The Academy’s Time Stop Player

TL/Editor: looloo

Schedule: 5/Week Mon-Fri

Illustrations: Here

After arriving at the Mage Tower.

Leaving Emma in the car, Hajoon and Andre headed towards the entrance of the Mage Tower.

The Mage Tower, famous for its strict inspection of outsiders' entry, strangely allowed Hajoon and President Andre to enter without such rigorous procedures.

That was because Halz Matildon, the president of the Mage Tower, was waiting at the entrance.

As President Andre had said, they could feel the urgency, even if they didn't know the reason.

"I heard you captured the magical beast."

Andre, waiting at the entrance, shook hands with Halz Matildon and started the conversation.

With a solemn expression, she nodded and responded.

"Yes, we did capture it, to put it simply."

"How exactly did you capture it..."

"Let's walk and talk. Come, this way."

There was an unmistakable anxiety on her face.

This made Hajoon curious.

It was strange for her to be so anxious about a magical beast they had managed to capture and seal.

Hajoon and Andre followed Halz Matildon's lead and took an elevator down to the basement.

During the descent, Halz Matildon finally shared the circumstances.

"You must be aware that this magical beast was captured during our exploration of one of the worst areas near the abyss."

Andre nodded at her words.

Standing beside Andre, Hajoon listened intently to her.

"Many casualties occurred during the capture of the magical beast. Nearly eighty mages died. To be honest, we had no intention of capturing it alive. It would be more accurate to say we were merely trying to survive the encounter with that monster."

This was the story they had heard before coming here.

More than eighty mages died in the process of capturing the magical beast.

"We had no confidence that all the mages of our Mage Tower combined could stop that monster."

Halz Matildon, the president of the Mage Tower.

The Halz Matildon they had seen before had not been without her dogmatic sides, but the demeanor she displayed now was that of a wise owner of the Mage Tower.

The sea creature that had stirred up Korea.

Even though they had achieved the feat of capturing a magical beast of equal power to that sea creature, she showed no pride in the accomplishment.

Honestly, Hajoon had thought she would have something to complain about to him.

After all, despite his opposition and assertion that it couldn't be done, the Mage Tower had succeeded in capturing the magical beast, rendering his statement null.

"You were right, Irregular."

Then, turning to Hajoon, she spoke.

"That is not a being that humans can confront."

Halz Matildon, the president of the Mage Tower, declared.

That being was not something humans could confront.

Hearing her assertion made it even more curious.

"So, how did you capture it?"

Her words made it sound more like the mages had been annihilated in the process of capturing it rather than a successful capture.

But the outcome was its capture.

Hajoon looked at her with a puzzled face and asked, and she shook her head in response to his question.

"We did capture it, but not with our own power."

"How then…?"

"The magical beast suddenly stopped moving."

"…?"

"Specifically, during the capture, or rather, the subjugation process, it just stopped moving, allowing us to capture it."

Ding-

As she finished her explanation, the elevator reached the last floor underground.

Her gaze moved beyond the elevator doors as she continued.

"Let's go. Seeing it for yourself will be quicker."

With that, the elevator doors opened, revealing the underground space of the Mage Tower.

A space entirely made of marble flooring.

It was so vast that it seemed like it could fit four soccer fields.

And at the center of that place.

A giant golem in human form caught Hajoon's eye.

About fifty mages were attached to the giant, lying on the floor with its eyes closed, sealing its body with chain magic.

Soon, Hajoon understood why the Mage Tower was so anxious.

The chain magic and the blue barrier around the giant's body,

Crackle-

kept breaking and reforming despite the mages' best efforts to maintain it. Halz Matildon, watching this with a grave face, turned to Hajoon and spoke.

"This being is beyond what our Mage Tower can handle. We need your help, Irregular. The creature before us cannot be killed with our magic."

It seemed he now roughly understood what she wanted.

A being too threatening to be left alive, yet also impossible to kill.

The Mage Tower had captured such a being, though it was beyond their ability to handle.

It must have been an unavoidable choice for them.

Leaving it alone was not an option, as it was a magical beast located in the worst zone closest to human cities, terrorizing the area.

They must have captured it intending to find a way to kill it later, but even with the beast's eyes closed and it seemingly asleep, they found no way to kill it with their magic.

"I ask you to kill the magical beast, Irregular."

At her request, Hajoon nodded and took out Maharazu, slinging it over his shoulder.

He then approached the giant golem.

After approaching the giant, seemingly about 30 meters tall, he gripped his hammer and asked Philaten.

'Does it look like him?'

-……

It wasn't possible to confirm just by the photo.

Hajoon waited for a moment, holding his hammer, for Philaten's response.

Soon after.

-…This is?!

She recognized something and was shocked, and in the next moment, her urgent words echoed in Hajoon's mind.

-This must be eliminated immediately-

But at that moment,

The situation unfolded in such a way that she could not continue speaking.

