The Academy’s Time Stop Player

TL/Editor: looloo

Schedule: 5/Week Mon-Fri

Illustrations: Here

"Arrogant."

With those words, Karthon spread his legs wide and lowered his stance. His clenched fists pointed towards the giant hands falling from the sky, his muscles swelling in preparation.

"Thinking you can confront me with mere force conjured by magic!"

Karthon roared with what seemed like rage, emitting an intense surge of magical power. Yet, there was a peculiar smile on his lips, pleased by the magical force, albeit created through magic.

Whoosh! Boom! Thud!

Karthon swung his fists at an invisible speed towards the sky. His arms rapidly whirled, seemingly just slashing the air. However, the sound of air tearing apart indicated that something invisible was colliding with the giant hands descending from the sky.

The hundreds of hands extending from the giant's back were struck by Karthon's explosive force, scattering in all directions.

In the midst of this chaos, the corners of Karthon's mouth began to rise.

"So it is..."

He had identified the nature of the magic Anna had manifested.

"That's the magic from that day!"

The magic Anna manifested was the grand barrier magic she had used at the hotel. A grand magic boasting incredible sturdiness, unbreakable even by Karthon's strength.

It had merely transformed from a form meant to protect someone to a form to confront Karthon.

"There's finally someone worth fighting."

This realization excited Karthon.

Boom!

In an instant, Karthon leaped from the ground like a cannon, rushing towards Anna.

In just a fleeting second, he was already at Anna's nose.

Whoosh! Boom!!

He intended to crash into Anna, but suddenly a barrier materialized in front of her, halting Karthon's charge.

The barrier rippled greatly but returned to its original form. As long as Anna possessed infinite magical power, the barrier wouldn't break.

However, Karthon didn't stop his assault.

Boom Boom Boom Boom!!

His arms moved at an invisible speed, rapidly delivering hundreds, if not thousands, of strikes against the barrier.

Boom! Bang! Boom Boom!!

The immense impact swept the surroundings, generating a powerful wind pressure.

Karthon was curious about his own limits at this point.

Could he now break through her barrier?

And soon, he was about to find out.

Crack-

"...!?"

Anna's eyes widened in shock.

Her eyes began to tremble in panic.

A faint crack had started to form in what she thought was an invincible barrier.

But that small fissure quickly and extensively spread across the entire barrier.

Crash!!

The barrier shattered into a myriad of rainbow-colored fragments, scattering and settling all around.

"I have not yet unleashed my full power."

Even after shattering the barrier, Karthon did not strike Anna with his fists. He could have killed her in that brief moment when the barrier broke, but he chose not to. Instead, he calmly lowered his arms and looked at Anna.

"You fail to satisfy me."

At his words, Anna gritted her teeth in frustration. Behind her, the giant she had manifested began to emanate a fierce aura, spreading its hundreds of arms in all directions.

A manifestation magic created by Anna solely to confront Karthon began to surge towards him again.

The surrounding smoke thickened.

The landscape had been drastically altered by the standoff between Anna and Karthon, with pieces of Anna’s shattered barrier embedded in the ground.

Boom!

Suddenly, a massive arm plummeted to the ground with a deafening noise.

It was an arm of the giant manifested by Anna, now separated and crashed onto the ground. In fact, hundreds of arms resembling the giant’s were scattered and lying on the ground. As the smoke cleared, revealing the current situation, there stood Karthon, holding Anna by her neck.

Blood dripped from Anna's light wounds and broken arm, falling drop by drop to the ground.

"Indeed..."

In this dire situation, Anna, not yet giving up, stared intensely at Karthon with her blue, flickering eyes. However, Karthon looked at her dismissively, his face somber.

"You have not satisfied me."

Karthon spoke as he gazed at Anna.

"Your brother at least brought me some enjoyment..."

"?!"

Suddenly, Anna's magical power surged fiercely.

Gritting her teeth, she quickly manifested a magic circle.

Whoosh - The circle appeared on Karthon’s elbow, which was clutching Anna’s neck.

From the magic circle, a fist made of barrier material shot out, striking Karthon’s elbow.

Thud!

With an unbelievable noise for impacting human flesh, the shock loosened Karthon’s grip on Anna’s neck.

In that brief moment, Anna broke free from Karthon's grasp and leaped back, gathering her magical energy again.

Karthon, still seemingly uninterested in the fight, spoke out.

"Call the Irregular. This is a waste of time."

To that, Anna sternly glared at Karthon and responded.

"You should be grateful."

Simultaneously, a huge, blue, flickering magic circle began to form in the sky.

Sensing the surge of magical energy, Karthon looked up at the sky.

The circle radiated immense magical energy, like a vast ocean of ownerless magic gathering together.

In that tense moment, Anna stretched out her hand towards Karthon and continued speaking.

"If Hajoon was your opponent, you would have been killed without even moving."

The final blow.

A grand magic conjured by channeling the numerous floating magical energies in the atmosphere.

