Time Holders: The World of Balance

”It’s getting closer! Prepare for battl—”

*CRASH!*

”...”

”...?”

”eh...”

”A-Aldrus!”

Grghhh!!

The moment they braced themselves to fight back, it was already too late. Before Aldrus could even react, the monster collided with him at incredible speed, knocking his weapon far from his grip.

The beast struck the black-haired boy like a hurricane, sending him flying backward. The rest of the group immediately lunged at the creature, but its sheer velocity made it impossible to catch.

Orange-classified beasts and those above were no ordinary wild animals; they were creatures evolved specifically to resist the existence of The Guardians, which often meant they had managed to seize a fragment of their own...

Before his airborne body could slam into the ground, Aldrus managed to twist mid-air, regain his balance, and land atop the monster’s back.

The scrape of grass blades slicing his ankles and the whistle of the wind cutting his cheeks were all he felt before he braced himself and buried his hands into the creature’s fur. Instantly, the sweet scent of The Paradise gave way to the putrid stench of rotten flesh and withered roses.

The beast was a quadruped with silver fur and thick hide. Its fangs were as long as an adult hand, and the crimson in its eyes burned with the purest form of raw, wild fury. Instinct. Killing. Survival.

An instant later, Aldrus spun over its back and forced his feet onto the ground. The soles of his boots plowed into the dirt, kicking up a shower of earth and leather, yet the beast didn’t slow down. It was simply too heavy for any single person to push back against. Aldrus could do nothing but leave a trail of ripped up turf as he was dragged backward for several meters.

Damn it!

Since raw strength wasn’t working, he had no choice but to use his powers.

Letting go of the remaining baggage still clinging to his back, Aldrus tightened his grip on the creature’s flesh as hard as he could, as if trying to rip it away piece by piece. Of course, this did nothing to the mindless monster, but actually dealing damage that way was never his plan.

”[Motion]!” Aldrus shouted. He enhanced his grip even further, attempting to bypass the timeless domain of the creature’s body.

Ten, nine...

The countdown was vital; ten seconds was the absolute limit of what he could manage.

Through sheer resilience, after being pushed back an unknown distance, he finally made his body strong enough by accelerating the movement’s time, and at last, he managed to force the rushing animal to a grinding halt.

”Aldrus!”

From a distance, the voices of his friends echoed as they sprinted toward him at full speed... but they wouldn’t be fast enough.

Not wasting a single second, the monster exploded forward again, forcing Aldrus to take the impact head-on.

The explosive rush of the hideous quadruped was even faster this time, catching Aldrus off guard once more. However, instead of pushing him back, the beast snapped its rotten maw shut, and with a lightning-fast strike, its jaws clamped down on the boy’s arm, burying its fangs deep into his bones.

”AAhghhgh!!”

Rivers of crimson erupted from the wound, further staining the green landscape below. Less than a minute had passed since the fight began, yet the once-immaculate scenery now lay ruined, tainted by the touch of evil and the paint of human bloodshed.

”Get the fuck off me!! UghhH!!! H!aAAAHhhhh!”

Aldrus thrashed his arm and squirmed like a madman. Blinded by the agony, he desperately tried to free himself from the absurdly tight vice of the monster’s jaw. But it was useless. An Orange monster was still too much for a single First-Rank to handle, and Aldrus stood no chance alone.

The black-haired boy insisted on his attempt to break free, but sadly, the animal wasn’t done just yet.

As if things couldn’t get any worse, the beast dug its paws into the dirt and yanked backward with ferocious power.

”AAAAAAAAAAAAGhajhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!”

A wave of white-hot, piercing pain surged from the depths of Aldrus’s mangled nerves, shattering any thought of strategy. He simply could not break free from the clench of those teeth.

Ahh... Ahghhhh...

Faster than anyone could have anticipated, the rapid blood loss brought on a sudden lightheaded feeling. The black-haired boy’s vision blurred as the heat of his insides dissipated.

A grim realization took root in his mind. The monster wasn’t actually as strong as the jailer, whom he had previously defeated. But there was one critical difference: the cloaked man hadn’t been trying to kill him. This beast was.

He could never have imagined just how much an opponent’s intent changed a fight. The beast knew neither fear nor restraint. Everything Aldrus relied upon against human opponents suddenly meant nothing.

It was a brutal truth... One he had just learnt at the cost of an arm.

In the next second, Aldrus’s strength failed him entirely, and he surrendered to the unimaginable agony of his mangled body. Seizing that split second of weakness, the monster yanked back harder in a single, violent motion, ripping Aldrus’s entire forearm clean from his body.

”GAAHHKK!”

Just as his comrades finally reached the scene, they were met with the horrific sight of stretching flesh and unnaturally tearing tendons. For a moment, none of them could react. The color drained from their faces in a mixture of bewilderment and absolute terror.

They thought they understood the dangers of these lands, but reality was always harsher, cruder... and far more violent than any of them could have imagined.

The three students stood there paralyzed, powerlessly watching their friend being practically eaten alive. In that horrific moment, they finally understood why it was strictly forbidden to leave the city gates before completing academy training.

It was the exact moment they realized their hopes of returning home alive were far lower than anyone had dared to believe.

The proof was right in front of them. Aldrus Dagon—the friend they considered an anomaly, a boy of infinite potential, and a man blessed with a Perspective greater than anyone had ever been granted—was being torn to shreds by the rotten jaws of a mere low-rank beast, covered in vomit, sweat and blood.