I Became a Time-stopping Narrow-eyed Character

Chapter 20

The flow of time slows down.

The speed of the incoming magic significantly slowed, and my perception distinctly recognized each one of them.

I alone lived at the original speed of time.

This means acceleration.

It meant that my already exceptionally fast steps became even faster.

─I cut through the air.

My shoulder moved one beat faster, corrected to the proper rhythm by the ultra-fast legs running through the air.

Distance was erased.

Controlling time also meant controlling space.

Slash─!

The previously fierce lightning and sharp steel beams were cut in half.

Again, and then again.

I swung the dagger toward the next projectile. I slashed its body. I split it.

Clang! Bang! Clang!

Once it becomes easily doable, it becomes like repetitive work.

Just like magic accompanied by physical force, and just like educating a nasty little brat.

"Hey, if this hits wrong, won't it kill someone? Have you completely given up on control?"

Slash! I cut through the magic in one stroke and asked with a sorrowful heart. Eris frowned.

"......Given up on control?"

Golden chains, rising from various parts of the construction site that had been half-destroyed by the mage's will, swayed.

A binding spell, similar in form to the 'Binding' magic that immobilizes targets.

"Yes, completely!"

However, the spell, later imbued with the aura of a great mage, had a power level that was entirely different.

As it absorbed the energy of the stars, the magic's hierarchy itself rose several levels.

That was the same for the mage's own capabilities.

The Star Mage, Eris Betelgeuse, radiated brilliant golden magic and declared.

"If you don't want to die right now, you'd better surrender!"

Such an arrogant statement, befitting a rookie.

"Oh, and why should I?"

The urge to draw my sword and mess her up completely surged, but I held back and carried out the original plan.

"I'm still much stronger."

I break with power.

"......You!"

Grit! I thought I heard the sound of teeth grinding, but it was still too early to worry about dental health.

Ignoring it, I leaped across space and time.

What I was about to cut was an overwhelming amount of chains covering most of my vision, but each one wasn't very strong.

At best, they were at the level of steel.

Slash!

I cut through in one go.

The blade of high-density magic, flickering like a torch, cut and melted the magic.

Repeating this dozens, even hundreds of times, a hole appeared in the seemingly inescapable net.

"Hmm, I need to train more."

Points for improvement were visible.

Instead of flickering, the goal was to form it as a solid, sharp blade.

Well, achieving it in just half a year was too advanced for magic control.

This was something to worry about later.

For now, I kept cutting through the magic.

Crunch!

Tearing apart the golden net, I charged at the mage, only to find an empty void.

Eris Betelgeuse, with a bewildered expression.

Despite all the titles related to combat, in the end, she was still a mage, and now the distance between us was minimal.

'I thought she was stronger than protagonist Kenichi in the early episodes, but she's not much, huh.'

Evaluating her combat power through the exchanges so far, it was below expectations.

As a mage, a slow-footed character, I thought her firepower would be much stronger, but it's too weak.

Is this the difference between the game and reality?

Thinking that, I adjusted the dagger in my hand again, when suddenly a voice was heard.

"......With that level of skill."

It was Eris Betelgeuse, trembling all over.

"Why do you live like that!"

Oh, what could that mean? I pondered for a moment, but it was too philosophical a subject, so I answered honestly.

"Isn't it obvious!"

Before possession, my life as a shut-in was one thing, but ever since, my life had been nothing but intense.

'Even with a broken skill, living in a foreign land means suffering like crazy.'

Moreover, the game's genre might look like a youthful academy story on the cover, but the content is apocalyptic exorcism.

How many monsters in the city have I hunted? No one pays you for doing well.

At least connecting with the Shihei Family perfectly solved food, clothing, and shelter, but the future tasks are overwhelming.

A game with way too many world-ending crises.

I have to train protagonist Kenichi diligently, and the same goes for the other three heroines.

There's a long way to go, but Kenichi's complaints are already piling up, which is worrisome, but what can I do?