"?!"

"How can this be?!"

The mages sealing the giant's body all started to step back in astonishment.

The giant, who had been quietly closing its eyes, suddenly flashed its eyes open.

The next moment.

Boom!!

The ground began to tremble.

The giant's eyes fixed on Hajoon, and it started to slowly rise.

Simultaneously, the magical chains binding the giant began to break effortlessly.

The giant, as if dismissing the sealing magic from the start, easily broke the chains and stood up.

Thump!

Kneeling on one knee, it looked down at Hajoon with a lofty gaze and spoke.

[Horton has…]

A deep, heavy voice came from the giant's mouth.

The oppressive force in that voice began to resonate through the surrounding space.

[Passed on his power to a human.]

Gigantmakia, the king of giants.

The moment he quietly opened his mouth to look down at Hajoon,

Explosive magical power burst from his body, swirling around the area.

The moment it rose, Philaten's voice filled with self-reproach was heard.

-I was mistaken.

Philaten continued in a serious tone.

-The giant before us is indeed Gigantmakia, but it does not possess a real body.

'What do you mean?'

-That is merely a puppet controlled by him. His real body exists elsewhere.

In other words, the thing emitting magical power equal to the other kings was just a puppet controlled by the king of giants.

Hajoon narrowed his eyes as he looked up at it.

He had not expected a mere puppet controlled by him to possess such immense magical power.

Then, the king of giants looked down at Hajoon and continued.

[Three kings have died. Was it you?]

The giant quietly emitted an oppressive aura as it asked.

Hajoon immediately responded.

"Yes."

[Hahahaha! How amusing. A human has taken revenge for Horton…]

His laughter quietly filled the space.

At that moment, he began to rise slowly.

Boom, boom, boom!!

The marble floor cracked and trembled as if an earthquake had occurred.

The magical power emanating from his gigantic body started to crack the surrounding walls.

Seeing this, Halz Matildon's eyes began to tremble violently.

"The Mage Tower…"

The Mage Tower, known as the bastion of magicians…

Was starting to crack simply from the magical beast's power.

She could not be unaware that this was a prelude to the tower's collapse.

[Because you killed the king of humans, the contract with him has been nullified.]

Gigantmakia, having fully risen, looked down at Hajoon and continued.

[He thought, as befits the king of humans, that the humans of this world deserved to live.]

The magical power bursting from his body.

It shook the space around and created cracks in the walls of the Mage Tower.

Gigantmakia was intent on bringing down this tower.

With a fierce momentum rising, he looked down at Hajoon and spoke.

[There's no need to adhere to that contract anymore.]

Boom!!

The moment Gigantmakia unleashed his power, the ceiling's falling rocks started to drop around Hajoon.

With flashing eyes and a fierce grin, he yelled towards Hajoon,

[Human who has inherited Horton's magical power!]

His gigantic hand slowly started to reach towards Hajoon.

[If you have inherited Horton's will.]

Thump! Thump!

Among the falling rocks,

The moment Gigantmakia's hand reached close to Hajoon,

His words continued.

[Let us resume the 'War of Destruction' that the kings of the past initiated!]

With his words, magical power exploded in all directions.

At that moment,

Hajoon's eyes, shining brightly, fixed on him.

"Stop."

His calm voice echoed around.

It was a monotonous voice, yet it seemed to carry a deep resonance.

Yet, with Hajoon's single word, the phenomenon that occurred around caused a disturbance even to Gigantmakia, the king of giants.

[This is…]

The falling rocks around him stopped in mid-air.

Simultaneously, the cracks in the Mage Tower's walls caused by his magical power also stopped progressing instantly.

It was as if time had stopped, filling the space with a profound silence.

Step- step-

In that silent space, Hajoon slowly approached him.

[Giant King Gigantmakia.]

Golden magical power surged from Hajoon's body.

The power of destruction, capable of annihilating everything, began to envelop the giant's entire body.

His voice was rough, as if chewing on something, yet it was a voice that seemed to overlap with several others, along with the power of destruction.

[If you can kill me, then try.]

[...Horton.]

The moment the giant heard Hajoon's voice, its eyes showed significant disturbance.

As he murmured the name of the past owner of the destructive power in a low voice,

Hajoon swung his hammer towards him.

Whoosh!! Thud!!!

The moment Maharazu, which had grown as large as the giant, reached him, it swept across the giant's body.

The giant's body was flung against the wall by Hajoon's enlarged Maharazu.

With a massive sound, the giant's body, smashed against the Mage Tower's wall, turned into dirt and scattered in all directions.

Hajoon approached what remained of the giant's head.

Lifting Maharazu above towards the giant's head, he continued,

[I'll find you first and grant your death.]

With those words, Hajoon once again enlarged his hammer and struck down towards him.

Thud!!

The giant's head instantly turned into dirt and scattered in all directions.