"It's not ineffective."
Within these brief ten-odd seconds, Violet had already analyzed the essence of Amon-Ra's Ability.
At this moment, both of them entered a state of accelerated thought.
"This pure white space is actually the Authority of Time Stop."
"Time Stop?"
Rin was somewhat surprised. He also possessed the Ability of Time Stop, but its effect was clearly different from Amon-Ra's.
"I remember Time Stop isn't like this, right?"
Why would Time Stop turn the entire world pure white?
Was that even reasonable?
"True Time Stop is exactly like this."
However, Violet's explanation differed from Rin's understanding.
"When time truly stops, we cannot obtain new information."
"Unable to receive new information…"
Rin frowned.
"So it's like the stars in the sky. What we see is actually how they looked millions of years ago?"
According to astronomy, due to the finite speed of light, the stars we see now are already images from millions of years in the past.
Similarly, when time truly stops, even if someone can move within that state, they cannot acquire new information.
The essence of vision is light reflecting and forming an image in the eye.
If time stops, the propagation of light would also stop.
Under such circumstances, how could Rin possibly see his surroundings?
The common depiction of a twilight-tinted world where people can still see and move completely contradicts the logic of a real Time Stop.
That presentation merely exists for the audience's convenience.
"But if that's the case, shouldn't everything be pitch black?"
Rin could understand Violet's reasoning.
If light could not propagate, he should see nothing at all.
So why was everything pure white?
"Because this is not only Time Stop. It is a small segment of time that has been cut out."
In simple terms, it is an extremely brief slice of time.
That slice has been transformed into a cage, forcibly imprisoning Rin within it.
The reason for doing this is simple.
A Campione cannot be truly sealed by a conventional Time Stop.
"A Campione possesses powerful resistance and resilience. It is impossible to seal one directly with an Authority without consequences."
Amon-Ra is extremely powerful, of very high status, and holds an Authority related to time.
But he is still a Heretic God.
If a Heretic God fighting a Campione could instantly kill the latter with a single move, would that make sense?
No matter how exaggerated the Ability may seem, this is still the Campione world.
Every Authority must conform to magicule consumption, its scope, and its upper and lower limits.
"Then what about my attacks and his attacks?"
"His attacks originate from the past and the future, so we cannot directly observe them."
Violet explained, "But a Campione possesses powerful instincts. You can sense impending danger and respond with the optimal reaction through reflex."
That was why Rin instinctively blocked and evaded.
"As for why the seven deadly sins failed…"
"The passive abilities are ineffective because Amon-Ra has abandoned his humanity and retained only pure divinity."
"Arrogance cannot capture Amon-Ra," Violet continued. "The reason is simple. His true body exists in the past and the future, out of sync with our present time."
"Huh?"
Rin did not expect time-based Abilities to be used this way.
Violet then carefully explained the essence of Amon-Ra's time Authority.
"The past exists only in memory. The future belongs to imagination."
For example, I pick up a stone from the ground.
We know the stone has been there for a long time.
But that period of time does not exist in the present reality.
Because time has already passed, the stone exists only in the present.
Only our memory preserves the fact that it lay there for a long time.
Then I throw the stone down again.
Even before I release it, I can imagine how it will fall.
Although the imagined process may differ from what actually happens, that imagined sequence is the stone's future.
The moment I release it and it falls, that is no longer the future, but the present.
In other words, only the past and the present are real.
The future always exists as possibility.
Once the future becomes reality, it has already turned into the present and then into the past.
"The past cannot be changed. The future contains infinite possibilities."
This is Amon-Ra's sword of the future that pierces everything, and his shield of the past that provides absolute defense.
The two can even be interchanged, becoming the sword of the past and the shield of the future.
Combined with the instant of Time Stop that binds Rin in the present, they form the trinity of Amon of dawn, Ra of noon, and Atum of dusk.
"The Arrogance of the seven deadly sins cannot reach Amon."
"Because power from the present cannot cross the barrier of past and future."
Even the most powerful Authority, as long as it does not involve time, cannot harm or even touch Amon-Ra.
Divine weapons such as blades and spears can only be wielded in the present.
The sword of dawn shatters. Hell's gate collapses.
Because Amon-Ra brandishes fragments of the future, the possibility that the sword of dawn shatters and hell's gate collapses.
Facing infinite possibilities, there will always exist a future in which Rin dies.
If struck directly, that possibility could become reality.
"This is why Amon-Ra's attacks are nearly unsolvable."
Even if someone were truly invincible, even if no power in the world could kill him, as long as Amon-Ra imagines and forces the possibility of that person's death, the future becomes a blade that ends him.
It is not even accurate to call it killing.
It is turning imagination into the future, and possibility into established fact.
Likewise, attacking Amon-Ra means confronting an impossible dilemma.
To harm him would require changing the past, altering history, and overturning established facts.
For Arrogance to apply gravity to Amon-Ra, it would need to transcend time and affect every moment of history.
Clearly, the Arrogance of the seven deadly sins has not reached that level.
(To be continued.)
◇◇◇
◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 200 Power Stones.
◇ You can read the ahead chapter on Pat if you're interested: p-atreon.c-om/Blownleaves (Just remove the hyphen to access normally.)