Jason, still weakened but standing tall, stepped toward the divinity, ready to leave with Léon and the guard. He looked up at her, determined:
— "Thank you for this gift… but the world is burning outside. We need to return."
The divinity remained motionless, staring at him without blinking. Her aura grew heavier, more impenetrable.
— "No, Jason. You want to leave as if it costs nothing?"
She slowly raised her hand. The ground trembled. The sanctuary doors sealed behind them with a thunderous sound.
— "You shall not leave until the Chosen of the Present learns to wield the power I entrusted to him."
Léon, short of breath, stepped back.
— "What power? That thing burning in my chest? Since you gave it to me… I feel like everything around me slows down… and I feel… too much."
The divinity answered calmly:
— "What you feel is only a fragment. You now possess the Key of Present Time. Without understanding it, it will destroy you."
Jason stepped in.
— "Then let me teach him. I come from the future… I've seen what Present Guardians can become. I can guide him."
The divinity smiled, almost amused.
— "Very well. A dual-faced training."
With a gesture, she summoned a circle of light around them. The ground transformed into a translucent arena suspended in nothingness, where time seemed to stretch and compress with every breath they took.
— "Jason, you will teach. Léon, you will learn… or you will perish."
Illusions began to take shape around them: fragments of the past, echoes of the future, monsters made of memories, and darker, crueler versions of Léon himself.
Jason placed a hand on Léon's shoulder.
— "What you'll face isn't out there. It's you, and the time flowing through you."
Léon swallowed hard, ready.
The ground still trembled under the echo of temporal illusions, and the air, charged with crackling blue light, seemed to breathe in rhythm with Léon's heartbeat.
The soldier, still weakened but conscious, sat at the edge of the translucent arena, his eyes wide with terror.
— "W-what is this place?! This isn't human… we shouldn't be here!" he stammered, gasping for air.
Jason didn't answer. His gaze remained fixed on the Time Deity — the entity that floated effortlessly above them, as if it ruled the entire universe. He stepped forward, then knelt with respect.
— "Great Entity of Time… I have a request."
The deity slowly turned its gaze toward him. Its face showed no emotion, yet its silence was a response in itself.
— "Léon… he has no means to defend himself, no tool to channel the power you have entrusted to him. This gift is too great to bear with bare hands. I beg you: grant him a weapon, a guide… something that reflects who he is."
The deity raised its right hand. Time itself seemed to freeze, and a dazzling light rose into the black sky above the sanctuary.
Its voice echoed infinitely:
— "If you are both bearers of the fragments of time… then let Time arm you."
A magical circle appeared beneath Léon, and another beneath Jason. A golden, white, and violet energy burst from the depths of the void, rising into the sky before crystallizing in an explosion of light.
Two objects emerged, floating in the air:
1 - For Léon: a Ring-Blade of the Present, sleek, radiant, alive. It pulsed like a heart. With every beat, it shifted form according to Léon's emotions. Etched with moving symbols, it glowed in green and blue.
2 - For Jason: a Ring-Blade of the Future and the Past, a double-edged sword with shifting reflections. One blade, silver and aged. The other, a blue titanium shimmered with untapped energy.
— "Let these blades guide your steps between seconds and centuries. But remember: they are not weapons of war. They are fragments of yourselves. If your soul shatters… so will they."
Léon reached out. The ring-blade rested against his palm, and on contact, he felt everything: the pain of the past, the doubts of the present… and the mystery of the future.
Jason stared long at his twin blades.
— "Thank you…"
The deity simply replied:
— "Show me you are worthy to bear them."
The ground quaked. A temporal monster — born from humanity's mistakes — rose from the arena. The training wasn't over yet.
The monster—immense, misshapen, as if woven from shattered clocks and fragments of eternity—rushed at them without warning.
Its red eyes burned with a pure, primal rage… but also ancient, as if time itself had cursed it.
— "WATCH OUT, LEÓN!" Jason shouted.
But it was already too late.
The creature had already slashed the air with a sharp limb, forcing Léon to dodge by rolling to the ground, his newly received weapon pulsing in his hand. Jason tried to intervene, but his body wasn't responding. The energy he had recovered wasn't enough. His reflexes, once as sharp as a divine blade, were dulled by exhaustion.
— "I… I can't keep up with its movements…" he thought, panting, as the beast vanished only to reappear behind him.
A violent blow sent him crashing into one of the sanctuary's glowing pillars. Jason coughed up blood.
— "This is bad… It's too fast…"
Léon, meanwhile, got back to his feet, breathing heavily. He looked at the present-time ring blade. It pulsed harder and harder, as if sensing the danger… or responding to his fear. He had never faced a creature of this magnitude.
— "Jason! Tell me what to do! I don't understand this power!"
Jason gritted his teeth, down on one knee, his gaze darkened.
— "Not now… Not now!" he screamed inwardly.
But before he could speak, the monster struck again—this time targeting Léon. A roar tore through the sanctuary like a storm.
Suddenly, at the moment of the fatal blow… Léon's blade lit up. Instinctively, he raised the weapon. Time around him dilated, just for a split second. It was enough. He dodged with an unexpected leap, the monster's breath slicing past his cheek.
— "What… was that?"
The ring wasn't just guiding him. It wasn't showing him how to move. It was moving him.
Jason, despite the pain, gave a faint smile.
— "Léon… You felt it, didn't you? This power… it's not about brute strength. It's about resonance."
But they had no time to think. The monster let out a howl, and its scream distorted the very fabric of space. The ground cracked, the sanctuary pillars trembled… and the battle had only just begun.
TO BE CONTINUED