World Fracture — Eastern Verge of Gaia

  Midnight Hour

  The sky of Gaia that night was unlike any other.

  The stars did not twinkle; they trembled.

  Like witnesses frozen in fear of something even time hesitated to name. Amidst the dead stars, dark silhouettes seemed to shift, hiding beneath a thin veil of mist that covered the horizon, seemingly lurking above the surface.

  At the edge of the known world, among the ruins of ancient relics known as The Hollow Verge, Fitran Fate stood among the shadows of megalithic pillars. His cloak billowed in the night wind that carried the scent of rain mixed with ash. The whispers of the wind told old tales, stories of vanished gods and secrets buried deep within the earth. He momentarily closed his eyes, immersing himself in the mystical scenario as if dozens of harmonious voices were beckoning him to delve deeper.

  His hand gripped the Voidwright Sigil, an existential magic flowing as though it were the very veins of the world. He sensed something... an unnatural crack. Not of this world. Even more, he felt a vibration behind that crack, like a haunting melody filled with longing and a fear of darkness. It was something only explained by the lost souls wandering between dimensions.

  "There is an alien will," he murmured. His voice was heavy, deep, almost like a whisper of emptiness. As his words escaped, the sky hummed as if acknowledging that profound statement.

  Before him, a black void curved in the air. The spatial crack throbbed like a wound that refused to heal. Behind it, the sound of ticking clocks emerged... not one, but many. Thousands of clocks ticking out of sync. Amidst that cacophony, he felt a disjointed rhythm, as if time itself was resisting the normal course of moments and direction.

  And from that void, she emerged.

  With graceful steps. A gothic gown flowing as if it were woven from the night itself. Long black hair flowed freely, swaying like the waves of a dark ocean. Her left eye was blood red. The right... a clock ticking slowly, like the depths of an ocean where predictions come and go. Zafkiel.

  "Ara ara... is there a charming man waiting on the other side of this rift?"

  A smile curved on her lips. Her voice was sweet yet laced with danger. In her breath, there lingered a trace of long-forgotten farewells, a nostalgia from an era when beings like her could roam freely without boundaries in the world of Gaia.

  Kurumi Tokisaki.

  Fitran remained motionless.

  Before him stood something that was neither human, nor a witch of Gaia, nor even a Void creature. The atmosphere around them seemed to silence itself, as if time itself had halted, waiting for the right moment to unveil its mysteries.

  "You... are not an ordinary will," she said. Her voice trembled in the air, creating waves of pressure that resonated throughout the room. An unseen power lay spread out, as if inviting catastrophe.

  Kurumi tilted her head, her hair swaying gently.

  "Ara ara~ how can you be so sure? Perhaps I'm just a lost girl... looking for someone to spend my night with." Her teasing smile seemed to harbor a vessel full of mysteries within one dark ocean.

  Suddenly, the air froze.

  Fitran felt the whirlpool of time. Not Gaia's time. Strange time.

  Faint shadows of colossal clocks emerged behind Kurumi. Zafkiel readied himself, and in an instant, everything seemed to be drawn into the magnetic pull of temporal power.

  "Name?" Fitran asked. His voice was flat, but his Void magic prepared itself, bracing for the worst-case scenario. The tension between them grew thicker, adding weight to their breaths.

  "Kurumi Tokisaki~," she replied cheerfully, her tone ending with a flirtatious lilt. "And you... ah, your aura of will feels different. It's as if you're... someone who has once defied time itself." Her words resonated, awakening echoes within Fitran's soul and reminding him of choices he had made in the past.

  "Fitran Fate," he replied softly. This encounter was more than just a battle; it was a confrontation with an unimaginable force.

  At that moment, their wills collided.

  Kurumi stepped forward. Each of her steps left behind the shadow of a watch on the ground. Behind her, a mechanical roar and flashes of light from another dimension seemed to celebrate this encounter.

  Fitran raised his hand. The Glyph Voidwright shimmered like a dying star, projecting energy ready to challenge everything standing before him.

  "Don't come closer," he warned. His words were filled with anxiety, a reminder that in this world, even a sweet smile can harbor lethal poison.

  "Ara ara~ are you scared before I even touch you?"

  Kurumi let out a soft laugh, her voice seeming to contain thousands of secrets. The sound of her laughter echoed, creating a resonance that touched the hidden elements within Fitran's soul, while captivating visual effects permeated the air, forming dazzling silhouettes between them.

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  Suddenly, the hands of Zafkiel shot forward. Time bullets rained down on Fitran. Around him, the wind whispered as if time itself responded to the tension enveloping them.

  But with a swift movement of her hand, the space before her split open. Voidwright Magic Thread of Exile twisted and consumed the time bullets into the void. The light radiating from her magical sweep shimmered like a prism amid the darkness of the night, creating reflections that danced in the air.

  "Absorbing temporal magic? Intriguing." Kurumi smiled wider, her sharp eyes now filled with curiosity. She felt as if time momentarily halted in Fitran's presence, awakening emotions hidden behind her mysterious smile.

  She disappeared. Then reappeared behind Fitran, her presence blurring the line between reality and illusion.

  "Ara~ what if you just surrender? Let me take you into... eternal time." Her voice flowed softly, almost hypnotically, yet there was an underlying challenge, conveying that this was not merely a game.

