Chapter 426
Chapter 426
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 426
Chapter Title: Masquerade (4)
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The moment the executioner's eyes met the pair of odd eyes, he flinched involuntarily.
And right after, realizing his own reaction, he gritted his teeth.
'...Tensed up? Me?'
It was impossible, something that shouldn't happen.
He was the undefeated warrior proudly boasted by the Reverse Heaven Society.
There was no way he'd tense up just from locking eyes with an enemy on his level, let alone the Reverse Heaven Society Leader he'd already acknowledged long ago!
'...Right, this was just a momentary fluster. I was just slightly startled by the sudden unexpected situation.'
Having rationalized it to himself like that, he glared wide-eyed and took another step forward, fixing his gaze on the beast-masked monster.
And he quickly analyzed the cause of his fluster.
'The only change is in the eyes. The rest is still bound by time. ...But how did it follow my timeline without even touching me?'
Then, he noticed one difference from before.
The suspicious energy the monster had emitted just moments ago.
It had stretched out, eroding space all the way to where he stood.
'Could it be because of this energy?'
Nothing was certain yet, but one thing was clear: dragging this out any longer would be dangerous.
It was just the eyes for now, but if this variable grew, who knew when it might spread further.
And if it did...
'...This could get tricky. I need to end it as quickly as possible.'
Before leaving it alone allowed the variables to grow beyond this point.
He swiftly changed his approach.
He'd originally planned to completely subdue the monster for interrogation, but now wasn't the time for such luxuries.
Even if it meant pushing himself a bit, it was better to finish it decisively.
With that judgment, a lava-like energy gathered in the executioner's right hand.
'Pushing too hard in this timeline should be avoided if possible... but no choice. I'll deal with him somehow and get out of here.'
As the massive energy moved within the halted timeline, the burden on his body from maintaining his Unique Skill began to snowball.
Until now, his vast difference in power and the great demon's body had let him use the ability without much strain, but crossing a certain safety line meant even 'time'—that absolute law—began reaching out for him too.
'I'll rip off one arm for this!'
Once he severed the limbs one by one, even a monster with superhuman reflexes would have no way to respond.
The more cumulative damage, the longer the regeneration would take—and after that, it would just be one-sided domination.
Splurt—!
The hideous grip, gleaming with lava-like radiance, plunged into the giant's chest, spraying blood.
But the executioner's expression wasn't great.
The opponent had always reacted instantly to vital strikes, deflecting them with minimal damage...
'Offered up the vitals on purpose? ...Oh no!'
But that realization came one step too late.
Crunch—
As if waiting from the start, surrounding flesh surged up, enveloping the right hand buried in the chest.
Bones sprouted in an instant, clamping the wrist like handcuffs; tough muscles coiled around the arm like iron chains; endlessly multiplying flesh stuck like glue.
Of course, the destructive energy in the hand had necrotized more cells than that, but it was unavoidable that the process briefly halted the executioner's advance.
Snap!
And that brief moment was enough.
"Kehahaha! Got—cha—!"
Until Harley's massive hands seized the right arm just as it was pulling free from his body.
The halted time began to flow slowly once more.
[Grgh— you mad bastard! No matter how great your regeneration is, you can't recover easily from this attack! And you just took it in the vitals?]
By the time the slowed time axis finally returned to normal...
What remained was a beast-masked giant with a massive hole in his chest, and a demon whose arm was caught, unable to disengage immediately like before.
[Ha! If you think you can keep holding me like this, you're mistaken. Do you think I'm some novice relying solely on my Unique Skill?]
Roooar—!
A viscous energy poured from the executioner's body.
He was using his skill out of necessity now, but normally, he preferred the abilities he'd built up as a demon, right?
No matter how formidable Harley's vitality, he couldn't match him after losing vital organs like the heart, reducing his capacity.
"Kahahahat! Vitals? What the hell are you talking about!"
Of course, Harley hadn't acted without thought.
"Man~ talk about perfect timing? I was just rearranging my internals for a mood boost!"
[...What?]
"Weird urge hit me outta nowhere, and boom, this coincidence! Kahahat!"
He hadn't been hit in the vitals from the start.
Heart, liver, stomach, lungs, etc.
All the organs that should normally be in the chest had already scattered to the lower abdomen, thighs, and elsewhere.
As if he'd anticipated the attack spot in advance.
'Tch, no wonder the sensation at my fingertips felt off. I overlooked it because of this monster's unique physiology.'
Only then did the executioner realize.
This monster only looked humanoid on the outside—it shared not even the slightest common traits of a humanoid lifeform.
While acknowledging the monster's body, he'd unwittingly fallen into preconceptions.
Rumble!
The two beings, now face-to-face at point-blank range where their bodies touched.
The energies surging from both sides clashed violently.
No, it wasn't just energy colliding.
[Let go! You leech!]
"Kahaha! Don't hold back, buddy! I love a good scrap too—let's have some fun!"
[You...!]
"What's wrong? Didn't you want a life-or-death battle? Flesh and souls clashing, blood and death everywhere—a true clash of blades! Grgh! A man's fight!"
Ultra-close-quarters brawl, mobilizing limbs, wings, and tail alike.
Endless exchanges between the one trying to escape and the one clinging on.
As he'd boasted, the executioner wasn't an easy opponent even without his Unique Skill.
Not just his accumulated combat experience, but the flame-like energy boiling from his whole body was enough to melt Harley's tough skin, and the demon's body—optimized for battle—was a weapon in itself.
"Alright then—"
But his slight misfortune was that his opponent was unrivaled in this field.
