There stood Willow, a wonderful young lass clad in dark armor, dragon-shaped pauldrons hugging her shoulders.

And just a short distance from her stood Root, the overly friendly plant that wanted to hug all three of them—Leonidas, Willow, and Savior—with all its might.

And here stands I, a humble aspiring knight.

Leonidas walked forward, without making a sound. Standing behind Willow, Leonidas cleared his throat.

"Why hello there, young miss!"

He had expected a passionate response, maybe Willow smiling in joy and jumping to hug him...alright, that may have been a little too optimistic, but what he didn’t expect was her swinging Smooth Criminal at him.

In a twist of turns, the black blade headed straight for his face, covered by the Shroud of Sacrifice. Leonidas twisted, stepped to the side, letting the blade whistle harmlessly past him. Normally, Willow would have countered immediately and changed the blade’s trajectory mid-air, but thankfully, she didn’t.

As if realizing who the masked figure was, she retracted her hand and turned back to stare at Root, who was possibly confused at his sudden appearance.

"Look who decided to show up...how nice of you, Art."

Her voice was laboured, tired from the relentless fight against Root. She was in better shape than the previous regressions, but battered nonetheless.

"Indeed, I am the nicest person alive."

The smile underneath his mask froze, slowly disappearing.

"Now, before we charge in blindly to fight that damned root, let me tell you something of a plan I made. Don’t ask how I made it... too annoying to explain."

He shrugged and pointed Blush at Root. Savior exploded, already in her weird war form. She lunged at Root, tearing into its pulpy flesh with vicious ferocity, a storm of blades and shadow.

Willow was, justifiably confused by Savior’s sudden appearance.

"Who’s the...woman?"

Right, she doesn’t remember the regression, and it’s not like I explained who Savior was even then.

Back then, they had just been too busy to give a shit about information like that, but now, to put his plan into motion, he needed to brief Willow on a few things.

Fortunately for her, Savior was one of them.

"Let’s just say...she’s a servant of mine. And yes, she’s a woman."

Leonidas turned to stare at Willow, the cracked mask staring holes into her very being. He was suddenly serious, every trace of playfulness and warmth gone.

"Now listen very carefully. My master plan is the only way we can survive, and to top it all off, there’s only one chance for this, one shot at it."

Well, that wasn’t entirely true; he could always die and regress, but a fear had been slowly seeping into his heart, into his veins, his very blood itself.

The fear that the time loop would break randomly, and then death would be final. And the fact that it could very well happen did nothing to reassure Leonidas.

He still didn’t know how the loop had started, how it would end, and what caused it. He had his guesses, of course, most related to Bloom and Sacrifice, but nothing concrete...nothing he could bet his life on.

It was precisely because of this uncertainty that Leonidas wanted to get everything over in this fight.

One shot, one stand.

While Savior struggled to keep Root at bay, Leonidas explained his plan to Willow; he let nothing out, explaining with great detail.

Her reaction...it was dramatic to say the least.

"Are you crazy? The gaseous state works specifically on me, and me alone! It’s going to suffocate that woman to death!"

Yeah...she seemed worried.

"Don’t worry! I heard she is quite similar to you! Same attitude and somewhat similar powers and all that. Even her sword’s name is similar. Smoother Criminal, meaning a better version of yourself!"

He spoke with great enthusiasm about how sad it was, but Willow did not seem to believe him.

"Art, this is serious. Don’t take me wrong, I would love to suffocate someone to death, but not if I have to pay for it. If it doesn’t work...I’ll have to pay a great price, a price I’d rather avoid."

Why is she so paranoid?

Coming from him...it didn’t sound credible, but so what? Not like he cared.

"Do you trust me, Willow?"

The answer came almost immediately.

"No. In fact, I’m so distrustful of you I keep a bag of poison in my bosom to throw at you at any given moment..."

"..."

Wow...

He was speechless. How little did she think of him?

Should I just let her die? I’m sure I’ll find a way out after a dozen deaths.

Leonidas sighed beneath his mask, face twisted into disgust and reluctant acceptance.

"Well...that’s just sad. Here I thought we had gotten closer. Well, whether or not you trust me, you have no choice in this matter. Either you die, or you listen to what I say. And I’m sure you don’t want to die. Now shut up and start working immediately after Savior comes back. I’ll keep our dearest friend on hold till then."

Leonidas turned and left, walking towards Root, not bothering to wait for a response.

Ruby roses started spinning around him, appearing out of nowhere, as if imagination made true. Some were large, around the size of his chest, while others were small, the same size as his hands.

At the exact moment, Savior crashed down beside him, slick with green pus. She was covered head to toe, armor shattered into a plethora of jutting spikes.

Leonidas pointed at Willow and spoke in a solemn tone,

"Listen to whatever she says, do whatever she tells you to do. You’re our hope in this battle."

His cerulean eyes, hidden beneath the cracked shroud, stared at Root, mangled and torn, yet still very much alive, already healing from the fearsome wounds.

"As for me...I will take care of that."

The roses spun faster and faster, forming a ring of red behind him, a ring of gemstones and wealth...or a ring of crimson blood, as if signifying the horrendous battle to come.