Absolute Instant

"Rune!"

Kane's shout came just a beat later, and as he stepped away, trying to run towards Rune when a blade came at a downward swing towards him from one of the armed guards.

This forced him to block and defend, unable to run toward his fallen friend.

At the sight of Rune's dead body, it incited panic into everyone- a frenzy. It was as if cold water had been splashed on them, waking them from the realization that this is very real and that they could be next.

And so, what do you do when you realize you're faced with immediate danger?

You run.

You run for your life and don't look back.

Or- at least that's what everyone sometimes seems to do. Then you have weirdos like Kai who stay back and fight.

Oh, wait. Was he calling himself a weirdo then?

…he'd rather not think too deeply about it.

Many students at that moment started running towards the hole that Kane had made, pushing and shoving one another to get closer to this mess of a place, while others seem to freeze in place.

Their faces were morphed into an expression of panic or terror.

The blinding light that came from that gap, leading towards the facility hallways was like salvation in comparison to the red blood-drenched room.

Atlas, his sword positioned defensively to shield his face, found himself hard-pressed as the guard intensified their downward force, having been momentarily distracted by Rune's death it had provided the perfect opening for his opponent.q

'Ugh-!'

He felt his shoulders strain as his foot dug into the floor. It was as if he was upholding a mountain, the heaviest one that existed.

The situation was desperately dire.

They had lost the momentum they had built up. Everyone was panicking and trying to save their own lives.

Beads of sweat clung to the sides of his face as Atlas felt his mind go into a haze as he tried to think of a way to turn the tides, Kai unable to restrain Mr. Davian meant that he was having troubles.

Could it be that women? He had never seen her before this, was she the orchestrator? No- that couldn't be, perhaps the person she had mentioned- Elijah was it.

Atlas felt his eyes widen and twitch just as he was about to remark what a stupid name it was.

Elijah!

He recognized that name. It was a name that he loathed.

'He- he was there; on the battlefield- he was one of the leading generals-!'

A drop of blood from the remaining skeletal pillars dripped onto the ground, splashing into the puddle.

It was then that he felt a premonition.

An uneasy feeling came over him.

He felt his throat turn dry, a cold feeling now in the pit of his stomach.

It was times like this when he knew he was only seconds away from death.

'Seriously? Again!?'

Atlas flickered his gaze around the room, trying to spot where it was coming from.

'Where? Where was it? To the left? Right?' he thought urgently, his eyes darting all over the chaotic room. People were fleeing, fighting- too many things were going on for him to properly see!

'Damn it!'

Biting the inside of his cheek, his attention snapped back to the space directly in front of him, where the form of the guard obstructed his view.

He had half the mind to question the guard's obesity when amid the chaos from behind the towering opponent a glint caught his eye, sharp and harsh.

It was aimed a little to the right so that it would be barely missing the guard.

A dagger.

The patterns of its handle resembled the same one that had been impaled into Rune's head.

The same dagger that had ended their life was now speeding towards Atlas, merely a second away from it would soon impale his head.

It was the same dagger that Mr. Davian had pulled out when deflecting Kai's attack.

'I swear– it's always the crazy ones!'

Atlas couldn't move- couldn't do anything as he was crushed under the weight of his opponent's weapon.

Time seemed to stretch into an excruciating eternity, each second expanding like a drawn-out torment as the dagger drew closer to him.

Amid this tense atmosphere, Atlas's peripheral vision offered glimpses of the surrounding chaos.

Kane's newfound vigor in his struggle against his opponent so that he could run towards Rune, there was the tumultuous scene of people being trampled one by one, climbing over eachother in desperate attempts, and there was Kai, his poised stance, spear poised for an upward thrust against the women—it all unfolded like a surreal, hazy dream.

Then, as if reality itself blurred, everything dissolved.

Atlas, once a tangible presence, became fleeting.

The area where he had just occupied seemed to be as if he was never there, to begin with.

In his stead materialized a stark outline, a mere silhouette of a card, suspended in an otherworldly existence as little sparks seemed to be left behind.

The dagger, with its malevolent intent, collided harshly with the ground as the guard's weapon also came crashing down.

It all seem to have happened in one instantaneous moment as Kai thrust his spear, slightly grazing the cheek of that woman Kane threw a nasty punch, knocking his enemy out cold as they slid a few feet across the floor.

As all this happened, Atlas seem to rematerialize on the other side of the room. It was quick- so fast that no one had realized it yet.

He appeared right behind Mr. Davian from above with his sword raised, his eye expressionless and focused.

Kane looked up and caught the exact moment Atlas swung.

Atlas put all he could behind the blade that was gripped in his hands; it sliced mercilessly through Mr. Davian's throat. The blade swung in a beautiful sideways arc as Mr. Daivan's head soared across the air.

Atlas watched his body collapsing forwards, making an audible thud that was lost in the chaos.

He stood there for a few seconds before swaying. It was then Atlas' turn to collapse.

His grip on the sword faltered, and it tumbled from his grasp, clattering onto the floor. Atlas's knees followed suit, surrendering to the blood-soaked ground beneath him.

His breaths came heavy and ragged as if he had exhausted the very air he needed to survive.

He coughed violently, blood seem to pour from his mouth and nose as his body suffered the consequences of his actions.

What he had just accomplished was undeniably audacious, even reckless, by others' standards.

In a last-ditch attempt, he had activated his signature card, [ Absolute Instant ] to escape his predicament. His signature card- [ Absolute Instant ] was a fusion of his two affinities—wind and lightning

It allowed him to briefly break the laws of time.

An ability to move at high velocities, thus being able to perform impossible maneuvers at an instant's notice

It was useful and what others may consider a powerful skill in terms of potential.

The drawback? His body could not handle it. Not in this life nor his other one.

Every single time he used it it took a major strain on his body.

The result was a power that many deemed useless—why employ a skill that rendered its user incapacitated after a single use? However, Atlas- in his previous life had used this skill multiple times.

Although it put a heavy strain on himself it had become bearable once he had gotten used to it.

It was unfortunate that his current body was not in fact used to the heavy burdens of the skill.

His coughing continued for a few moments longer before it finally died down, he heaved a heavy sigh.

Many times as it almost killed him, and many times it saved his life.

Over the years he had honed it to the best of his abilities out of pure spite- if only for a moment's of acknowledgment.

He laughed spitefully at himself, his memories of his previous life now flooding through him. It reminded him of the early days of his youth. Too stubborn and prideful to listen.

They all said this skill was going to kill him.

Well…he thought, it wasn't the skill but the war that did.

How funny.

…

There wasn't anything funny about that. He was just deranged.

Most definitely.

He tried raising his head. Kai should have finished up his part by now- right? Atlas tried to look around and see but was unable to.

It was at that moment that he heard a clap.

A single clap that soon turned into applause.

"Excellent! That was excellent! What a show, Atlas!"

Mr. Davian, who he had just decapitated, walked up from behind one of the many bone-compacted pillars, his smile wide and his tone light.

Perhaps– Atlas thought– it would be better to collapse right here and then.