Chapter 233

Chapter 234. I Will Kill You (1)

Deep within Sephira’s party venue.

Inside a tent built for secret conversations or actions.

“Where have you been hiding, you genius?”

Krona, a tall woman whose head almost touched the tent ceiling, gently stroked Daat’s head.

But Daat’s condition was strange. He didn’t move an inch, like a statue. Though he appeared alive, his time had stopped.

“If you truly understood space-time, you could escape my Eternal.”

7th Circle Space-Time Magic, Eternal.

Those caught in this magic are trapped in an infinitely overlapping time. The only way to escape is to reverse-engineer the structure of Eternal and break free.

“I’ve already told you the method, so a genius like you should be able to do it, right? Ugh!”

Krona stretched and smiled refreshingly.

“How long has it been since I lost track of time while focusing? Sephira is an interesting place. I even went over the promised hour. By the way, he still hasn’t come.”

Even without magic, just by listening to the outside noise, it was clear that Keter hadn’t arrived.

“Hmm, daring to waste my time. Keter, just show yourself. You’re heading for Eternal too. Until then, shall I play with the princess?”

Leaving the tent, Krona spotted Taragon and Vector in the midst of a fight.

The nobles were momentarily distracted by Krona but soon turned their attention back to the two fighters.

“Haah, boring.”

To her, Taragon and Vector’s fight looked like a battle between a snail and a slug.

As she looked around with a bored expression, wondering if there was anything interesting, something caught her attention.

“Huh?”

Suddenly, Krona looked up at the sky. She alone sensed a change that others didn’t notice.

The empty void. Only the calm night sky and stars were visible, but the corner of her mouth twitched upward.

“So, you’re Keter?”

She spoke to the void, looking insane, but she wasn’t. She could see it. Keter and Decameron, tearing through the void and appearing.

Only Krona detected the two who had arrived in Sephira using transparent magic, presence-blocking magic, and secret spatial movement.

Keter, walking down from the sky, locked eyes with Krona and calmly brought his index finger to his lips, whispering.

“Shh.”

“Oh my?”

Krona couldn’t help but laugh at Keter’s reaction.

“T-the Lord is looking at the sky and laughing.”

“Is the fight between those two that entertaining?”

While the clueless nobles made their own interpretations, the battle between Vector and Taragon was nearing its end.

“If dying is your wish, then so be it. Die honorably.”

At the moment when Vector and Taragon were about to exchange their lives—

Keter, descending from the sky, swooped down and blocked between them.

‘Pretty fast.’

As a space-time mage reaching the 8th Circle, Krona gained a unique ability. A blessing and a curse.

The ability to see time slow down.

Depending on her emotional state, time flowed slower for her than others. When emotionless, time slowed down up to four times.

Meaning, what was one second for others felt like four seconds for Krona.

If she felt Keter was ‘fast,’ it was clear how he appeared to others.

In fact, among the numerous nobles, only one person noticed where Keter had suddenly appeared from.

The vice-captain of the Dragon Knight Order, a royal knight unit. He was the only one who noticed Keter had fallen from the sky.

‘Was he watching from above? Since when?’

Even he didn’t realize Keter had appeared through spatial movement. He only knew Keter had fallen from the sky.

Knowing the full story, Krona quietly observed Keter’s actions. His entrance was one thing, but his subsequent actions were also anticipated.

‘His opponent is of the Browning Family. If Sephira dreams of revival, it would be politically correct to yield for now.’

However, Keter lightly disregarded common sense.

Wham!

Crash!

After striking Vector, he stomped on his chest, preventing him from getting up.

“Oh?”

What happened in an instant for others was clear to Krona’s eyes.

Keter extended his fist. Vector sensed it and countered with a wrist blade.

But Keter’s fist accelerated.

Once, twice, thrice!

By distance, Vector should have been faster in defense. But Keter’s fist, after three accelerations, struck Vector’s face squarely before he could defend.

Vector, hit by the fist, crashed into a table. He tried to get up immediately, but Keter, flying at nearly the same speed, stomped on his chest.

Of course, Vector reacted again.

Having already allowed one attack, he tried to defend differently this time. Not with a wrist blade, but by layering thick Aura Armor.

Crack!

However, Keter’s kick shattered the layered Aura Armor like a cookie.

Krona’s eyes sparkled at this.

‘That’s… Ain?’

Though not perfect, the power in Keter’s kick was undoubtedly Ain.

‘Eslow. Did you teach Keter the fusion method of Ain? You’re really serious, huh?’

Krona’s misunderstanding was natural.

Only a handful among Transcendent Beings know the fusion method of Ain. Sephira couldn’t know it, and the only Transcendent Being Keter had contact with was Eslow.

Thus, it was the most logical conclusion that Keter learned the fusion method of Ain from Eslow.

‘You plan to make Keter the next Lord of the South. That’s why you asked for my cooperation.’

