The Academy’s Time Stop Player

TL/Editor: looloo

Schedule: 5/Week Mon-Fri

Illustrations: Here

The magic of Zahart spread around was churning.

It vibrated as if the air itself was trembling.

The magic dispersed in all directions shattered and vanished the moment it touched the golden magic.

There was only one being capable of causing such a phenomenon.

[Horton…….]

A hint of panic was evident in his voice.

Suddenly, above the being emitting golden light, a giant hammer appeared out of nowhere.

Before the giant hammer could be swung, a boy's voice was heard.

[Are you the king of humans?]

[?!]

[You hid like a rat quite well.]

Before Zahart could respond, he tried to dodge.

But at that moment.

[…….]

Zahart's eyes trembled violently.

He felt a strange sensation.

As if something… something about the world had stopped.

The moment he realized this, the situation had already unfolded.

Boom!!

The giant hammer was suddenly touching Zahart's body.

Zahart was swept away along with the immense pressure of the hammer.

Before he could react to the giant hammer, it was already touching his body.

Whoosh!! Thump! Thump!

In the midst of being swept away by the hammer, Zahart's eyes turned towards the one who swung it.

[This cannot be…….]

A boy was visible.

To anyone, he was the owner of Maharazu, bearing the aura of destruction.

He couldn’t hide his astonishment at the fact that he was ‘human’.

‘How can a human……’

Thump!!

His thoughts could not continue any longer.

His body was flung far away by the swung hammer, rolling on the ground after sweeping through hundreds of trees.

Simultaneously, the giant hammer reached above his head again.

This time, the hammer stood still in the air, as if pressing down from above.

Zahart believed he could dodge the giant hammer.

But he felt déjà vu.

The same as before……

[?!]

The moment he realized it.

The hammer reached right in front of him without giving Zahart a chance to react.

Thump! Crash!!

The ground caved in with a massive vibration, and birds scattered in all directions as the impact of the hammer created a huge wave, sweeping through the surrounding trees.

Soon, Hajoon approached a place where dust rose around a deep pit created by the giant hammer.

Emitting rough golden magic, he glared at the pit covered in dust.

Hajoon spoke as he looked at the pit.

[Come out, are you thinking of running away again?]

His voice was quietly subdued with anger, yet it carried an oppressive air that echoed in all directions.

Hajoon continued to glare at the pit with a face twisted in rage.

That was when.

Zahart walked out from the rising dust, step by step.

He looked at Hajoon with a calm face and opened his mouth.

[What are you, exactly…….]

He spoke, his voice filled with perplexity.

[How can an ordinary human wield that power?]

He was human.

No matter how one looked at it, the boy holding Maharazu in front of him was human.

He couldn’t believe it.

It was unthinkable that a human could possess such powerful destructive magic...

However, the next moment, Zahart, having noticed something, spoke as if he had understood.

[So, you are a transcendent as well.]

A being among humans who transcends limits and handles realms unknown and untouchable to others.

[To think that a transcendent existed in this world...]

Whoosh!

At that moment, Han Siyoung appeared behind him and swung his sword towards him.

A white line passed, bisecting Zahart's body horizontally, but the severed upper half floated in the air, as if buoyant like air.

The moment Han Siyoung frowned at the sensation of cutting through air,

The upper half floating in the void began to regenerate slowly, forming a complete shape beneath it.

It felt as if the missing lower half had reattached itself.

And that was just the beginning.

Ssshhh...

There was no warning.

His magic remained calm, but the space around had changed.

The forest-covered area vanished in an instant, leaving only a silent black space filled with desolation.

The ground they stood on still existed, but it too was cloaked in a darkness like an abyss.

A space where light seemed to have disappeared.

Yet, the figure of Zahart in front of them was still visible to both of their eyes.

-?!

At the unfolding situation, Philaten spoke up in alarm.

-Your Majesty, this is his mental world!

Tension laced Philaten’s voice.

-This is not a space created by magic. His mental world 'handles' space itself.

Philaten knew.

The human king, Zahart.

His mental world was the only realm that even the dwarven king, Horton, could not surpass.

“……”

Han Siyoung, sensitive to the psychic realm, also realized to some extent the danger of this space.

Initially, when he first saw him, he had felt a presence that was both there and not there. But now it was different.

His existence was distinctly visible.

Yet, the aura of that existence was far too vast.

The feeling that all the darkness enveloping this space was emanating from the man in front of him was overwhelming.

Still, Han Siyoung tried to move.

That was when.

Zahart's gaze turned towards Han Siyoung.

[It would be best not to move.]

“?!”

When that warning was heard, Han Siyoung found himself unable to move, just as Zahart had said.

It felt as if the space itself was pressing down on his entire body.

Han Siyoung emitted a torrent of sacred power from his entire body, resisting as he glared at Zahart.

However, Zahart simply looked at Han Siyoung calmly and spoke.

[Is that so…, it was you?]

“What do you mean?”

[There was a child that woman fled with in her arms back then. To think that child would awaken the power of the sacred marks…]

Han Siyoung continued to glare at him, still holding his sword.

Zahart continued calmly.

