Prologue
The End…?

Duran grunts slightly in pain as he was tossed across the floor within the river of time, blood dripping down his forehead as he spat out some that built up in his mouth. Giving out a weak wheeze as he pushes himself to his hands and knees, he watched with wide eyes of horror as his close friend, Treephop, was impaled through the chest by the sword of the 'red-armored guy', as they had so fittingly dubbed the nameless individual hunting down Time Mages. The bastard not only hunted down all of the Time Mages, but even had the gall to take the very power of the Goddess of Time herself, leading to the new appearance of demonic wings and horns.

Duran gives out another weak grunt of pain as Juliet, the swords-maiden that Duran and Treephop had picked up back in Icywland, a small settlement within the ice covered lands of the future, helped him up to his feet. She was always a bit battle-happy, but she was loyal and stubborn to a fault as well, which was the main reason that Duran and Treephop had found her as such pleasant company, more so to Duran as he had a bit of aggravation towards Treephop most times, honestly. Treephop's snarky attitude and inept ability to insult and piss off just about anyone being one of the major key points, but his own loyalty and friendship outweighed such contempt.

Once Juliet managed to get Duran to his feet, albeit wobbly so, the two of them looked towards their downed friend, Treephop, as the druid had a large, gaping hole in the center of his chest, where the heart resided. This was the actual reason as to why tears freely flowed down Juliet's cheeks, as the two had a odd love-hate relationship that could've blossomed into something beautiful. The three were friends after all, and even Duran could see Juliet unintentionally falling for the flirtatious druid's charms.

"Hahahahahaha!" The damned samurai bastard in red laughed, swiping his blade to the side, blood splattering on the already red carpet as he does so. He truly was an evil individual, his occupation as a Time Mage Slayer was not even required to know this. "And there goes your second friend, Time Mage! Your kind just can't stop loosing people, can you?!" The Mageslayer laughed manically.

Duran could actually feel the blood from his mouth dripping down his chin, even as he responds with the utmost of defiance. "Maybe… But you seem to have forgotten something… I had all this time to learn more tricks, and still have a few up my sleeve." He bit out, his hand within his robes fingering the cork of a bottle of elixir.

"Oh?" The slayer asked in barely contained amusement. "What more could you, out of anyone, possibly do?! You already are at your limit!" He begins walking towards the two, causing Mio, a cat that was possessed by a cursed eagle after eating it, got between the three, hissing harshly as he guarded Duran and Juliet. "It is true, however, that your barrage of White Magic, that accursed Holy Sun spell, had managed to do quite a great deal of damage on me." He conceded darkly, his armor indeed had a large coating of blackened scorch marks and burnt flesh, which could be smelled in the very air. "But I also know that you had put in a great deal of your magical energy to cast it so many times as well! With that small detail in mind, I truly AM curious, Time Mage. What, EXACTLY could you POSSIBLY have left to stop ME?! I LITERALLY HAVE CHRONOS' VERY POWERS RUNNING THROUGH MY VEINS! TIME IS AT MY VERY MERCY, AND YOU ARE THE ONLY PIECE LEFT TO HAVE FULL CONTROL!"

Duran releases a soft, tired, and sad sigh as he gives Juliet his regretful gaze. The poor girl, even as she looked at him for that small moment, he could see the very pain in her eyes. She wanted to refuse, to stay and save Treephop with his powers of time travel, but she also knew that it would lead to this battle all over again, and could risk ALL of them dying in the end. It was either accept, and ensure his survival, or stay and let him rest in peace. She quivered slightly, before releasing a shaky sigh as she gives Duran the weakest nod he had ever seen her give, before whispering to him. "I will stand by you… We may not be able to save Treephop, but I know we may get the possibility in the far future..."

Duran gives a weak and regretful nod of his very own, before soon pulling the Elixir out of his blue robes, shocking the Mageslayer as he pops the cork off and quickly downs the concoction. The effects were immediate as he could feel all of his magical energy restoring in his system. The elixir comes with a second effect that restores all of his health as well, closing his wounds in short. With his strength renewed, Duran gets to his feet, while still keeping his support against Juliet, and held his arms out, hands aiming towards the Mageslayer as the very incantation of the spell quickly speeds through his mind. With all his strength, he gives a final shout, releasing all the pent of magic as he casts the last spell he would cast within this very existence. "DIMENSIONAL PARADOX!"

The spell built up and exploded outward rapidly, causing a light on par with the very heavens to be released, the magic of the spell actually being the cause. and was also quite blinding. The very light encompassed the river of time, as the very existence, which encompassed of the very gaze of space itself, began to shudder. The void around them warping and shifting in ways that told the tell tale signs of dimensional travel, as well as a literal timeline tearing and repairing itself between the very existences of all realities. It felt like hours until the light finally decided to slowly died down, revealing the Mageslayer in red samurai armor, alone with the corpse of a druid by his side.

Staring at where the three once stood in complete and utter silence, the Mageslayer turned Demi-God let out a long since suppressed roar of complete and total rage, as he had lost the one and only piece remaining that would have ensured complete and total control over all of time, who was now lost in a realm beyond even HIS reach. "YOU DAMN MAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGEEEE!"

True, he may be able to start hunting and searching for the last piece of the puzzle, but he couldn't. Even HE knew, just from feeling the magical power poured into it, that the spell Duran had just cast was not meant for a specific dimension, but one meant to send them to the farthest, most random realm of reality out there. The mage had literally caste him back to square one, as the spell not only teleported them away, but ripped them from the very timeline as well. What's worse is that he will likely revert all the way back to before he even started hunting time mages, and without the last piece, he would have no reason to hunt down the goddess!

With the disappearance of four of the five heroes destined to save time itself, the world was quickly driven into a rage of unexplained events, given the lack of four former members of the timeline, and a now weakened and powerless Demi-God, reverted back to a mere mortal Mageslayer.

But that world will have it's time again, in another point of the very river that flows between all realities.

For this story begins somewhere else, within the plains of an unknown world that is on the brink of a coming collapse, and one certain Time Mage, with his three remaining friends, will find that this spell had far more consequences than anyone could have ever expected.

To Be Continued...