Level Up Legacy

“Bringer of Order?” repeated Arthur as he heard his words. But then, a smile appeared on his face. “Is that what the astral being told you, or is this what you fool yourself with?”

“It matters not what you say, Arthur Silvera,” said Cassius as he slowly descended from the sky. “I have achieved a higher realm of existence, and your earlier attack will not work against me. Not even the gatekeeper can stop me now!”

Suyin frowned while holding her sword. Her contributions to the earlier fights were negligible, but they made her breathless nonetheless. She took a step forward as she raised her long needle sword.

“There is no need, Little Yin,” said Arthur as he raised his hand. The woman halted her steps but seemed hesitant. “I can take care of this.”

“I know you can,” she said after a moment of pause before walking forward and standing beside him. Arthur turned toward her with interest as he noticed the lack of fear of him. “I want to test myself. Can I do that, Guild Master?”

“You have yet to join Ascent,” said Arthur with a smile but then paused as he stared at Cassius. “This can be a good learning experience for my first disciple.”

Arthur raised a hand, and the Runic Dome morphed to form a throne made of metal and runes. Then, Arthur walked over to sit atop it and watch the fight. Suyin bowed slightly toward him before turning to the enraged Cassius.

“A good experience?” fumed the calamity at him after Arthur dismissed his threats and grand entrance. His mouth twitched with rage as his cold eyes started turning white like his body. “Let me show you how powerful I am now, so all of you can bow down.”

Cassius brought his hands together and slowly pulled them apart. A small item appeared between his hands with myriad colors and an irregular shape, just like an exploding star. Arthur frowned as soon as he saw it.

“That thing is not something from our world. Be careful, Suyin,” warned Arthur as he grew slightly apprehensive. “It seems to be a spiritual artifact.”

“I can tell,” said the gatekeeper Morana through Little Yin. “Cassius has broken one of the divine laws and transgressed my authority. Although… I doubt he had the capability.”

“There was something else before I pushed them out of this world. But, unfortunately, it seems I was too late to prevent them from giving us some trouble.”

“I have always commanded the world, but this is different,” said Cassius as he stared at the heavenly shard. “This allows me… to command the ultimate prison.”

Cassius then disappeared from his spot and then reappeared behind Little Yin. Not a single second passed between the two events, and Morana lost her sword.

“Is this what it feels to be a god?” muttered Cassius as he stared at the sword in hand before dropping it to the ground. Suyin snapped out of her daze as she jumped forward and summoned her sword back to her.

The sword flew in her direction, and she caught it in time. However, Cassius appeared behind her and kicked her back. The attack sent her flying, coughing blood, and rolling on the ground.

“This speed… is he teleporting?” muttered Suyin with confusion. “I sensed not a hint of mana, and the Sin of Pride should not be able to teleport.”

“He is not teleporting,” said Arthur, resting his chin on his hand. An intrigued smile appeared on his face as his golden eyes saw through the tricks of the calamity. “He is stopping time.”

The revelation made the rebels and knights draw a sharp breath. Morana herself was shocked and turned toward Arthur with blood trickling down her chin. She wiped the blood from her mouth before rising to her feet.

“I have never heard of such a bugged power,” muttered Morana, and Arthur shared her sentiment. Not even he, the creator, could affect time. It was among the teachings of Gaia, but it was so complicated that his current control over creation was lacking. “How did Cassius obtain it?”

“He received it,” said Arthur with interest. “Although I don’t know if calamities can make astral contracts, maybe it was similar. I have one question, Cassius. What did it demand in exchange for this power?”

“You have the eyes to see its truth,” said Cassius as he raised the astral shard and stared at it. He seemed mesmerized, as if seeing his future within the fragment. “It demanded your head.”

“My head seems quite valuable all of a sudden,” replied Arthur without much surprise. “Can you handle this, Little Yin?”

“…I will try,” said Suyin as she readied herself again. However, it seems that Cassius could only stop time for a short duration, so she had a fighting chance because of his lack of control.

