Airon was one persistent son of a gun, we could hear him ripping through each classroom desperate to find a survivor. My arm branded with the black angelic wings a low price to pay for seraphims embrace. The runes did more that just buff my capabilities as a Rune-hunter it gave me a cheat, a way to temporarily stop concepts, if time was the concept my opponent depended heavily on I could erase the “Concept of time” from their perception and they would be able to use the abilities that depended on such “Concepts”. This was the perfect ability against Airon, I looked over my runes as Kai and I prepared to ambush Airon.

[Zodiac Temperament/Control]: A rune that let me mend and bend other runes to create newer and more improved runes, the chances that I would fail would be 95% if I didn’t combine it with Seraphims Ascension. The rune itself is considered a higher level tier.

[Seraphims Ascension]: A rune that greatly buffs the spirit, morale, luck and willpower of the holder, this rune is black due to its rarity; only luck helped me get this rune. The rune also had two passive activities; one would allow me to erase concepts from other, the second gave me a second form which I don’t plan to use until wave 45.

These two were top tier in my last life, I sighed as we ate the last of the bread that I had stored in my bag. Kai turned to look at me “You knew all of this was going to happen didn’t you”

“Yeah….” I muttered I couldn’t bring myself to look at him “Sorry about not telling you earlier”

“I mean how can you be the one apologizing when you're the one saving me” I raised my head, he was smiling, his eyes told me that he was truly grateful, his eyes teared up as he shook his head “Even when I’m slowing you down you still help me, I should be thanking you”

“I don’t deserve it” my eyes were alert as I heard noise in the hallway, “Get ready”

Kai raised the trident he had found in the locker of one of the classes we passed, I put on the brass knuckles that had been cleverly hidden in the desk in front of mine. Though they looked like normal weapons, they were god tier artifacts waiting to be released from the binding seals that someone had put on them.

[Ocean splitting trident]

[Will-bending Gauntlet]

I was skeptical of how we were getting such good weapons and runes, Airons footsteps could be heard coming down the hallway, we prepared ourselves as he reached the door, the sound of his breathing sent chills down my spine.

“Rune hunters, you disgust me with your cheap tricks” Airon opened the door as we lunged for him, his body slipped past us. He looked at us and laughed wiping his bloody hands on the “Trying to take me on without your rune territory is like your courting your own death”

I bit on my lips this was the first round yet he already started to talk about the rune territories. Rune territories or more commonly known to Rune hunters as Terra was one of the main weapons a rune hunter needed to learn but this wasn’t supposed to be known until the 20th wave. Terra allows the rune hunter to comply with the runes they own into a territory designed for them, an area around them that is naturally the best place they can fight other rune hunters in and provides extra effects for them. A 1st wave boss should not be able to know what a Rune territory is. My curiosity got the best of me. “How do you know what rune territory is?”

“I know what it is because I’m not a first wave boss” He smiled at me while baring his spiked white teeth. “I’m just here for fun, killing time you could say”

I suddenly remembered, how could I forget. Airon, the scale between space and time. He was supposed to show up in the 30th stage when we were supposed to fight the gods who ruled Olympus for their titles and runes. Airon was the scale that Kronos, the titan of time, was supposed to use against us after our struggle against olympus, to send us to different realms to train for the final fight against him on the 45th wave. The only reason he was here was too….

“You son of a bitch…” My runes glowed as my anger rose, I realised why he was here, he wasn’t here because he needed to be, he was here because he wanted to have fun and slaughter us. “I’m going to take the runes off your dead body”

“You will try” He scoffed as he expanded his terra, scythes and blades sprouted from the ground as his clothes became clean and smeared in jet black liquid. He howled as he lunged towards me “I am Kronos spear and shield what could a Terra-less human possibly do to me?”

“Who said I was incapable even if I'm Terra-less” I dashed towards him as he swung his many scythes in my direction, I closed my eyes and prayed that what I was about to do was going to work out. “Void Jump”

I opened my eyes and saw my body had traveled the exact distance that I wanted it to, it was perfect I had the techniques from before my regression. I looked back at Airon who stood dumbfounded as I continued to jump from place to place, if I was able to reuse this technique then maybe I would be able to use my Terra “Please please please”

“What are you planning you little rat” He hissed as he swiped furiously trying to get a hit on me “I’ll slice and dice you like little balls of meat”

“Kai!” I yelled as we had this planned out beforehand “Now! Do it!”

“What?” Airon looked confused “What are you planning?”

“We never said we didn’t have Terra” I smirked jumping away from his scythes “Kai do you know what your name means?”

“Yeah, it means Sea” Kai was smiling and he understood what a Terra was. “This is the will of the ocean”

The floor turned blue as if water seeped from the ground, the classroom folded down into itself and suddenly Airons terra crumbled, the weapons graveyard dissolved into ashes as sand and water overtook it. Airon couldn’t keep his composure as the waves crashed against his legs.

“What the hell is this?” He hissed at Kai, even with my abilities it was hard to maneuver within the water but Kai seemed completely normal as his movements got quicker as each wave set in. “How are you doing this?”

Kai smiled as he got the feeling of what a Terra was, a natural space designed for the holder to make them feel as comfortable as possible on the battlefield. Kai’s was a field of the sea, as each wave set in he would develop and understand more about his fighting style. A god of the sea, if he evolved this Terra even further he would be unbeatable within the waters of the 45th wave.

“Oh this is going to be so good” I coughed as I regained my balance and allowed my body to rest from all the jumps between the void “Your screwed mate, see you during the fight for Olympus on the 30th stage.”

Without any effort Kai thrusted his trident into Airon, who reached out to grab it but his movements were slowed as if he was moving through strong currents. Airon had his hand on the tip of the trident as it was slowly being forced into him, his scowled, looked at me and said “Until next time rat”

I sat down, the first wave had just begun. The most frightening part about the wave was not the celestial beings that crossed the earths, it wasn’t the ancient artifacts that could tear skys or split the oceans. The most terrifying thing about the wave’s was the humans who desperately tried to survive wave after wave. No one could predict the future even with the runes of a god, of course unless it was a regressor like me, one who had seen the outcome of the future.

“That was a stupid fight” Kai huffed as he sat beside me “Why did he just disappear?”

“Because he was never meant to be here in the first place” I whispered, the future had already changed even when I got runes early. “Kai, prepare yourself, this is just the start”

“What do you mean?” He looked at me curiously as I tilted my head towards the door just as 4 people burst into the room.

A middle aged man carrying a makeshift spear pointed it out as two teenagers held bb guns side by side, they looked like twins, and the last one was a face I recognized not only because they were a good friend of mine but also because my regression was because of it. I whispered her name as she knelt down beside me just as my vision was getting blurry and dark “Loki?…” Her hands stopped at my gut where I saw the reason for my blurriness and dizziness, the blood didn’t stop flowing, I watched mesmerized as the dark liquid trickled as everything went dark.