The road reformed ahead of them, weaving into towering skyscrapers and monolithic steel walls. Massive neon signs buzzed overhead, flickering in languages they didn't recognize. The sky was black—not from night, but from the suffocating smog and broken satellites raining sparks.
At the base of the colossal city gates, the system announced coldly:
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[ Flame Site Detected – The City That Eats the Future ]
> Tier: 5 – Temporal Corruption Zone
World Modifier: "Tomorrow Devours Today"
Rule: Time here is broken. Actions might happen before you perform them.
Objective: Find the Temporal Core and stabilize it to rekindle the fifth flame.
---
Lian slowed his cycle, eyeing the streets ahead. Skyscrapers were in constant motion—like breathing lungs of metal. In the corners of his eyes, shadows flickered too fast to follow.
Jayce whistled low. "Looks like someone's trying way too hard to cosplay Blade Runner."
Demist checked his axe. "Or the city ate the cosplayers."
Elric closed his eyes, feeling the tension in the air. "The timelines here...they're fighting each other."
> [ Warning: Chrono-Distortions Detected. Reflexes and instincts may not match actions. ]
---
Entering Sector 1: Forgotten Market
As they pedaled and marched through the entrance, they passed deserted markets filled with rotting neon foods and rusted drones.
Suddenly, a gunshot rang out.
Lian turned instinctively—and found himself already bleeding from a wound on his shoulder.
> "What the hell?! I dodged it!" he shouted.
The system pinged:
> [ Temporal Misfire – Cause precedes effect. Adjust accordingly. ]
Enemies emerged—Time-Spliced Bandits. Their movements jittered unnaturally, sometimes finishing attacks before starting them.
The battle was insane:
Dodging was useless unless you predicted intentions instead of movements.
Attacks had to be spoken out loud seconds before launching them to anchor them in present time.
Jayce adapted first, of course.
> "I'm punching that ugly guy in the teeth!" he shouted, then punched two seconds later—perfectly.
Demist roared ahead: "Next three steps—cut left, uppercut swing!" His axe mirrored his words exactly.
Lian, gritting his teeth, activated a new passive buff that had been unlocked earlier—Chrono-Awareness—boosting his predictive instincts.
After a brutal fight, the last of the Time-Spliced Bandits collapsed into dust.
---
Midboss: The Clockwork Merchant
Inside a cracked mall, they found a skeletal man made of gears, cogs whirring with broken time.
He offered "deals"—but at a terrible cost.
> Trade 1000 coins for future luck (delayed delivery).
Sacrifice a stat point to rewind one fatal mistake.
Sell a memory for instant power.
Lian hesitated. The temptation was strong. So much power… but at what price?
Jayce grinned. "I've already sold my dignity for laughs. No deal."
Demist swung immediately. "I don't make deals with clocks."
The Clockwork Merchant screeched, warping into an angular beast—Time-Eater Form.
---
The battle was brutal:
The Time-Eater rewound their attacks halfway through.
Some blows landed but undid themselves.
Jayce nearly lost an arm to a temporal cleave before Demist predicted it two seconds in advance and countered.
Elric played a masterstroke: using Voice of Continuity, the new party skill, they sang a single chorus together, anchoring the entire battlefield to one clean second of time.
Lian delivered the final blow—his cycle launching off a debris ramp, crashing straight into the Time-Eater's core.
---
[ Midpoint Achieved – Proceed to Core Sector ]
They panted, wounded and shaken, but alive.
Jayce looked at the ruined streets. "This whole city's a ticking time bomb."
Elric agreed. "And the explosion won't stay in just this world. It'll tear everything ahead of us."
---
Core Sector Unlocked: Temporal Nexus
The road split into a web of infinite paths, shimmering and cracking.
At the center floated a glowing heart of gears and data streams—the Temporal Core.
But there, waiting before it, stood a figure.
Wearing a torn version of Lian's jacket.
Eyes hollow.
Smile mocking.
It was… a future version of Lian.
> "Give up," Future Lian said, voice cracking like broken glass.
"No matter how hard you fight, you'll end up here. Alone."
The final battle for the fifth flame had begun.
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