Boomâ!
In this critical, razor-edge moment, a giant axe carrying overwhelming force slammed viciously into Ahekatorâs neck!
Clangâ!
The deafening clash of metal against metal rang out. Ahekatorâs body froze instantly in place, like a film paused mid-frame, stuttering before she was sent flying sideways for fifty meters!
A full-powered strike from a ninth-tier warrior had landed squarely on a vital point.
Yet not even the slightest scratch remained on Ahekatorâs neck.
Even after being knocked back, those fifty meters meant nothing to herâit was barely a single step.
Ahekator slowly straightened up, raising a hand to cover her waist as she violently pulled out the toxin-coated Skin Peel dagger.
She instantly froze the dagger in midair, along with the area it had cut on her body, stopping time there. Even so, the toxin spreading through her body continued to worsen madly, showing no signs of being suppressed.
"A toxin that can penetrate time..." A trace of barely detectable gravity crept into Ahekatorâs voice.
ăLevel 6 Alchemist Talent â God-Tier · Inspired Compounding â Fantasize the desired effect of a potion and draw inspiration from any observed species to refine it, even if the method to create such a potion does not exist in this world.ă
Kanzaki Rei had drawn core insights regarding time from Nahelkato and infused those temporal insights into the potion.
Even if Ahekator could pause time, she could not completely halt the toxinâs spreadâits activation method was [Self-Timing].
Even when forcibly stopped by Ahekator, the toxin would continue advancing steadily, second by second within its own temporal dimension, relentlessly eroding her body.
Boomâ!
Another heavy, earth-shaking attack slammed in from the front! Keigaâs eyes burned crimson. He cared for nothing else; only one thought filled his mind: hack! Hack her to death!
Axe blow after axe blow!
Ahekatorâs fingertips danced, instantly raising layer after layer of time barriers to block Keigaâs ferocious assault.
Yet Keigaâs speed only grew faster. Each swing of his axe was heavier and more domineering than the last, increasingly ignoring her time defenses.
Even when Ahekator used time stop now, she could not restrain Keiga for long!
Moreover, the toxin restricted her power, preventing her from wielding the full strength of her laws.
Clangâ!
Suddenly, Ahekatorâs senses tightened sharply!
Her perception locked onto Izparalt nearby. Unlike Keiga, he had not moved aggressively and had simply been chanting a spell in silence the entire time!
The Black Star Scepter in his hand showed no activity, not a trace of magic power fluctuation, yet his incantation had never ceased!
A powerful wave of unease instantly swept through Ahekatorâs heart.
This mage... she had never heard of him.
Only recently had she gathered some information and learned that this man had just ascended to magic god. That was all.
It was knowledge she had obtained by chance after descending into this era.
She had always been indifferent to everything in this world.
Gods, Moonsânone of it mattered to her.
Ahekator had never cared about a mere mage.
In her heart, she had always looked down on ordinary magesâninth-tier mages were nothing but fleeting clouds, and magic gods were insignificant ants.
As for Izparalt?
Who was that? She neither knew nor cared.
Until this moment...
She finally sensed a genuine threat from this seemingly ordinary mageâa lethal threat capable of completely destroying her!
Ahekator, who had always looked down on everything and cared for nothing, felt true bone-deep fear for the first time.
Yet the corners of Izparaltâs mouth slowly curved into a faint smile as he spoke calmly. "Kanzaki Rei, the divine artifact you gave me... is indeed very useful."
This Black Star Scepter was the divine artifact extracted from Izparalt himself. It had only one effect:
ăIncreases the tier of cast spells by +1 and multiplies proficiency level by Ă10.ă
That was all.
If used by Kanzaki Rei, he still could not cast tenth-tier magic with it.
The only way Kanzaki Rei could cast ninth-tier spells was through ăElemental Myriad Bloomă, simultaneously releasing all ninth-tier elemental magic.
But ăElemental Myriad Bloomă was a primordial forbidden magic and could not be upgraded;
If it could be upgraded, Kanzaki Reiâs ăGod-Tier · Ascensionă talent would have long since elevated those ninth-tier elemental spells to tenth-tier.
For Kanzaki Rei, the Black Star Scepter could at most allow him to cast ninth-tier death magic.
Death spells learned through his Level 7 Death Priest class could first be raised to eighth-tier, then boosted to ninth-tier via the Black Star Scepter.
Therefore, the best user of the Black Star Scepter was Izparalt.
Izparalt gripped the Black Star Scepter with both hands and slowly held it horizontally before him!
Whooshâ!
Ahekator charged forward almost instantly, intending to stop Izparalt.
But the moment before her fingertips could touch him, the entire world was instantly filled with dense, overlapping magic arrays!
Izparaltâs movements became abnormally slow, like slow motion, yet his voice flowed unaffected through heaven and earth.
No matter how slow his actions, Ahekator could not advance a single step or hinder him in the slightest!
"Tenth-tier, Time Magic."
As his words fell, the countless magic arrays bloomed like flowers, becoming three-dimensional. The entire world twisted into a kaleidoscopic form. Time spun rapidly, overlapping and reflecting. Every scene from the past reappeared and superimposed!
"Converging to one point, infinite stacking."
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Countless past versions of Izparalt, like a tape rewinding, all raised their Black Star Scepters and slowly held them horizontally before them.
Every past version of Izparalt at each moment became a mirror image overlapping with the present him, converging into an unstoppable force.
Then, everyone saw countless past versions of Ahekator constantly gathering and integrating toward a single point, ultimately condensing into the figure before themâthe one desperately trying to stop Izparalt.
Clangâ!
"Ahekator," Izparaltâs voice was calm yet carried unshakable confidence, "I believe your understanding of time magic is inferior to mine."
He slowly raised the Black Star Scepter, aiming it at Ahekator before him.
Ahekator was completely frozen in place, unable to moveâ at this moment, Izparalt seemed to have tens of thousands of overlapping figures. His aura was majestic, shaking heaven and earth.
"Tenth-tier, Arcane Magic."
"Shatter of Illusion."
In an instant, the entire world was bathed in pure, extreme white light. All magic power between heaven and earth surged madly toward the tip of the Black Star Scepter!
Even Kanzaki Reiâs absolute sea of magic power was drained completely dry, creating a vacuum zone where not a single trace of magic power remained!
Magic power from countless spaces and other dimensions was forcibly extracted and gathered here.
Between heaven and earth, only this one strike remainedâconcentrated at a single point, carrying the power to destroy everything.
All the white light in the world suddenly vanished in this moment. Only Ahekator remained, completely enveloped by a straight, pure white pillar of magic power!
Boomâ!
The pillar of light pierced the heavens, breaking through the clouds and tearing through every obstacle in the world. It shattered Ahekatorâs indestructible time barriers protecting her body into pieces!
The pillar blasted straight toward the horizon and lingered for a long time without dissipating.
Only after ten full minutes did the scattered magic power pour down from the sky like a torrential rain of dense droplets.
At this moment, the magic power across the entire world had dried up. A deathly silence filled heaven and earth.
And Ahekatorâs figure had already vanished completely, as if she had never existed in this world.
However, along with Ahekatorâs disappearance, Nahelkatoâwho had been standing beside Kanzaki Reiâhad also vanished.
Kanzaki Rei stared quietly in the direction where Ahekator had disappeared, his fingers tightly gripping [Reverse Time]. His expression was complex, yet carried a trace of relief.
Finally, everything was over.