“JOHN!” I scream when Edmund’s arm burst through my friend’s torso and his figure slumps.

Fuck, it happened so fast… There was nothing I could do!

Tears form at the corners of my eyes. The bastard in front of me laughed and raised my dead friend in the air like some disgusting trophy.

But Edmund's laugh turns into a frightened yelp when his arm disappears, and everyone looks in silence at the severed hand that falls on the ground. A mad laugh resounds into the cavern, and I'm surprised to see that it's coming from John who's standing in front of his aggressor with a wide grin.

The hole in his torso disappeared! How?!

“How dare you lay a hand on us?!” my friend screams in a voice I cannot recognize. It sounds like a thousand of otherworldly voices are screeching in unison.

John drops his rifle on the ground and pulls out his pistol in one hand and his phone in the other. He moves the hand holding his phone so fast that I can't keep up with his movements. My brother and I recoil when we see the damage caused by the straining effort he put himself through.

But his bloody hand heals, and he raises his pistol. His laugh sounds like a grating scream while he empties the weapon into the mage.

“J-Just what are you?!” Edmund, who is too shocked to avoid the bullets, exclaim with a hint of fear in his voice.

My brother and I exchange a glance, and I notice that Steve is trembling.

“Just what is this? T-This dread…” he mumbles.

But I can’t answer him so I look in awe as the battle between John and Edmund unfolds.

The mage regains his senses and jumps away from my friend, but not before piercing John with a dozen of Death Beams that he shrugs off like it’s nothing. His body is restoring itself in an instant under my very own eyes.

Edmund is jumping around, emerging from the shadows and unleashing spells after spells on John who endures every single attack without moving at all. Instead of dodging the attacks he empties magazine after magazine while he types something on his phone at a speed I couldn’t even dream to match.

I want to intervene but I am stuck in place; my instincts are screaming at me to not move and do as little noise as possible. So I keep watching the eeriest battle I ever saw in my entire life; John takes blow after blow, yet he's still standing. His destroyed limbs are growing back in less than a second while he avoids the deadliest attacks with as little movement as possible. It’s like he knew in advance that the attacks were coming.

“What are you?! WHY WON’T YOU DIE?!” Edmund screams as black mist compresses into the shape of his lost arm that was ripped off by a hail of bullets.

John’s frightening laughter stops.

“You hurt us! You opposed us! We won't stop until you're dead, we won't ever stop chasing you! We know every one of your moves... We studied you for years! We cannot be stopped, we cannot be stopped, we cannot be stopped…”

John repeats the same four words, again and again, an unstoppable litany that resonates into the cave as his attacks become increasingly intense.

“Nobody can escape us! Nobody can escape the ticking clock!” John screams before holstering his pistol and jumping to the side to avoid a volley of Death Beams. He grabs a piece of broken glass and carves something into his arm before grabbing a handful of the glowing liquid.

His actions leave me speechless since he doesn’t hesitate for a single second despite the liquid melting his hand. He pours the liquid on the carving before punching the ground. The shockwave blows his arm off and sends him flying into the air!

I want to say or do something to stop this madness… But something pins me in place and I’m not able to move a single muscle.

His seemingly reckless action turns out to be a stroke of genius: The shockwave propelled him next to the mage who just emerged from the shadows. John seizes this opportunity and grabs onto the frightened Edmund who tries to punch him away.

But he still holds on despite being turned into a bloody mess countless times. He raises the piece of glass and etches something into the mage’s armor, who screams when he glows with a red light before exploding.

John crashes into the ground, his few remaining limbs are turned at impossible angles while a massive puddle of blood forms under him.

But his body returns to pristine condition without a hint of magic in the next instant!

The mage can't match this unstoppable force of nature and limps on the ground. Half of his body is missing while the ambient black mist tries to repair what's left of Edmund.

“We cannot be stopped, we cannot be stopped…” My friend keeps repeating the same words as he grabs his rifle from the ground and walks towards the mage with slow, controlled steps.

I regain control of my limbs while each of John’s steps resonates in the otherwise silent cavern.

“We need to record this for the Council!” I say to my stunned brother, who blinks a few times before he gets out of his trance.

