distant harmony.
From the golden glow of Audrey's silhouette, glowing characters of a celestial script began to manifest. They spiraled around the teenage girl in a beautiful orbit, weaving a cage of living light.
The Hunter's leg froze mid-air.
"Wha—?! My body... I can't...!"
"This spell is meant to subdue those who've strayed too far into darkness… You should ask yourself why it's working on you."
There was no physical barrier.
The only barrier that prevented the teenage girl from striking was her own self.
Every blow she had struck in malice, every spark of reckless hate she had nurtured, every evil, was being converted into a literal gravitational force. The more she tried to force her kick through, the heavier the golden melody became, singing the "weight" of her sins directly into her soul.
"BITCH!"
As if the heavens were furious from her remark, the teenage was slammed down into the floor. She let out piercing cry. She clawed at the earth, but the floating scriptures only spun faster, glowing brighter with every desperate snarl she let out.
A few feet away, Audrey was like a statue.
Quiet, solemn, and still.
Meanwhile, Max was, likewise, driven to a corner.
He was being dragged, his heels digging into the dirt toward the mage's feet.
One final effort.
One last desperate gamble.
He didn't aim for the whip.
Nor did he make a desperate break for it.
Instead, he grabbed a fallen gear, the heated iron biting into his skin, and hurled it straight at the mage's face.
The mage swept his free hand upward, a pulse of green energy blasting away his last-ditch effort.
"Predictable."
But Max hadn't expected the attack to land.
He'd simply needed the mage to raise his hand, briefly interrupting his concentration on the whip. In that split second, Max twisted and kicked out with his free leg, connecting solidly with the mage's knee.
"Ugh!"
The mage grunted in pain, his grip on the whip loosening just enough for Max to roll free.
Max scrambled to his feet. Seeing the scene, he quickly understood the situation. He took a glance at his ankle.
It was blistered and raw.
He grit his teeth and pushed himself to limp toward Audrey.
He couldn't let this chance get away.
The teenage Hunter saw him coming, but the most she could do was bark.
"You little—!"
Max had almost reached the teenage hunter.
BAM!
But almost was not enough.
The mage's whip caught him squarely across the back.
The impact sent him sprawling, sliding across the floor until he slammed into the chamber wall.
Pain exploded across his senses as the magical energy burned through his clothing and into his flesh. He could smell his own charred skin as he slumped against the wall, vision swimming.
"Flame Lash."
The mage began approaching with unhurried steps.
"A little different to my standard whip. Does decent against unarmored targets."
Across the chamber, the teenage Hunter had broken free of Audrey's binding spell. Before the mage could help her colleague, Audrey had become too exhausted to maintain it.
The teenage girl's eyes blazed with fury as she stalked toward her gasping opponent.
"That's the last spell you'll cast today."
Audrey tried to refute.
Enduring the sluggishness, she urged her body to gather more mana.
No use.
Her reserves were depleted.
She managed to block the first two strikes but caught the third directly in her solar plexus. As she doubled over, the Hunter delivered a vicious knee to her face.
Blood sprayed from Audrey's nose as she collapsed. The Hunter did not stop; every blow after was packed with more strength.
"Not so holy now, are you?" the girl taunted, each word punctuated by another strike.
Despite her age, she was merciless against the future Saintess.
Clearly, she held no thought of the possible consequences of her actions.
Max watched helplessly as Audrey lost consciousness, her amber-gold eyes fluttering closed. Blood trickled from her nose and a cut on her forehead, pooling beneath her pale face.
That fucking kid really needs more than a beating.
The mage knelt beside Max.
"The crystal, if you please. Then I could consider stopping my partner from going… a step too far."
Max turned his attention back to the mage and leaned his head back against the wall, a pained smile spreading across his bloodied face.
"You know what I find funny? For professionals from the Huntsmen Guild, you two are making a pretty amateur mistake right now."
The mage's eyes narrowed.
Not due to their affiliation being exposed, but in question to their supposed mistake.
"And what might that be?"
Max raised a trembling finger, pointing over the mage's shoulder.
"Never have your back exposed."
The mage looked
and froze.
Behind them, the air shimmered and twisted. From the distortion, something began to take shape, emerging.
"What is that?" the teenage Hunter whispered, her earlier confidence evaporating entirely as she limped toward her partner in fear.
Even the mage took an involuntary step backward, his whip flaring with defensive energy.
"This wasn't in the briefing."
It emerged.
The crystalline serpent, its impossible body twisting in elegant curves as it manifested fully in the chamber. The Chronovryn had returned, its attention fixed on Max.
But unlike the other times, the Chronovryn also seemed to turn its head towards the Hunters, causing them to stiffen.
Still, it shortly returned its fixation on Max.
Max laughed softly, blood bubbling at the corner of his mouth.
"Timing... is everything."
The mage suddenly realized what Max had been doing. He was drawing out the fight, keeping them in this specific chamber until this thing arrived.
"You planned this," the mage accused, his voice tight with realization.
The mage did not know what was going to happen.
But whatever it was, it was not going to be good for them.
"Audrey,"
Max called out weakly to the unconscious Saintess candidate, feeling a little guilty.
"When this all resets, don't ignore that gut feeling. Your body knows even if your mind forgets."
The Chronovryn's crystalline limb extended toward him with super speed, moving so fast it seemed to blur.
The guardian's touch sent agony coursing through his being, destroying his consciousness once more. As the darkness almost claimed him, Max's last sight was the Hunters backing away in terror from this alien-like creature that came from nowhere.
I need to convince it that I belong here. That I am not someone to be erased in this time, or maybe timeline. Otherwise, there'll be nothing left of me to save.
But just before the darkness swallowed him, Max made sure to raise his hand and flip the middle finger at those bastards.
With both hands, of course, one for each of them.
***
"Hukkk—haaah!"
Max gasped awake for the sixth time, his consciousness slammed back into existence with increasing violence. This time, his body moved with alarming sluggishness. His lungs struggled to expand, his vision swam, and his limbs felt as heavy as logs.
When he took a step forward with his right leg, his knee buckled, and he collapsed onto the marble floor of the entrance hall.
"Max!"
Audrey rushed to his side, mistaking his temporal disintegration for lingering injuries. Her eyes narrowed with concern as she instinctively channeled divine power into his trembling form.
"You're injured! Let me—"
"I'm...fine."
He felt Audrey's healing magic wash over him, warm and golden, but it couldn't touch the true problem.
This wasn't a physical wound; it was his very existence fraying at the edges.
Fortunately, the healing magic still worked to help recover lingering injuries yet to be healed.
As he regained some semblance of control, he discreetly checked his status window. The moment he saw it, a sense of dread shot through his body.
[EMERGENCY QUEST: ?????]
Description: The Chronovryn has iden███ you as a temp███ ████. Each l██p e███s a fr███ion of your exis███ce in th██ wor██.
Objective: Survive as YOU
Status: Timeline Integration: 65%
Reward: ???
Failure: YOU will cease to exist.
The percentage had plummeted alarmingly.
This has to be the last loop. At this rate, even if I make it out....