The greatest advantage of the ability to stop time is the ease of responding to unexpected situations.
Just when I was about to seize the pirate ship, I stopped the time of the pirates lunging at Eve and Jane to protect them.
This time was no different.
BAM!
“AAAH!”
The dragon’s mouth slammed shut with incredible force.
Even though it was just opening and closing its mouth, a gale of wind burst forth, fitting for its massive size.
Holding Jane, who had just been in front of me, I used my back to block the wind. She looked up at me blankly, unaware of what was happening.
Dragon God Shakallim rolled its huge eyes, displeased as the chunk of woman it held in its tongue disappeared.
“Grrr!”
A sudden jolt of headache shot through me.
I almost fell from the fierce pain, but this time Jane steadied me, allowing me to stand.
‘Stopping the dragon’s time drains more energy than I thought.’
It was a symptom that often occurred when I had stopped time for too long. I already knew the limits of how long I could do it.
Preventing a giant dragon from moving, even for a moment, cost me more than I expected.
– Are you a pawn of the gods?
The voice itself struck my head like violence.
It wasn’t by moving its tongue or tightening its throat to produce sound, but telepathic communication through mana.
However, the mana contained was so massive that it was tough for my small human body to endure.
– You’ve come to a place you shouldn’t have.
“I thought you would play dead, but you opened your eyes easier than I expected.”
It was clear it felt hostile.
As soon as Dragoness Jane realized she had just been almost eaten by Shakallim, she asked blankly,
“Uh, why, Dragon God?”
– …….
“You just…”
– The reason I cared for you all this time was due to my fondness and reverence for you, along with consistent faith.
“My, my feelings haven’t changed!”
– Is a person like that leading those who are denied a place in the embrace of the gods? And doing so personally?
“That’s…!”
– No excuses are necessary.
The snow piled atop its tail crumbled and melted away. The dragon’s tail slowly rose, shooting massive mana into the sky.
The overwhelming mana released a wave so great that it felt almost tiresome, and it slowly rained down over the island.
Soon, it became a net of stars tightly enveloping the entire island.
Like a cage.
– Is that why you are so easily awakened from slumber?
The ground shook.
We had no choice but to lower our bodies as the earth trembled with intensity, but Shakallim didn’t do anything extraordinary.
It was merely raising its massive body that had been lying for ages.
Just that was enough to make tiny humans bow as if in worship.
– No one can survive on this island! Not just you, but also the scurrying rats that have been bleeding and entering the island for days!
Shakallim stretched its neck and unleashed its wrath.
– I shall tear them all apart!
The long roar resounded.
The nearby ground began to crack, and the strong aftershock lifted our bodies.
“Jane!”
I grabbed her hand as she flew away and pulled her into my arms, getting swept away.
Not just me and Jane, but even Sen and Eve who were some distance away couldn’t escape the shockwave.
The power of the being who called itself a god.
Standing like a lion, it took a deep breath.
With that simple action, the air around us split, enveloping us in a feeling of unfounded fear.
– Do you dare to hide from me, you vermin!
Golden breath shot towards the mountains surrounding the valley. It continued unrelentingly with each exhale, easily demolishing a mountain with a mere turn of its head.
Then, figures that appeared through warp magic from the opposite side of us.
It seemed some members of the Chokugen Faction who had managed to escape from the place where Shakallim’s breath fell.
Among them was a seemingly ordinary man wearing oversized glasses. An eccentric was also included.
Having been pushed back, I dusted off the dirt and glared at the eccentric.
Noticing my gaze, he waved his hand in greeting.
“A valued customer, huh?”
“Cough cough!”
I tried to reply, but Jane, nestled in my arms, seemed to have caught dust in her throat, causing her to cough and making any response to the eccentric impossible.
Did he expect me to end the greeting too? He tidied himself up.
“Leader?”
And next to the eccentric stood a man with a sinister air.
He had long white hair, just like Sen.
Sen, who was with Eve, inadvertently called out to him, and the man glanced at her before exhaling a sigh.
“Sen, it’s been a while.”
“Leader…”
She wanted to speak, but her mouth fumbled for words.
Ignoring the dragon right in front of her, she was slowly walking toward the leader.
The leader of the Chokugen Faction opened his mouth nonchalantly.
“Don’t come any closer, traitor.”
“…Yeah, I suppose that’s right.”
