"Who are you and what do you want?" Raia threw the question, wary of the unfriendly acquaintance.
"Hmph! I guess you didn't regain any of your memories after all. My name is Elliot Chronos, the one who will end your life today." Elliot scoffed and threatened Raia while raising a huge iron pole.
Raia, hearing the threat, looked deadly and cold. His eyes burned with intensity as he observed the person in front of him.
Elliot Chronos looked young, probably around Raia's age. He had blonde hair, pale skin, and piercing blue eyes. He was very tall, too. You could easily tell he came from somewhere in America or Europe. His build was better than Raia's, fit and seemingly agile.
As Raia assessed the threat, Elliot moved.
He suddenly sprinted toward Raia, swinging his iron pole straight at Raia's head.
He was definitely aiming to kill. But unexpectedly for him, the pole hit nothing but air. Raia had already moved to the side, his two fingers from his right hand aiming at Elliot's neck.
Elliot proved Raia's observation right, he was agile indeed. He leapt away from Raia at the last second.
Both were surprised by each other's battle awareness. They were equally fast and agile.
"Why are you attacking me? I don't even know you!" Raia tried to talk his way out of this.
Elliot didn't reply but said this instead, "As expected of the ruthless tyrant, you're still skilled, even in your weakest state," Elliot praised Raia, though his tone remained deadly.
Raia didn't understand what this kid is talking about at all.
But Raia didn't respond. He was listening to Inner Self.
'That man... You should be extra careful from now on. He has a True Origin as well. A very powerful one. He can reverse time in an instant.' Inner Self sounded deadly serious, and Raia took the warning gravely.
Without a response from Raia, Elliot grew irritated. "You're arrogant as usual." He gripped his iron pole tightly and charged again, swinging.
Raia didn't understand what Elliot was talking about. It was as if they had met before perhaps even fought.
Inner Self then tapped into Raia's senses, activating his incredible sixth sense, Super Instinct.
Each time Elliot maneuvered a strike, Raia dodged it with near-perfect timing. He tried to synchronize and adapt to the senses Inner Self was steering, until finally, his body remembered the feeling.
Raia took over. With a twist of his body to the left, he escaped the pole's descent. Then, spinning a full 360 degrees, he struck Elliot in the face with a sharp elbow.
The impact was solid. Elliot's mouth bled.
Elliot wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, sneering at Raia. "Ha! You think you're better now?" Then, raising his hand, he opened his palm and made a twisting motion.
Suddenly, everything, including Raia returned to the positions they held moments ago.
Raia's body was mid-motion, about to strike Elliot again, but this time Elliot anticipated it. He turned his face just in time to avoid the elbow, and delivered a fearsome blow to Raia's side.
With that force, Raia's body was hurled sideways. Elliot's strength was overwhelming and with his time-reversing ability, he seemed unstoppable.
Raia hit the ground. Grazes and bruises formed on his arm from the impact.
Elliot smirked arrogantly.
"What just happened? I thought I hit him in the face." Raia groaned, clutching his left side. He hadn't expected that outcome at all.
'He reversed time', Inner Self explained simply.
"He's a strong foe," Raia said as he stood and faced Elliot again.
'He is but there's a huge flaw in his power,' Inner Self commented.
"What is it?"
'It's limited.'
After Inner Self said that, things around Raia began to move again, reversing once more to the events of the last thirty seconds.
Raia was once again in motion, about to strike Elliot with his elbow when the pole slammed into his left side again.
His face twisted in pain. He hadn't fully recovered from his earlier battle with the General's men, and now another powerful foe was beating him down like a kitten.
Emotions surged within Raia. Anger, desperation, hatred. He felt the urge to kill this enemy in front of him.
'If you can endure one more strike after another time reversal, your victory is guaranteed,' Inner Self said in a mischievous tone, though it was clearly a calculated statement.
Raia felt a rush of hope and excitement.
Elliot saw Raia bow his head. He thought the blow had finally made Raia collapse, begging for his life.
His expression turned maniacal. The idea of Raia submitting excited him. All kinds of twisted thoughts flooded his mind, each one more violent than the last but they all centered on one thing, how to kill Raia.
He moved his hand again, twisting it, expecting another time reversal. But nothing happened.
He tried again. Still nothing. Cold sweat began to form on his brow. "What's happening? Why isn't it working?"
He asked himself, then he felt a sharp chill, a wave of killing intent against his skin that made his hair stand on end.
Raia had already leapt and appeared in front of him.
Raia's eyes burned with bloodlust and rage.
"Out of juice?" Raia asked coldly.
Then, he punched Elliot in the face, sending him away crashing to the ground.
Raia didn't stop there.
"You are not a hero. You are a psycho!" he shouted, grabbing Elliot by the collar and punching him relentlessly.
He paused. "I don't even know you and yet you're spouting so much nonsense!" He punched and punched until Elliot's face swelled and turned blood-red.
"And on top of that… you tried to kill me?! I'll kill you instead!" Raia let go of Elliot's collar and hammered him with a double-fisted blow to both sides of his face. Blood splattered. It was brutal.
'That's it! Kill him! Kill him!' Inner Self screamed, feeding on Raia's fury.
Raia kept punching and punching, consumed by his emotions.
Just when it felt like nothing could stop him, a voice called out.
"Raia, stop!" Arman's voice cut through the chaos.
"He's done. He can't fight anymore," Arman said, trying to calm Raia and bring sense back into the moment.
Raia looked down at Elliot's battered, bloody face… then at his own fists, covered in someone else's blood.
He froze.
Tears began to fall from Raia's cheeks. He broke down.
"What have I done?" he cried, shaken by what he had just done. He had been consumed again by his own rage.
Arman looked at Raia, shocked. It was the first time he had seen him like this. Loss for words, Arman did the only thing he could... he hugged him.
"It's okay. It's okay. You didn't do anything wrong," Arman whispered, holding his friend tightly. "It's okay."
Raia kept repeating his words, "I didn't mean to! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to!" as he moved away from Elliot.
Arman looked at him, devastated. He didn't know what else to do beside staying by his side.
Thankfully, Elliot was still wheezing air.
"Don't worry, he's fine. He's alive," Arman comforted Raia.
Raia kept muttering those same words, over and over, until his voice faded into a whisper.
Then, Raia lost consciousness.
The wristband on Arman's hand turned red, displaying a countdown that had just reached zero.