Boom Boom!!

From the giant magic circle, a white light burst forth, sending a tremendous shockwave directly at Karthon.

The shockwave of the bright beam from the magic circle surged in a straight line towards Karthon. Anna was thrown back, rolling on the ground from the impact.

She had put all her remaining strength into this grand magic, created solely to bring down Karthon. The vast shockwave finally began to lose its power after 10 and then 20 seconds had passed.

After the magic circle in the sky fizzled out and disappeared, black smoke billowed up from the scorched ground, obscuring Anna's vision.

However, whether visible through the smoke or not, Anna had no choice but to sit down breathlessly on the ground.

"Haah! Haah!"

It was a magic she had manifested with all her might.

A grand magic created solely for the annihilation of her opponent.

Thud- Thud-

But at that moment, footsteps were heard, and Anna slowly lifted her head towards the sound.

A massive shadow approached through the rising smoke.

Anna could see Karthon approaching her leisurely, his arms blackened from the burns.

"Ars..., that man also left me with such wounds."

Karthon reminisced about the past.

He recalled a man who had struggled fiercely to protect his younger brother.

"It was interesting."

[How fascinating...]

His single comment.

It started to overlap with the voice of Karthon from Anna's past memories.

"I shall pay my respects, but..."

[I shall pay my respects, but...]

And with that final echoing voice, Anna couldn't help but grit her teeth.

"I am still alive."

[I am still alive.]

"Huuk..."

A situation not unlike the time she lost her brother.

But now, a different emotion was swirling within Anna.

She was immensely angry.

Tears welled up in frustration at her inability to kill that vile man.

Despite inheriting the power of a sage, all she managed to do was scorch his arm.

Soon after, Karthon withdrew his gaze from Anna and began to look around.

He then started shouting in the direction of somewhere nearby, releasing his magical energy.

"I know you're here, Irregular! Come out! Or else I'll kill her!!"

Boom!!

As he unleashed his magical energy, the ground around him started to crack and split.

Even amidst this intense battle, his power remained intact.

It meant she hadn't even managed to diminish his strength in a fight where she had risked her own life.

Whoosh!

At that moment, following Karthon's words, Hajoon appeared.

Hajoon, holding a golden hammer, appeared beside the fallen Anna, standing in confrontation with Karthon.

However, Hajoon’s gaze was not on Karthon.

He looked down at Anna and asked, "Are you going to give up?"

"..."

Anna slowly raised her head to look at Hajoon in response to his question. No answer came, perhaps because she couldn't think of a way to defeat Karthon.

Therefore, Hajoon, thinking there was no need for a response, stepped forward with the hammer, intending to approach Karthon. It seemed to him that any further fight from her would be futile.

But at that moment.

"…?"

Anna grasped Hajoon's ankle as he was about to approach Karthon.

Hajoon then saw Anna’s face. She had been continually thinking even in her fallen state.

"I understand."

Anna, having reached a conclusion after continuous thought, shakily stood up, trembling all over.

Her body was in no shape to fight.

Blood flowed down her broken arm.

Wounds were everywhere.

"Hajoon."

Yet, the expression on her face as she stood up was serene, almost as if she had transcended something, as if she had realized something in that brief moment.

"I'm sorry."

"Hm?"

"Could I ask you for a favor later?"

Hajoon quietly watched her. It was clear from her expression that she was not asking him to take on Karthon.

Hajoon could have ignored her request and killed Karthon right then, but he chose to respect whatever Anna had resolved to do.

It could be her path to her final ending.

Whoosh!

Without a word, Hajoon disappeared from the spot.

He quietly observed from the edge of the crater, sitting and watching the situation unfold.

"Thank you."

Anna showed a faint smile at his gesture.

At the same time, she began to gather her magical energy again.

As the owner of infinite magical power, her magic began to regain momentum, emanating from her body. A gigantic magic circle formed on the ground around her.

"What a waste of time."

Watching her, Karthon leaped from the ground like a cannon, rushing towards Anna. However, his face showed lost interest as the magic circle Anna had manifested was identical to the giant's magic circle he had seen before.

There was no need to prolong this any longer.

He simply reached out his brutal hand towards her neck to kill her.

Thud!

At that moment, a gigantic hand from the magic circle at Anna's feet stretched out to protect her.

The giant that slowly emerged from the ground, however, looked much weaker than the one she had manifested before.

The giant was smaller than the one with hundreds of arms and possessed only two arms. However, seeing this form of the giant, Karthon's expression involuntarily changed, contrasting his earlier demeanor.

'I understand now...'

The Tome of Knowledge, imbued with a part of the Sage's power, suddenly appeared in Anna's hands.

The moment it was opened, immense power and knowledge permeated her being, regardless of her will.

Anna understood how to use the book, a feat not even Sage Choi Jungwon had achieved.

‘It doesn’t have to be me.’

She seemed to have comprehended how the ancient Sage Rokia had utilized this book filled with vast knowledge.