Checkmate
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Wyvernwing 3rd, Caelumoria, Zodiac Warriors' Strategy Room, 8:16 PM.
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Asterius walked into the room, his arms outstretched in a welcoming gesture and a broad smile on his face.
"My precious daughter, I've missed you," he exclaimed in a honeyed tone.
Maya narrowed her eyes warily, her hands tightening around the hilts of her swords, ready to strike at any moment.
Ignoring Maya's tension, Asterius persisted, "Come on, Maya, don't be like that. Give your father a hug."
But Maya remained immobile, unyielding to Asterius's request.
Instead, she hurled one of her swords toward him with lightning-fast speed.
Asterius dodged with ease, but Maya teleported to where the sword landed, her other sword poised to strike.
Asterius was prepared, however, and parried her blow with his sword.
"You're getting better," he remarked, a glint of amusement in his eyes.
"But you're still not fast enough." As he plucked a strand of Maya's hair from the air, he licked it.
Maya felt a surge of anger, but she suppressed it, knowing that losing her composure would only lead to defeat.
Maya charged towards Asterius once again, and the room filled with the sound of their footsteps as they moved around each other in a deadly dance.
Their swords clashed, but there was no sound, only a silent meeting.
Asterius was impressed by Maya's skill and observed, "You're using them as if they're daggers. Amusing. You could chop my head off in mere seconds if I let my guard down."
Maya shifted her stance once again, her swords glinting in the dim light of the room.
Asterius watched her carefully, waiting for the right moment to strike.
"Why don't you summon another constellation?" he taunted. "Scared that your consciousness will be consumed by the other constellations?"
Maya ignored his taunts and charged forward, her swords flashing like lightning as she closed in on Asterius.
But as she lunged towards him, Asterius deftly sidestepped her attack and teleported onto his sword mid-air, which was still spinning from his previous throw.
He used the momentum to launch himself towards Maya, his swords at the ready.
Suddenly, Maya teleported onto her sword, which was flying towards Asterius, and used it as a platform to launch herself toward him.
With a deadly scissor motion, she swung her swords at Asterius's head.
He barely had time to react, but he managed to teleport onto his other sword, which was hovering nearby, and dodge out of the way.
As Maya's swords passed by, Asterius felt a strange sensation, as if time itself had slowed down.
The swords had the power to freeze their opponents in time, and Asterius knew that if he wasn't careful, he could be caught in their icy grip.
But Maya was too quick for him, and he managed to evade her attack.
Maya and Asterius continued their intense battle, their swords clashing and ringing through the silent room.
They moved with fluid grace, each anticipating the other's next move.
Maya's eyes burned with determination as she pushed herself to the limit, her mind focused on defeating her opponent.
Asterius matched her blow for blow, his face calm and collected, as he defended himself with practiced ease.
As they fought, they teleported onto their swords, using them as platforms to launch themselves toward each other.
The air crackled with energy as they moved through the air, their swords glinting in the dim light of the room.
Maya knew she was getting closer to victory, but Asterius was not one to give up easily.
He was an experienced fighter, and his skills were on par with hers.
Maya had to be careful not to let her guard down, or she would risk losing the fight.
Suddenly, Asterius saw his chance.
As Maya lunged towards him, he teleported onto his sword, which he had thrown earlier, and used its momentum to launch himself towards her.
Maya barely had time to react as he struck her with his swords, causing her to collapse to the ground, frozen in time.
Asterius looked down at Maya's frozen body, the swords still piercing her flesh.
"Shall I use you now? But you won't let out any sound, so I'll unfreeze you to let time flow," he said with an evil grin on his face.
"Resume!" he shouted, reversing the effects of the swords and allowing time to flow normally.
Maya's body unfroze, and she gasped for breath as she came back to life.
Her eyes widened in horror as she saw Asterius looming over her, his face twisted with madness.
"Welcome back, my daughter," he sneered.
"Or should I say..."
"MY WIFE?"
He laughed maniacally, and Maya knew she was in deeper trouble than ever before.
...
A faint sound of running was heard from the room, and Mika appeared.
"Maya!" he exclaimed. "The man who was in the meteorite has escaped. I followed the sound, and it seems he stopped h--"
Before Mika could finish his sentence, he saw the gruesome scene.