To survive, I have to keep struggling.

It's so frustrating that no one understands my sincerity, and I feel like crying my eyes out, but even so, there's only one reason I continue this life.

"Because it's fulfilling!"

To survive together with the people here.

I hunted monsters and trained Kenichi. I deviated from the regular route but also recruited Sento.

Thinking about the sweat I've shed so far, it was such a tough road, but it was fulfilling nonetheless.

I have no regrets.

Was my answer, filled with my heart, properly conveyed?

"......What? Fulfilling?"

Eris's face trembled as if overwhelmed with emotion.

***

Whether the opponent was a thug or a hopelessly clueless swordsman, I always thought there was room for negotiation.

I thought I could hold on and reform them.

I thought.

"Because it's fulfilling!"

But Eris Betelgeuse realized.

That there are naturally born psychopaths who enjoy evil acts in this world.

"......What? Fulfilling?"

Do you enjoy beating up classmates in the schoolyard?

Come to think of it, I remembered recent rumors about dragging the class president around after school.

How many evil deeds have you committed where no one could see?

Soon, the unsettling imagination made my teeth chatter, and my fist clenched in anger.

'......That guy is definitely evil.'

A hopeless villain.

He was undoubtedly a twisted individual.

Recalling even how he cursed his own parents, the mage Eris made a decision.

With a serene expression, she looked at the villain in the void.

"Fine, just die."

She infused her magic with killing intent.

Crackle! Golden magic mixed with red light, and the enraged mage immediately activated her spell.

"Deploy."

Wind Magic.

Air Hammer.

No incantation, spell omitted.

A hammer of wind appeared in the void. It was a magic designed to break any villain.

"......Hmm?"

Ichimaru Shiki, looking perplexed, lowered his head, and soon the hammer came for him.

Crash!

From below to above, with a powerful upward strike, Ichimaru Shiki's body was lifted into the air.

For an ordinary person, that alone would cause severe injuries.

However, Eris Betelgeuse did not stop manifesting her will for the spell.

"Deploy."

Lightning Magic.

Among them, it was High-Ranking Magic.

"Thunder Calling."

Rumble! The once-clear sky darkened in an instant, showing signs of an impending storm.

Although the spell usually had a delay before casting, Eris advanced it with the power of the stars.

As the guide of the 'stars,' she commanded.

"──Strike down."

Boom─! Immediately, a pillar of lightning fell from the dry sky.

It was not just a single streak of lightning but the incarnation of destruction that annihilated everything in between.

However, Eris Betelgeuse knew that her opponent was a superhuman capable of stepping on the void and manifesting magic.

With veins protruding in her eyes, she clenched her hand. She continued to manifest her will.

She initiated a spell.

"......Deploy."

Water Magic.

Aqua Tornado.

A storm of water rising from the ground enveloped the pillar of light.

They collided with each other, creating an even more intense current and pressure.

Furthermore, Eris Betelgeuse shouted as she floated a small sun within the water.

"──Deploy!"

Fire Magic.

Explosion.

The sun, imbued with the will of the stars, expanded further, showcasing its majesty.

It left her hand and was thrown into the center of the storm.

And then,

Boom───!

It exploded.

After the deafening roar came a white phenomenon.

In the scorching steam spreading across the surroundings, Eris hastily deployed a barrier.

"......Hah, hah."

In the illusion that the entire world had turned white, the young mage gasped for breath.

The radiant golden magic that had been emanating from her body had long since subsided.

She had overdone it.

Eris Betelgeuse looked down at her trembling hands.

She exhaled heavily, feeling the strain on her body that seemed like it would last for a while.

'......I just killed someone.'

It was her first kill.

In the distant sensation, Eris tightly closed her eyes.

However, more than the exhaustion of her body, more than the anxiety or sadness of having just killed someone, what overwhelmed her heart was a sense of relief.

She had escaped.

At last, she had survived that man.

'......Was I afraid?'

Eris Betelgeuse realized it only after the battle had ended.

