For years, an epic war raged between humanoids blessed by the God of Light and demons empowered by the God of Darkness. After endless bloodshed, a band of heroes finally storms the Demon Lord‘s castle to end it once and for all.
But just before the throne room, the team is ambushed by a nasty demon. Theron tells Kyle and Urza to press on while he plays solo tank. They nod—knowing full well Theron isn’t walking out of this one.
Once inside the throne room, disaster strikes: shadowy spheres of dark matter rain down from above. Kyle tries to block them, but it’s too much. At the last second, Urza dives in to protect him—and is completely disintegrated. RIP, magic MVP.
With dramatic timing, the Demon Lord appears, ready to finish things. Enraged, Kyle charges in like an angry bull, only to dodge another barrage of dark blasts by hiding behind a pillar. He quickly realizes: this isn’t just any attack—it’s Elimination, an unblockable spell that erases anything it touches. Yeah… not ideal.
Kyle knows he won’t land a hit unless he risks everything. So, he unleashes the full power of the magic gem in his sword. The result? One epic stab straight through the Demon Lord—who goes kaboom. Victory!
…Except Kyle’s sword is wrecked, and he’s fatally injured. He saved the world, but lost everything—his friends, his family, his home. He collapses, ready to embrace the sweet release of death…
Until the Demon Lord’s magic gem suddenly goes haywire. With no one controlling it, it could blow up the entire planet. So, barely alive, Kyle crawls to the gem and grabs it—
FLASH!
He wakes up… in his childhood bed.
Totally confused, Kyle checks the window. His hometown—burned to ash in the past—is standing tall and peaceful. He’s stunned. Then his childhood friend Leila walks in, worried. Kyle freezes, speechless. Is this real? A dream? Hallucination? Doesn’t matter—he’s just happy to see her.
So he hugs her. Tight.
Leila, flustered, asks what he’s doing. But Kyle is too caught in the moment. She tries to escape, but he holds on, and they both tumble onto the bed in a very non-platonic position. The tension skyrockets.
Problem is—they’re not at that stage of the relationship yet.
Leila’s face shifts from red to furious. She punches Kyle so hard he does a triple flip mid-air. Now groaning in pain, Kyle gets scolded hard. She storms out, yelling something about “warnings” and “emotional prep time.”
Lying there in agony, Kyle realizes something wild: that punch hurt. If this were just a dream, he wouldn’t feel anything… right?
He pulls back the covers—and there it is. The Demon Lord’s magic gem, glowing ominously.
So yeah—whatever’s going on, this “dream” just got a whole lot more complicated.
Now certain this is reality, Kyle walks to the mirror to get a good look at himself—and is shocked. He looks much younger than he did during the war. Even stranger, he clearly remembers suffering several fatal injuries during the battle with the Demon Lord, yet now his body is perfectly healthy. His hometown is intact, and Leila is alive. With all this in mind, Kyle concludes that he must’ve somehow returned to the past, and the only clue he has is the Demon Lord’s magic gem.
Sure, the Demon Lord was absurdly powerful—but creating a spell that sends someone back in time? That’s way beyond any magic Kyle knows.
Suddenly, his stomach growls—loudly. So, off he goes to the kitchen.
When Kyle walks in, he’s stunned to see a full meal laid out for him. It doesn’t take a genius to guess that Leila made it before she left. She used to do this all the time, especially since Kyle and his mom were too busy (or too magically incompetent) to cook anything edible. He pulls out a bowl, tastes the food—and is in heaven. It’s been years since he had a proper meal. On the battlefield, survival meant choking down bland ration cubes in the middle of nowhere.
A few minutes later, Theron strolls in, clearly looking for food. But once he sees all the empty plates stacked in front of Kyle, his face drops. The stew is gone. Every. Last. Drop. While Theron begins a passionate monologue about culinary betrayal, Kyle sits back, still trying to comprehend everything.
Just hours ago, the two of them were fighting side-by-side against the Demon Lord. Theron had even stayed behind to buy him time. Now he’s here—hungry and grumpy.
Theron notices Kyle staring and asks if something’s wrong. Kyle shakes it off and casually asks what year it is. Weird question, but Theron answers: it’s the 24th of May, 2823. Also—Kyle’s birthday.
Theron says he’ll forgive the feast theft just this once, but he’s still starving, so he’s heading to Leila’s place to beg for food. He might even throw in a dramatic kneel if necessary—pride doesn’t matter when you’re hungry.
While Theron goes off to beg, Kyle stays in the kitchen, thinking deeply. If he really has returned to the past, he needs to confirm some things—and there’s only one person who can help: his mom. He heads out to the shed and into the underground library, where she’s likely buried in books.
Sure enough, he finds her down there, nose-deep in a tome. She’s surprised to see him, since he never comes down at night—but he points out it’s already morning, meaning she pulled another all-nighter. She apologizes, but Kyle isn’t here to nag about sleep schedules.
He tells her he has a question about magic theory. As one of the few archmages in the country, she’s the perfect person to ask.
She perks up and tells him to go ahead.
Kyle asks if there are any known spells that can send someone back in time. Surprisingly, she says yes—though very little is known about them. Time magic is considered theoretical at best, and no mage is capable of actually casting it. The power required is simply too much. Even the greatest magician in history wouldn’t be able to travel back more than a second.
Kyle then asks if a magic item could make it possible. His mother thinks for a moment. Technically, if you had an item that could store enough energy over centuries… maybe. But it would take over a thousand years to accumulate that much magic.
Kyle presses further—what if someone used the Forbidden Rite?
Now his mom is alarmed. She demands to know where he heard about such a spell. Kyle lies and says he read about it in a book, and swears he’d never try it.
She calms down and explains that the Forbidden Rite allows someone to sacrifice life force in exchange for magic. It’s dangerous and wildly unethical. Even if someone were mad enough to attempt it, the power still wouldn’t be enough. You’d need to sacrifice half the humanoid population on the continent just to get close.
And even then, you’d need an artifact capable of storing that much power—which doesn’t exist. Or at least, it shouldn’t.
But suddenly, she remembers something. She flips through one of her ancient texts and stops at a page detailing the Divine Dragon’s Heart—a legendary gem said to have powered the ancient Kingdom of Sorrows for thousands of years. When the gem’s energy ran out, the kingdom fell. She tells Kyle that if such an artifact still existed, it could make time travel possible.
It’s believed the gem was lost over a millennium ago—but if it resurfaced in demon hands…
Everything makes sense.
Kyle realizes the gem he took from the Demon Lord must be the Divine Dragon’s Heart, and the spell must’ve been set to activate upon the Demon Lord’s defeat. But what still puzzles him is: why would the Demon Lord go back in time?
Before he can think more, Leila walks in.
Kyle immediately apologizes for the intense, awkward hug that morning. He explains he had a horrible nightmare—and that she died in it. That sobers Leila up. She understands now and forgives him.
She smiles at him.
That smile almost breaks him. In the future, their village was the first to fall during the invasion. Leila died in the chaos, and Kyle swore to avenge her. But now here she is—alive, safe, smiling.
Leila notices he’s gone quiet again and asks if something’s wrong. But Kyle is lost in thought. Three years from now, everything burns. Everyone he loves will be gone—unless he changes that future.
He clenches his fists.
No matter what it takes, he’ll change fate. He’s not going to lose her—or anyone—again.
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