Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy.
The Astrals are jerks, that's what Noctis, the prince of Lucis, believes anyway. There was no other explanation to it. After all, only the Astrals have the power to rewind time over and over while giving him the ability to keep his memories.
He just wish that the Astrals weren't such jerks that they placed the start of the time loop exactly a minute before he gets trampled to death by a rampaging dualhorn.
Those thoughts were summarized sufficiently when he was trampled to death by the dualhorn.
Yup, the Astrals are definitely jerks. Did he mention that already? Because it deserves to be mentioned again. The Astrals are jerks.
Now, to get an understanding of how it all began, we will need to rewind ourselves back to when Noctis and his crownsguards received a request to take down a dualhorn that had been ravaging in the area.
The boys found the beast easily enough. Ignis gave them a plan, Prompto would give them ranged cover, Gladiolus would stand at the front lines and Noctis would attack from behind. Taking down that beast would be a piece of cake.
What went wrong however was that the beast immediately started charging towards Noctis without warning before everyone could get into position. Caught off guard, Noctis was unceremoniously trampled to death under the heavy hooves of the dualhorn while his friends cried out his name in horror.
The end...or it should have been until Noctis blinked and found himself alive. He was happy for but a mere minute before he got trampled to death by the dualhorn again, and again, and again.
You get the picture.
After several resets, Noctis had realized what was happening and could only curse his luck before he got trampled to death again.
On the next reset, he cursed the six before he got trampled to death again.
Now back to where we were, the Astrals were jerks. Noctis firmly believes in it as he gets trampled to death again. It was obvious that the Astrals really didn't want him to die. They probably need him for some super secret divine plan to save the world but obviously, not care enough to rewind time slightly further back so he could be better prepared to fight the dualhorn or make him invincible instead of rewinding time.
Well, that's fine. If the Astrals want to play it that way then he will play by their rules.
On the next attempt, Noctis immediately dived to the right as the dualhorn charged towards him. It turned its head to the right and gored Noctis to death with its horns.
On the next attempt, Noctis immediately dived to the left as the dualhorn charged towards him. It turned its head to the left and gored Noctis to death with its horns.
A few more attempts later, Noctis remembered he could warp.
On the next attempt, Noctis warped to the top of a rusted tower. Hanging from his blade, he watched the dualhorn skid to a stop as his friends rolled away from the beast. The beast charged towards the structure that Noctis was hanging from as his friends got up.
Foreseeing his impending doom, he tried to free his blade, only to realize that his sword was stuck.
The structure broke upon the beast's impact, sending Noctis back down to the ground, landing on top of the pile of metal. There was screaming, pain, metal going through his body underneath him, lots of cursing and that damn dualhorn trampled him to death again.
Beats bleeding to death from the rusted metal he suppose.
On the next attempt, Noctis warped to the side of the cliff. The dualhorn turned while still maintaining its charge and rammed into the rocky wall. The cracks around the blade in the rock expanded and the cliff wall collapsed on top of Noctis as he fell to the ground. There was screaming, pain, broken bones, lots of cursing and that damn dualhorn trampled him to death again.
He spent the next few attempts cursing the Astrals loudly as he got trampled to death by the dualhorn.
He spent the next attempt apologizing and pleading to the Astrals before he got trampled to death by the dualhorn.
It was only after that attempt that he told himself that the gods can go screw themselves.
And thus, fueled by anger and frustration, he hurled his sword into the beast's face, warping to the blade and bringing it down onto the dualhorn. There was a loud satisfying crack as the right horn broke. And the last thing Noctis saw was the broken horn flying into his face.
He spent the next attempt screaming in rage.
After Noctis has sufficiently calmed down in the next attempt, he began to formulate a plan. Only to realize that he can't because one, Ignis is the one who comes up with plans. And two, he can't come up with a plan in a minute before he gets trampled to death.
Oh, and gets trampled to death in that attempt too.
He decided that if he wants to win, he has to make use of every resource available.
On the next attempt, he threw a fire flask that he had made earlier before the accursed time loop. Satisfactorily, the dualhorn caught on fire and burned easily. Unsatisfactorily, the flaming dualhorn trampled him to death and he also caught on fire.
Maybe not every resource available, Noctis decided.
On the next attempt, Noctis warped behind Gladio as the latter rolled away from the dualhorn. The dualhorn skid to a stop and glared at Noctis. Gladio raised an eyebrow when Noctis flipped the beast off while hiding behind him.
The dualhorn snorted and charged towards the both of them. Gladio took the hit with his broadsword, pushing against the dualhorn. Noctis readied his blade to warp behind the beast when the beast forced his Shield to the side and continued to charge towards Noctis. He was unceremoniously trampled to death.
On the next attempt, Noctis warped behind Prompto as the latter rolled away from the dualhorn. The dualhorn skid to a stop and immediately charged towards the both of them. Prompto gave a high pitched scream that shattered Ignis's glasses before both of them got trampled to death by the dualhorn.
Noctis felt really bad for Prompto in that attempt but the scene of Ignis glasses shattering was hilarious so he spent the next attempt laughing before he got trampled to death.
Okay, maybe no more laughing, Ignis was looking at him weirdly in that round.
And no sacrificing his friends. Time loop or not, sacrificing people should not be a key to victory. But hiding behind Gladio does increase his rate of survival…
On the next attempt, Noctis warped behind Gladio as the latter rolled away from the dualhorn. Noctis shouted for Gladio to use a shield instead of a broadsword just as the dualhorn began to charge towards them. Gladio swapped to a shield, taking the hit from the dualhorn, sliding a bit from the impact. Just as Noctis prepared to warp behind the dualhorn, the beast clambered over Gladio, using the shield as a stepping stone and tripped, falling over. Noctis had just enough time to facepalmed before he was crushed to death by the dualhorn.
Noctis was getting frustrated again. If only there was a way to summon multiple weapons and just shred that thing into pieces...oh right, the Armiger…Noctis facepalmed again before he got trampled to death.
On the next attempt, he released his Armiger. His weapons crystallized and circled around him. The power chiming in his ears. He threw his weapons at the beast, warping to it as the weapons struck home. The beast cried out in pain as its horns shattered from the impact. Noctis only has time to smirk from breaking the horns and frowning when he sees one of the horns flying straight into his face.
Astrals damn it...
He spent the next attempt cursing his luck before he was trampled to death by the dualhorn.
On the next attempt, he grabbed a small rock angrily and hurled it towards the charging dualhorn while screaming obscenities at it. The rock struck the beast in the eye, causing it to lose control of its attack.
It diverted its charge into the cliff wall after it was blinded, missing Noctis by a few centimeters. The others had rolled away from it, putting them a safe distance away from the beast.
The impact from the attack caused the rocky wall to shudder before the rocks loosen and fell on top of the dualhorn. The largest boulder dislodged from the top as the rocks below fell. There was a loud crack as the boulder met the skull of the beast and then there was silence.
The rampaging dualhorn is dead and all Noctis could do was to stare at it dumbfounded.
"Dude…" Prompto gasped disbelievingly.
All that effort…
"That was quite a turn of luck there," Ignis said as he adjusted his glasses.
Noctis's eye twitched. All that effort…
"Got real lucky there," Gladio smirked.
Noctis's eye continued to twitch. All that effort…
"Maybe the gods are looking out for him," Prompto laughed. "Think they'll help out again if we ask them nicely?"
Noctis didn't know if he should laugh or cry hysterically. As such, he took the most logical option. He did both.