A black van rolled into a quiet barangay just before midnight.
No headlights.
No sirens.
Only the low, humming growl of its engine slicing through the silence.
It stopped right in front of the barangay hall.
Three men stepped out.
All dressed in black. At their sides hung kris swords, curved and deadly. One of them already had a cigarette burning between his fingers, smoke curling lazily into the cold night.
They walked straight inside.
The barangay captain looked up from his desk, nervous.
"G–good evening. What brings you here?"
One of the men pulled out an ID and held it up.
DALISAY CLAN — Second Division of the Quell Brigade
"We are here to neutralize a predicted Likha attack in your barangay tonight."
The captain's blood ran cold.
Dalisay Clan…?
Only high-risk missions ever involved them.
The man with the cigarette tilted his head.
"Take us to the forest edge."
The captain silently pointed.
The three men walked toward the dark outskirts of the barangay. Houses slowly disappeared. Streetlights faded. Only trees and shadows remained.
One of the men whispered,
"Don't you think we're a little early for this mission—"
A massive hand exploded out of the darkness.
It grabbed him.
But before it could crush him, the man with the cigarette yanked him back.
"Tch."
He clicked his tongue.
"Lower your guard again and you'll disgrace the clan. Dying to a Class C Likha would be embarrassing."
He flicked his cigarette forward.
Smoke erupted — thick, unnatural, swallowing the forest.
Inside the fog,
a monstrous roar echoed.
Flesh tore.
Blades sliced.
Seconds later, the smoke cleared.
A mutated bear lay in pieces — split cleanly in half.
The man stabbed its head.
"Tch… it scratched my new uniform."
He lit another cigarette.
"Report this. We're moving to the next destination. Don't be late."
Not far away…
Navi jolted awake.
Sweat soaked his shirt.
That dream again.
A man.
Strings.
A puppet killing people.
He turned on the lamp and looked around his living room.
"He's not here…"
He grabbed some water and lay back down, heart still pounding.
The next morning at school, Navi sat with his friends Oreo and Heinrich in the cafeteria.
"That dream again?" Oreo said. "Bro, I read this book that says dreams—"
"Yeah yeah," Navi cut him off. "You already told us that theory."
Heinrich smirked.
"Have you heard about the Dalisay Clan mission last night?"
Oreo rolled his eyes.
"Here we go. Bro been glazing them for a year."
"They killed a Class B Likha in under a minute," Heinrich said. "That's insane. I wish I—"
"You just wanna marry someone from their clan," Oreo laughed. "i Heard they only accept strong people."
"I am strong," Heinrich said. "I already unlocked my ability."
"Didn't your clan and Dalisay have beef?"
"That was long ago."
"Ten years isn't long."
The bell rang.
"Bro I didn't study!" Heinrich panicked.
"Yeah, you're cooked," Oreo said.
Navi stood up.
"See you guys."
"Weekend plan, don't forget!"
"Yeah yeah."
After a long day, it was finally the end of classes.
By sunset, Navi walked toward a nearby store to buy an energy drink. Kids were still playing outside.
Navi said to himself:
"It's about time for my training. I can't wait anymore… just one more year and I'll be the best First Division in the quell brigade in the world!"
Then—
BOOM.
A massive Likha dropped from the sky.
Jeepneys were smashed.
Houses collapsed.
People screamed.
Navi froze.
A kid ran—
but the Likha's tail slammed him into the ground.
Navi was stunned by the scene. He couldn't move. He was too shocked.
Another kid screamed inside a crushed store.
His leg was trapped under concrete.
People ran past him.
They didn't even look back.
They just kept running.
Navi's chest tightened.
Wait… there's a kid. Somebody help him.
"I—I can't…"
The Quell arrived — warriors from different clans.
One sliced the Likha using his kris.
A girl slowed time around the Likha.
Another froze its limbs.
Navi finally gathered his courage.
Navi ran to the trapped kid and dragged him out.
"Healers!" he screamed.
They helped remove the concrete and patched the bleeding, but then shook their heads.
"He needs a higher-tier healer to save his leg."
Navi looked back at the battlefield.
The Likha fell.
He finally sighed in relief. They took the kid away, and Navi followed them. While walking, Navi looked back at the fallen creature. Its eyes were staring at him. He looked away… then sneakily looked again.
It twitched.
"No—"
"It's still alive!" Navi yelled.
The Quell ignored him because they were too focused on saving trapped people.
Then—
The Likha's hand exploded upward and crushed the girl who had slowed its time.
Blood sprayed everywhere.
Navi ran—
but he heard someone inside a building.
The Likha went berserk — killing the Quells, smashing buildings.
Navi heard a girl crying.
He thought about helping her. He was scared, but he couldn't let the girl die alone, knowing someone had seen her and walked away just because he was afraid.
He ran toward the building and got inside, but—
A rock crushed his arm.
Darkness.
He woke up.
The girl was crying.
"Kira…?" he said.
He looked down.
His arm—
gone.
"No… NO—!"
"My arm… it was gone!! No, this can't be!"
Kira, the girl who was trapped, tried to calm him down, but Navi was freaking out.
"No… no…"
Navi remembered his grandpa teaching him the rules to be fit to rule his clan.
"Why do I need to learn this?"
"Of course I'll be the clan head. After all, there are only two members of this clan left — you and me."
Navi started crying.
"No… this can't be my… my arm. I need it. I need it. This can't be… I can't lose it—no i can't allow it—"
Then it happened.
Time suddenly stopped…
then reversed…
back to when the Likha's tail hadn't hit the building yet…
It reversed again — but this time, the tail hit the ground instead of the building.
Then—
Navi found himself helping the girl get out of the building.
He was confused.
What just happened?