Battle Mage Aeliana attacks with the first blow being nature attack that entraps the Demon Lord Lucian with strong torned stems that sucks out and absorbs his power draining and poisoning him into a stagnant form but he smirked as to mock her "Is this all you got?" he challenged as his muscular structure snips off the thick veins into filmsy foliage that droop down to the rough ground.
...
Mana was running low on both of them and he was about to release his final attack "Opium Aureloun Arson" as a magic circle is cast a eternal purple aura fire blaze that never extinguishes that burn out and depletes out magic power, it was so powerful that she whines in pain she loses blood and coughs up blood "I didn't know you could be this ruthless."
"Honey, I am the Demon Lord. It is my role to be ruthless and cruel."
…
As they both exhaust their power, Aeliana laying limp on the ground.
…
He managed to morph his dragon-skin claw glove into a rouge handgun with his last remaining chi power before he is hand-on-hand combat with her. And her pathetic attempt, to muster any kind of incantation was unsuccessfull.
"Give it up, princess. I won."
With the gun in hand, he is drenched in elf and his own blood plus the rain. His finger in the trigger and the barrel of the gun pointed at her weakened state. Her good arm holding her up barely as it was wounded as she presses it with her other arm "Did you actually believe that I would somehow let your kin live after they have obliterated all of the demonkind? Even though we did our best to coexist, only to find ourselves being used for our blood and skin!"His smirk was as sharp as the blade he once wielded against his enemies. Her heart clenched. The one who whispered dreams of a shared future.
"Yes,I still do."
"And, I believe you have the same feelings for me as well"
"I never did. You were just a pawn in my game, a distraction. But somewhere along the way..." His voice faltered, his grip on the gun tightening. "I started to care. Your purpose is pure unlike the other elven kind that I stumbled upon."
"Then stop this. We can—"
"Stop. You'll always be trapped in my shadow. So this is where it ends."
"For the record…"
"I was never meant to be your happy ending," he whispered, his voice fading. Then he put a more calmer expression pointed the gun in the side of his temple instead of hers. "But... "
"I wish I could've been." he closed his eyes and let his words echo themselves as a long gunshot was heard. "N-no!" She screamed and frantically quivering in cold and his lifeless eyelids open staring into the abyss as she cried her heart out for him.
"You said you cared! You don't get to leave me like this!" I don't care about anything else! I just want you! Why couldn't you stay? Why couldn't we figure it out together?"
"You said you wanted a future TOGETHER!!!" she yelled at the non-existent void that hoping someone might hear her wailing in the night.
But no answer came. Her heart still ached, even here in the nothingness. She had failed. She couldn't save him from himself, and now neither of them could rewrite the ending.Then, a voice broke through the silence.
"Subject 821: Fatal conclusion registered. Initiating Do-Over System."She blinked—or at least she thought she did. Her body felt intangible, as though she were only a thought drifting in space."W-who's there?" she asked, her voice trembling."I am the Do-Over System, a corrective mechanism programmed to alter the course of doomed timelines.
You, Subject 821, have been selected to relive key moments to prevent catastrophic outcomes.""What are you talking about?" Her hands—or what she assumed were her hands—moved wildly in confusion. "Catastrophic? You mean his death? Why me? I didn't even understand what was happening half the time!"
"Precisely. Your skepticism and observational tendencies make you uniquely qualified for this role. You may relive the timeline with retained memories to influence events. Objective: Prevent Subject 274 from harming himself or others."Her breath—or the idea of it—hitched. "You're asking me to save him? He didn't even listen to me when I tried the first time!""Alternative: Do nothing. Probability of identical outcomes: 92.7%.
"Her stomach churned at the thought of reliving those final moments—the blood, the anguish, the sound of clashing thunder. His lifeless body in her arms. She closed her eyes, or what she thought were her eyes, shaking her head.
"How in the heavens! I'm I supposed to even stop him—from himself? 'Did he really cared for me that much?' The more she taught about it the more she is convinced that he loves her and it made her cheeks rosy. It's kinda romantic like a romeo and juliet kind of situation.
(She managed to get a old copy that was trashed away since elven kind dislike anything human in their realm but Aeliana kept it secretly.)
"Fine. I'll do it. But don't expect me to be a miracle worker.""Consent registered. Beginning timeline reset."
"Wait! What happens if I screw up again?"
"The cycle will restart. Your skepticism and adaptability will aid in optimizing results."
"Yeah, well, my skepticism hasn't exactly been great for keeping people alive, has it?" she muttered.
Before the system could respond, the void gave way to a blinding light, and she felt herself pulled back into a world she thought she'd never see again.---The world spun violently, like the pieces of a shattered mirror falling in slow motion, each fragment piercing her mind. She had no control, no anchor to reality. It felt as if the very fabric of time was being torn apart around her. But the nauseating dizziness was real. And then—everything stopped.Suddenly, she was no longer falling.
"A-aeliana!".