Oh, fuck me. No. This isn’t happening. It’s got to be a trick! A Terror in armour showing up out of nowhere? In the middle of a populated city? A city made to be a holiday retreat for nobles?

It had to be more likely that someone was fucking with us. I mean, which is more likely?

That a giant armoured monster appeared to ruin my day or that there’s some extremely petty mage out there which can use Supreme spells deliberately trying to make a mess of a bunch of stage performers?

...The monster roared and the damned crowd cheer. Oh, god they think this is just the second act of the show! This is going to be a bloodbath! Oh, fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

“Uwah! It looks so cool!” Oh no, the boys are loving it!

“Ew! It’s so gross! I can’t wait for the Hero to squash it!” The girls are screaming for Adil to charge at it! Shit! That guy isn’t much better than C Rank Adventurers!

A Terror is at least an S Rank monster! And this one looks like freaking MechaGodzilla!

Ahhhhhh! Okay. I guess I should run! Yup. Just leave.

Maybe I can get a headstart and the thing will be too busy destroying the city to bother with little old me. The camp isn’t too far, I can gather up all my stuff and be out of here before anyone else realises that I didn’t make that terrifying nightmare slowly walking towards us.

The entire world rumbles with every step as the colossus approaches.

It’ll be on all of us in maybe a minute at this rate. Okay, screw my bags and money.

Just get the hell out of dodge and pray the whole road out of this mess. I’ll get out of this country and as far away from the shadow of death before it can catch me.

Then the foot of the monster squashed the front gate into dust.

A momentary silence before chaos erupts.

Screaming their heads off, people of all ages were beginning to realise this was a real threat.

The crowd begin to run and I’m stuck trapped in this alleyway.

I spent too much time worrying and now I’m going to properly die.

Either by rushing mob or by the toe of a metal kaiju. My luck sucks but my decision-making skills are downright horrible as well. I can’t believe I’m going to die like… actually, no.

I knew my death would be due to my own stupidity someday.

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Siggghhhhhhhhh…! A long breath leaves my lips.

My heart is slowly dropping. I’m not the type to panic, at least in the screaming and running madly way. For me, it’s like a giant weight is placed on my heart. It falls slowly and then crashes fast and hard. My blood goes cold. My veins burn for a few moments before turning to ice.

Like venom is all I am, and then I melt and die without having moved at all.

“Well. That’s it then. It wasn’t the worst life I guess. Game over. Out of credit. Finished. Ding dong the witch is dead... maybe I’ll get another do-over? Though I can’t see why I would get one.”

I look back to the monster which is now past the main gate.

Arrows and elemental spells are being slung at it but it’s useless.

Terrors are immune to everything that isn’t at least a Supreme Spell.

If that wasn’t enough that armour looks like it’d repel anything which isn’t at least made of mythril.

There wasn’t a prayer in the world. There’s no one capable of slaying this thing, not here, not now, in this remote seaside vacation town.

I could float up and try to get away doing that but that’d probably be asking for my death.

If I remember correctly, Terror’s tend to prioritise flying targets. The species aren’t usually aggressive but when they are… it’s like they absolutely cannot leave survivors.

“Shit. I’m so fucked. Maybe if I’m lucky I’ll reincarnate or something to a better world with better powers. Or I’ll just wake up in a hospital bed back on Earth. That’d be nice… but it looks like I’m…”

The Terror roared. It sounded like the screeching of bats multiplied by the whirling howl of a typhoon paired with the cackle of death itself.

“I’m doomed.” Something flashed before my eyes. Something I hadn’t seen in quite a while.

A message from unlocking a new spell.

Doom. Single Target Supreme Spell. The target will suffer their final death after three minutes. If the target has a high enough intelligence they will know they have been doomed. If they have enough magic or MP they will know you are the caster.

...I can’t believe it. My hands begin to tremble. This isn’t like the other spells.

A faint hope begins to blossom in my heart and burn everything inside of me.

Spells such as Death required a magic check to bypass the target’s defences.

Stat modifiers and ailments also required a magic check in the same vein and had their power scale with the magic of the user. Slow for me did less than even 100th of a second when I cast it. Haste was the same in the opposite direction. Time Stop barely did anything and was only marginally useful that one time I helped a martial artist win a fight.

...Every spell mentioned the magic stat in someway as a modifier.

Yet this spell which I had somehow completely forgotten didn’t.

I feel my mana become an inferno.

“Supreme Spell: Doom!”

With those words flying out of my mouth with fear for the future… the Terror stopped and its head turned. Its gaze lined up to where I was hiding.

“Three minutes until the target suffers its final death.”

My right hand burned and a timer manifested as if someone had inked it as a tattoo that could move by itself.

3:00

2:59

2:58

All I have to do is run-!

The screams of the people suddenly seem much clearer to me.

The Terror slowly began to walk towards my general direction.

I’ve been in this city for a while. This world has a huge class problem.

This place is different though. It lets people of all origins kick back and forget their worries.

Tons of parents here spend their rare downtime with their kids.

I want to fly away, spin my wheels for three minutes and do whatever it takes to live…

Yet for some reason… I find myself beginning to cast the disguise spell.

I’ve played the villain quite a lot over the last few years but…

Who knows? Maybe the audience would love a cowardly hero.

I’ve got just the character to play…

I’m so fucking stupid. I shouldn’t do this but… I cast the Amplify spell on my voice as my magic begins to craft a costume and apply makeup over my body.

“Ladies and Gentleman! Are you ready for the greatest show of your lives…!”

I begin to rise like a bird taking flight.

Well, it’s too late to run now. Just keeping telling yourself that…

Showtime.