“Got it…But what happened?”

"I have no idea," I say with a wry smile once I pull my phone out.

John raises his weapon and empties it into the mage's head, causing black mist and dark blood to splatter on his face. This doesn't affect his unwavering smile as he loads another magazine, causing pitiful groans to come out of what's left of Edmund as a hail of bullets tears him to shreds.

A scared whimper echoes through the cave when my comrade drops his empty rifle on the ground. He then kneels in front of the mage before raising his fist.

I avert my eyes while the mage’s head is getting pummeled, each strike causing more weakening wails that are drowned out by John’s maniacal laughter. The mana coming from the mage disappears and he stops moving.

My shoulders slump and I fall down while anxiety is welling up in my stomach. We might have killed the mage but we still have to face the Council and their schemes, so everything is far from over-

Steve taps me on the shoulder and points at John, making me freeze in place. I couldn’t see it during the fight, but now I realize how terrifying he looks. My instinct is telling me to run away as fast as possible.

His clothes are in tatters and covered in blood, but the scariest thing is his face: His massive, unmoving grin and his wide-open bloodshot eyes are peering deep into my soul. My heartbeat increases when he steps towards us, moving like a disjointed doll for a few seconds before collapsing on the ground.

My brother and I stare at the unconscious John, unable to say anything as we try to process what the hell just happened.

Just what is he? I’m 100% certain that he isn’t a human now, not after all of this.

His words also concern me. He said that he studied Edmund for years, so maybe they knew each other? But that makes little sense. Otherwise, they wouldn't have acted like they did-

“Hey!”

My brother takes me out of my thoughts. He flicks me on the forehead while he’s carrying John on his shoulder. He probably picked him up while I was spacing out.

I nod and stand up, dusting myself off before sighing.

“So what do we do now?”

"I don't know… I guess we call the family unless you have a better idea?"

“Got it, but we don’t know how we’ll be treated so prepare for the worst. So if push comes to shove run away with John while I hold them off.”

Steve open and close his mouth before grunting in approval so I take out a small vial filled with orange liquid from my pocket and smash it on the ground. Chimes echoes in the cavern and a large light-blue portal appear just a few seconds later.

My blood freeze when I recognize the portal’s peculiar blue hue, that shade of color is engraved into my memory.

It’s the color of our mother’s magic!

Cold sweat drips from my cheeks when a dozen Werewolves walk out of the portal while brandishing spells towards us. They stare at us with emotionless faces, ready to kill us at a moment’s notice. The surrounding air gets cold and a subtle tinge of ozone enters my nose as our mother steps out of the portal in full battle attire.

Her body is covered by a loose ocean blue robe and I can feel the overwhelming power of the enchantments from here.

We don’t stand a chance if we try to flee!

To make matters worse, she covered herself in blue lightning. This means she fully intends to turn us into a pile of ash if the situation requires it.

We’re fucked.

“We’ve been looking for you.” My mom says while surveying the area, looking for any potential hidden enemies.

“Breaking the Rules, helping a fugitive, disobeying a direct order, stealing sensitive equipment and burning down a shopping mall...”

She sighs and the lightning covering her vanishs while she returns to her human form and orders the other Enforcers to cancel their spells.

"You better have a good explanation for all of this!" she yells as she stomps her foot on the ground.

“And that's why we set the shopping mall on fire," I say once I finish my recollection of everything that happened.

"To my defense, it was Riley who did it, not me!" Steve says.

A glare from both of us silences him and he lowers his head, paying particular attention to the ground beneath his feet.

“That plan was good, but how did your human friend know that the attack would happen in the first place?”

I’m a bad liar, and lying to my mother is useless since she’ll be able to sense it as soon as I open my mouth. But I have to find something to say after all that happened since I'm sure that John's hiding a lot more than he let on. And I can't risk revealing everything to my mother since she might capture my friend to experiment on him.

“Well… I didn’t pay attention at the time since I was too focused on other things.”

The way she frowned and looked at me straight in the eyes told me that this obvious lie was way too obvious.