Sen spat the words out as if she were retching. She also knew she couldn’t expect any goodwill from him.
“I know.”
“…”
“Then why did you spare me? You knew I was at Aios Academy.”
Information obtained through a madame in Batian.
The leader knew that Sen was at Aios Academy, but he had ordered not to approach her.
The confrontation with the Chokugen Faction in Batian was merely the independent action of the second-in-command, the madame; there was no command from the leader.
Sen was curious about why such an order was given, but…
The leader of the Chokugen Faction slowly turned his gaze towards me.
“It was because that man was there.”
“…Daniel?”
Me?
At that moment, the eccentric beside me waving his staff jumped in.
“I told you so. A monster causing trouble for the academy entered the lands of the Dragonkin, so we shouldn’t provoke him.”
The eccentric adjusted his glasses slightly.
“And at that time, you were in a conflict with Tudogs, right? There was no need to poke your nose there.”
Since the Chokugen Faction was in conflict with the Tudogs, there was no reason for them to meddle in our fight with them.
The picture is coming together.
However, Sen, who had been waiting for a meeting with the leader, exhaled deeply.
Eve, next to her, gently wrapped her arms around Sen’s shoulders.
They wanted to continue talking, but…
– You lowly beings, is your last will done?
Naturally, the mercy of Dragon God Shakallim looking down on us was not long-lasting.
The mana in the air was swept away.
Brutally and greedily, the dragon claimed one of the natural products known as mana solely for itself, and a blue sun rose atop its thick horn.
“Isn’t it thinking of destroying the island itself?”
Seeing the tremendous amount of mana, I couldn’t help but let out a defeated voice.
Everyone had to be startled by the descending blue mana, but Jane, who had built a close relationship with the dragon god, stepped forward and knelt.
“Dragon God! We apologize for this rudeness! However, we have reasons for our actions that you must understand…”
– What value does your kneeling hold that you would ask me for mercy?
“But…!”
– Dragonkin, I feel sick. Your greed to offload everything while taking only the fruit of your actions reaches the heavens.
“…”
Jane tightly closed her mouth.
Having seen the situation up close, she couldn’t refute any of it.
The Great Eye of the Dragon God slowly turned to me.
Although it was somewhat unexpected, the god looked down on me and asked.
– Has the end of the gods descended upon the continent?
“Yeah.”
– Do you wish for me to stop them and protect you?
Though the face resembled that of a lizard, its expression seemed visible. That was a face sick of its own divine irritation.
– Foolish, ignorant, and incompetent beings! Are those who cannot even survive in calamity gathering again under my wings!
The mighty wings of the dragon god flapped.
A much stronger gust of wind struck, but I lowered my body and thrust my sword into the ground to endure.
– The destruction of the continent is indeed deserved! Greedy beings who only wish to relish what they cannot take responsibility for!
The wrath of the Dragon God reached the top of my head.
It was tired.
It was like looking at Kurika.
He, too, had grown disgusted and disappointed with the beastmen who relied entirely on him, expecting him to resolve everything, eventually seeking revenge for their race, and had hidden himself.
Dragon God Shakallim, too.
When something happened, those who rushed to him to seek his help must have made him sick and kept him closed for this long.
– I shall awaken from this long slumber. And from there, starting with you, I shall reveal the true weight of my name to those who borrowed it!
“One thing!”
I raised my sword and shouted as if spewing it out.
Would it be heard?
Buried in the fierce wind noise created by the blue sun on its horn, I yelled at the god.
“You’re under a misconception!”
Still, I thought its hearing would be better since its ear holes were bigger than a human’s. So, I kept shouting towards the deity, feeling like I was shouting at thin air.
“I’m not asking you to stop the end.”
Thud.
I stopped time.
The sheer exhaustion from stopping the dragon’s time in the immense flow hit me painfully, but If I stay still here, we would all die.
I began to climb up the dragon like ascending a mountain.
Not long after, I finally released time on its nose and shouted.
“Let’s stop it together!”
– You…!
Realizing that a human was on top of it, Shakallim was engulfed in anger where no proper words could come out.
It was a reaction similar to that of a neat freak seeing their room suddenly dirtied.
I plunged my sword into its nose.
“You’re just a lizard pretending to be a god.”
That was the first step towards conquering Shakallim, taught to me by the second-chance Rin.
I fastened the first button rather well.
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