She exhaled while furrowing her brows and thought.

Yes, it's over.

Somehow, she had survived.

Enveloped in such relief, she muttered while looking at the place where the villain she had confronted moments ago had been.

"......Still, did I defeat him?"

It was the final spell she had manifested.

As soon as Eris finished speaking, something leaped out of the white steam.

It was the leg of a person covered in a magical barrier.

"......What?!"

Eris, who stared blankly at it for a moment, quickly reinforced her barrier in a hurry.

"Oh dear, I was a bit late."

However, the kick, which arrived faster than expected, easily shattered the barrier.

Crash! Dozens of layers of barriers were destroyed at once, and soon the leg struck Eris's torso.

"......Ugh!"

Eris Betelgeuse's body was flung into the air by the sudden impact and flew far away.

Thud-thud-thud! For the first time in her life, she rolled on the ground.

After rolling dozens of times in an instant, she stopped only because of a surviving steel pillar.

Thud!

But even that was a significant impact, leaving Eris momentarily unable to exhale.

A crisis of survival.

However, she did not slack off.

Without even the luxury of exhaling properly, she glared at the approaching villain with wide-open eyes.

Scratching the ground with her fingers, she tried to stand up somehow.

"Ah, my apologies. When I use a dagger, sometimes the killing intent leaks out, and I can't control it well. I'm really inexperienced, so inexperienced. I have a lot to reflect on today, more than I expected."

"......Ugh!"

"Still, I'm glad my feelings seem to have been conveyed. You know you just died twice, right?"

"......."

Barely managing to steady herself, Eris Betelgeuse immediately manifested her will.

"──Stars!"

Whoosh─The smoke cleared, and golden radiance covered the entire world.

A result reflecting the will of the stars to save its successor, exceeding its original capability.

Thousands of golden chains covering the ground and the entire sky fell toward a single person.

Transcendent Magic.

Constellation Chain.

Even in such a desperate situation, the villain before her simply shrugged leisurely.

"Hmm, there won't be a third time?"

With those words, Ichimaru Shiki reached out into the void with a grinning face.

He drew a sword that had somehow existed there all along.

Then he took a step forward.

─Boom!

With that simple step, all the magic shattered.

The chains of stars that had covered the entire world disappeared in an instant.

The fragments, the brilliant starlight, fell from the high heavens.

As if blessing someone's victory.

And, as if deeply cursing someone's defeat.

"......."

Eris Betelgeuse blankly stared at the surreal and beautiful spectacle.

She thought, at the final moment of her life.

It was the end.

She had lost.

And she would die.

Dominant thoughts filled her mind, and tears naturally spilled down her cheeks.

Feeling the tears streaming down with a trickle, the mage clenched her lips and tightly shut her eyes.

"Eh, are you crying?"

At the voice that sounded as if mocking her, Eris immediately opened her eyelids.

Ichimaru Shiki was slowly walking toward her, wearing his usual smirking expression.

Without a single scratch.

All magic had been rendered meaningless.

She burst into tears and shouted.

"Shut up!"

"Hmmm, your personality is worse than I thought."

"Stop running your mouth and just finish it already! Hmph, damn it! Damn it!"

"Well, having ambition isn't a bad thing. No, rather, it's a good thing!"

What nonsense is this guy spouting?

As she sobbed and wiped her tears, sensing her impending death, Ichimaru Shiki, who had approached right in front of her, nodded in satisfaction and spoke.

"Since you passed, I'll tell you right now, Miss Eris Betelgeuse."

What is this villain even saying?

Eris Betelgeuse, her face full of tears, looked at the suspicious man in front of her, and he leaned toward the mage, who was half-collapsed on the ground.

Kneeling on one knee, Ichimaru Shiki grabbed Eris's hand with a smiling face.

And then he spoke.

"Won't you join the Side of Justice?"

With the most cunning face in the world.

"......What?"

Eris Betelgeuse blinked, unable to understand what he meant for a moment, and asked again.