Her shoulder slumps and she let a deep sigh out, “I don’t know what I will do with you… Can you at least tell me how you arrived here?”

I explain everything that happened, but this time I'm omitting everything pertaining to John.

Just to be safe.

But her expression turns grim when I mention the name of the undead mage.

“Edmund Blackheart, that’s a name I hoped I would never hear again," she mutters under her breath.

“What happened?” I ask to change the subject of the discussion.

“I guess you were too young to remember since it was a few years after we lost your father. But there’s no point in hiding it now. Back then, Edmund Blackheart was a rising star: He succeeded in every single mission no matter how dangerous. He quickly rose through the ranks and became the leader of our 13th Platoon.” I was about to ask questions but she rose her finger before I could utter a single word.

“Let me finish… Like I said, he was the leader of the 13th Platoon and news of his rapid rise entered my ears one day. I looked into it because it was impossible that such a talent slipped through our fingers like that. We investigated his family, but they were only an unimpressive branch family that had no particular talents. And he was no exception when he joined. But someone who was patrolling in the same sector as him once saw him use Death magic…”

I hold my breath since I know how our mother considers the practitioners of Death magic. A certain necromancer was responsible for the death of my father. So our Family now purges them whenever we encounter them on our territory.

"So I got rid of him and expunged him from our records. I also put each member of his platoon under heavy interrogation to make sure that his disgusting influence didn't spread to our ranks. I also dissolved the Platoon to remind me of my error. But I guess he somehow survived… at least until now.”

She looks at the group of Enforcers carefully storing the remains of the mage in a metal box covered in sealing enchantments.

My mother holds her finger to her ear and nods, “Got it, thanks for the info.”

“It looks like we know who’s responsible for the disappearances. One of our team exploring the caverns found a huge pile of hollowed-out corpses. But you couldn’t have possibly known that, or else you wouldn’t look so surprised. So tell me: Why did you two run after that mage with that fugitive?”

“Well… That’s my fault” Steve spoke up, “I wanted to help him out so I thought that if we recorded him killing the mage that attacked the lecture hall then we would get support from the people and we could force the Council’s hand.”

She raises an eyebrow, “You came up with this? I thought you weren’t the scheming type…So did you succeed?”

Steve nods and hands her his phone. She plays the video and sighs once it ends.

“Well, that’s sure to grab the public’s attention. But I’m afraid that all your efforts were for nothing.”

I can’t believe what I just heard! All our efforts were for nothing?! Why?!

I open my mouth to say something, but she interrupts me again.

“Something like that would probably work if our Family was in a better position and if the Council meeting wasn't around the corner. But spreading this video now would only make things worse.”

“What?! How?!” I stand up and glare at the Wolfheart Matriarch, who just stares back.

“You two aren’t familiar with the bastards in the Council, and I can only blame myself for that… But what do you think would happen if you showed the video at the meeting? They would say things like “Look at this Outsider killing one of us! This is the Wolfheart’s fault!” or other pleasantries. Our Family has been under a heavy smear campaign those last few days and our support from the people is dwindling, so the blowback from not saving him in going to be negligible.”

Time freezes when my mother finishes her sentence and I sit on the ground. I stare at the ceiling while images of everything we had to endure to get to this point flashes in front of my eyes: The intense fights, the constant fear, the pain we endured…

All our efforts were in vain.

“But you still killed the mage, so that's good news. It'll help counter the smear campaign and I'm going to spin the story to make it look like you did everything. With this, I'll be able to save both of you-”

“And what about John, can you save him?!”

She looks at me with a pitying gaze, “I’ve gathered enough support from the Families that are loyal to us to make sure that we will keep our heads and territory. But I’m afraid I can’t really do anything to help him. Maybe you’ll listen to me next time and not involve Outsiders in our business.”

My anger explodes and I transform into my beast form before smacking her in the face.

“Steve! NOW!”

I will not throw my friend away, even if it means opposing my family!

She looks surprised by the sudden aggression before turning serious and stopping my second strike with her palm. She grabs my forearm and slams me into the ground before doing the same to Steve who couldn’t even move a few steps away. I feel threads of electricity coiling around me, sapping my energy while I struggle against the magical restraints.

