Ch.1202Now I understand after experiencing it myself.

The Fallen Angel Israfel used the spatial connection power of the spider goddess Hubrisia to twist and block the severing strike I had fired.

Which meant, in other words—

“Not just quick digestion, huh? You can even use the powers of enemies you’ve killed? I’m jealous.”

It meant he could not only absorb the divinity of the demigods he killed, but even incorporate their powers as his own abilities.

That’s why I had prioritized killing the spider woman—no, why I had to kill her.

Not simply to increase his divinity and surpass me in power, but to secure spatial interference powers to counter my severing strike.

‘…This will be trickier than I thought.’

I was certain this fight wouldn’t be easily resolved.

Typically, demigods possess about three or four powers. At most, they usually don’t exceed six… but this Fallen Angel before me wouldn’t stop at just six.

As a powerful demigod-level being from Naraka, he must be at least several hundred years old. During that long time, how many enemies had he killed and how many powers had he acquired?

Not all those powers would be fatal, and surely many would be weak or inefficient and useless… but I couldn’t let my guard down.

The more means one has at their disposal, the more threatening they are.

In novels and comics, those who master one skill to the extreme are often portrayed as the strongest, but reality is the opposite.

Those with only one skill, no matter how much they refine it, will helplessly fall when they meet an enemy with a bad matchup.

This world isn’t forgiving enough to rely solely on one strong power.

So the ability to steal, mimic, or acquire others’ powers is far more valuable than any destructive power, no matter how strong.

“Who gave you such power? The god who created and abandoned you?”

I actually knew several gods with such abilities and had experienced firsthand how difficult they were to deal with.

“Among the evil gods I know, there were some with similar abilities… Was your master’s name perhaps Invidius or Vanirgand?”

Invidius, with the power to perfectly copy and mimic my opponent’s abilities, had nullified most of my techniques, while Vanirgand had the power to acquire the abilities of those he devoured.

The ability Israfel demonstrated was particularly similar to the latter.

Just as I had eaten Leviathan’s brain and heart to gain a skeleton with the same strength as dragon bones, he had eaten Hubrisia’s divinity and gained her powers.

So I casually asked.

That power looks incredibly similar to the power of devouring, was the name of the god you served perhaps Vanirgand?

【 ……. 】

Israfel remained silent. As if he couldn’t even hear my question.

…Well, I hadn’t expected an answer anyway.

Judging by how he’d been muttering to himself in a mechanical tone all this time, he seemed like a being who could use language but was incapable of actual conversation.

“Don’t want to talk? Well then…”

I wasn’t sure if he couldn’t answer or wouldn’t, but either way, if he was going to maintain his silence, I had no reason to keep asking.

“As you wish, let’s just have at it with our blades!”

I readjusted my stance and kicked off the void, causing an explosion as I charged straight toward him.

“Let’s see you block this!”

While the severing strike fired from a distance couldn’t penetrate his spatial distortion field, Durandal wielded directly in my hands was a different story.

Twisting the direction of force? Then I’ll just twist my sword in the opposite direction. It’s not that difficult. Just a slight twist of my fingers and wrist.

【 Uaireadóir Fomoré. 】

The Fallen Angel flapped his wings violently as if to say “don’t come closer” and counterattacked.

I recognized the incantation I’d heard once before. It must be the flash explosion that killed Hubrisia.

Sure enough, the next moment, small orbs of light that could be considered precursors filled the space around me like sea mines, surrounding me in all directions.

“How boring, this kind of thing…!”

【 Defying Fate 】

Not time stop, but time compression. Using it to increase my relative speed to break through before the explosions occurred. In a world that had become noticeably slower.

I dove between the light orbs that were about to explode, passing through them like a brush, throwing my body toward areas with lower attack density to minimize the danger.

– Guuuung…!

Still, I couldn’t dodge everything. There were too many to avoid completely.

“Kyaaaah!”

So I used the rune of collapse and Durandal to cut and strike as many light orbs as I could reach, nullifying the spell itself by breaking it.

My blade flashed like lightning, splitting the ominous light orbs in half, and the mana of collapse dispersed as it canceled out the light orbs.

– Kwachaaang!

The world returned to its original speed.

