The massive navy-blue tree pierced through the ceiling of the giant underground chamber.
I slid down the tree, which had burst through the space, taking in the vast underground scene before .
A large city stretched out below, with an endless slope reaching upward on one side and a facility resembling a research lab and opulent mansions on the other.
'The atmosphere’s actually better than I expected…'
The air had a faint bluish glow, the ceiling resembled a night sky, and the city itself had a distinct ambiance.
The buildings in the city were all stone, resembling ancient temples and giving off a vibe similar to a European tourist site.
It made think how nice it would be to have a place like this in the Mini Reaper Garden!
However, there was one issue.
The city wasn’t filled with humans but rather with “harmful objects” at the level of evolutionary fluid.
As I landed on the ground, taking in the sight of the sinister city, the fine sand beneath my feet began to slowly float into the air.
The impact of my landing caused the grains of sand to rise sluggishly, as if in a slow-motion video, until they eventually froze in mid-air.
As if ti had stopped for the sand.
‘?’
As I looked curiously at the suspended sand, a psychic wave from the Mini Sprout Reaper reached .
[Mom, you’re so fast!]
The Mini Sprout Reaper was perched atop the head of what seed to be its cherished human, smiling brightly at .
It looked healthy, though the firewood light was slightly dim, possibly from having used most of its strength to grow the tree.
I gently patted the Mini Sprout Reaper’s head and turned to face the object, which seed to be an enemy of the Mini Reapers.
A rather aristocratic-looking man glared at with a hardened expression.
His deanor appeared flawlessly composed, yet he strangely felt quite fearful.
But more unsettling than his attitude was the thick stench emanating from him.
It was far worse than the combined harmful objects at the center of this underground chamber.
He was by far the most dangerous being I’d ever encountered.
What could he have done to sll so vile?
‘I need to evacuate the Mini Reaper and the humans before fighting such a harmful creature.’
I summoned the Mini Reaper Garden and sent off the Mini Sprout Reaper and the two humans.
[Mom, no!]
The Mini Sprout Reaper seed to be saying sothing to , but I didn’t pay it any mind.
“Heh, hahaha!”
As soon as I sent the Mini Sprout Reaper back to the garden, the harmful man started laughing.
‘What’s this? Suddenly, he’s all smug.’
I looked at him in bewildernt.
In that mont, the towering tree that had soared sky-high began to wither.
As if in fast-forward, its majestic form shriveled, leaving only bare branches behind.
‘Did it wither because the Mini Sprout Reaper is gone?’
Just as I pondered this obvious question, the world went dark.
A void without sound or light.
‘!’
And then, as if trapped in concrete, the very space around solidified, immobilizing my body.
In the world where everything had stopped, the man laughed loudly.
He laughed as if filled with utter satisfaction.
“Truly fortunate!”
An unidentified object had appeared, one that had nearly granted him true dominion, just as if a deity had sent him an adversary.
But that object had vanished on its own.
It was practically a guarantee that he was chosen as the ruler of the world.
He felt as though the world itself was speaking to him.
[There exists an adversary in this world, so be prepared and ready yourself!]
“Heh, hahaha!”
The man laughed out loud once more, unable to contain himself.
‘Indeed, every supre being needs a worthy adversary.’
After a while, he stopped laughing and, with a calm expression, looked down at the Gray Reaper, frozen in ti.
“Thanks for taking care of the adversary.”
He raised his right hand, and parasites burst from his arm’s skin, coiling together to form a sharp spear.
“With gratitude, I’ll kill you in an instant.”
Then he aid the spear-like arm at the Gray Reaper’s heart.
“In this frozen ti, you won’t even realize you’ve died!”
With that cry, he thrust the massive spear toward the Gray Reaper’s heart.
But the sharp spear could not penetrate the Gray Reaper’s skin.
‘!’
Seeing this, he raised his arm again.
“Then!”
The spear trembled and slowly turned ethereal.
Splut!
The massive, stake-like hand vanished, obliterated along with the Gray Reaper’s heart.
With its heart pierced, the Gray Reaper was left suspended in the air, held by the frozen space.
“It’s over.”
The man muttered as he turned away from the Gray Reaper and walked out.