Groups of Enforcers emerge from the shadows and surround us while mana is being channeled into deadly spells. A single word from her and we are dead.

“I’m sorry it’s come to this, I’m doing this for you...”

My mother looks sad for a second before flicking her wrist, sending me into the abyss of unconsciousness.

...John's PoV...

Four days passed since we entered the mage’s lair, at least according to my phone. I have no other way to tell the time since my cell has no windows and is always lit up by a light embedded in the ceiling.

Oh yeah, I'm a prisoner now. At least that's what the angry Werewolf told me once I woke up. I tried to ask questions, like what happened once I lost consciousness during our fight against the mage, or if Riley and Steve were still alive. But it was like talking to a wall, and the only noise I heard from the Werewolf was a grunt when he threw me into my cell.

So I spent the last four days in my drab gray cell by lying on my hard bed, which is the only furniture in the room. They could at least give me a table…

I know that the Council meeting is supposed to be held soon, and it's very likely that I will be sentenced to death there. I already made my preparations: I sent a deactivation code to all of my Timed Rewinders, thus inaugurating a feature I made during my free time, hidden in my apartment.

My calm about my imminent death is surprising to me. But I feel tired about everything nowadays, and I’m kind of glad that this is all over. I guess it’s one of the after-effects of traveling through time, at some point everything stops surprising you-

A knock on my door takes me out of my morose thoughts and the heavy metal door of my cell opens, revealing a large Werewolf holding a pair of metal handcuffs. He grabs my wrists, closes the thick handcuffs with an audible click, and grabs my arm before sinking into the shadows.

We emerge in a white room with a few occupied chairs lined up against the wall. One occupant of the chairs stands up and I finally recognize him; it's Riley!

He looks atrocious, his disheveled hair and the bags under his eyes are obvious signs of his lack of sleep. Steve, who is sitting next to him, is in no better state and he absentmindedly taps his phone. He’s barely paying attention to what's displayed on the screen.

“Hey…” Riley wave at me before falling back into his chair with a groan, I spot an unoccupied chair in a corner so I sit down and sigh.

The silence in the room is heavy but I would be surprised if it wasn't the case. After all, it's likely that our moments in the waiting room will be our last ones. I glance at the Werewolf guarding the entrance: He has his hands behind his back and looks straight in front of him. The only thing betraying his apparent lack of attention is the slight twitch of his ears when one of us makes a noise.

I'm not thinking about taking him out since I don't have any of my weapons and I'm in handcuffs, and I doubt I could even put a dent in him before bleeding out on the floor. The handcuffs also probably have some magical jamming effect, or else Riley and Steve would already try to break out.

I close my eyes and sigh, now we only have to wait…

A violent shout wakes me up. I open my eyes in a panic and I’m greeted by the angry guard, whose face is just inches away from mine.

"Wake up, it's time for you lot to show up," he says with a hoarse voice.

I nod and stand up, following him out of the waiting room and into long corridors that look like they were ripped out of a hospital. There’s not a single hint of dust on the white walls, and I can't see any decoration anywhere.

The guard guides us to a large, ornate wooden double door that looks completely out of place in the sterile modern corridors. He raises his massive hand in front of the door and the ornaments light up, I can hear loud thuds behind the wall before the door slowly opens.

“Wait here until I tell you to enter.” The guard says before walking forward.

“The accused: Riley Wolfheart, Steve Wolfheart and John Thomson!” he declares with a powerful voice that makes the walls tremble.

I guess this is it…

I take a step forward, the sudden change in lighting blinds me for a few seconds and I look at the room once my vision adapts. The room is breathtaking, a complete opposite of the dull waiting room and the long corridors we went through.

We have entered a large circular arena surrounded by countless raised platforms that are slowly bobbing up and down into the air. Each platform is of a different design, and all of them are populated by a group wearing different uniforms. The entire room is encased in a dome made of a marble-like material that has a slight green glow to it. Every inch of the material is also engraved with impossibly intricate designs.

