Carlisle's breathing was heavy and ragged, sweat mixed with blood dripping from his chin, leaving dark red marks on the scorched earth. The stump of his left arm still throbbed, but what suffocated him more was that it was all for naught.
All of his attacks were completely ineffective.
He had once used Yin Attribute magic to form an amethyst arrow capable of piercing steel city walls, aiming directly for her eyeball, but it vanished like smoke the moment it touched her iris.
He lunged in close, his blade precisely aimed at her heart, even feeling the tip of the sword against her spine, yet not a single bloodstain was left on her white robe.
In the most insane instance, he twisted her head, rotating it a full 380 degrees, her cervical spine contorted like a pretzel, yet her golden eyes still blinked mockingly, her lips moving. "Are you done playing?"
A fierce wind, laden with sand and stones, howled past, tearing at Carlisle's cloak, yet Ley's white hair didn't stir an inch.
This was illogical.
Even an iron golem would tremble in a hurricane, but she was like an illusion sealed in another world, even the touch of the wind rejected.
It wasn't high defense… it was 'rejection' itself.
Magic dissipating, attacks missing, even the laws of nature bypassing her—this wasn't resilience, but complete isolation.
Space-type? No… more like some kind of… concept.
As for Ley Batenkaitos? That battle was absurdly unsettling.
After a difficult close-quarters fight, the Archbishop of gluttony suddenly lunged at him in a frenzy, his Fingers like hooks grasping at his shoulder, slobbering and shouting, "Let me taste your 'name'!"
Carlisle seized the opportunity and counter-attacked, severing his head. The skull rolled away, never to move again.
No resurrection, no mutation, just a headless corpse quietly decaying.
Even stranger was Ley's reaction.
She didn't even glance at Ley's body, merely tilting her head and chuckling softly. "Ah, it's finally quiet, isn't it? That noisy fellow, he kept 'biting' and 'gnawing' non-stop from the beginning. He was even more annoying than a sewer rat! Always looking like a starving ghost reborn, truly super irritating."
"But now, it's good, he finally shut that disgusting mouth! Ah~ the air feels much fresher now! As expected, this world is much more suitable for me when it's a bit quieter~ After all, how can an elegant existence like me tolerate the noise pollution of such low-level creatures?"
Carlisle gripped his sword hilt, his knuckles white.
What good was guessing her ability?
"Absolute Defense" combined with "Absolute Attack," she was like an unsolvable disaster. Her attack range was inescapable; if he continued to fight, his methods were already nearing exhaustion… at least… let me leave something behind. Let me confirm something.
Ley stared at Carlisle, who had stood up once more, impatience and annoyance flickering in her golden pupils. After such a long battle, her initial anger had long faded, replaced by a childish irritation.
"I say "
"How long are you going to keep infringing on my rights? I've already been so~ so~ tolerant! Don't you know, for a lowly existence like you to make me, the most perfect, kindest, and noblest existence in the world, waste so much time, is already a colossal blessing?"
She sighed dramatically, twirling a strand of white hair around her finger.
"I'm already very~ an~ noyed~! But!" Her voice suddenly rose, a hint of ferocity flashing in her eyes.
"I will absolutely not let you go! What happens to everyone else doesn't matter, whether it's Lady Crusch or those ant-like soldiers, I can graciously let them go!"
Her Fingers pointed sharply at Carlisle, a twisted smile spreading across her lips.
"Only you! Only you, the man who made such a perfect existence as me lose her composure! I will absolutely kill you! Can't you realize? How glorious it is to use your insignificant life to quell my wrath? This is your only value in living! Ah~ just thinking about it moves me; a magnanimous person like me is actually willing to give you such a noble opportunity!"
She covered her cheeks as if in ecstasy, moved by her own benevolence.
Carlisle did not reply.
The threat of death had long become irrelevant to him. The stump of his left arm still burned with pain, and his magic was almost depleted, but his gaze remained as sharp as a blade.
I am not her opponent… Magic is ineffective, swords are useless, even touching her is a luxury.
He slowly tightened his grip on his remaining right hand.
I must leave a chance for the living. Someone needs to know Greed's ability… The Kingdom needs to know the threat of the Witch Cult.
Reinhard… Ley watched Carlisle, who was swaying but still raising his sword, a flicker of irritation in her golden pupils. She elegantly raised her arm, waving it gently as if brushing away a speck of dust.
"Disappear."
Carlisle did not dodge.
He no longer had the strength.
The air solidified in an instant, time compressed into a thin slice.
The next second, his chest exploded.
The area where his heart had been was pierced through, flesh, bone, and the cloak behind him annihilated, leaving only a bowl-sized void. Blood splattered out, drawing a tragically beautiful arc in the sunlight.
Carlisle staggered a step, his body, pierced with a gaping wound, falling down.
His vision began to blur, and in his ears, there was only the roaring rush of blood.
But he wasn't thinking about death.
Instead, with his last conscious thought, he felt the truth of that strike.
It was air… no… those "attacks" were not spatial tears at all, but a torrent of stopped time!
