Dozens of human-sized sand figures rose from the dunes with twisted faces.

Their bodies churned and shifted constantly, made of dense, swirling sand that crackled with energy.

Brandon let out a soft sigh "A whole army..."

Rheanne’s grip on her silver blade tightened, "Stay sharp."

The sandmen attacked without warning.

They surged forward in a relentless wave as dozens of them charged from all directions, their arms elongating into jagged sand blades and claws.

The first sandman lunged at him with a slashing claw.

Brandon sidestepped smoothly, grabbed its extended arm, and used its own momentum to flip it over his shoulder.

Before it could hit the ground, he drove his elbow down into its chest with brutal force.

CRACK!

The creature’s torso shattered, sand exploding outward.

Two more sandmen attacked from behind.

Brandon spun low, sweeping one off its feet with a powerful leg kick, then launched himself upward in a smooth backflip.

Mid-air, he twisted and drove both heels into the second sandman’s head, smashing it into pieces.

He landed lightly, already moving again.

A sand blade whistled toward his throat.

Brandon leaned back at the last second and countered with a lightning-fast palm strike to the attacker’s sternum.

The impact sent the creature flying backward, its body disintegrating mid-air.

He dashed away from a group of three sandmen, then used the momentum to launch himself into a spinning kick that shattered two of them at once.

As he landed, he immediately dropped into a low crouch and swept the legs out from under a fourth, finishing it with a crushing downward punch to its core.

’Haa... I have a sword and dagger in my storage ring, which will make this easier. But using a storage ring will raise questions, fuck.’

On the other side of the battlefield, Rheanne moved like a white storm.

Her silver blade flashed in elegant, devastating arcs.

She didn’t need to exert herself much.

With graceful precision, she danced through the horde of sandmen as her blade singing through the air.

SHIN- SHING- SHING-

Each slash was clean and perfect. One sandman after another was sliced apart as their heads, torsos, and limbs fell away in clean cuts before they could even reach her.

When a group of sandmen tried to surround her, Rheanne simply waved her free hand.

Space itself distorted around her and the air cracked like brittle glass.

CRACK- CRACK- CRACK-

A wave of spatial distortion rippled outward and the sandmen caught in it were torn apart as space itself fractured around them.

Their bodies shattered into fine dust that scattered harmlessly across the dunes.

Rheanne didn’t even break stride.

She continued advancing, her blade flashing in silver arcs while her other hand occasionally waved to distort space, crushing groups of sandmen in bursts.

Brandon glanced at her mid-fight ’She’s on another level... and is that a spatial technique? She can distort space it seems.’

’Quite similar to Elize’s...’

He ducked under a sand blade, grabbed the attacker’s arm, and used it as leverage to flip himself over the creature’s head.

Mid-flip, he drove his knee down into its core, shattering it completely.

He landed in a crouch, immediately launching into a spinning back kick that took out two more sandmen at once.

She glanced at him mid-fight, "Do you know how to use any weapons?" she asked as she bisected another guardian with a single slash.

Brandon sidestepped a sand blade whistling toward his throat "Yeah. A sword or dagger."

"I see..."

Rheanne extended her left hand outward.

The space around her palm suddenly dipped and warped like water.

A small rift opened in the air as if she had reached into another dimension.

She submerged her hand into that rift and pulled out a sword.

It was a beautiful, straight-bladed weapon with a silver hilt wrapped in dark leather.

Brandon’s eyes widened in amazement ’Where the heck did she pull that from?’

Rheanne tossed the sword toward him with a smooth underhand throw.

"Here."

Brandon caught it midair as the hilt fit perfectly into his palm.

The blade felt light and perfectly balanced, with just the right amount of weight.

He gave it a quick test swing, slicing through the air with a satisfying whoosh.

"Not bad," he muttered, a small grin forming on his lips despite the chaos.

Rheanne allowed herself a faint, satisfied smile as she continued cutting down sandmen with graceful sweeps of her own blade.

"Good. Then let’s finish this quickly."

The remaining sandmen surged forward in a desperate final wave, converging on the two of them from all sides.

Brandon and Rheanne moved together.

He charged forward and the first sandman lunged at him with a jagged claw.

Brandon parried the attack with a clean upward slash, then followed through with a spinning horizontal cut that sliced the creature in half at the waist.

The two pieces disintegrated before they hit the ground.

He didn’t stop.

He ducked under another sand blade, rolled forward, and came up swinging as his sword carved through two sandmen in one fluid motion.

He leaped into the air, twisting mid-jump, and brought the sword down in a powerful overhead strike that shattered a third guardian’s core.

On the other side of the battlefield, Rheanne danced through the horde like a white whirlwind.

Brandon and Rheanne fought in perfect sync.

Together, they carved a path through the horde.

Sand exploded around them in constant bursts.

As the Guardians shattered and disintegrated.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity of combat, the last sandman collapsed into inert dust.

The dunes fell silent once more.

Only the soft whisper of wind remained.

Brandon stood breathing softly as sweat dripped down his face, but his eyes were bright with adrenaline.

He looked down at the sword ’This one feels really good in my hand...’

He was just about to let out a sigh of relief when the ground trembled violently beneath their feet.

Even more sandmen rose from the dunes.

Brandon’s eyes glinted with a sharp blue light ’Round 2, huh...’

As he was about to step up, Rheanne stopped him "Wait-"

He turned to look at her and she pointed towards the sky.

Brandon followed her gaze.

High above them, an enormous rock, easily the size of a small house, was plummeting down from the heavens like a sky, trailing with fire.

SWOOOSH

The massive boulder screamed through the air, growing larger and larger as it descended at terrifying speed.

THOOOOOOOOM!

It crashed directly onto the horde of sandmen with force.

A massive shockwave erupted outward, sending sand exploding in every direction like a nuclear blast.

The ground shook violently.

Guardians were obliterated instantly, crushed beneath tons of rock and sand.

The few that survived the initial crash were swept away by the expanding ring of destruction, disintegrating into dust before they could even scream.

When the dust and sand finally began to settle, a huge crater had been carved into the desert floor.

The rock sat embedded in the center like a fallen meteor.

Brandon stood there, completely dumbfounded ’She can summon meteors...?’

He slowly turned his head toward Rheanne, "You could have used that from the start."

Rheanne had a small, almost apologetic smile on her lips "I wanted to see how skilled you are. Sorry for that."

Brandon let out a short, disbelieving laugh "You wanted to test me?"

"I wanted to see how powerful my partner is so it’s easy to cooperate in a fight."

A chuckle escaped his lips "Partner huh..."

But then he realized something ’Wait... am I altering the past?’

His eyes narrowed in thought ’Future Rheanne told me that she had someone precious with her... who is the second awakener.’

’So for this past Rheanne, I am the second awakener...’

’Wait, wait, wait... what the fuck?’

’Maybe I am not changing the past with my existence. Because if I am changing the past, then my existence in the future would be no more because of the butterfly effect.’

’Which means, my existence in the past will also disappear... but I am still here.’

But then his pupils shrank in realization ’What if it’s like a Bootstrap time paradox?’

---

A/n: Time travel might feel messy, but I used a closed time loop called Bootstrap pardox, which is one of the easiest time travel concept and I will try my best to execute it

Golden tickets and powerstones are appreciated