A quick glance at the massive pillars supporting the dome shows scenes of intense battle engraved into them. The quality of the craftsmanship is astounding, and I almost hear battle-cries as the engravings move-

My jaw drops when I realize that the scenes depicted on every single pillar are moving in a lifelike manner. But my gawking is noticed by the guard who prods me in the back until I reach the center of the arena. I'm soon joined by Steve and Riley who stand to my sides.

“Attention! The Judgment of the Council has begun!” a disembodied voice shouts.

An immense pressure suddenly arises and nearly slams me into the floor. I turn my head and see that my companions are gritting their teeth while their knees tremble.

At least it’s not just me… But what is this?!

The pressure increases tenfold and we're forced to our knees. At the same moment, a man emerges on top of the highest platform. I can't raise my head due to the pressure so I can barely see him: He's covered in glistening brown scales, and his glowing reptilian eyes are sending shivers down my spine.

From what I can tell he looks like a mix of human and lizard: The top of his head where his hair should be is adorned with small slicked back brown horns and his mouth looks like the beak of a turtle.

He raises a clawed hand, and the pressure disappears in an instant.

“Erdis Scalebound takes the stage!” the voice shouts.

“Dear Councilmen!” the lizard shouts with a deep hoarse voice.

“Today, the glory of the Council is tarnished by these three offenders!” he points a finger towards the middle of the arena and the sudden pressure slams us into the ground.

“Stop with your theatrics and get on with the judgment! Some of us have things to do!” a female voice shouts.

“Of course my dear Alice, we wouldn’t want to delay the judgment of your own children, right?”

I can hear the woman gritting her teeth from here, sadly I can’t turn my head to see Riley’s mother since I am still pinned to the cold stone floor.

“Now, let’s start the judgment!” the pressure decreases, so we at least can stand on our knees.

“The first offender is Riley Wolfheart! Ones of the direct descendants of Alice Wolfheart, the Matriarch of the Wolfheart family! You’re accused of breaking the Rules by allowing an Outsider into the Hidden World, acting out of your jurisdiction and burning down a shopping mall without regards to potential civilian casualties!”

Whispers spread around the platforms, and Erdis let them spread for a few minutes before silencing the room by stomping his tail on the ground.

“The second offender is Steve Wolfheart, the other child of Alice Wolfheart! It’s not my place to judge, but it seems there’s a pattern here!”

I almost expected to see the Wolfheart Matriarch attack Erdis but she stays in her place, much to my disappointment.

“Steve Wolfheart, you’re accused of the same charges as your brother!”

Another round of whispers spread around the platforms, but this time Erdis slams his tail before letting them spread.

“The last accused is John Thomson! He’s an Outsider that has been brought into our Hidden World and he’s also the human that intervened during the recent lecture hall incident! He’s accused of unlawful existence, breaking multiple Rules and violating the Enforcers’ mandate!”

Now the whispers devolve into shouting matches between different platforms. It was about to turn into a full-blown free-for-all, but a couple of tail slams from Erdis calms them down.

“Now, I think we all can agree on the verdict…I propose the death penalty for all three offenders! And I also implore the Council to reconsider the place of the Wolfheart Family, which showed with the recent incidents and the revelations on the HiddenNet that they have no place here!”

“SHUT UP!” lightning cracks, and the room fills with killing intent so thick that nobody dares to utter even a whisper.

“My sons risked their lives to take down a powerful lich, so how can blame them if an Outsider slipped through the cracks during their pursuit! And yes, the lich was responsible for the disappearance as well as the recent attacks! So your accusation of incompetence goes out of the window! And all of you, do you seriously believe a single word of the smear campaign organized by the Scalebounds?! Do you really believe the words of one of the main sponsors of that cartel who manufactured Angel Dust?!"

Whispers spread around the platform, and the pressure somehow gets released after the Matriarch’s tirade so I look around. Erdis is stunned while at least half of the occupants of other platforms are whispering to each other’s while taking accusatory glances towards the Scalebound platform.

“S-Silence!” Erdis slams his tail on the ground but the Councilmen ignore him and continue to whisper.

"N-Now let's proceed with the judgment…" he says with a dejected voice once the whispers died down.

“Those who are in favor of demoting the Wolfheart family, raise your hand!”

