The ground trembled. Trees bent under the invisible pressure of creatures from the void. The temporal anomalies, drawn to the energy radiating from Jason, had gathered around him. Over thirty monsters surrounded the man from the future — some crawling, others leaping — all of them hungry, as if his power was an offering they had awaited for centuries.
Jason stood at the center of the circle, panting.
His blade of light trembled slightly in his hand. His breath was short, his skin pale. The fight against the giant gorilla had been unimaginably intense, and freezing time had cost him more than he wanted to admit.
A few meters away, Léon watched, paralyzed by helplessness. His fists clenched in frustration.
— "I have to do something... I can't just let him fight alone!" he thought, his eyes filled with rage and confusion.
But his body refused to move. He had neither the strength, nor the power, nor even the experience to face these nightmarish entities. This world wasn't his — not yet.
— "Too slow..." Jason muttered as he was struck from behind.
He rolled across the ground. A claw had slashed across his back. Blood spurted out — dark blue, almost glowing.
Léon cried out:
— "Jason!"
But Jason stood back up slowly, staggering.
— "Stay... where you are," he murmured.
He raised his head toward the monsters, his eyes filled with a flickering, painful light.
— "You come for what does not belong to you..."
He lifted his left hand. A circle of ancient clocks appeared in the air, each one turning in a different direction. The monsters hesitated for a moment. A temporal wave rippled outward, freezing several creatures in place. Jason took advantage of the moment to cut down three of them in a single, clean motion.
But suddenly, his body faltered.
A burst of blood gushed from his mouth.
He dropped to one knee.
— "No... not now..." he groaned.
His gaze turned toward Léon, distant, almost empty.
— "I'm running out..."
The anomalies could feel it. They knew. The energy he had once radiated was dwindling. The stopped time was beginning to resume its course, but the backlash was brutal.
A beast with a feline body, covered in bony spikes, pounced and struck him full force. Jason crashed against a rock. A crack formed in his armor. He stayed on the ground for a few seconds.
Léon flinched.
Everything in him screamed to move, to run, to fight. But nothing responded. He was like a prisoner nailed to his fate.
— "Why am I so weak?!" he screamed inside.
Jason got up again, trembling, a stream of blood dripping from his chin.
— "I must... at least… hold the breach…"
He raised his hand one last time. A temporal sphere appeared around him, slowing the movements of the advancing monsters, but it flickered, unstable. Each heartbeat seemed to cost Jason dearly.
— "It has to end here." he whispered.
But one of the monsters—a massive, spectral centipede—emerged from the shadows, slipping around the sphere and piercing Jason clean through.
Jason screamed.
— "NOOOOO!!!" Léon yelled, eyes wide.
Everything blurred. Time slowed for him as well. Not by power—but by emotion. Fear. Anger. Grief. All intertwined.
Jason, impaled, managed to lift his hand. One last time. A final spark. He froze the creature that had skewered him, then unleashed a blast of blue light in all directions, obliterating the eight closest monsters. The explosion shattered rock, uprooted trees… but didn't kill them all.
And Jason… fell.
This time, he didn't get up right away.
His eyes met Léon's.
— "You have to... believe… in yourself…" he whispered hoarsely.
The ground shook again. More anomalies were approaching. The surviving monsters circled both men.
Léon dropped to his knees, teeth clenched. Tears streamed down his cheeks. It wasn't fair. None of it was fair.
But deep inside him, a spark had been lit.
What happens next…
The ground cracked beneath them. Jason, the hero from the future, slowly collapsed to his knees. His body steamed, drained of all energy. His breath grew weaker. He had crossed a limit… one even time itself could not ignore. He lost consciousness, falling silently.
Léon, trembling, watched the scene in horror.
Around him, the monsters closed in, guided by instinct… or hatred. Their eyes were no longer fixed on Jason. No. Something had awakened. Something… inside Léon.
One of the monsters froze. It slowly turned its head toward Léon, as if it had sensed a hidden warmth — a pure, ancient energy still dormant. A spark. A glow. A flame… coming from his heart.
Léon didn't understand. He felt paralyzed, empty, powerless. His throat tightened, his hands trembled. But the monster had seen it. And it had chosen its target.
With an inhuman shriek, the beast lunged at Léon with terrifying speed. A bone blade extended from its arm, slicing through the air, aiming straight for the boy's throat.
Everything stopped.
Léon saw death. Once again. Just like in the past. Just like during the massacre at the hospital. He saw the lifeless faces, the screams, the blood. He knew… this time, there would be no escape.
He shut his eyes.
He felt the wind of the strike on his skin. He felt the blade coming.
But nothing.
No pain. No impact.
Just a sound… a slicing noise. And a monstrous, guttural scream.
Léon opened his eyes slowly, shaking… The monster's arm had fallen to the ground, severed cleanly.
Black blood sprayed through the air. The beast howled in agony and stumbled backward.
Léon, frozen, couldn't understand. He slowly turned his head… to the left.
And there…
He saw him.
The winged being.
The same one he had seen when he woke up at the hospital.
A man… or rather, an angel.
His face was calm, his eyes piercing. His wings, vast and majestic, stretched behind him like a holy veil. He held a sword of purest light, still stained with the monster's blood. His skin shimmered with light. His aura repelled the darkness.
Léon whispered, stunned:
— "It's… you?"
The angel looked at him — not smiling, but radiating strange warmth.
— "You shouldn't be alive, Léon. And yet…" he said in a voice both soft and powerful.
Léon blinked, confused.
— "Who are you?"
— "The one you will always see… when you stand between life and death. I am bound to you."
Léon clenched his fists, still shaking, still shocked.
— "Why… Why me?"
The angel didn't answer. He stepped forward, gently placing his hand on Léon's chest. In that instant, Léon felt warmth rushing through him. The same flame the monster had seen… but this time, Léon felt it too.
— "Your heart has been chosen. You don't understand yet… but you will. The time will come."
Behind them, the other monsters stirred. The battle was far from over. Jason still lay unconscious. And a new wave of enemies was coming.
The angel looked to the sky.
— "You must survive, Léon. Not for today. But for the day when the world no longer has heroes."
Then, he held out his sword to him.
— "It is not your time yet. But if you accept… I can help you rise."