"What should we do, Salty?"
"I beheaded him and he's still alive, the fuck are we supposed to do?"
"Try again?"
"I think that would be a waste of time, hehe..."
"Enough with your shitty puns!"
Salter moved forward, ready to strike the old man again, however she was immediately moved backwards, so she moved forward, ready to strike the old man again, however she was immediately moved backwards, so she moved forward, ready to strike the old man again, however...
"What... the...hell?"
"I put you into a loop, young lady. It'll give you time to reflect. You seem like a reasonable person, how about we end this?"
"You know, I really didn't feel like fighting today, but now that we are, I feel like I can't back down. It's a matter of pride. Plus you've disrespected my friend, and I can't let that slide, nor can I go against what she wants. And what she wants is to kick your ass."
"I invite you to take time to consider-"
"No, time's up."
Nero used the skill that she had acquired to launch a barrage of mana projectiles towards Father Time. The Caster waved his hands around, creating a distortion that made the attack dissipate.
"Accelerated aging, correct?"
"You don't look like the type, but you're quite an analytical mind, aren't you?"
"I'm an artist, and war is the greatest art!"
"I see you are a product of your time..."
Father Time barely dodged a crimson and black ray of energy coming from his side.
"You managed to break out of the loop? That's impressive."
"Spare the praise for later."
Nero and Salter attacked at the same time, however for some reason their attacks weren't syncronised, so their opponent was able to dodge both and touch Nero's arm, making it all wrinkled.
Nero spun around, trying to slash him, but he slowed down her attack again while backing away.
"I'm sorry, I really don't want this, but your attempts are useless-"
Before he could finish, a small cut appeared on his neck.
"?"
"Nero, how did you do that?"
"It's quite simple really, since you are time, you can change the flow of our attacks as you please, so all I had to do is use Imperial Privilege to create an attack you couldn't process."
"I don't understand, I'm time, there's nothing I can't process..."
"You're wrong, you can't process something that doesn't happen in time, something above time. I shall call this Giove - The slash that surpasses Time itself."
"You're very dangerous... you're a danger to Miki, too dangerous to stay here."
"I'll finish it quickly then!"
"I'm sorry, this calls for drastic measures...
PRE-GENESIS - THE AGONY BEFORE EVERYTHING"
"Wh... wha..."
"Where the hell are we?"
"A Reality Marble?"
"No, something feels different... we are in a completely different reality..."
"Isn't there something weird with this place, Salty? I can't quite put my finger on it..."
"Yeah, he didn't just bring us or imprison us in another world... look at those birds... and the trees... can you feel any wind? We are stuck in a 3D world."
"You mean we're in..."
"A world with no time."
While this is going on, in another part of the forest...
"Ow... damn... what the hell happened... something hit me... ugh... this day just keeps getting worse... heh... that describes 90% of my days... hahaha... ... I can't even laugh at myself... well, no matter, let's just grab my sword and go kick some ass."
Mordred got up and started looking for her sword, moving deeper into the forest.
"Haha, there it is! Are you alright, Clarent? Don't worry, my baby, daddy's back by your side... now let's go find the enemies responsible for-"
As Mordred was about to leave, a feeling of unease and queasiness spread throughout her whole body, blocking all movements and making her fall to the ground. Something strange was happening inside her. It was as if she had been poisoned. The trees around her also changed colour before starting to slowly degrade and fall. The ice began to melt and the ground was left lifeless, devoid of all colour and life.
"Mommy... Daddy..."
A soft and ethereal voice came from behind her, haunting her ears like a ghostly presence. Mordred turned around and saw, at the centre of the increasing desolation, a little girl, no older than 4, walking. Though walking was a bit generous. She wandered, almost floating, without following any particular direction, aimlessly, like a zombie. Slowly, other figures started to appear wherever Modred could set her eyes.
People, though it was hard to truly call them that. Many had no face since all features characterising a face had been brutally removed. Some had deep burns that exposed their internal organs, their muscles and their bones, that formed a grim alligator pattern on them. Some were on the ground or on their knees, coughing up blood and vomiting all kinds of bodily fluids. Others, following the example of the little girl, kept moving without any real objective, like a bunch of ants.
The girl looked mostly fine, if not for the fact that sometimes blood start flowing from her nose or her mouth and her skin looked extremely dry, especially her face which was very pale. Little drops of tears decorated her almond eyes.
A not-so-long time ago, in a Japanese city...
The children played happily, running and chasing each other, while the elderly drank and smoked while reading the newspapers and shaking their heads. The parents were likely walking not too far away, buying products in various shops or chatting with friends. Kei was laughing without a care in the world. Life was good. She had streets in which she could play, friends she could play with, a loving family. She had everything a little girl could ask.
And then, a little boy came. Little Boy arrived in Hiroshima.
And everything Kei had was gone before she could even realise it. Gone in an instant. Gone like her city.
There stands the little girl, in an inferno of fire, of ruins and screams. Her existence shattered. Her world destroyed. She walks around, aimlessly, searching for her parents, calling them out, to no avail. They are one with the dust she breathes in as she walks. She walks. Like an ant. Like thousands of others like her. An entire city of human ants.
The Ant Walkers of Hiroshima.