The Herald stepped fully into the plaza, his cloak fluttering in impossible rhythms — one side moving in slow motion, the other whipping violently as if caught in a storm.Where he walked, time fractured.
The First Distortion
Zoro lunged, but halfway through his swing, his blade froze in midair as his own body slowed to a crawl. Across the plaza, Sanji blurred forward in a single bound, overshooting his target and smashing into a wall.
Nami tried to shout a warning, but her voice stretched into an echo that took seconds to reach the others.
Robin's hands bloomed across the plaza in a grappling maneuver, but her limbs passed straight through the Herald as though he'd stepped between her moments.
The Flameborne's Warning
The masked Flameborne of Time turned to Arkan.
"This is the Hour-Thief. He does not fight in seconds or minutes — he steals the turns of others."
Arkan clenched his fists.
"Then I'll burn the turns themselves."
He unleashed a surge of Flame that shimmered unnaturally in the air, its light flickering like an old film reel. The heat bled into the warped zones, forcing them to sync for a heartbeat — just long enough for Zoro to complete his strike and drive the Herald back.
The Second Distortion
The Hour-Thief slammed the butt of his spear into the ground. The sand beneath them shifted, and suddenly the battle reset — everyone back in their starting positions. Only Arkan and the Herald seemed aware of the loop.
The Herald's voice was calm, mocking.
"How many loops before you break, Flamebearer?"
Arkan grinned.
"I've been breaking loops my whole life."
This time, instead of charging, he waited — studying the Herald's first move. When the reset happened again, Arkan moved before the Herald could, striking directly into his path.
Breaking the Loop
The masked Flameborne lifted her black-sand hourglass and inverted it. A deep chime rang through the plaza, and every hourglass in the city turned in unison.
The distortion zones collapsed.The Hour-Thief staggered, suddenly bound to the same flow of time as everyone else.
Orren froze the sand beneath his feet, Lyra's voice resonated through the glass towers, and Luffy delivered a stretching punch that sent the Herald smashing through a plaza wall.
Retreat and Revelation
The Herald vanished into a rift of collapsing sand. But his parting words hung heavy:
"The Serpent's hourglass is almost empty. When the last grain falls… no song will save you."
The masked Flameborne approached Arkan, tilting her head.
"You fought with time, not against it. Perhaps you are not here to hasten the song after all."
She handed him a single grain of black sand.
"When the time comes, drop this. It will give you one stolen moment — and cost you one of your own."
Final Scene
That night, as they left Calvessan, the constellation above them shifted subtly, aligning with others already found. Robin's eyes widened.
"Arkan… these aren't just points in the sky. They're counting down."