Temporal Dominion

Lucian's heart pounded. His body was battered, bruised, and broken.

Darren wasn't holding back.

This wasn't a duel, a test of strength, or a clash of egos—it was an execution.

"What the hell did he do to himself?"

Lucian barely had time to react as Darren lunged again—faster than before.

BOOM!

The world exploded around him as Darren's punch ripped through space, sending a devastating shockwave through the air.

"He's going to kill me."

Lucian could barely move. His ribs were shattered, his arm twisted at an unnatural angle, his legs numb from the sheer impact of Darren's previous attacks. The pain was unbearable, his body no longer responding.

Yet Darren wasn't done.

"You humiliated me, Lucian," Darren growled, his voice laced with unhinged hatred. "I was supposed to be the one everyone feared. Me. Not you."

Lucian barely lifted his head, his vision blurring.

Darren's fist came down.

Lucian braced for the end—

CRACK!

A sickening noise echoed through the clearing as Darren's punch landed squarely on Lucian's chest.

But instead of a final, fatal moment—Lucian's body twisted.

His ribs caved in, his chest denting from the sheer kinetic force, his bones snapping like brittle twigs. The world went white with agony.

But then—

Something changed.

Darren staggered backward, his fist trembling. He felt something… wrong.

Lucian's mangled body convulsed. His limbs, which should have been useless, twitched violently.

And then—

He began to heal.

Darren's eyes widened in horror.

Lucian's shattered ribs reset. His broken arm snapped back into place. His skin, darkened with bruises, shed like peeling bark—revealing unblemished flesh underneath.

This wasn't just healing.

It was reconstruction.

"What… what the hell is this?!"

Lucian's breathing evened. His fingers curled into the dirt, steady.

And then—

His eyes snapped open.

A cold, alien presence surged through the battlefield. The very air warped.

Darren's instincts screamed—danger.

Lucian slowly rose, his movements deliberate, inhuman.

And when he spoke, his voice wasn't his.

"You shouldn't have done that."

Darren took a step back. A chill crawled up his spine.

This… wasn't the same Lucian he had been fighting.

Lucian tilted his head. His body was perfectly still—too still, like a predator moments before it struck.

And then—

Darren's world shattered.

Lucian moved.

Not in a burst of speed. Not in a flash of power.

One moment he was standing still. The next—

He was already in front of Darren.

A hand touched Darren's chest.

And time collapsed.

BOOM!

Darren screamed. His body was twisting, his cells eroding.

No—

Not eroding.

Reversing.

His enhanced muscles withered. His once-superhuman body shrank, weakened, collapsed. His power—his very essence—was unraveling.

A cold terror gripped him.

"He's… erasing me… from time itself."

Darren let out a choked scream, his body locking up as his very existence unraveled.

And then—

His energy vanished.

Darren collapsed.

His limbs were frail, drained of all strength. His once-proud body lay crippled, unmoving.

His power was gone.

Forever.

'Lucian' walking towards the collapse darren ready to finish his business when-

A voice shattered the silence.

"That's enough."

A pulse of power erupted through the air.

A familiar presence.

Darkness rushed back into Darren's body, protecting him.

Lucian—or the thing inside him—paused.

Then, slowly, he turned.

A new figure stood at the edge of the battlefield. Cloaked in shadow, eyes gleaming with an unnatural red light.

"You shouldn't be awake," the figure said, his tone sharp.

Lucian tilted his head. His smirk widened.

"This is none of your business Time Keeper."

The figure's eyes narrowed. "Go back where you came from, this is not your time."

A long silence stretched between them. The air crackled with invisible tension.

"We will meet again." the figure said laughing.

Then—

Lucian's body jerked.

His entire form shuddered, as if something had forced itself back inside.

His eyes flickered—and then he collapsed.

The presence was gone.

Lucian lay unconscious on the ground, his body drenched in sweat, his breath ragged.