Chronis stood at the very front of the laboratory hall.
Behind him lay the wreckage of pursuit—shattered security doors, scorched walls, broken drones still sparking on the floor. He had clearly been running. Fleeing. And now, at last, cornered.
In front of him, the world had arrived to end it.
Armed military units filled the open hall, rifles raised, laser sights locked onto his chest and head. Officials, scientists, and commanders flooded in behind them, spreading out across the ruined entrance like a closing net.
Chronis was alone.
Bleeding. One arm gone. Blood dripping steadily onto the floor.
And yet—he didn't kneel.
"Give back the Aeon Node," Dr. Victor Hale demanded from the front line. "This ends now."
Chronis said nothing.
Behind him—dozens of meters down the length of the hall—stood a massive sealed door, tall enough to accommodate heavy machinery. Its surface was reinforced alloy, layered with locking mechanisms and dormant energy conduits.
No one paid it any attention.
Why would they?
All eyes were on the man about to die.
Then—
A low vibration rolled through the floor.
Not from Chronis.
From behind him.
The massive door at the far end of the hall shuddered.
"What was that?" someone shouted.
Before anyone could react, the door split apart.
Metal screamed as reinforced panels were forced outward, torn open by a surge of blinding light. A shockwave blasted down the hall, rattling weapons and knocking several soldiers off balance.
Through the breach, something impossible was revealed.
A colossal machine—rings of dark alloy rotating in perfect synchronization, symbols burning across their surface as blue-white energy arced violently between them.
A time machine.
Gasps rippled through the hall.
And then they saw them.
Four figures stood on the platform at the machine's core.
The first was a tall, powerful woman—beautiful and unyielding, posture firm as stone. She stared into the swirling light without hesitation.
Beside her stood a broad-shouldered man, fearless, eyes lit with savage excitement. He laughed as the machine's roar intensified.
"Good," he said loudly, his voice carrying through the hall."Another chance to be a demon for humanity."
The third was a small, delicate woman, clinging to herself as though the light itself might consume her. Her face was pale, eyes wide—fear written openly across her features.
She looked weak.
Scared.
Yet she remained.
The last man stepped forward with practiced arrogance.
Clean-cut. Refined. His movements were calm and superior—like a man used to owning rooms, not standing in them. He adjusted his sleeve as if stepping into destiny were a business transaction.
"History has suffered from poor leadership," he said coolly."We're simply correcting it."
Weapons shifted. Shouts erupted.
"Behind him!""That's a time machine—!"
Chronis smiled.
Still facing the guns.
The smile on his face hadn't faded when the order came.
"Fire!"
The hall exploded with sound.
Rifles thundered. Muzzle flashes lit the space as a torrent of bullets surged toward Chronis—fast, precise, lethal.
Chronis didn't move.
The bullets slammed into something unseen.
A barrier ignited in the air before him—curved, translucent, etched with glowing hexagonal patterns that rippled violently with each impact. Sparks burst outward as bullets flattened and fell uselessly to the floor.
The firing died down almost as quickly as it had begun—training overriding panic.
"Energy shield!""Cease fire—!"
Before anyone could regroup, movement stirred behind Chronis.
From the shadows near the shattered hall—beyond him, away from the guns—a man stepped forward.
Tall. Calm. Impossibly composed.
He moved with deliberate purpose, boots striking the floor in slow, measured steps. His features were sharp—handsome in a way that felt dangerous. His eyes were steady, fearless, fixed not on the soldiers, but on the barrier itself.
One hand was raised.
The barrier responded instantly—its glow intensifying, stabilizing, locking into place.
Chronis finally spoke.
"About time," he said quietly.
The man stopped just behind him, half a step to the side—close enough to protect, far enough to show hierarchy.
"I was waiting for confirmation," the man replied calmly. "They chose violence."
Chronis let out a soft breath—almost a laugh.
"Of course they did."
The man lowered his hand slightly, never breaking focus.
"Barrier integrity holding," he said. "They can't touch you."
Chronis straightened, blood still dripping from his wounds.
"Good," he said. "Then we proceed."
The barrier shimmered—unbroken.
And the soldiers realized something far worse than being outgunned.
They had never been in control.
Chronis walked steadily toward the machine, the Aeon Node glowing in his grasp.The barrier moved with him, unbroken.
Dr. Victor Hale staggered forward, fury twisting into something deeper.
Fear.
"So that's it?" Victor shouted. "You beat us here, and you think you've won?"
Chronis didn't turn.
Victor laughed—hollow and sharp.
"You have no idea what you've taken."
A murmur rippled through the hall.
He pointed at the Aeon Node, his hand trembling.
"That thing was never ours, Chronis. It was given to me."
The words hit harder than any weapon.
"We didn't create it. We didn't understand it," Victor continued, voice cracking. "We were chosen—or so we thought."
Chronis slowed—but still did not look back.
"And I lost it," Victor whispered. "I lost it to you."
His composure finally shattered.
"So go ahead—erase us. Rewrite history. Tear this era apart.""But tell me—how will you face the others?"
Victor's eyes were wild.
"The ones who handed us that power and watched what we did with it.""The ones who don't need machines to bend reality."
He let out a broken laugh.
"Even if you destroy us… they won't forget you.""They'll come."
The machine's light flared violently.
Victor's voice dropped to a whisper, heavy with certainty.
"And when they do… even you won't be in control anymore."
Chronis paused at the threshold of the machine.
For a brief moment, the hall held its breath.
Then he smiled.
"I was hoping you weren't the highest authority," he said calmly.
He stepped forward.
The Aeon Node flared in his grasp, its glow synchronizing with the machine's core. Around him, the four figures moved in unison, drawn into the light as if gravity itself had chosen a new center.
The barrier dissolved like mist—its purpose fulfilled.
Light spilled outward—soft at first, then blinding.
It didn't explode.It sprinkled—falling like fragments of broken starlight as the rotating rings slowed, then locked into perfect alignment.
For a brief moment, five silhouettes stood within the glow—bloodied, terrified, arrogant, resolute, smiling.
Then the light folded inward.
The machine collapsed into itself without a sound.
No shockwave.No echo.
Just empty space.
The laboratory hall froze—guns raised, alarms blaring, scientists staring at nothing where a nightmare had stood seconds ago.
Chronis was gone.His entire gang was gone.
Only silence remained.
End of Chapter One.