The world around them was wrong. Not just in the way illusions or dreams feel off, but in a deeper, more fundamental way. The ruins were gone. The collapsing chamber, the shattered door, the cultists—all of it had disappeared.
Instead, Hikaru, Budi, Selene, and Aldric stood in the middle of a battlefield that shouldn't exist.
The air was thick with the scent of ash and burning metal. The ground beneath them was cracked stone, stained dark with something long dried. The sky above was a swirling void—neither day nor night, neither past nor present.
And the worst part?
They weren't alone.
Budi was the first to react. His masked form tensed, his breath uneven. Hikaru had never seen him hesitate before.
Budi's voice was lower than usual. "This place…"
Selene's silver eyes flickered. "It's not real."
Aldric exhaled. "No. But that doesn't make it any less dangerous."
Hikaru adjusted his glasses, his mind working at lightning speed. "Alright, someone tell me where we are before I start making things up."
Aldric didn't take his eyes off the landscape. "This is Velmoria, long before the kingdom existed."
Hikaru frowned. "Neat trick. Except I don't remember signing up for a history lesson."
Aldric's expression darkened. "Neither did I."
Then, they saw them.
Figures emerging from the mist.
Not monsters.
Not echoes.
People.
And they were wearing armor.
Hikaru's heart skipped a beat. Not just any armor. The designs were strange—ancient, jagged, engraved with symbols that no longer existed in modern magic. But they weren't ghosts. They weren't memories.
They were looking right at them.
Budi exhaled. "They can see us."
Hikaru flicked a card between his fingers. "Well, that's unfortunate."
The first warrior stepped forward, his armor worn but unbroken. His face was hidden behind a full metal helm, his voice ancient yet steady.
"You do not belong here."
Selene's hands hovered near her spell sigils. "If they think we're enemies—"
Aldric spoke, his voice low. "We do not fight."
Hikaru blinked. "Excuse me?"
Aldric's steel-gray eyes didn't leave the warriors. "If this is the past, then everything we do will have consequences. Even if none of this is real… the Forgotten Ones are watching."
Budi muttered, "So what, we just stand here and hope they don't stab us?"
Hikaru sighed. "I hate plans that involve not doing anything."
The warrior took another step forward. More figures began appearing behind him—an entire legion, their weapons reflecting the impossible sky above.
The first warrior spoke again.
"You do not belong here. But you wear their faces."
Hikaru opened his mouth to respond—
But the warrior wasn't looking at him.
He was looking at Budi.
Budi clenched his fists. His mask was reacting again.
Hikaru felt it. Something old, something buried, something waking up.
The warrior tilted his head slightly.
"Which of them do you serve?"
Budi's breath caught. "I don't serve anyone."
The warriors didn't react. Instead, the first one turned his gaze toward Aldric.
"And you… still fight for a kingdom that does not yet exist."
Aldric's jaw tightened. "The past is not my battle."
The warrior was silent for a long moment. Then he lifted his weapon.
"Then you have already lost."
Hikaru clicked his tongue. "Yeah, see, this feels like the part where things get violent."
Selene muttered, "I told you."
Budi shifted his stance. "If they start swinging, I'm not just standing here."
Aldric exhaled. "Do not give them a reason to attack."
The warrior lowered his weapon slightly.
"The gate is open. The world will remember."
Hikaru's brain immediately locked onto those words.
The gate.
This wasn't just some memory projection.
This was a message.
Budi took a slow breath. "You knew the Forgotten Ones."
The warrior turned to him.
"We were their heralds. Before the betrayal."
Hikaru raised an eyebrow. "Oh, see, that sounds very dramatic. Care to elaborate?"
The warrior didn't respond.
Instead—
The battlefield began to change.
The ground trembled. The figures began to blur, flickering like a broken reflection. The sky rippled, twisting into something darker, something colder.
Hikaru exhaled. "Oh. That's not good."
Budi's mask flared.
And suddenly, he wasn't standing in the same place anymore.
One second, he was next to Hikaru—
The next, he was somewhere else.
Hikaru cursed under his breath. "Budi?!"
Budi didn't answer.
Selene's silver eyes snapped to the shifting battlefield. "Something's pulling him deeper!"
Hikaru didn't hesitate.
He flicked a card into his palm. [Skill Activated: ♠A – The House Always Wins]
The world twisted.
For a brief second, the illusion broke. Hikaru saw the real ruins, saw the fading seal, saw the truth.
And he saw Budi.
Trapped in another moment, another time, another place.
Hikaru clenched his teeth. "Oh, hell no."
Aldric's voice was sharp. "Whatever you're doing, do it now."
Hikaru reached.
Not physically. Not magically.
But with his ability.
With perception.
He forced the world to see Budi as someone who was still there.
And the world obeyed.
The battlefield snapped.
The warriors vanished.
The mist dissolved.
And suddenly—they were back in the ruins.
The shattered door, the ancient stone, the lingering echo of Marrow's laughter.
Budi staggered backward, his breathing uneven. His mask was still shifting, still pulsing with something Hikaru didn't understand.
Hikaru caught his breath. "That… was awful."
Selene steadied herself. "We're back."
Aldric didn't lower his guard. "Not for long."
Hikaru adjusted his glasses, flicking a card into his palm. "Alright, new rule."
Budi exhaled, his mask finally stabilizing. "What's that?"
Hikaru grinned.
"No more time-traveling nightmares before breakfast."
Budi groaned. "You're the worst."
Selene sighed. "We need to go. Now."
Aldric's gaze remained locked on the ruins. "The seal is broken. The gate is open."
Hikaru smirked. "Yeah, but we're still alive."
Aldric glanced at him. "For now."
Hikaru's smirk widened. "Then let's make sure we stay that way."
And with that, they ran.