  Fitran turned, his Excalibur Void emerging in a dark light. The sword trembled as though responding to the forces around it. With each passing second, the tension continued to escalate between them.

  "I will not bow my will to anyone. Not even time." Fitran’s voice echoed his defiance, creating a resonance that shook the space around them.

  Kurumi fixed her gaze on him. For a moment, her clock-like eyes stopped ticking. In the background, the unexpected echo of the clock's tick and the depth of darkness began to enshroud them, creating an atmosphere that was both terrifying and captivating.

  "Ara... a man who is unafraid of time. So rare."

  Then she laughed.

  But her laughter... transformed into a rumble of destruction. Cracks in the sky widened, emitting a cruel red light that etched the boundaries of reality. The world of Gaia creaked under the pressure of an alien temporal force, as if it were teetering on the brink of ruin.

  "Then let us test your will, Fitran Fate."

  Kurumi raised her hand. Two clones emerged from her shadow, each wielding an ancient rifle and identical smiles. They seemed to radiate an aura of mystery, closely connected to the temporal power that surrounded them.

  "Chrono Assault."

  Time bullets sliced through the air, their roar competing with the destructive ticking of the clock. Each shot created a repeating time loop, ensnaring Fitran's movements in a small cycle, as if time itself were toying with him. Yet behind those loops, a rhythm resonated with the joints of Gaia, summoning ancient creatures from a forgotten era.

  However, Voidwright Magic shielded the arbiter.

  "Null Pattern Genesis."

  Fitran stepped forward, each stride severing the circle of time. His Void rejected the concept of repetition, creating vibrations that resonated through dimensions. He felt an invisible force, like a magnet that pulled back all the energy generated in this battle, altering the trajectory of a fate that had been preordained.

  Boom!

  The clash of time magic and emptiness produced a dark and golden explosion, painting the dark sky above with shards of stars. Dust and light whirled, forming a small spiral that symbolized the struggle between two unexpected forces.

  Kurumi smiled wider.

  "Ara~ such a dangerous man."

  She leaned in, observing the outcome of each of their actions with the agility of a predator.

  "The more I want... to possess him."

  Fitran shot forward. His Excalibur flashed, splitting his shadow, its glimmer leaving a vibrating trail of light in the air. Kurumi's clones shattered in a burst of Void light, as if time prisoners could not be restrained, struggling against the destiny that had been inscribed.

  Kurumi was not surprised. In fact, she applauded, feeling the vibrations of energy around her. The ticking of the clock grew louder, as if she were witnessing a grand orchestra orchestrating each element in this battle, waiting for the final symphony of the encounter between two opposing souls.

  "Good, good~ I like strong men."

  She closed one eye, the ticking sound of the clock growing louder, vibrating in sync with the flow of time around them. The darkness shrouding the sky seemed to respond, swirling into a frightening shadow.

  "But... being strong alone is not enough to face the will of time."

  "Arboreus Nihil," Fitran whispered, his heart filled with fear and anxiety.

  Memories of the age-old legend surfaced in his mind, tales of an entity that betrayed time and claimed the will of the weak.

  Kurumi nodded, her face seemingly hiding a thousand secrets.

  "I have hunted it across many worlds. But this world... your world... is filled with stubborn wills."

  Fitran's expression grew more serious as he envisioned the fragility of his own will in the face of that unknown power.

  He gazed at her, his eyes filled with questions.

  "Why are you hunting it? Aren't you a predator of time yourself?"

  Kurumi laughed softly, her voice slipping through the air like a whisper of wind.

  "Ara ara... to preserve my own will, I must consume the will that is older."

  She looked at Fitran with her blood-red eyes, which seemed to carry many hidden tales.

  "And perhaps... I will taste your will too, one day."

  A mysterious hunger shone in her gaze, her spirit uncontainable, like a shooting star capturing attention in the night sky.

  A giant shadow emerged. Arboreus Nihil projected part of its body, extending rooted hands that grasped the air. As if in response to the voice, the leaves around them began to tremble. The scent of damp earth and mystery enveloped the night. The dim illumination from Gaia's sky highlighted that terrifying shadow, making it appear even more fearsome and majestic.

  Fitran and Kurumi stepped back.

  Kurumi sighed.

  "Oh, he’s coming faster than expected."

  Fitran gripped his Excalibur.

  "Kurumi. A temporary alliance."

  Kurumi smiled.

  "Oh my~ finally, a man who knows how to ask for help sweetly."

  She snapped her fingers. All clones vanished. Zafkiel pulsed heavily. The sound of the ringing echoed a threat in the air, sending chills through every fiber of his being. It felt as though life around them took a deep breath, waiting for the right moment to be shattered by tremendous power.

  "In that case... let’s destroy that ancient will together."

  The magic of the Voidwright and Chronoshadow resonated in unison. Between them, a wordless contract was born—unstated, unspoken.

  Only two wills chose to defy destruction. The whisper of the wind seemed to creep between them, flowing with ancient energy that connected the universe, granting them power beyond the confines of time and space.

  Chronoshadow Pact.

  "Ara ara~ you should know, Fitran Fate... once we share our wills, you won't be able to escape me." Kurumi smiled sweetly yet dangerously.

  "Not even time will separate us."

  Fitran nodded. "I have no intention of parting ways... until my will is fulfilled."