Long forgotten VS Geralt of Rivia

Chronicles of the Crossroads: Long forgotten vs Geralt of Rivia

The battlefield materialized not as a standard coliseum, but as a convergence of metaphysical realities. The sky hung low, painted in the bruised hues of twilight. At the center stood a cracked stone path, stretching infinitely into the mist on either side. Behind the central figure, two archways stood in stark contrast: one radiating the blinding warmth of golden light and celestial clouds, the other oozing a jagged purple smoke veined with red, molten cracks, inscribed with the ominous command 'FALL... OBEY... ETERNAL...'.

Standing centrally on this path was Long forgotten. He appeared as a weary traveler frozen in a moment of deep exhaustion, a long, tattered grey trench coat billowing slightly despite the absence of wind. His dark hair was messy, framing a face slumped with resignation. Floating around him were the symbols of his dominion: brass gears turning in reverse, a broken clock face suspended in air, and drifting feathers that defied gravity. Opposing him was Geralt of Rivia, the Witcher. His appearance was unmistakable—white hair cropped short, a weathered face marked by scars, clad in a heavy yellow coat trimmed with thick fur. Steel glinted beneath the leather armor, specifically the silver sword glowing with a cold, ethereal light in his right hand. Around him hovered four blue runes, pulsating with dormant energy.

The summons did not require introductions; the intent hung in the air as heavy as the fog. Geralt moved first. Known for his lethality against supernatural entities, he did not hesitate to test the enemy's defenses. He initiated the exchange by throwing a quick burst of lightning, the *Aard* sign, aimed not to kill, but to shatter the illusion of distance.

Long forgotten did not dodge. Instead, the gears around him spun audibly. As the telekinetic wave struck, time seemed to stutter. The wave passed through him, not because he vanished, but because the impact landed in the past, while his current form existed seconds later. Geralt’s eyes narrowed. He had encountered magic users before, but this felt different—this was spatial displacement wrapped in temporal decay. He switched tactics, lunging forward with the silver sword, aiming to sever the connection between the warrior and the gears.

In response, Long forgotten simply exhaled, a sound like rustling dust. He stepped sideways, moving imperceptibly slow, yet maintaining his position relative to the attacker. Every swing Geralt threw met air, and with each missed strike, the clock above Long forgotten ticked louder. Geralt felt a strange drag on his senses; his potions’ effects seemed to linger longer than necessary. *This is how sorcerers train,* Geralt noted internally, recalling old lessons from Kaer Morhen where students learned to predict flow rather than break it. *He is waiting for me to tire my hands.*

Geralt knew brute force would not work against an entity that controlled the rhythm of the fight. He needed to change the tempo. He stopped retreating and planted his feet, raising his left hand to cast *Yrden*, a glyph of entrapment designed to slow magic. He slammed the sign onto the ground around Long forgotten. The blue circles flared, creating a zone where magical travel was restricted. For a moment, the gears froze. Long forgotten stumbled slightly, his posture losing its fluid grace.

"This buys you time," Geralt muttered, his voice raspy. "But not much."

However, the witcher realized too late that the glyph itself was reacting to the background architecture. The black door behind Long forgotten began to hum, resonating with the trap. The purple smoke curled inward, reinforcing the area. Long forgotten looked up, his eyes clouded with a profound sadness. "You fight so hard," he whispered, his voice low and filled with pauses. "To catch what is already gone."

Here lay the critical miscalculation. Geralt assumed he was fighting a defender, but he was fighting a custodian. While Geralt focused on breaking the Yrden field, Long forgotten utilized the breach in the temporal flow. The clock face shattered, dropping a massive metallic cog. Geralt ducked, expecting a physical projectile, but the impact dissolved the air around him. He suddenly felt older; his joints stiffened, and his vision blurred as years condensed into a single heartbeat. This was the true weight of the hourglass. A faint memory flickered in Geralt’s mind—a phantom limb feeling from a previous skirmish against a demon lord where he underestimated a temporal bind. He remembered falling into a similar trap decades ago, his sword arm numbing instantly. He gritted his teeth, forcing his muscles to move against the artificial aging.

Geralt reached for a bomb, intending to detonate a chemical blast to reset the area's pressure, but the bombs on his belt turned to dust mid-air before he could pull the string. Time was stripping the items away. He could see it now—the black door was absorbing the chaos, sealing Geralt off from his usual toolkit. The Witcher’s breathing grew ragged. His stamina, usually inexhaustible, drained rapidly under the temporal pressure.

With the enemy’s mobility neutralized by the aging effect, Long forgotten advanced slowly. He didn't strike to kill; he struck to seal. He extended a hand, palm open. The floating feathers drifted toward Geralt, attaching themselves to the Witcher’s skin. They weren't weapons; they were anchors. Each feather grounded a piece of Geralt’s soul into the floor, locking his existence to this crossroads. Geralt swung his sword with desperate strength, the blade slicing through a ghost image of the man before him.

"You are free to leave," Long forgotten said softly, his tone devoid of malice but absolute in authority. "Only you remain."

The battle shifted from offense to containment. Geralt tried to channel the remaining energy into a final *Igni* blast, attempting to burn the feathers and sever the link. The fire roared, illuminating the gloomy path, but the flames themselves curved backward, consumed by the entropy of the black door. Geralt fell to one knee, his sword clattering to the stone. The fatigue was not just physical; it was existential. The realization settled in—he was stuck in the 'now', unable to step into the future. The crossroads demanded a choice, and Geralt had been stripped of the ability to choose his own path.

Long forgotten stepped closer, reaching out not to finish the man, but to guide him into the shadow of the golden door. The gears slowed to a halt. The clock hands spun wildly, marking the expiration of the summon's window. Geralt looked at the two doors, understanding the nature of his defeat. He hadn't lost because he was weaker; he lost because he couldn't change the timeline he was forced to live in.

"I have fought many," Geralt grunted, wiping blood from his mouth, realizing his limbs would soon cease to respond. "But few fight against the river itself."

Long forgotten bowed his head slightly, a gesture of respect for the effort. "And that is why you are remembered," he replied. "Now, rest."

The lights faded. Geralt of Rivia stood defeated, trapped in a moment of eternal hesitation, while the wanderer remained standing amidst the ticking silence. The tactical superiority lay not in the sharpness of the blade, but in the control of the ground upon which the blade rested. Long forgotten had anticipated the witcher's reliance on agility and countered it with the fundamental law of time.

Winner Analysis

Winning Side: Long forgotten

Reasoning: The victory was secured through strategic manipulation of the battlefield environment rather than direct combat. While Geralt possessed superior offensive capabilities and combat experience, he lacked the tools to neutralize Long forgotten's time-manipulation abilities effectively. Geralt's attempts to engage physically were rendered ineffective by the defensive reaction of the time field. Furthermore, his mental conditioning led him to underestimate the environmental pressure, resulting in a loss of resources (potions/bombs) and stamina due to accelerated temporal decay. Long forgotten maintained the initiative throughout the engagement, forcing Geralt into a reactive position until his capacity to act was nullified.