Three years had passed.
The world had calmed. Research on the mysterious towers had concluded with nothing but dead ends and frustrated papers. The towers stood still—quiet, monumental, as if waiting.
Theron Ashford, now a second-year college student studying medicine and surgery, adjusted the collar of his ironed shirt as he stepped out of his room. Arya Selene stood by the door, dressed in a navy dress with subtle patterns of celestial constellations. Her hair shimmered silver-white beneath the early afternoon sun.
"You think your parents will still think I'm a freak?" Arya asked, smirking.
"Only if you don't eat like one this time," Theron said, chuckling.
They were heading to a family lunch—an odd gathering of both Arya's and Theron's parents.
---
Family Lunch Scene
They sat around a long wooden table at a quiet, vine-draped garden restaurant.
Theron's father, a gaunt man with tired eyes but a warm smile, raised a glass of juice. "To seeing you two still alive and not married in secret. Yet."
Arya almost choked. "What do you mean 'yet'?"
Theron's mom leaned in. "Sweetheart, we've seen the way he looks at you. And you've been around for years—either you're going to elope or I'll start planning the wedding myself."
Arya laughed, placing her hand over Theron's under the table. "You're assuming too much."
Her father, a tall man with a scar under his eye, glanced at Theron. "Boy, can you handle her?"
Theron straightened. "No, sir. But I try."
Everyone laughed.
Just then, Arya's expression changed. She blinked rapidly.
The system was gone.
She froze. Her eyes widened as something clicked deep in her mind.
> The connection's cut. Time put a restriction. It knew.
She stood abruptly.
"Arya?" Theron asked, alarmed.
"Something's wrong."
Then the world shattered.
A massive, translucent system window appeared in the sky—large enough to cover the horizon.
> [GLOBAL SYSTEM ANNOUNCEMENT]
I AM A SERVANT OF THE GODS THIS WORLD SHALL BE ERASED THE ONLY SALVATION IS THROUGH THE PORTALS AT THE EDGE OF EACH CITY MONSTERS YOU HAVE FOUR HOURS
Then a swarm of monsters followed.
Screams broke out.
---
Mass Panic, Monster Arrival
Cities turned red.
Gargantuan beasts swarmed in droves—teeth, claws, limbs. Flesh was torn like paper. Bones cracked under the weight of horror.
Theron, his family, and Arya rushed toward the city's evacuation portal.
Theron held Arya's hand tightly. "Don't leave me."
She didn't answer.
Then, in a moment—she disappeared.
He spun. "Arya?"
He found her—sitting on a broken fountain, calm.
"Come on! We need to go!"
She looked up at him. "I can't."
"What are you talking about?!"
"You go. You'll survive."
"You're coming with me, dammit!"
After a moment of silence, she nodded.
They ran.
But as they reached the glowing edge of the portal, Theron stopped.
His family—his father, his mother, his younger sister—were lying on the ground.
Being eaten.
A group of goblins laughed and shrieked, blood-soaked as they gnawed at bones and flesh. One licked a rib clean, eyes glowing with manic joy.
Theron screamed. "NO!"
He tried to run to them.
Arya caught his arm.
"Let me go! I can help them—I—"
"They're gone."
"LET ME FUCKING GO!"
She didn't let go.
She looked into his eyes. "Live."
Then she threw him into the portal.
He disappeared.
She stood still as the portal closed.
---
Suddenly, her system connection flared back.
She looked up at her system window.
One skill was newly available:
"Dimensional Shift" — teleportation to any known space.
She could leave.
She didn't.
She whispered, "Humanity won't fall to beasts."
Then:
> [SYSTEM AUTHORITY: CORE CREATOR DETECTED]
NAME: ??? (CLASSIFIED)
TITLE: ONE OF THE THREE WHO DESIGNED THE SYSTEM
ALIAS: THE GOD OF TIME
Time.
And with it came six shadows—hooded figures known only to those who remembered forbidden history.
The Nameless Six.
Arya's eyes narrowed. Memories surged.
She unleashed her God Aura.
> [TITLE UNSEALED: GOD OF SHADOW & MEMORY]
One of the six stepped forward to mock her.
That was a mistake.
> [SKILL ACTIVATED: HEADHUNT]
His head exploded into red mist.
The others flinched.
"That's Head Hunt... only usable if the target doesn't have a quarter of your aura—how does she even HAVE that skill?!"
"Impossible. The Head Hunter's still alive!"
Flashback: Arya stood bloodied, her chest heaving, dagger plunged into the chest of a dying warrior — the original Head Hunter. He smiled at her. "Take it. If you can survive... then one day, kill them."
Back in the present:
Arya tilted her head. "You're right. I took it when I almost died killing him. But I don't need skills for trash like you."
She vanished.
A head fell.
Then blood.
No one saw her move. No one saw her weapon.
The rest attacked. Desperate. Furious.
She summoned her sword from her system window.
Dark Aura ignited.
With one strike—bodies disintegrated. Souls too.
Flashback: Arya and Theron—side by side, fighting the Nameless Six. They used tricks. Poison. Illusions. They won. But lost everything.
---
The God of Time Appears
Clocks ticked. Thousands. Gears moved in the sky. A figure in a robe of infinite time descended.
The God of Time.
He looked at Arya. "So. You are the one our future selves sent."
Arya responded, "I'm not here for salvation. Only to make sure Theron survives."
Time observed. "You may already be stronger than I am."
Arya smirked. "This version of you isn't nearly as scary as the first."
Time turned away. "I will grow slowly but infinitely."
Behind him—his army poured out. The world began to burn.
Arya stood still.
Her system chimed.
> [CURRENT QUEST: TRANSFER MEMORIES TO THERON ASHFORD]
[CONDITION FOR COMPLETION: DEATH]
[PENALTY FOR FAILURE: DESTRUCTION OF THE WORLD]
To be continued…