Chapter XIX: Agonizing Stagnation

As reality shifted once more, and Trace found himself looking once more at the hellish landscape he was stuck in, Trace withheld the urge to lose his shit. He was at his mental limit, and this continuous cycle of death and tragedy was taking more of a toll on him with every RESET.

This power... it was a curse. Even if he could save his friends, he could not keep doing this- every death felt visceral and real; And with every traumatic tragedy he dealt with, it became more difficult to suppress HIM...

"Where the hell are we?"

"Why are we here?!"

As the questions began to leave the mouths of everyone, Sirus-

"QUIET."

-Suddenly whispered loudly, like a hushed command; Trace could see the traces of speech magic he had just used; Whereby everyone in the group suddenly found their mouths shutting against their will. Trace looked back at Sirus, seeing him begin to sweat; And for some reason, this terrified Trace.

Sirus came off as a confident, usually-silent authority within the group. Whenever he acted, the others, even the Grand Templars, showed trust in his actions. For him to start visibly worrying...

"Shit." Sirus cursed quietly. "Shit. Why didn't I sense this earlier?"

CRACK!

(Queue 'Beast of the Blood Eaters' by Kevin Riepl)

No sooner did he say this before the familiar monster charged through the treeline suddenly, slamming into Evals and disappearing through the foliage- His minions flooded the area, immediately engaging in fights with the group. There was little time to react, but Trace unsheathed his sword, cutting down minions left and right as he made his way towards Flora, who was fighting against one of the armed thugs.

Shick!

The thug cried out in terror as Trace ran his blade through his back, then pulling it out and decapitating him, before gesturing to Flora to get behind him. She nodded, running over to him and securing his flank, watching for any enemies trying to catch him off-guard.

The two fought through the bloody battle, but not for long until Perseus came charging back into the fray, swinging his weapons in hand crazily; And yet, the movements seemed so precise, as the whip never hit any of his henchmen nor did the blade of his katana even so much as slice at one of his own allies.

This guy is on another level, Trace thought irritably, rushing forward to fight him. As he did so, he noticed the large bloodstain on his shoulder, and just then he registered that Evals had been killed- The fight had started so quickly he'd had no time to comprehend the death.

Once more, an immense anger took him, and he shot forward, so quickly that even Perseus was not fast enough to deflect Trace's blade as it impaled through his massive chest and out the other side. Perseus coughed up a wealth of blood, then reached one massive hand to grab Trace.

Shove!

"What the-"

Trace felt himself suddenly pushed aside by Kathrin- who was immediately grabbed and-

KRCH!

"NOOOOOOOOOO!"

Trace felt his jaw unhinge as he screamed- Kathrin's torso had been completely crushed by Perseus' hand. He ungripped and let her two halves crumble to the ground, a bloodied mess.

Immediately, the hostility in the atmosphere shot up- Trace felt him begin to manifest, along with his power.

You are fucking weak

He screamed once more in rage, a vibrant black-and-blue hue of energy emanating off of his being- He moved with immeasurable speed, throwing a hook that slammed into Perseus' jaw- which immediately tore from his face and flew off, leaving Perseus to choke as he covered his face in agony.

He had little time to move, though, as Trace wrenched the sword out of Perseus' chest and sliced upwards- Cutting off the front half of Perseus' head. The body crumpled to the floor, and his henchmen ran off in fear and terror.

Once more, the clearing was silent. And once more, that feeling of dread and tragedy enveloped the group as they mourned their losses.

Not again.

Not again.

[RESET]

"What the hell is going on?"

"Where are we?!"

"What a nightmare..."

Again, and again, and again. The RESETs continued, as Trace found himself agonizingly stuck in this cycle, unable to prevent deaths that took his teammates, and sometimes it would be different people dying each time.

Each time, he had to look into the eyes of a friend, or at the very least an ally, and watch the light, the hope, the fear and liveliness fade from their eyes. Each time, he had to hear the heartbreaking wails of those who were close to the dead, and listen to their terrible laments of such intensity and visceral passion that he could feel his soul being chipped away by the sheer sorrow.

