---
The air around the Temporal Nexus twisted. Future-Lian stepped forward, dragging behind him a broken, rusted cycle fused with shards of shattered worlds. His presence oozed corruption, the very fabric of time warping around him.
> [ WARNING: Entity 'Corrupted Self' Identified. ]
[ Boss Class: Temporal Anomaly – Tier 5 Elite. ]
[ Special Rule: Mirror Pain – All damage inflicted on him is split with yourself. ]
[ Special Rule: Future Sight – Knows your next 5 actions. ]
---
Lian's grip on his handlebars tightened.
Demist growled, axe already glowing with layered buffs.
Jayce cracked his knuckles, a rare seriousness flashing through his usually playful gaze.
Elric muttered incantations, anchoring their timeline to prevent forced rewinds.
"Guys," Lian said grimly, "this isn't just a boss. This is everything I might become if we fail."
Jayce winked. "Well, good thing we're experts at beating bad endings."
---
Battle Start: Temporal Nexus Showdown
Future-Lian moved first, his corrupted cycle vanishing and reappearing through warped jumps. With zero delay, a triple-slice of time blades arced toward them.
Demist blocked two with his axe—but the third sliced into his side before it even appeared.
Jayce dodged by pre-calling his move: "Rolling left, cartwheel, face-plant!" (He barely avoided it but scraped his elbow.)
Elric anchored Lian's position, forcing space-time to recognize him as "already standing" in a safe spot.
But Lian… could feel his future-self reading every thought.
Whenever he tried to swing, move, or even think about attacking, Future-Lian countered before the motion began.
---
First Phase Strategy: Breaking Future Sight
Lian called out: "Think in chaos! Act without planning!"
They shifted to pure instinct. Random attacks. Wild spins. Jayce even started flipping his cycle into enemies like a human bowling ball.
Only unpredictable actions could land hits—but every landed hit meant shared damage due to the Mirror Pain rule.
Blood streamed from both Lians as the battle escalated.
---
Second Phase: Timeline Collapse
The arena shattered into dozens of floating platforms, each showing different possible futures:
In one, Demist lay dead.
In another, Jayce was a tyrant king.
In yet another, Lian walked alone, broken and rich but hollow.
Each vision tried to pull them in.
> [ WARNING: Temptation Points Detected. Resisting grants bonus stats. Failing will trap you in a doomed timeline. ]
Demist roared, slamming his axe into the ground to anchor himself with pure rage.
Jayce, laughing madly, flipped off a vision of his own coronation.
Elric calmly walked through a vision of his own death, eyes glowing.
Lian stared at the future where he had all the coins, all the power... but no friends.
He turned his back to it.
System Prompt:
> [ All team members resisted. Willpower +20. Fate Divergence initiated. ]
---
Final Phase: Last Stand
Future-Lian unleashed Temporal Annihilation—a storm of all possible attacks Lian could have ever made.
Blades, fists, wheels, even broken memories rained down on them.
Health bars dropped:
Demist: 30% HP
Jayce: 25% HP
Elric: 10% HP (burning through mana shields)
Lian: 5% HP
Desperation Move: Unity Charge
Without speaking, the team acted.
Jayce charged from the right with a flickering cycle.
Demist came in left, axe glowing crimson.
Elric cast Chrono-Bind, freezing Future-Lian's prediction ability for a single breath.
Lian pedaled directly into Future-Lian.
Collision.
Explosion of timelines.
Silence.
---
When the light faded, Lian stood over the cracked remains of his future self.
The corrupted cycle disintegrated into motes of light.
A final whisper floated in the air:
> "Choose a different road, Lian… please."
He nodded solemnly.
System prompts flooded in:
> [ Victory: You have defeated Corrupted Self! ]
[ Temporal Core Stabilized. Fifth Flame Rekindled. ]
[ Major Rewards Earned: ]
New Vehicle Blueprint: Photon Cycle (Upgradeable)
Talent Upgrade: Coin Multiplier – Enhanced Form (Details later)
New Talent Unlocked: Timeline Diver
System Level Up!
---
The city around them shuddered, then began to shine brightly as the poison of the broken futures burned away.
Elric collapsed to one knee, drained.
Jayce flopped onto the ground. "I need an entire bakery's worth of cake after this."
Demist grunted but smiled faintly. "You did well, kid."
And Lian… Lian just stared ahead at the new road forming.
Wider.
Brighter.
But also far, far more dangerous.
---
[ Fifth Flame Rekindled – New Main Quest Unlocked: The Race of Worlds ]