Eric's POV
Just as I had predicted, that little boy would become a thorn in my side. I knew I had to eliminate him. Honestly, I never expected him to actually awaken an element—let alone one as rare as space.
Now the question is… how do I get rid of him?
Eric began to calculate. The Awakening Ceremony had just concluded, so he couldn't make a move on Kranos immediately. He would have to wait—wait for the perfect moment, when Kranos's father was away, when there would be no one around to protect him.
Wait… didn't he just awaken?
A sudden thought sparked in his mind.
I can use that to my advantage. He'll most likely attend the Royal Academy next year—or at most, the year after. That gives me time to set the stage. With that, Eric began plotting. Before he knew it, an entire year had passed.
Everything went according to plan. He spotted Kranos walking alongside Raphael. Eric followed them silently as they walked. He didn't have to worry about being discovered. his concealment skill was top-notch in the whole royal family, even surpassing most assassins.
After studying their movements and ensuring that Kranos was going to participate in this year's descent, Eric began his second phase of the plan. He went to where the guards were. After conducting a memory search, he was able to ascertain which guard would be in charge of the descent this year.
He immediately headed there and after completely reading the young man's memory, he copied the man's behavior completely, not leaving any flaws. After waiting patiently, he selected Kranos. He was unable to hide his excitement as he sent him to an S-grade danger zone.
Danger zones were classified based on their lethality. The safe zones were thoroughly explored areas suitable for first-year students. An F-grade danger zone was already a death sentence for most Qi Condensation cultivators, even if that person had reached the Mid-stage of qi condensation.
Of course, that only applied to the F-grade danger zone. What did it mean to enter an s-grade danger zone as a year one student? Even people at the golden core realm would be shattered to dust if they stayed in an s-grade danger zone for too long.
Of course, this wasn't due to the environment but due to the creatures in existence inside such lower realms.
Seeing everything go so smoothly, Eric was pleased with himself. After he was done with the descent, he went back to the young man in charge of the descent. Oh, how i would love to kill him to celebrate my victory! Unfortunately, Eric knew that he couldn't kill anyone inside the royal academy nor could he reveal any killing intent because of the detection mechanism inside the staffs of this school.
These mechanisms were embedded in the staffs and could detect the presence of killing intent. Worse, if any staff member were killed, a curse would automatically activate, tracking the killer's location. that damn curse ability! Eric cursed inwardly while rushing out; he knew that he couldn't stay anymore before something wrong was discovered.
After altering the guard's memory, he immediately left. "This should be enough to kill you, nephew… right?"
…
Meanwhile…
Although Kranos had been vigilant—aware of how dangerous the world could be—he didn't expect the threat to come from so close. Had he known, he might have been more cautious… perhaps there would've still been a second chance.
Ever since his rebirth, Kranos had grown less fearful of death. That detachment allowed him to remain calm—even now, as a thick, purplish-black tendril of darkness pierced through his chest.
Pause.
He called out in his heart.
Immediately time slowed rapidly, everything around Kranos seemed to come still, and although it was only for an instant, this was enough. Kranos took that moment to use his space element to create a distance between him and the creature.
Although his back was pierced, causing him to bleed, the stab didn't reach deep enough to stab his heart. it seems i survived, Kranos smiled lightly inwardly. He immediately reached into his system space. Eternal hunger, come; it's time for you to have fun and grow.
As though the time sword could hear Kranos's voice, it seemed to faintly tremble as it appeared in his hand.
His body trembled slightly. Kranos quickly took out one of the healing pills his mother had given him. He had stored them in the system space, not his spatial ring—just in case the ring's inner space collapsed due to spatial distortion during travel.
The reason for his body's trembling was…
[Skill - Time Pause.]
[Rank 2.]
[Can forcefully stop time for two seconds. To be used in the late-stage time formation realm, forceful usage can cause injuries to the body with double the cost. Cost 100 time points.]
Because of the imminent threat, he had immediately connected his time foundation with the time surrounding them both and forcefully stopped it. This affected him greatly, as his body wasn't strong enough to withstand the forceful stoppage of time.
This is my first real fight to the death. I wonder how it will be, Kranos was curious. Over the past year, he had begun to define his path. He had even created a few sword techniques. While he hadn't yet succeeded in fusing time with swordsmanship, he had made significant progress in integrating space into his combat style.
One of these techniques was called Daylight Sword. He had comprehended it during a moment of clarity—when sunlight hit him as he trained, triggering a revelation.
The core of the technique lay in instantaneous spatial displacement.
Space shift!
Kranos muttered inwardly as he immediately vanished into thin air. Before the little girl-shaped creature could react, Kranos reappeared behind her, his sword was already a few inches away from her neck.
So fast! How is he so fast? The girl tried to react but Kranos had already appeared behind her. besides why did she feel the spell she wanted to cast destroyed in an instant?
Swish!
A head flew up into the sky. The next instant the girl turned into a puddle of purplish liquid; the liquid slowly moved away deeper into the forest. Kranos didn't follow it; he knew that there was more to this world than meets the eye. he had to take it one at a time.
[Time Points - +100]
[Your Time Sword grows…]