He had much to prepare for from now on.
More power to gather, traps and minions to set up to handle any remaining adversaries.
‘It’s a pity I have to hide in the shadows again, but there’s no other choice.’
Just then—
Screeching!
A thunderous noise, as if space itself were being torn apart, echoed from behind him.
The sound was utterly out of place in this “frozen ti” world, usually silent and desolate.
When he turned to look toward the Gray Reaper, he saw golden flas blazing.
It was a fla that moved freely, untouched by ti.
Starting from the heart, the golden fla quickly spread across the Gray Reaper’s body.
At the sa ti, its wounds gradually healed, and it slowly descended from midair.
The Gray Reaper lifted its head, its face no longer expressionless.
A faint smile appeared on its lips.
Heh heh.
It was a mischievous, playful expression, like soone discovering sothing amusing.
A dark void without light or sound, not even movent.
I realized this phenonon was likely related to the Sprout Reaper’s ability over “ti.”
‘Ti isn’t flowing.’
Yet ironically, I could feel ti passing within that void.
The mont I recognized that, I found I could force myself to move within this frozen world.
The silent darkness shattered in an instant.
With logs clinging to , I looked at the harmful object in front of , who wore a startled expression, and grinned.
Heh heh.
With the logs burning and my forced movents, I heard a sound like the tearing of space each ti I moved.
Screech.
I moved with the sensation of tearing through space, using a spatial slice aid at the man.
But the man managed to evade the path of my hand, minimizing the damage from the spatial slice.
“...!”
The man muttered sothing that sounded like English, but I couldn’t quite catch it.
He was probably asking how I managed to move in the frozen ti.
Unfortunately, I hadn’t acquired the ability to stop ti.
When I defeated the navy-blue moon, I’d only gained minor temporal acceleration.
Even then, I hadn’t been able to handle it as well as the Golden Reaper.
Ti abilities and I weren’t exactly a perfect match.
I had simply realized one thing.
Stopping ti wouldn’t hold down.
As I grew more accustod to moving in this frozen ti, I let out a small laugh.
At this rate, I’d be able to kill this harmful man soon.
The condition to destroy him was simple.
It was a condition reminiscent of an evolution-fluid-corrupted glutton.
As I adapted to the frozen ti, slowly draining his regenerative power, the man suddenly released the ti freeze.
I tilted my head in curiosity.
He didn’t have any ability besides ti freeze, so why release it?
The man was skillfully dodging my spatial slices, but his expression betrayed his fear.
‘This can’t be happening.’
‘This absolutely can’t be.’
The Gray Reaper was moving forcibly within the frozen ti, without the ability to stop ti.
It was unthinkable.
‘How could a being that lives in the flow of ti reject the power of frozen ti?’
Yet, those golden flas seed to proclaim that this defiance was natural.
‘He’s moving faster.’
‘If this continues, he’ll catch up. I need to escape before that happens.’
The man released the ti freeze, dodging the space-tearing attack by the barest margins, but the trajectory of the slice quickly tore his body apart.
As his shredded body regenerated, he called all his followers to him.
‘I’ll show you the force of sheer numbers!!!’
Of course, he didn’t expect his followers to defeat such a powerful opponent.
He only needed enough ti to flee.
As he watched the swarm of followers crowd the slope, he smirked triumphantly.
Seeing the massive army, the Gray Reaper tilted its head and then stomped twice.
Thump, thump.
The ground beneath its feet shattered, and golden waves poured out.
That was true force of numbers.
And it spelled the end for the followers the man had gathered over decades.
“Heh, hahaha.”
But the man wasn’t discouraged.
In those brief seconds, he’d managed to gain considerable distance.
He dove toward the island’s exit, shouting as he froze ti once more.
“I’ll leave the victory to you, for now!”
But his triumphant expression twisted in an instant.
“I… I can’t… move…”
The man’s steps ca to a halt.
‘Wh… why?’
Space solidified around him, silencing even his voice.
And slowly, he began to be pulled sowhere.
In his fading sight, he could see only the Gray Reaper against a nacing black sphere as he was dragged away
As the man was pulled away, his vision faded until only the ominous black sphere and the figure of the Gray Reaper remained in his line of sight.
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