Like a boxer caught by a wrestler, he struggled to break free, but unlike him, Harley—with all his mysteries packed into one body—absorbed every resistance with his flesh, methodically crushing the foe in his grasp.
"—how about a bite while it's still fresh?"
[Grgh—! You monster!]
You're the reason my stomach's sticking to my back.
With those words, Harley's maw gaped wide, saw-like fangs sinking into the tough demon scales.
***
This wasn't his first encounter with time-related abilities.
He'd already experienced it once when repelling the Reverse Heaven Society Leader who invaded Outerica.
'Details differ, but on the big picture, there are many similarities.'
Heinrich, who had thrust his holy sword into that guy's chest back then, had shared the briefly halted time just before the leader used what seemed like time reversal.
Thanks to the holy power that pierced into his body via the holy sword acting as a conduit.
'No different from then.'
Using abyss madness instead of holy power, eroding space instead of injecting directly.
Of course, that alone wouldn't have worked, but his prior success against someone far stronger than the executioner was a huge help.
'Plus, since it's the same type of ability, the hurdles are lower.'
Strictly speaking, his Unique Skill didn't stop 'the world's time.'
If it did, his avatars spread across dimensions would have sensed the anomaly.
The mechanism was slipping outside the timeline flowing through the world.
Practically, the effect was similar, but ability-wise, there was plenty of room to intervene and forcibly pull it back.
'Must put a huge burden on the body too. Demonization was probably chosen to mitigate that.'
Heinrich narrowed his eyes, calmly analyzing while watching the fight between the executioner and Harley.
Groooowl—!
The artificially created space screamed and warped continuously under the raging energy storm.
Even with all sorts of magic tools mobilized by a mid-tier transcendent, it couldn't fully withstand the aftershocks from higher-grade energies clashing.
'Landed one hit, but... as expected, not easy.'
The executioner, right arm sealed and even subjected to predation.
Yet despite the disadvantaged range forced on him, he didn't crumble easily.
The moment Harley opened a gap for devouring, he instantly severed his caught arm and used time stop again to escape.
'Regenerated that arm in no time too. Got cautious about activating after that, so the same trick won't work... Well, just using 「Gluttony」 to boost that resistance is a solid achievement.'
Naturally, that resistance included immunity to 'time stop.'
Thanks to it, Harley could now leave his consciousness on that timeline the moment the guy activated it, without extra effort.
Still not enough to move his body like the opponent, but as time passed, the potential grew bit by bit—meaning the primary goal was already achieved.
'Use this chance to build max resistance to time and prepare countermeasures.'
In truth, Harley's insistence on one-on-one with the executioner was largely for this reason.
Sure, Heinrich stepping in directly would handle a demon more easily.
But to gain know-how and resistance against 'time' as desired, fighting by tanking with his body like Harley was far more efficient.
That was the identity of the 「Ultimate Evolving Lifeform」.
'The Reverse Heaven Leader probably wields space-time. Facing his inferior version first is lucky.'
To handle Harley's reckless charges, the executioner had no choice but to keep using that ability.
His body grew increasingly battered as the fight dragged without perfect resistance, but the 'adaptation' progress spiked proportionally—not a bad situation.
"Kahahahat! What? You were holding back when you can fight this good? C'mon, let's mix it up more, buddy!"
[Hah! Cut and cut, but no end. Where the hell did a horrific monster like you crawl from?]
"Pot calling the kettle black—you're a demon! Monster or demon, same difference, no?"
[Ha! This time I'll sever your neck. Let's see if you can still wag that tongue!]
The executioner, leveraging his transcendent time stop aggressively, was gaining the upper hand against Harley.
As expected, even with similar tiers, having a Unique Skill decided victory.
Harley, product of the Unique Skill 「Avatar」, lacked that one-shot punch unlike him.
"Struggle... struggle, huh."
Heinrich, watching coldly from outside, let out a smirk.
Observing like this made the irony hit home.
'Not seeking struggle, but safe thrills.'
His ability was a bundle of contradictions from the start.
Having insurance for safety in any situation, yet craving life-or-death struggle? Absurd.
It was just riding an amusement ride loaded with safety features for a quick thrill.
'Maybe that's why he enjoys even riskier spots.'
Glancing that way briefly, he turned away.
Both optimized for endurance, no quick resolution likely—no need for him to keep watching.
Heinz 2nd could monitor via real-time karma flows for emergencies.
"Let's see, meanwhile I'll..."
Harris was already analyzing the sealing formations using 「Infinite Eight Trigrams Flight Art (Modified)」, their natural counter.
With Immortal King Hans, Dragon Horus, and other magic avatars pooling brains, results would come.
"...clean up the rest."
A brilliant blade of light formed alongside radiant glow from the holy sword in his hand.
Simultaneously, three pairs of massive wings unfurled, a halo emanating from his whole body.
Holy power so dense it dissolved even the demonic fight's aftershocks.
Some onlookers, dazed by the transcendent battle, turned toward the overwhelming presence.
"Gotta hustle. Still six left."
Glancing lightly at them, he shrugged casually.
Heinrich the angel from another world—his first real combat.
***
"What the hell..."
Anne muttered blankly at the sudden drastic shift.
Using 'fate manipulation' had been pure desperation, who could've guessed it'd turn out like this?
'...Masquerade?'
She'd thought Ken's remote aid impressive enough.
Peering into distant info wasn't easy.
But this far exceeded her expectations!
'Can face the executioner head-on? And not just one at that level...?'
She swallowed unconsciously.
Dried-up hope began welling up again.
And as if symbolizing the expectation sprouting in her heart.
Fwaaah—
Amid blinding dawn light.
An angel descended to earth.