Behind me, the unbroken light orbs all exploded at once, striking my back with shockwaves like artillery shells and pushing me forward.

“Kuhuk…!”

Honestly, it hurt a bit, but thanks to my armor, I could endure it. Besides, it doubled my charging speed, so it wasn’t just damage.

“Is that all you’ve got!”

【 שבע חצוצרות. 】

As if to say “of course not,” the Fallen Angel unleashed a new power.

With this strange incantation that seemed to use a different language system than before, numerous circular magic formations appeared around his wings.

Was this another beam bombardment like before? Or something different that just had similar precursors?

– Jiiiing…!

The next moment, hundreds of circular formations gathered in front of the red crystal containing his main body, merging into one massive geometric magic formation.

Then, from its center, a gigantic pillar of light burst forth like a torrent from a collapsed dam.

– Kwaooooo!

A destructive beam stretching out like a dragon’s breath. Facing it, I understood. This was the same power as the earlier beam bombardment, just concentrated into one.

“Hagalaz—!”

The Collapsing Fist, a strike wrapped in the swirling power of collapse. My reflexively thrown fist became a vortex of mana and divinity that collided with the Fallen Angel’s pillar of light.

– Kuddddddd…!

Hmm, I’m being pushed back.

The collapsing strike that had been drilling through the light pillar at the moment of impact was soon blocked by the repulsive force, then scattered and disappeared as if devoured.

Was I overwhelmed by the difference in power? This is ridiculous. The Collapsing Fist might not work against a great dragon, but it should have enough power to neutralize and penetrate a normal dragon’s breath with power to spare.

“Tsk…!”

Since I couldn’t block it, I had no choice but to dodge.

Clicking my tongue, I spewed karma flames forward to drastically reduce my charging speed, and infused my soul and will into the divine power I had summoned to stop time and avoid the attack.

【 Defy—

Just as my personal world of stopped time was about to manifest again.

【 Κρόνος Γοργόνια. 】

Another of Israfel’s powers caught me, one step ahead.

“Huh…?!”

My body suddenly froze.

As if I had been “petrified,” I suddenly couldn’t move even a fingertip, and the divine power that was about to extend outside my body also stopped.

What is this, some kind of binding power?

…No, not binding. It’s qualitatively different. This, this sensation…!

The sensation that everything constituting me had been isolated from the world and stopped.

I instinctively realized. This was not a simple binding, but an ability far more sophisticated than that.

‘Time… stop…?’

Yes, time stop. This was the sensation of time being stopped. Not the world’s time, but only the time of my physical body.

Muscles, blood flow, nerves, cells, divinity.

Everything that made up my physical body had stopped with time, making it impossible to move my body, let alone blink an eye!

Whether because I also possessed the power to interfere with time or simply due to my status as a demigod, at least my soul hadn’t stopped, allowing me to continue thinking, but…

‘Damn it, like this, I can’t dodge…!’

That was meaningless if my body wouldn’t move. There was no way to avoid the Fallen Angel’s pillar of light that had already approached right before my eyes.

So I had to break free from this power somehow. Somehow.

It shouldn’t be impossible.

The fact that my soul was awake meant my will was also awake. The intense will of a being who has awakened divinity can itself affect reality.

Just as I could stop the heart of an ordinary knight and kill them simply by emitting killing intent without moving a finger.

‘Kuuuuuuu…!’

If I could have, I would have gritted my teeth and growled like a beast.

I raised my inner resistance and hostility, my survival instinct and destructive impulse to the extreme, resisting the Fallen Angel’s power that had stopped me.

‘Mo…ve……!!’

Right after that.

With a strange sensation like the sound of something cracking, whatever had been enveloping me shattered like breaking chains.

“It worked!”

The thought that flowed out of my mouth as sound was both evidence and declaration that my body’s time had started moving again.

– Kwaooooo—!

Though it was a bit too late to say I had broken free safely.

“…Ha.”

Israfel’s pillar of light was already almost touching me, and the time I had left was barely enough to swing my sword once.

…Ha, damn it. So this is how fucking awful time stop feels from the receiving end. Now I understand.

With a bitter laugh at this realization of empathy, I was helplessly engulfed by the pillar of light before my eyes, along with my half-swung Durandal.