338 Attack it
ZAAAAAAAAAPPPPP
A loud noise roared in the dark and silent night, causing the people’s eardrums to reverberate and their heads to feel about to explode. Before anyone could see what was going on, a brilliant light was cast upon them.
A shining purple circle shot out from the destroyed transparent barrier, expanded, and engulfed the whole area in an instant.
In a distant place, at least a few kilometers away from the Temple of Dawn, Alan was yelling at a bunch of soldiers.
“Get the fuck out of here!”
He kicked the bonfire and pulled down the tents, waking up the sleeping soldiers and making the dazed ones alert.
“Hurry up and get lost! GET AWAY!”
His loud yells made the army tense, leading them hurriedly jump on their horses and began their retreat.
But it was already late. It was late for the soldiers to run away.
.....
“What’s that...”
Alan froze on his spot and looked up. Far on the horizon, at the place where the moon was shining upon, a bright light was spreading around. It was spreading at an unimaginable speed.
“Uh-”
Before the dazed Alan could even move an inch, the light had already reached him and the army.
“Defensive-”
ZAAAAAAAPPPP
The light hit his body from behind, passed him, and cut through the army. It cut the army, in half.
“....”
Alan didn’t know what just happened. He couldn’t think, couldn’t see, couldn’t hear, and couldn’t understand anything at all. It was as if he lost his brain for a moment as if he forgot about the whole world.
The only thing he could see was blood. Blood and more blood.
He didn’t see how his ancient artifact was shining more brilliantly than usual, he didn’t see the golden-silver light that shot out of it, and didn’t see the thin barrier, the thin cracked barrier that embraced him.
All he saw was the army, the men whose bodies were cut in half, arms that were severed, legs that were sliced, heads that were rolling on the ground, and a pull of blood and meat where the army was supposed to be.
The purple light had cut through everything in its path just like a blade.
“...Huh...”
The golden-haired man staggered back as he watched the scene, as he surveyed his surroundings, and he saw the purple blade keep going seemingly endlessly, cutting everything on its path. Trees, grass, boulders, everything was cut and sliced.
“Huh...”
That was all he could utter and all he could do as he stood on the scene of a catastrophe, alone.
Body shaking and breathing ragged, he turned around and looked around again and again, as if searching for any possible survivors, as if looking for any rays of hope, but he found nothing.
“Huh...”
The same confused gasp left his pale and quivering lips as he lowered his head and moved his hand to touch the golden ring on his other hand. He took deep breaths before closing his eyes.
All of a sudden, the scenes around him started to change. The blood droplets moved up, the separated limps moved around, the cut grass floated in the air, and as the color drained off the face of the man, time around him started to reverse. He was turning back the time.
Little by little, the area around him went back to how it was one second ago, then two seconds, then four, and then even further back in time. The lifeless bodies were going back to how they looked just after getting cut and everything was restored back to normal.
Ba-bomb
Ba-bomb
Just before he could turn the time back to a second before the last death, he felt his heart beat so intensely that it felt as if it was going to explode.
“Huff argh-”
Alan groaned in pain and his body trembled, his knees buckled and he fell down to the ground, but he didn’t stop. He continued to use his power to turn back the time.
Ba-bomb
Ba-bomb
However, he couldn’t move the time any further. No matter how much energy he used, nothing changed anymore. The purple light couldn’t be moved backward anymore, and the body of the last dead soldier couldn’t be restored.
Alan didn’t need much time to understand the meaning behind that.
Either he couldn’t bring back the dead, or his power couldn’t affect the purple blade... or maybe both.
“Argh-”
Realizing that, he finally let go of the time. He released his power, which resulted in everything moving back to how it looked just before he began using his power.
“Gasp... Gasp...”
Alan grabbed his chest and panted for air. After a few seconds of dealing with chest pain and dizziness, he stood back up and began to head back to where his friends were, to the Temple of Dawn.
Things were not much different at the Temple of Dawn. The three generals and their emperor didn’t know what just happened. They saw the trees fall and the boulders shatter after the purple light hit them. They saw how everything got destroyed as soon as the light burst out, but they didn’t understand how they survived. They couldn’t see how their artifacts glowed more brilliantly than ever, or the silver-golden barrier and the cracks that surrounded them just before they were hit by the light.
But there was someone who saw it clearly and recognized it too well. It was the very enemy they were fighting against, the man they called the holy saint.
“That...”
The group turned to the holy saint after hearing his voice. They all watched as the man descended the stair one by one, and they all noticed how the transparent barrier around the temple was down, but for some reason, they didn’t move.
They couldn’t move. Their bodies didn’t listen to their mind. They were still holding their weapons but couldn’t use them. Was it because of fear? They felt as if they were powerless prey in front of an undefeatable hunter.
“That’s not him...”
The holy saint mumbled once again, his voice confused.
-Stop that thing.
-You must stop that thing!
Just as the white-haired man stepped on the last step, the voice inside their heads roared again, helping the group of four snap out of their daze as a result.
“Attack-” Stefan took a deep breath. “Attack that thing with all you have!”