[That village that disappeared. Though it was not my intention, I was the one who caused it.]

“?!”

At that moment, Han Siyoung's eyes widened.

His next words followed.

[You were lucky, you survived because of that woman.]

Grit-

At those words, Han Siyoung gritted his teeth.

White sacred power erupted from his body, swirling violently around him.

It formed a sharply honed sword strike, rushing towards Zahart in front of him.

Whoosh!

However, before the sword strike could reach Zahart's body, Zahart disappeared in an instant and reappeared on the ground, leisurely walking towards Hajoon.

As he approached Hajoon, he said,

[You're next. Another transcendent in this world.]

His purple eyes were fixed on Hajoon.

[Show me.]

His voice sounded almost frenzied.

[What can you handle?]

Zahart extended his hand towards Hajoon.

And the next moment.

Hajoon, with Maharazu slung over his shoulder, calmly walked towards him.

Just one step.

The moment he leisurely stepped forward.

[?!]

Whoosh!!

He could see it.

‘What is that……’

Above the void where the boy stood.

Exactly where only darkness filled the void, a vast universe unfolded.

A sight only Zahart, who manipulated this space, could see.

In the center of that vast universe.

A giant clock emitting an indescribable energy had its second hand moving.

[Could it be…….]

Tick- Tock- Tick- Tock-

With each movement of the second hand, a massive resonance was conveyed.

It felt as if a huge flow that moved the world existed within that clock.

Because he was a transcendent who transcended space, he could see its form in its entirety.

But that was only for a moment.

The moving second hand began to slow down.

The next moment.

The slowing movement of the second hand stopped.

Tick……Tock- Tick……Tock……

Tock-

Time stopped.

[?!]

And Zahart's body did not move.

No sound could be heard.

The only thing that existed was silent stillness.

Only his pupils vividly captured the scene unfolding before him.

But the next moment.

In the space where time had stopped.

Footsteps that shouldn't be heard echoed.

Step- Step-

An impossible occurrence was unfolding.

Within that frozen time, the boy with Maharazu slung over his shoulder was leisurely moving his steps, approaching him.

‘This is……’

His pupils shook violently, causing a quake.

He looked at the boy approaching him.

The moment Hajoon and Zahart's gazes met.

Simultaneously, Hajoon also saw his eyes and could tell.

“You……”

[?!]

“Can you see it?”

That was the beginning.

Crash!!

The darkness enveloping everything shattered like pieces of glass, crumbling and flowing away.

Time flowed again, and his mental world crumbled without any warning and disappeared.

“This can’t be…….”

Han Siyoung was expressing his confusion about what had just happened when his gaze turned towards Zahart and Hajoon in front of him.

The two were standing face to face at close range.

However, unlike Hajoon's calm expression, his was twisted in shock.

Cold sweat was streaming down Zahart's face.

‘What was that just now…….’

It was a realm that humans could not possibly reach.

What Zahart had witnessed was such a scene.

A realm unreachable by any being.

The human in front of him was handling ‘time’.

For the first time, he felt fear towards the unknown.

The turmoil in his heart shook his sense of reason, leading to the collapse of his mental world.

Ssshhh!

Without a chance to react, he protected his body with a semi-transparent barrier.

Knowing what the human in front of him was capable of, he knew what he had to do right away.

He had to protect himself.

Not knowing when the boy in front of him would stop time again, Zahart made the decision to protect himself first.

However, when his body was consumed by fear, he forgot one thing.

Whoosh!!

At some point, Han Siyoung's sword, emitting a white light, was swung towards Zahart.

A white line was drawn diagonally across the semi-circular barrier protecting Zahart's body as the sword swung.

At the moment the barrier was cleanly sliced,

[?!]

His body was already outside of the barrier.

His eyes trembled.

Though he couldn’t see or feel it.

Zahart knew what had just happened.

“Have you used up your strength?”

His body was caught in Hajoon's hand.

“If so, there will be no more passing through physical attacks like before.”

With those words, Hajoon's hammer was swung towards him.

This time, he swung it lightly in Slow Time's Flow without activating time stop.

He didn’t feel the need to activate time stop unnecessarily.

Thwack!! Whoosh!!

[Kuh!!]

Zahart spat blood as he was sent flying far away by the impact of Maharazu.

But soon, standing still in mid-air, he gritted his teeth and screamed at Hajoon in anger.

[The kings of giants and elves will make their move! You will meet the same fate as Horton!]

Zahart was cursing as if making a last-ditch effort.

Hearing those words, Hajoon just looked at him and then turned around.

At that sudden action, his eyes widened.

He felt a strange sensation.

He couldn’t muster any strength in his body.

His vision gradually lowered, and without his will, everything around him started to invert.

He soon realized the situation.

The fact that his head had fallen off.

And when he came to realize his own death,

Thud!

After his head hit the ground, the last thing he saw was Han Siyoung, holding a sword emitting a serene white light, with calm eyes.

Certainly, Han Siyoung, who had acknowledged the truth and killed the enemy who destroyed the village.

Yet, there was not the slightest change on Han Siyoung's face, just calmness.

As if he had merely killed a man who deserved to die.