The temple's trial was announced as something laughably simple:
Break the barrier.
Of course, the moment Noctus stood before it, he realized simplicity was just a lie dressed in pretty words.
The barrier was not light or flame or some mortal construct. It was Death Aura itself, woven into a veil of pure black that towered like an abyss incarnate. Noctus didn't know what the abyss looked like—never had the misfortune of meeting it—but if anything came close, it was this wall of living nothingness.
The rules were cruel and efficient: pass within twenty-four hours or be swallowed whole. Fail, and the aura would seep into your body, corroding flesh, gnawing bone, until you became another pile of forgotten dust.
"…Well, that's not ominous at all," Noctus muttered, voice dry. His eyes narrowed at the unmoving surface. "Just a wall of death. Easy. I'll knock it down before lunch."
The silence answered him.
Drawing his black jian, he inhaled, feeling the familiar heat of his fire aura gather. His stance tightened. The world narrowed to him, the blade, and the wall.
Tyrant's Rage
First Form: Roar of Madness.
He thrust forward, the blade burning scarlet, a line of searing fire aura drilling into the barrier.
Nothing. Not even an echo. It was as if his sword had stabbed into wool—absorbed, dismissed, irrelevant.
"…Figures. Why would anything ever go right for me?"
His jaw tightened. Fine. If one form wasn't enough, he'd show the barrier the whole rage of a tyrant.
Second Form: Slash of the Wild.
His blade carved a vertical arc, wild and furious, the air trembling as sparks rained.
Third Form: Slash of Domination.
A horizontal swing, dense fire coating the strike, a line of molten brilliance scarring the space itself.
Fourth Form: Slash of the Conqueror.
He leapt into a diagonal slash, fire bursting outward, forming a roaring wave that carried the weight of a hundred soldiers screaming for blood.
The barrier didn't even flinch.
Noctus' arms burned, muscles tearing under the strain, but he gritted his teeth and drew in one final breath.
Fifth Form: Vengeance of the Tyrant.
He crouched low, sheathing his sword in deliberate stillness. Aura condensed violently around him until the ground cracked. His body blurred forward—faster than thought—his blade flashing once before sliding back into its scabbard with a resonant click.
A beat passed. Then his knees buckled.
Pain stabbed through every nerve as he collapsed to one knee, panting hard. Sweat dripped down his jaw, his lungs straining as if he'd swallowed fire. Five consecutive forms—it was madness. His body screamed at him for pushing so far.
And the barrier?
It had a scratch. Just one.
Already healing.
Noctus stared at the regenerating wall. His lips parted. Then flatly:
"…Well. I'm damned."
The words fell into the silence like a stone into a lake. He shut his eyes, dragging in shaky breaths. Think. He needed something—anything.
Fire aura was useless.His Time Core had no offensive skill.The shop? He opened it in desperation, flipping through pages, hunting for even the faintest lifeline.
Nothing.
Just a cruel reminder that the currency had shifted—from aura to aura points. Aura had only been acceptable when he was unqualified, weak, untested. After his duel with Drake, he had been granted "proper access." Points, ranks, qualifications.
"…Great. Now I'm too qualified to buy life-saving garbage. Thanks, system. You're a real blessing."
Noctus let the shop flicker shut and buried his face in one hand. His sarcasm wasn't helping. He needed something real.
Which left him with his last resort.
His hand twitched. Eyes of Chronos.
The moment he activated it, agony exploded behind his eyes. White-hot pain stabbed his skull, as if molten needles were being driven into his brain. He almost collapsed then and there. His vision warped, colors bleeding into one another, his body shuddering under the weight of the cursed element.
But then—he saw it.
A thread.
A faint line of green, glowing like a vein of life in the sea of death, weaving outward from the barrier. It pulsed faintly, like a heartbeat.
He reached for it—nothing. His hands passed through air. He tried to bend it—useless. The thread mocked him with its untouchable glow.
Hopelessness clawed at his chest. If even Chronos couldn't guide him—
Then his gaze fell on his sword.
The same thread, green and alive, was embedded within the jian itself.
Noctus blinked, stunned. "You've been hiding secrets from me, huh?"
His grip tightened. Desperation lit his veins. He poured his time aura into the blade.
At first, nothing happened. Then the thread inside the sword began to vibrate. Slowly. Then violently.
The pain returned, searing his flesh, burning his core raw. His vision blurred, black spots dancing in his eyes. His instincts screamed: stop, stop before it breaks, before it shatters—
But he didn't stop.
This was his last chance.
The thread snapped.
For a heartbeat, silence. Nothing.
Then the jian awoke.
The runes along its blade flared alive, glowing green, whispering with power that hadn't stirred in ages. A system prompt rang in his skull.
[First Seal Unlocked.]Name: ???Rank: ???Enchantment: Unbreakable, Time Cutter (Can sever the flow of time of objects and living beings), ???, ???, ???
Noctus' hands trembled. His throat worked, but no words came.
"…this…" His voice cracked into a laugh. "This is insane. If it can cut time… then I could erase someone's existence entirely. Who forged this? Why does no one in my family know about this sword?"
He swallowed hard. The terror and thrill coiled in equal measure. His heart pounded.
Still shaking, he raised the blade once more.
If this enchantment truly severed time, then the barrier… should have never existed in the first place.
He steadied his stance, the green runes blazing as he whispered the name.
"Time Cutter."
The sword flashed.
The barrier vanished.
Not shattered. Not broken. Simply gone—as though it had never been cast.
Noctus froze, staring at the empty air. His mind blanked. The impossible had just become real.
Then the backlash hit.
His strength fled. Aura drained to nothing, his legs gave out. His vision collapsed into black.
"…dammit," he rasped as the world tilted. "Not again… gotta… be careful next time…"
And he fell unconscious, the jian lying across his lap, its runes pulsing faintly like a heartbeat in the darkness.