Unbeatable

“Take me back to the moment before the attack [Rewind].”

===

“This is going to be annoying,” the King sighed before dropping into a fighting stance.

What just happened? I didn’t see the King move, and yet, somehow, he managed to land an uppercut. How was I supposed to block that? I suspected he could easily slip past my guard no matter what I did. I would have to try a different strategy.

I repositioned my feet ever so slightly to the left, ready to jump to the side when the fight began. If he was going for a frontal assault, his first punch should miss, giving me enough time to counterattack…hopefully. With how fast he was moving, I doubted this would give me nothing more than a moment to respond. However, with the rewind spell, I could repeat that moment over and over until I landed a hit…

…right? I felt a familiar chill crawling down my spine. But why? What had I missed? I thought back to our previous conversation as the announcer began the countdown.

“3!”

“2!”

“1!”

I jumped to the left.

Wait, didn’t he say something different this time?

The King’s eyes tracked where I was going

“FIGHT!!!!”

CCCRRAAACCKK! I felt my jaw get smashed upward. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw that the King had managed to get in-between my shield and me, landing an uppercut before a single moment had passed.

“Don’t think you’re the only one who can change the flow of time,” he said nonchalantly.

Urgh! “Take me back to the moment before the attack [Rewind].”

===

“So, what are you going to try next? You won’t be able to escape.” the King sighed before dropping into a fighting stance. The hairs on my skin rose. Fear began to creep into my mind. If he remembered what happened in the previous timelines, then what could I do to beat him?

No, no, no! Don’t let yourself get distracted! There has to be some way to take this due down! Yeah, I just need to find it! I thought ever so optimistically.

“3!”

“2!”

“1!”

I jumped backwards. The King’s eyes tracked where I was going.

“FIGHT!!!!”

CCCRRAAACCKK! The King landed an uppercut once again.

“[Rewind]!”

===

Dropping the sword, I brought the shield as close I could to my body. This way, he shouldn’t be able to get in-between and land an uppercut.

“What in the world is that going to do?” the King scoffed as he dropped into a fighting stance.

“FIGHT!!!”

The King instantly disappeared from my line of sight. Then, I felt a hand on the back of my head.

BBOOOOOMM! The King slammed my head into the ground. My vision blacked out as my body refused to respond.

“[Rewind]!”

===

I kept the shield close and swung the sword, hoping that I could reach him before he managed to land an uppercut.

“FIGHT!!!”

URRGH! The King got behind me in an instance and kicked me in the balls. I could feel my lower half go numb as I collapsed onto the ground.

“[Rewind]!”

===

~~~

I rewound time again and again, but nothing worked against the King. No matter what move I made, the King would somehow land a clean hit in impossible ways. I was getting better at predicting his moves, but it did jack shit to stop him. Even if the King made the same moves as he did in the previous timelines, all it would end up being was a war of attrition – something I would surely lose given our difference in stamina. My breathing was already out of whack after having my head knocked in every possible direction, and we hadn’t started fighting in this timeline yet.

“I’m impressed you’re managing to endure this much. All those feelings from the previous timelines must be really wearing you out right now, and yet, you still have such an annoying look in your eye,” the King said.

Looks like I’ll have to try another weapon.

“Take me back to the previous night. [Rewind]!”

===

I stood in the center of the arena facing the King, ready for the announcer to begin the countdown.

H-huh? Why am I still in the arena?!?

“I already told you; you won’t be able to escape. You can only rewind yourself as far back as the beginning of the fight until this match is over,” the King said as though reading my mind, dropping into a fighting stance.

Damn it! Wait, calm down. Don’t let his taunting get to you. I still have one more trick up my sleeve. But whether it’ll work… The rewind spell had two different uses. The first was the one I always used: rewinding my own timeline. The King was somehow stopping me from using that, so I had to rely on the second method: rewinding using someone else’s timeline. However, if I didn’t meet the person in the past, I couldn’t rewind time using that method. Additionally, I had to work my way back from that moment in time, which was a pain, but desperate times called for insane measures.

I had a sneaking suspicion that I had met the King sometime in the past since he felt somewhat familiar. At the same time, I had a sinking feeling that I should just lose the fight. But that involves giving up the rewind spell, so no way in hell!

For the second method to work, I had to touch the King for a moment. That shouldn’t be a problem though. I was already starting to feel numb from the pain.

I dropped my sword, pulling my shield closer to my body, ready to block his first punch.

The announcer, and only the announcer, began the countdown.

“3!”

“2!”

“1!”

“FIGHT!!!!”

CCCRRAAACCKK! The King landed another uppercut on my jaw.

“You already tried this,” the King snapped. “Why would you try it–hmm?” The King stopped short, noticing the smile on my face.

“Gotcha,” I said, blood dripping from my mouth. I grabbed his arm with my free hand.

“Take me back to our last shared moment. [Rewind]!”

As my vision faded, I saw the King looking at me, eyes filled with pity.

===