Krona understood Eslow’s intention as asking for her support for Keter.

Thump thump.

Krona’s heart raced. Then, her pupils changed. From a dull gray to a brilliant blue, like the sky.

Simultaneously, her broken clock started working correctly again. The slowed-down world returned to normal.

Though it seemed like she lost an ability by escaping the boring world, she hadn’t. She could adjust time as she wished. From the original four seconds to a maximum of one hundred seconds.

And now—

The authority that only awakens when Krona genuinely feels interest and amusement.

Azure Eternal Eye.

With those piercing blue eyes open, she stepped away from being a spectator and approached the scene.

“Ugh, this foot… move it!”

“Short on words? You should politely say, ‘Please move it.'”

“Argh!”

Crack!

As Keter applied pressure, a gruesome sound of bones breaking came from Vector’s chest.

That’s when Krona appeared before Keter. Suddenly, without any warning.

The watching nobles were startled and stepped back. They couldn’t understand how Krona had moved there so quickly. It wasn’t just super-speed movement. If it were, at least the wind would have stirred.

Krona looked down at the masked silver-haired man, Keter, and spoke.

“Keter, right?”

“And you are?”

“Huhu. Are you really asking because you don’t know?”

“Aren’t you also asking because you don’t know?”

Seeing Keter’s sharp attitude towards Krona, the Western nobles were beyond shocked, some even pulling their hair.

“Madman! How dare you speak to the Lord of the West like that!”

“Wait, did the Lord just call that person Keter?”

“That person is Keter?”

“The one who subdued Vector of the Four Sword Style with just his fists…?”

The renowned powerhouses of the kingdom were chattering like mere spectators.

Krona smiled and said.

“Now you understand? I am the Lord ruling the West. Feel free to call me ‘Noona.'”

“I see. I am Keter, Noona.”

“Ohoho. It’s the first time I’ve been called ‘Noona’ twice in a day.”

“Though I’m grateful that the Lord of the West has come to my party, please wait a moment. I’ll deal with this guy first.”

“Deal with?”

Vector, under Krona’s gaze, flinched. He was too ashamed of being pinned down by just a foot, his face turning red as if about to burst.

“Really, seeing is believing!”

In front of numerous nobles, and even the Lord, Vector’s patience finally snapped.

The Browning Family’s forbidden technique, Overdrive.

Vroom!

An unusual energy flowed from Vector’s body.

But Keter wasn’t one to just watch.

“Who said I’d wait?”

As Keter raised his foot to kick Vector’s face—

Click.

Dozens of magic circles overlapped on Krona’s finger, and Vector’s body ‘stopped.’

Just like Daat, Vector became a ‘living statue.’ Krona smiled slyly.

“It’s my magic, Eternal. It’ll wear off in a week, so he’s not dead.”

“Noona. I’m not done yet. It’s troublesome if you handle things so arbitrarily.”

Keter kicked at Vector, trapped in Eternal. But Keter’s foot didn’t reach Vector.

“It’s useless. Once caught in Eternal, external interference is impossible… Huh?”

Thud!

“You thought you could turn my brother’s face into bread and return it clean?”

Thud thud thud!

Keter mercilessly kicked Vector’s immobilized face.

Krona only frowned but didn’t stop him. Though she seemed angry, her mind was preoccupied with other thoughts.

‘What’s going on? No matter how much Ain it is, he shouldn’t be able to ignore my Eternal. How can he bypass the infinite wall of Eternal and strike?’

She was serious. In her life, Keter was the only one who had ignored Eternal in such a way.

‘It’s impossible without a miracle of authority level. But Keter is definitely not Prime. There’s no sense of authority…?’

Krona stared intently at Keter’s face. Though only his lips were visible behind the mask, she felt a strange emotion.

‘He’s not just an interesting being, is he? No wonder Eslow is interested.’

Though Eslow didn’t know, Krona thought Eslow knew everything and had deliberately called her here to show her.

Thus, she didn’t mention Keter’s uniqueness.

“Keter. Don’t waste my time on trash like this anymore. I’ll fix Taragon.”

Krona extended her finger to Taragon, just like with Vector.

Then, Taragon’s time reversed, returning to before the fight. Torn clothes, broken crossbows—everything was restored. As if the fight never happened.

But Taragon couldn’t open his eyes.

“Don’t worry about him not waking up. The soul isn’t affected by time, so he just can’t wake up. Now, will you look at me?”

Keter, who had been ruthlessly kicking Vector’s face, stopped upon seeing Taragon restored. Then he asked Krona.

“Noona. When Eternal wears off, does all the accumulated pain come at once?”

“You’re quite imaginative. Yes, that’s right. This kid will feel all the pain at once when Eternal wears off. Satisfied?”

Thud!

Upon hearing that, Keter kicked.

Aimed at Vector’s groin, with all his might.