To Protect the World

{Year 2052}

Despair.

That was the only word Anthony could think of as he looked up at that hateful being.. No, it would be wrong to even call "that" an evil person. Even calling it a monster would be akin to a "Saint" for everything it had done.

In Anthony's arms was the corpse of his lover, whose hair had long lost its once vibrant color. She had a faint self-deprecating smile hung on her lips, the last expression she'd ever make. Not sure if she should be happy for protecting the "Light" of her life, Anthony, or be sad about how her full power could only block a casual attack from that "monster", an attack that wasn't even directed at them.

As far as Anthony could see, there were craters dotting every single inch of the surrounding thousands of miles. Lying in those craters were bodies.. the bodies of creatures from every single race out there. Ranging from little kids holding firearms in their hands to the strongest Dragon Ancestors to even those high and mighty Demon Kings.

Every single person was dead.. other than me, as I was lying amidst the bodies of millions of people. I gazed at the "monster" who was responsible for this massacre. With golden sparks surrounding his body with equally golden hair, possessing the brilliance of something shining across the darkest nights, he was casually standing at the center of it all. There was no sense of remorse on his face rather, no emotion could be seen in those dull blue eyes at all. It was as if he didn't even consider any of us as living beings.

So, once again I did the only thing I could. Looking up at the sky, I laughed. Laughed in despair. Everything was already over. This "monster" had already destroyed the world. There was no point in even trying to fight anymore. Even if I could beat him, there was nothing left to protect. Not to mention that I, a pathetic [C+] rank couldn't even get anywhere near him without getting obliterated out of existence. The last bastion had failed its objective. Earth was lost.

Suddenly, I heard a shuffling sound near me. Turning towards it, I noticed someone struggling to get up. It was Lucifer Valtor, Ruler of the Abyss or, more famously known as the Strongest Demon King.

"HAHAHAHAHA, WAS IT WORTH IT!?"

"YOU DESTROYED THE WHOLE WORLD ONLY FOR A WOMAN!? TELL ME, Would she have wanted you to do this."

At this moment, the "monster" finally gazed at us- or rather gazed at him. It was as if I wasn't even worth being noticed. A sliver of annoyance could finally be seen on his face.

"Shut up", he threatened the Demon King. A golden aura seeped out of his body and blasted the Demon King into a pulp without even giving him any chance to retaliate or even react.

I didn't even react to his death or rather I wasn't capable of doing so anymore. After witnessing millions of people die in the same way in front of me, it was all the same.

The "monster" finally looked at me. His expression didn't show it but knowing him very well, I knew he was surprised to see someone other than the strongest Demon King actually survive. Someone as weak as me.

He walked towards me, taking steady steps. This wasn't done purposely to create some dramatic effect, it was just how he was, Lazy. I braced myself for my death as I thought I'd get the chance to be with my 'Calypso' once again in the afterlife.

As if Heavens played a joke on me, a shard flew out of the sky, oozing with an unknown energy I couldn't recognize with an amount I couldn't measure with my meager strength, once again reminding me of how I had just wasted my life. The moment it fell into my hands, I was filled to the brim with that energy. I could instinctively tell that this "energy" was the Space element at its Zenith.

Being able to use this to its utmost, I could easily tap into time and space itself, bending them to my own will. But.. to kill that "monster", this still wasn't enough. That "monster" was someone who wasn't affected by anything be it some elemental attack or time itself. It was in such a way that it wouldn't be wrong for me to say that he was disconnected from the "Rules and Laws" of the Universe itself.

My body cracking from being unable to store and harness this energy which was still being submissive to me, I did the only thing that came to my mind. I used up the entirety of the energy on myself with only one goal- to go back in time. The only worries I had was if the "monster" in front of me would stop me from doing that or not. If he so wished to stop me from going back in time, he could merely crush the energy surrounding me.

But I knew better than anyone else, that he was the one man who wanted things to have gone differently. Even more so than the people he killed. This was why he let me do as I please as he watched me with a hopeful expression. No matter what the outcome was this time, it couldn't be any worse than the current one for him.

Reaffirming my will, I decided that this time I'd make use of whatever knowledge and methods I had to go stronger. It was said that a simple action one was making across time could affect the entirety of the "Timestream", one of the theories made by none other than the "monster" himself.

I would go back in time, long before it all started. To protect my family, my friends my lover, and the whole world from this "monster", dubbed as the [God of Destruction] by the people. The worst person in all of existence, to ever have existed and to ever exist.

My best friend, Asher Gradivus.

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