A few hands along with the Scalebound’s are raised, but the overwhelming majority is in favor of the Wolfheart. I hope it continues like this, maybe I have a chance of getting out of there alive…

“The Council has spoken! The Wolfheart will keep their position!” Erdis declares with spite.

“Now, those in favor of the death penalty for the Wolfheart brothers, please raise your hand!”

This time more hands are raised, but the number of hands that are not raised is still bigger by a small margin.

“Tch… The Council has spoken! They will keep their heads!” he says while clicking his tongue.

The handcuffs disappear from my companions’ wrist.

Riley taps me on the shoulder and smiles weakly, “I hope you will make it out of this alive…” he says before Shadow Walking with his brother onto his family’s platform.

Something tells me that it will not be fine.

...Riley's PoV...

I never felt so relieved in my entire life.

Our mother hugs us as soon as we arrive on the platform, and I can see tears forming at the corner of her eyes.

"I'm so glad that you two survived!" she says between two sobs.

I hug her as tightly as I can, “I’m sorry for worrying you! I promise I won’t do that again.”

Now I hope that John will be fine.

My attention is now focused on the rest of the Council while the leader of the Scalebound announces the next judgment.

“And, last but not least, who is in favor of the death penalty for John Thomson?”

I grab my mother’s arm before she can raise it.

“What are you doing?! We can’t oppose the entire Council like that.”

My brother also grabs her arm and we exchange a glance worth a thousand words.

We will not go down without fighting!

"Fuck the Council, we're not abandoning a friend!" he says while tightening his grip.

“Tch…” she clicks her tongue and stops struggling.

But it looks like our efforts are in vain since the overwhelming majority of the Council is in favor of Erdis’ proposition. He looks at us with a cocky grin before slamming his tail on his platform. I can barely restrain myself from turning him into lizard steak but this time it’s my mother who’s gripping my arm.

“Don’t do anything stupid… You can’t win against him and we did everything we could.”

“No, not everything.” I look at Steve who nods and readies himself.

“What do you…?”

“I’m sorry, but I have to break my promise.” I interrupt her and transform before slamming my foot on the platform, silencing the entire room and interrupting Erdis mid-sentence.

“Stop this bullshit right now! This man is a hero!” I turn towards Steve who nods and activate a spell that projects the video of John’s kill in the air.

Some Councilmen gasp when the video plays, and Erdis along with some of his allies grit their teeth while looking at the death of the lich.

“He’s the one who killed the lich, and he’s the one who made our pursuit possible in the first place!” I say as loudly as possible.

“Boy, what are you doing?!” my mother whisper in my ear while almost crushing my forearm.

"This lich could wield Death Magic freely, yet John Thomson beat him!" Steve adds, "How many of you could have done the same?! Without him, the disappearances would have continued! He saved your children's lives!"

“This clearly violates the Enforcers’ mandate! Why should this Outsider be allowed to kill one of us with impunity?!” a gray lizardman shouts.

“This is outrageous!” another voice shouts.

And all of those are on the Scalebound’s side, what a coincidence…

"This clearly violates our mandate and allowing it would set a dangerous precedent… I'm sorry Alice, but I can't follow you on this one," the dwarven leader of the Stonecrusher family, one of our long-time allies, lowers his head and raise his hand.

“Tch… This is not good.” I mutter under my breath.

"Boy, you don't know what's coming to you when we get home… But let me help you, I know those old bastards better than you." my mother says before walking towards the edge of our platform.

“Then I propose a trial by combat!”

The room goes silent for a few seconds, and Erdis slams his tail.

“Are you making fun of me, you old bitch?!” the Dragonewt declares while baring his pointy teeth.

“What? Are you afraid that’s you will lose?”

“FINE!” he shouts, “I propose a trial by combat! My daughter, one of the best fighters that my family has ever produced, against this Outsider! If he wins, then he’ll be considered a normal inhabitant of the Hidden World and his crimes will be swept under the rug! But if he loses, then I expect the Wolfheart to pay twenty million Credits to each Family as an apology for wasting their times!”

This time everyone raises their hand.