Rowan watched the roots rushing toward him, their mouths wide open, teeth ready to tear into him. He did not flinch. He did not step back. He did not move an inch from where he stood.
Slowly, he raised one hand to his chest level.
He opened his palm and curved his thumb, index, and middle finger in a small circular motion, pointing toward the incoming roots and the Magister behind them.
The best thing I find in you, Rowan said calmly, "is your delusional thought that you are the strongest here."
He smirked.
The roots were only inches away from his body.
Then it looked like the time around them slowed
A small area was affected—Kael, Cedric, and the two Magisters they were fighting were caught within it. Even the Magister facing Rowan was trapped inside the same field.
Kael moved with extreme difficulty, his body feeling unbearably heavy.
"What is happening?" he whispered slowly to Cedric. "Why does it feel like we're trapped inside something… like a never-ending time barrier?"
Cedric's eyes widened with fear as he forced himself to speak. "Is it because of the Dead Clock? Is the Knight… of Obedience summoned?"
It felt as though they were inside someone's domain—someone's barrier. Every movement became painfully slow, slower than a sloth's crawl.
Rowan, however, moved forward normally.
"You were the strongest here, huh?" he said calmly. "What happened? Try to move."
He laughed softly, almost mockingly, as he looked at the Magister who had summoned the roots.
Rowan raised his hand to his chest and opened his palm.
A small door-like portal appeared above it.
From within, a blue and golden two-headed spear slowly emerged, its surface glowing faintly even within the distorted time.
You will now experience this, Rowan said coldly. "And you are the one responsible for it, since you chose to attack me..."
In that distorted silence of frozen time, the Magister finally understood the difference between confidence and absolute superiority and terror consumed him.
The Magister's face twisted in extreme fear.
Rowan threw the spear.
It pierced straight through the Magister's chest.
With a slight motion of his fingers, Rowan called it back. The spear returned instantly and struck again—this time piercing between the Magister's eyes.
The Magister collapsed, dead.
"That's what your power is?" Rowan said indifferently.
Without hesitation, he redirected the spear toward the other two Magisters trapped in the slowed domain.
The spear sliced through one of them completely, moving like a serpent, cutting through his body as it passed.
Kael watched in shock.
"What in the world is that spear? And how is he able to use such powerful magic to slow time?" he thought.
The spear then rushed toward the last Magister.
This time, it did not cut through. It seemed as though the Magister's body absorbed the spear.
The Magister's thoughts raced.
Wait… it didn't do anything to me. Is the orb's power working, it sav...
Before he could finish his thought, a burst erupted from inside his body.
Thousands of miniature spears tore outward from within him, ripping through him completely.
His final thought echoed in silence.
What is this power…?
Rowan recalled the spear back into his hand.
"Don't be overconfident with the weak powers you have," he said calmly.
After saying that, Rowan moved toward Kael and Cedric. He passed them without stopping and began walking toward Zayden.
As he moved, time returned to normal for Kael and Cedric.
Both of them looked at each other in silence.
Nyra approached, dragging the head of the Magister she had been fighting. She looked toward Rowan and said,
"If he can do that… and hold that amount of power… why didn't he get involved before such a—"
She stopped mid-sentence and walked toward Cedric and Kael.
"I guess the fight's over. Zayden is handling the fifth one."
But Zayden was still finding the fifth Magister. He had been blown far back when the blast erupted inside their barrier.
Far from them, the fifth Magister stood holding the orb, smiling wickedly.
"Not this time," he said. "I don't need those weaklings with me to summon the Knight. I'll do it alone."
He raised the orb and shouted,
"The One Burdened With the Obedience Shall Summon As The Clock Dies!"
Zayden heard the words and immediately rushed toward the voice. He saw the fifth Magister laughing madly. He finally reached him. Rowan arrived just a moment later, stepping into place behind him.
They both saw the fifth Magister standing there, holding the orb tightly in his hand.
The Magister noticed Zayden and Rowan. His face twisted with anger—then slowly shifted into a smirk.
"You are late," he said. "And I guess… too early to die as well."
He tilted his head slightly and continued in a sarcastic tone,
"But it's sad that you are going to die today."
Rowan placed his hand on Zayden's shoulder.