“I chose not to kill her in a single strike to make sure she despairs, but to be this foolish… You are sacrificing your disciple, Arthur Silvera.”

“As I said, it can be a learning experience,” said Arthur with a smile. Suyin was focused on the calamity before she broke off her stance and stood with her back straight. “It seems she already knows how to fight against you.”

Little Yin closed her eyes, and Cassius gritted his teeth in rage. Then, he used the shard again to disappear. A few seconds passed before Cassius reappeared, but he fell to the ground. The calamity glared at Suyin, who had her eyes close.

“This whore…”

“Obscene words are distasteful, Proud Cassius,” said Suyin with a smile as she opened her eyes. “Even if I cannot see you, soul attacks still affect you.”

“Oh, ho?” exclaimed Arthur with surprise. “I expected the same as well. It would be an absurd power if he could stop the flow of time. It would be more accurate to say that he has escaped the flow of time and merely existed in the spatial dimensions. This made him, in a sense, stop time for himself only.”

“Even if you figured it out, how did you attack me?” Cassius asked Suyin, who stared at him with a blank expression. Then, she picked up her sword and aimed it at him. A flower bloomed on her chest before it lost a single petal.

“Souls transcend time,” said Suyin as she took her stance. “As long as I can control them, no one can harm me, even he who escapes time.”

“…fool,” muttered Cassius with a grin before two giant boulders appeared out of nowhere around Suyin, crushing her in between. From the moment they appeared to the moment that they smashed the gatekeeper, less than a millisecond passed. It was clear that Cassius had stopped time and used his authority. “Even if I don’t get close, I can kill you.”

“Is that so?” muttered a voice from within the boulders. Cassius frowned before he hurried to look at the metallic throne but found it empty. Then, sounds of cracks echoed from within the boulders before they disintegrated into nothing.

Arthur appeared in front of Suyin with a barrier around them. Cassius was confused as he stared at the man stop his attack that had transcended time, and Suyin was in a daze too.

“Your fight ends here, Suyin. If your stats were higher, then you would have won against him,” said Arthur with a smile as he raised his hand and patted her head. The woman nodded in a daze before Arthur turned toward Cassius. “Playtime is over.”

“How…?” muttered Cassius with confusion.

“I don’t need to wait if I can read my opponent,” said Arthur with a smile. His golden mana flared around his body, making the calamity take a step back. “If you know your opponent, you can even leap through time.”

“Nonsense!” said Cassius before he disappeared again. Arthur waved his hand, teleporting Suyin away. After she disappeared, Cassius appeared out of thin air to strike empty air. Arthur stood in the same spot, not even turning, but the calamity jumped back in fear.

***

Cassius has lost his calm.

“This is a lie! You cannot foresee everything!”

The calamity seemed disturbed, and his voice grew a little hoarse. It used to be deep and majestic, but before Arthur, he developed some sort of trauma after almost dying in the earlier fight. “You are right, Cassius. I am a fraud. How about you kill me then?” invited Arthur as he slowly turned toward the calamity. “Go ahead. Take a swing.”

As the golden mana flared, the calamity took another step back. In his eyes, Arthur stopped looking like a human and turned into a demon instead. He then remembered what the heavenly being told him.

His opponent was… a true god.

Cassius started spiraling as he lost his rationality. However, he knew better than to let fear control him. Thus, he used his shard again. The calamity saw the world turn gray as he escaped the control of time.

Everything froze in place, and Cassius was the only one who could move. Even the golden mana was frozen, and Arthur Silvera looked like a statue. It was then that Cassius calmed down and took a deep breath. But, a second later, his calm vanished.

“Is this the scene that you see, Cassius?” said a voice behind Cassius, and once he turned to see who it was, he found the same frozen statue staring around his time-frozen world. Arthur Silvera looked around his world with interest before turning back toward him. “How are you going to defeat me now?”