She completely froze her own time, so no attack could "reach" her… and those seemingly casual annihilations were merely "frozen air" that she released!
Everything finally made sense.
"Oh my~ are you finally willing to fall?" Ley tilted her head, her white hair perfectly still in the frozen air. Her voice suddenly became joyous.
"Could it be that you finally understood my words!? This is simply, fan-tas-tic!" She clasped her hands together, her eyes sparkling with emotion.
"Do you know? For a stubborn and rude man like you to awaken under my patient guidance, it's practically a miracle~!"
She crouched down, leaning closer to Carlisle's gradually unfocusing eyes.
"As a reward, I'm specially allowing you to enjoy your last moments of life, okay?" Her smile widened. "I'll watch you~ watch you until your heart completely stops beating! How about that? Oh, right, you don't have a heart anymore, but never mind, doesn't it feel wonderful? To be so closely observed by the perfect me."
Her Fingers gently poked the bloody hole in Carlisle's chest, her tone chillingly innocent.
"Ah, but if it hurts too much, you can beg for mercy now, you know? Though I won't save you, of course."
Carlisle's lips twisted into a self-deprecating smile.
Burning od? It seemed useless now… His right hand clenched tightly, and deep within his palm, a wisp of imperceptible magic was condensing.
Faster… a little faster… I must before consciousness fades… The ball of light was compressed to its extreme, hidden within his blood-stained Fingers. There was no incantation, no fluctuation, not even Ley noticed.
The moment the light was complete, Carlisle finally stopped.
His breath was already as faint as a dying candle, each inhale like a final struggle. Blood spilled from the corners of his mouth, dripping down his chin, blooming into dark red flowers on the scorched earth.
The world was receding.
The sound of the wind, the smell of blood, Ley's piercing laughter, everything was becoming distant.
In a daze, he seemed to see her.
Subaru. Is she… crying?
Carlisle's Fingers trembled slightly, as if wanting to wipe away the tears in the illusion… I'm sorry.
I'm going to make you… sad again… His voice vanished into bloody foam.
Darkness swallowed his vision, and it swallowed the beloved figure in his mind.
——————
"Full speed ahead!"
Under the chilling moonlight, Lady Crusch gripped the reins with one hand, her severed arm already bandaged. The earth dragon galloped wildly, followed by a handful of soldiers. The night wind howled, unable to dispel the heavy gloom in her heart.
She should have immediately sought reinforcements, but if the Kingdom's second knight was no match, who could stand against such a monster? The Sword Saint had already left the capital… This thought made her stomach cramp with pain.
Just a short while ago, silence descended.
The earth-shattering roar from afar had vanished.
An ominous premonition coiled around Lady Crusch's spine like a venomous snake.
She immediately decided to return to the battlefield.
The earth dragon's iron hooves crushed the scorched earth, and the moonlight cast long shadows behind them. When the familiar ruins finally came into view, the night sky was already filled with stars.
The battlefield was eerily quiet.
Too quiet.
So quiet… like a colossal tomb.
When Lady Crusch dismounted, her boot crushed a piece of crystallized rock. The cracking sound was particularly jarring in the dead silence.
"Search!" Her command was short and sharp, "Find them alive… or… dead…"
The latter half of her sentence caught in her throat, turning into an almost inaudible tremor.
The glow of torches flickered on the blackened ground as the soldiers searched in silence. Every piece of wreckage was meticulously examined.
"This can't be… I found him! Lady Crusch!"
The soldier's trembling shout cut through the night sky. Lady Crusch's heart skipped a beat, and she stepped towards the source of the sound, but her legs felt heavy as if filled with lead.
When the torchlight finally illuminated the figure, Lady Crusch felt the whole world spinning.
Carlisle lay silently in a pool of blood, his blue hair stained with dark red. His left arm was severed at the shoulder, and a horrifying void gaped in his chest, through which the moonlight passed, casting a distorted patch of light on the ground.
Excruciating pain spread from her heart throughout her body. Lady Crusch gritted her teeth, the taste of blood spreading in her mouth, yet she felt no pain.
Lady Crusch's jawline was so taut it seemed about to snap. As a commander, she couldn't collapse, but as someone who had been saved… "Prepare for transport…"
Her voice was terrifyingly calm.
As the soldiers cautiously approached, the torchlight danced on Carlisle's pale face.
"Wait! Lady Crusch!"
The soldier's urgent cry made Lady Crusch turn sharply. In the flickering torchlight, she saw a faint blue glow subtly seeping from between the fingers of Carlisle's tightly clenched right hand.
The light, as if alive, drew an elegant arc across the night sky. It floated lightly towards a nearby patch of unbroken ground.
The moment the light exploded, the scorched earth and bloodstains on the ground receded like a tide, revealing the intact soil beneath. Within that pure, circular area, several characters emitting a faint blue glow slowly emerged.
Time Stop
...
Re@d adv@nce ch@pters on p@t
guilt_free_daoist
Jo!n d!sc0rd I!nk in synops!s.
GIVE ME YOU POWER STONES.