"What happened?" he asked calmly.
Zayden replied in frustration, "I thought he died after the blast. But he somehow survived… and I guess he completed the ritual."
Rowan stepped forward a few paces. Without taking his eyes off the Magister, he said,
"I guess the orb. It's the key to summoning the Knight. We have to destroy it."
As he spoke, Kael, Nyra, and Cedric finally reached them from behind and quickly examined the situation.
Cedric said firmly, "The other four Magisters are dead. We need to do something about this one and finish this now." Zayden responded, We can't do anything. He has already completed the ritual.
He stepped forward and stood beside Rowan, then looked at him.
"I think he's right. We need to destroy the orb even if there's only a 0.1% chance of stopping the summoning."
Then he turned his head slightly toward the others and said,
"Give everything you've got to destroy that orb."
After Zayden finished speaking, the orb began to glow even brighter.
A massive clock formed behind the Magister—constructed from twisted, dead roots. Each segment of the roots pulsed as if something alive was beating within them.
Without hesitation, all of them rushed toward the Magister, aiming to shatter the orb before it was too late.
But halfway through, Rowan suddenly stopped. He sensed something was wrong.
The others continued forward and struck the orb with everything they had. The moment their attacks connected, a violent force pushed them back.
The orb did not crack. It did not even tremble. It felt impossibly hard—far beyond what they had expected. The Magister laughed and said, "You can't do anything this time. Stop wasting your energy," as he stepped forward, gripping the orb tightly with both hands and slowly raising it into the air.
Rowan shouted, "We can't destroy the orb easily—and he knows that!"
Nyra continued, "That's why he didn't even try to protect it when we attacked earlier!"
Kael quickly moved toward Rowan and whispered, "Why don't you use that spear of yours? I think it might help. We already did some damage."
Rowan's gaze darkened as he looked at Kael.
"I'll try," he said in a low, steady voice. "But don't expect miracles. Even that spear might not be enough." His eyes shifted toward the glowing orb.
"Move back. Now. If it reacts… you won't survive the backlash."
Kael quickly turned toward Zayden, Nyra, and Cedric.
"Move back," he said firmly. "Rowan is going to try to break it."
Zayden frowned, glancing between the glowing orb and Rowan.
"We couldn't break that thing even together. How is he going to do it before he completes—"
Trust me, Nyra interrupted, her voice steady. "I've seen him. He can."
"Don't be impractical. We don't even know how hard or how powerful that orb is, and you're telling me Rowan can break it?"
Zayden huffed in frustration before adding,
"And alone?!"
Cedric stepped forward and said, "Let it be. Instead of arguing, let him try."
Zayden looked at Rowan with a frustrated expression. "Alright. Do it. But if it fails—"
"I'll try my best to make sure it doesn't," Rowan said calmly as he moved forward.
He raised his right hand into the air, and the spear appeared in his grasp. Its surface glowed faintly as power gathered around it.
Before taking his stance, Rowan spoke without turning back. "If this fails, one of you inform the officials of the Northern District about this. We can't fight that thing." He positioned himself and focused all his power into the spear. Then he threw it toward the orb.
The spear shot forward, breaking the speed of sound. Glowing text shimmered along its surface as it tore through the air. It struck the orb.
A massive blast followed. Smoke spread everywhere, and a dark purple mist surrounded them. Kael covered his face and shouted, "Rowan! Did it work?"
Rowan tried to see through the mist. Through the haze, he noticed the orb was still glowing. Blood was pouring from the Magister's chest.
Behind the Magister, the giant clock cracked like a mirror shattering.
Rowan finally saw it clearly.
Zayden rushed to his side, staring at the scene. "What? What happened? What's that behind the Magister?"
The Magister laughed weakly. "I'll die… but I'll make sure you all suffer the worst possible death."
Rowan looked at Zayden in shock. "We were wrong."
"Wrong? What do you mean we were wrong?" Zayden asked.
"Tell me why were we wrong?"
Rowan replied, his voice heavy, "The orb was not the key. It was never meant to summon the Knight. It… it was the Lock that kept the Knight sealed inside, preventing it from being summoned."
He looked at the shattered remains.
"And we were wrong because we tried to break it. Now that it's broken… the seal is gone."