Chapter XXI: A New Ability

"MY LIEGE!"

"WHY HAVE YOU ABANDONED US, LORD PERSEUS?!"

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!"

(Music: "Wreak Havoc", Brand X Music)

The cries of the Warlord's soldiers echoed throughout the open valley, magnifying the morbidity of the blood-red landscape; Trace, the other, had begun his slaughter, separating limbs from bodies in a murderous, whirlwind fervor.

None stood in his path; His glowing-blue sword sliced effortlessly through them like a hot knife through butter, as he seemed to dance around the battlefield, basking in the blood and violence of warfare as if he were the creator of war itself.

In little time, the field was littered with the corpses of the fallen- once followers of the Warlord that had left them to die. Seeing the fleeing Perseus, Trace gnashed his teeth in a frenzied, animalistic rage that propelled him from the ground, leaving cracked grounds in his wake.

The air around him whistled as he rocketed towards Perseus' flying figure, raising his sword to strike down the menace-

Thwip!

-Only to narrowly miss Perseus' cackling snout; The beaten Warlord promptly folded his wings inward, barreling downwards in the air, before unfolding them and flying off, leaving a wrathful and cursing Trace to freefall through the air. In a last ditch effort, he spun himself rapidly, folding his limbs in to get more speed into it, then swung his sword through the air, sending a slice of bright-blue energy barreling towards Perseus' distant figure.

"AAAAAUGH!" Perseus cried out, feeling a burning-hot sensation slice through his lower arm, sending it careening through the air towards the ground. He cursed violently, throwing a number of malicious gestures at Trace before disappearing over the horizon.

Trace eventually plummeted into the ground, sending rock and debris flying everywhere; Though he was perfectly fine. Getting up and dusting off the dirt from his outfit, he felt his spirit begin to recede control once more. In mere moments, Trace's body collapsed into the dirt, his mind exhausted from the effort exerted into his body...

"...H-Huh?"

Trace felt himself come into consciousness, his first sight being that of a dimly-lit cave ceiling, stalactites and all. Groggily, he tried to pull himself up, to no avail. His energy was spent from... the incident earlier.

"Trace?!"

Trace winced as a high-pitched voice pierced his ears, but his irritation immediately dissipated as the sight of Flora came through. No matter how many times he suffered, failed, or lost, just having the sight of Flora was enough for him to endure.

As long as he had Flora.

"For fuck's sake!" Keith huffed indignantly, a mixed expression of worry and anger on his face. "Stop running off into the battles without your allies! You're playing with life and death!"

Oh, Keith, Trace thought irritably. If only you knew! IF ONLY YOU FUCKING KNEW-

I steadied my mind, clenching my fist and dissipating my anger. This wasn't the time to sow conflict. He looked around the room, making sure there was no one missing or dead. To his deepest relief, he counted everyone there and rather healthy.

He had, effectively, succeeded.

"Trace..."

He heard Brahn's voice mutter to him, and curiously turned his head towards him; Now that everyone was relatively safe, Trace was exhausted and looking for some peace and distraction from the mental trauma.

"Huh?"

Brahn brought his blindfolded daughter before him, as Trace painfully moved his back against a wall to sit upright, and listened to Brahn.

"I'll be frank. My daughter here is a seer, having the ability to peer into many futures and understand what may be." He patted her head while saying this, a look of worry and concern in his eyes; Trace was surprised to see the usually cold-hearted Grand Templar showing this kind of emotion. "Yet, ever since we emerged into this world, her foresight has become murky and distorted."

He looked back up at Trace, a determination in his eyes that betrayed silent desperation.

"The way you talk, move, breathe even- It is exactly how my daughter behaves; Someone who has seen into the future. Have you, perhaps, gained some power by our coming here?"

Trace opened his mouth, but hesitated for a moment. Were there consequences for speaking of his abilities? He thought deeply about it, but found nothing to be of serious note.

"...Yes." He eventually spoke up. "I have the ability to reset time, to a certain point."

Brahn seemed to visibly shake at that moment- while, oddly enough, a small smile erupted on his daughter's face.

"That's...!"

Brahn quieted himself for a moment.

"...I see. Well then, what have you been experiencing in the other futures that has caused you to... reset?"

He wasted no time explaining to Brahn in detail of the various dangers and scenarios He'd gone through, including the inevitability of their world being invaded. Brahn's face fell into one of mild horror and deep concern; This was harrowing information, to be sure.

"If that is the case," He muttered. "You should inform the whole group, so that we can mull over this information and decide the next best course of action."

Though rare, I felt a sense of admiration for Brahn- If anything else, he was a good commander and leader, and his past experience made him valuable in this violent world.

"Alright, then." Trace stated. "Let's gather the others and-"

(Music: "Claws", by Elephant Music)

SKRIT-SKRIT-SKRIT!

Everyone scrambled and scattered in panic as the sound of piercing scratching noises erupted from the high cave ceiling above us; Which was shrouded in darkness due to the lack of light sources we had. Euchre emitted an orb of light from his free hand while wielding his staff defensively, Brahn and Sirus doing the same; The rest of the group readied themselves for combat, as the creepy skittering continued throughout the pitch-black caverns.

"Oh, you poor souls! How awful, how agonizing, how miserable your existence is!"

The voice of a young lady echoed throughout the cave, sending chills down everyone's spines. It was then that a freakishly-long, humanoid amalgamation of limbs, hands and claws hung down from the pitch-blackness of the ceiling, a woman's head sitting atop a horrifying mesh of human limbs and animal parts, twisted into some heinous form resembling a centipede.

"Wh-What the FUCK is that?!" Evals spluttered, raising a sword he'd picked off one of the dead bodies of the earlier cultists; His hands were shaking uncontrollably. "What laws of the universe allowed this thing to exist?!"

"I come bearing no malice towards you, my frieeeeends!" Its voice whispered comfortingly, despite its appearance being anything but. "I merely want to free you of your physical entrapment!"

The scene became even more mortifying as the centipede-humanoid-monster began clawing at itself, tearing into its own skin and flesh, pulling out hair tufts and wailing in horror.

"THE VERY CONCEPT OF EXISTENCE IS EVIL, MALICIOUS, HORRIFYING! THE BURDEN OF YOUR WEIGHT IN THIS WORLD, THE AGING OF THE FLESH, THE TORMENTS OF THE MIND- THEY ARE ALL TOO CRUEL TO JUSTIFY ITS EXISTENCE!"

The monster let out a cackle, which came out as a cacophony of different animal sounds and clicking noises, before extending many of its ill-shapen claws towards the group, a kind expression on its face.

"Come, come to me, and I will strip you of that burden, and free your soul from this mortal damnation! I shall TEAR away your agony, your sins, your morbid appearance! And by the end of this excursion, I will see that ALL life is exterminated from this hellish world!"