This was undoubtedly Hell for him.

In one instance, before anyone could react, he even launched forward, unsheathing his sword and slicing down hundreds of trees, just to locate Perseus. Once he found him silently skulking with his group, he slaughtered as many thugs as possible and managed to slice off Perseus' arm before he could reach for his whip.

Confident that the enemy had lost his long-range attack, he immediately retreated to a safe distance, sizing up the remaining threats. Only a few more armed thugs and a half-capable Perseus.

And yet, as he prepared himself to launch back in, he felt a crawling dread as Perseus began laughing raucously.

(Queue 'Kijo' by Deadly Avenger)

"IT WAS FOOLISH TO RETREAT WHEN YOU WERE SO CLOSE TO VICTORY!" Perseus shouted at him aggressively, as if disappointed by the turn of events. "I CAN SEE IT IN YOUR DEMEANOR- YOU VASTLY UNDERESTIMATE ME BECAUSE OF THE DIFFERENCE IN OUR POWER!"

His cackle rang in Trace's ears, only upsetting him by the second- this bastard had brutally murdered his friends repeatedly, without remorse nor mercy. He wanted to eviscerate this scum of the earth.

He watched as Perseus picked up his severed arm, then shockingly began eating it with vicious energy. He looked back up at Trace, licking the sides of his mouth with a grin.

"TO BE A WARLORD, YOU CANNOT JUST BE POWERFUL. YOU MUST BE CRAFTY, CONNIVING, DECEITFUL- YOU MUST BE A LEADER, A LEARNED SCHOLAR, A STRATEGIST AND A CARETAKER."

Trace began suspecting something was afoul as the hulking monster unsheathed his katana, despite the long distance between them.

"BUT ABOVE ALL, YOU MUST BE ABLE TO ADAPT TO THE CIRCUMSTANCES, NO MATTER HOW DISMAL!"

Using two hands on his katana, he delivered a powerful swipe, causing the trees and bushes to blow back from the shockwave- A vibrant slice of black energy tore through the trunks of trees and anything else in its way- Straight towards Trace.

Despite the daunting attack, Trace could easily read it ahead of time, and ducked his torso just in time as it tore past him. He immediately hopped back up and charged at Perseus, engaging him in a prolonged fight before eventually driving the sword through Perseus' chest and slicing through the side of his torso, nearly cutting him in half.

Perseus collapsed to his knees, as Trace drove the sword through his heart. As Perseus coughed up more blood, he looked back up at Trace.

Suddenly, and to Trace's deep dread, he laughed.

"I WILL BE ALIVE ONCE MORE, SOON ENOUGH." He cackled viciously, his badger mouth chittering. "FOR I KNOW YOU HAVE ALREADY LOST THIS BATTLE."

Confused and angered by his biting words, Trace ended his speech with a slice across the throat. Perseus crumpled fully to the ground, and his henchmen gave up fighting, running for the hills.

He sat there in silence, processing the words that Perseus last said.

I will be alive once more, soon enough...

"WHAT WAS THAT?!"

"OH, GOD, GET HELP! SHE'S BLEEDING SO MUCH!"

And at that moment, the dread was fully realized within Trace's body. The words spoken by Perseus carried a far greater dread, as he ran back to see several of his friends cut clean in half, bleeding on the ground, lifeless.

Now, he was truly stuck.

[RESET]

Defeated.

He could shake the feeling of dread and defeat in his mind. No matter what he tried, no matter how quickly he tried to kill Perseus, he was always outsmarted, and now Trace had found out that his enemy was aware of his ability to time travel- And seemingly could also tell his determination to keep all of his friends alive.

How could he win? Was he to engage in a constant mind battle with a monster that could kill his friends with quick ease? Was he to keep suffering the horrors and tragedy that befell those around him, continually? Was there really no way to-

"Hey, Trace."

Trace slowly looked up- He had been in a near-catatonic state. He saw Sirus, Keith and Eric standing before him, looking around quietly, as was the rest of the group a bit aways. The three looked to him with concern.

"You look like you've been through war. Do you need a hand?"