Outside the battlefield, the group gathered around Hayasaka, whose body still bore the aftermath of the fight, her skin covered in wounds and burns, blood spilling from her mouth, the sight was ghastly.
Even so, Kaguya was the first to approach, taking her into her arms.
"Hayasaka, are you alright?"
"I'm fine…" she replied weakly. With a trembling hand she opened the floating screen before her and selected the option to level up. Immediately, her wounded, burned body regenerated completely. She took a deep breath and smiled in relief. "Uff, much better."
Kaguya hugged her tightly.
"I'm so glad you're okay."
"I told you I was…" Hayasaka answered, caressing her back. "And Kaito-sama?"
"Fighting," Mashiro replied.
Hayasaka lifted her gaze toward the arena. From the outside, the perspective was completely different.
They could clearly see how Kaito froze for fractions of a second while Arata moved freely. At other times, it was as if Kaito rewound time, but only for himself, while everything else around continued normally.
"Was it always like this?" Hayasaka asked.
"No," Lala shook her head. "When I saw him before, I couldn't notice it. That means his powers affected even outside the ring. And when you were there, you, Kaito, and the attacks rewound together, limited to the entire field. Now the effect concentrates only on Kaito."
"So… is he weakening?" Hayasaka inquired, confused.
"No," Kaguya denied calmly. "He's just limiting the range to spend less energy."
After watching the battle for so long from outside, they all understood Kaito's ability better than he did himself. The only ones unaware of it were Kaito and Hayasaka, trapped inside the area of effect.
And seeing the situation, it was clear why he needed to conserve strength.
In one instant, Kaito froze completely, the next, when released, he was already millimeters away from reaching Arata before pausing again. Though Arata managed to dodge, it was barely so… and he no longer had room to counterattack.
---
Inside the arena.
Kaito attacked relentlessly and Arata kept evading, repeating the same endless game. The cat and the mouse.
The mouse was slippery, yes, but he could never harm the cat. Only flee.
Still, while trying to catch him, Kaito couldn't help but wonder how it was possible that this man wasn't ranked higher.
After thinking it through, he understood: his abilities were terrifying in one-on-one combat, but against an army or a large-scale disaster… they were useless. Against a bomb, an endless army, his power would mean nothing.
Even so, it still seemed strange that he was ranked so low.
The thought broke when Arata appeared by his side. Kaito reacted immediately, throwing a punch at a speed impossible to dodge. Arata was blown away with broken bones, but in a blink he reverted to his original state and teleported.
The sequence repeated over and over: Kaito struck, Arata dodged or rewound, always recovering.
"How many times can you keep healing yourself?" Kaito mocked, convinced there had to be a limit.
"More times than you can hit me," Arata replied, appearing behind him.
Kaito dodged easily, but Arata also evaded the counterattack, smiling arrogantly.
"What's wrong, Lucifer? Do you feel powerless?"
Kaito ignored him. He kept attacking relentlessly, while Arata withdrew again to resume the cat and mouse game.
Half an hour passed. Kaito's magical attacks grew increasingly elaborate, chained together to prevent evasion, but Arata always found a way to erase them into nothing.
Tired of the game, Kaito stopped. That pause was all Arata needed to lunge at him. And it was also the mistake that defined the outcome.
When he took the hit, Kaito understood the truth: the ranking didn't place Arata higher because, while his temporal powers were dangerous, they lacked the essential.
"Hahaha…" Kaito laughed, looking him in the eyes. "You… can't do anything to me."
The declaration ignited Arata's fury.
"Bastard! Stop running and you'll see if I can't hurt you!"
But Kaito had already made a decision.
"I won't run."
Arata appeared behind him and struck. He expected Kaito to dodge, but Kaito remained motionless. The blow caused him no harm at all.
"Is that all?" Kaito mocked.
"Damn you!" Arata roared, striking him again and again from different angles, desperate.
Kaito spoke between the blows, ignoring them as if they were mere touches.
"When you appeared beside me… wasn't it because of lack of energy? It was because you had already attacked me, right?"
"You think I'll fall for such a provocation?" Arata snapped.
"So that's it…" Kaito murmured, as if he had solved a riddle. "If I had noticed earlier, this battle wouldn't have lasted so long."
Arata lost his patience. His aura burst violently, the pressure growing unbearable. Then he unleashed it all in a devastating punch.
An explosive wave tore through the arena, but Kaito remained unmoved, impeccable, not a speck of dust on his suit.
"Is that all?" he asked, hands in his pockets as he advanced slowly toward him.
Arata stepped back, disbelieving.
"M-monster… how is this possible?"
"This is what you wanted, isn't it?" Kaito smiled coldly. "To make me feel powerless. How ironic… while you put on a whole show trying to do that to me, all I have to do is stand still to make you feel it."
He calmly raised his hand and grabbed him by the neck. At that moment Arata didn't resist, not because he couldn't but because his body lost the will to continue, there was no way to win. Arata struggled for an instant, only to finally surrender, grinning grotesquely.
"I… lost… but… I forced you to look at me. At the one above everyone else… I made you look down."
"Pathetic." Kaito's eyes glowed with boredom. "Before, I would have gladly killed you. Now… you're not even worth it."
With a single motion, he snapped his neck. Arata's body dissolved into pixels of light.
---
Kaito descended from the arena. The whole group was waiting for him, and he stopped in front of Hayasaka.
"Are you alright?"
"Y-yes…" she replied with a slight stammer.
Kaguya widened her eyes in surprise.
"Good," Kaito nodded, and returned to his seat.
At that instant, everything turned white. Then, the plaza of the Lords of the server appeared before them.
The notifications echoed in their minds:
[The first event has ended: The Battle of the Lords.
Rewards have been given to the first three places.]
[First Place: Lucifer.
Second Place: 1st of the World.
Third Place: Aime.]
Kaito checked his rewards.
The S-rank reward was a card:
[Loyalty Theft Card.
Class: Item.
Description: 100% loyalty? How hard is that to achieve? Wouldn't it be horrible if, after reaching it, someone else stole it for themselves? Well, you're in luck, because that someone is you.
Effect: Changes the loyalty of any character with 100% loyalty, redirecting it toward you.
Note: Only usable inside the Tower of Worlds and on characters from there. Consumable, single use.]
Kaito raised an eyebrow and thought a single word:
Trash.
Sure, it could be useful under specific conditions. But who in the world would ever have absolute loyalty? With 60 there was attraction, with 70, love. With 80, someone would be willing to share their entire life with you. With 90, they would give their life for you. What could that impossible 100% represent, beyond death itself?
The only exception were units summoned by the tower, created with loyalty locked at the maximum. But in the real world… it was another story.
Kaito closed the screen, seriously doubting he would ever see a true 100%.
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+20 chapters in advance on Patreon.
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(just delete the hyphen)
80 power stones = 1 extra chapter (cumulative)