The vice-captain was frozen in the corner, while the captain cried as the man grabbed her front hair and laughed.
'What is the man doing to her? Why is she crying? How did the captain lose? When did this happen? Where is everybody else?' These were the thoughts running through Mika's mind.
"Mika! Where are you?" A faint sound of running and shouting was heard from the room, and Airi appeared.
"There you are! Why did we come back here?" Airi asked.
"Are they your friends?" Asterius asked while gazing at Maya.
"Please, just leave them be," Maya cried.
"Let me throw a sword or two, just for fun," Asterius said as he effortlessly threw his sword towards Airi.
Mika immediately blocked the sword for Airi.
"N-" he wasn't able to hear Airi's voice as he teleported to the blank white space.
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Unknown, Unknown, ?:?? EM.
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"It's getting repetitive now," Mika said as he stared into the blank white space and then stopped his heart from beating.
...
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Wyvernwing 3rd, Caelumoria, Zodiac Warriors' Strategy Room, 8:36 PM.
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"-Oooo? You're unhurt?" Airi said.
"Good grief, it's the same time-stopping ability that Maya's swords have," Mika said as he started rotating his arm to stretch.
"Impossible, how did you escape it? No one has been able to do it," Asterius said, amused.
"Beats me. I just wanted to finish a quest, but I got into a 12-month prolonged war and then a random maniac using time-stopping swords appeared," Mika said.
Asterius immediately threw another sword at him.
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Unknown, Unknown, ?:?? EM.
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"Oh, come on," Mika said as he stared into the blank white space and then stopped his heart from beating.
...
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Wyvernwing 3rd, Caelumoria, Zodiac Warriors' Strategy Room, 8:36 PM.
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"What are you trying to do?" Mika asked.
Asterius summoned his sword back and threw it in an attempt to freeze Mika.
It hit him, but after a second, he was immediately able to move.
[System: New ability unlocked! <Extreme Focus>]
"Hmm, what's this? Oh, it's an ability. I can't use it literally, it's just a passive spell," Mika muttered as he was hit by another sword that was thrown at him.
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Unknown, Unknown, ?:?? EM.
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"Well, I still don't have any spells so far. I want to throw a fireball or something," Mika continued and then stopped his heart from beating.
...
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Wyvernwing 3rd, Caelumoria, Zodiac Warriors' Strategy Room, 8:36 PM.
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As Mika got closer and closer to him, Asterius tried to feint him by resummoning his sword before it hit him.
"Haa!" Asterius laughed as he observed Mika's body falling lifeless.
[System Alert: Warning! Player's heart is not beating.]
'Even when I'm not conscious, I can still hear that annoying alert. What a drag,' thought someone who had just casually stopped their heart from beating.
"I don't know what you just did, but I'm gonna take it as my wi...n?" Asterius looked back at Mika as he stood up and continued to march toward him.
"Good grief, I should have seen that coming. Such a cheap trick will do you no good," Mika said.
"I don't have whatever you call a 'System stance' or 'System pact,' or even eyes that can control constellations, but I am able to fully utilize this weak body of mine at its peak form," he said as he cracked his knuckles and neck.
"Alright, do your best. Try and hit me. I will take it head-on," Asterius taunted.
'No single human being can even knock me up in this continent. Even this self-proclaimed "peak form something" is no different,' someone thought as he challenged the main protagonist of the story.
"I'm going to call this 'The Almighty Fist Strike That Caused The Mightiest and Most Indomitable Beast on the Face of the Earth to Grovel and Kneel in Submission' punch," he said.
As he finished his sentence, he sent Asterius crashing to the ground, and the earth beneath him shattered.
His eyes no longer shone with a bright light as he dropped lifelessly.
The swords that had been on the ground disappeared.
The vice-captain who had been frozen in time resumed movement.
And twenty-one scratches on reality appeared with the faint sound of "What? A way out? FINALLY I HAVE GONE INSANE!" shouted one of the soldiers who had been trapped.
Mika looked up to the ceiling, "Ha! Time-stopping is overrated," he scoffed.
[+100000 Exp]
[Obtained: Steam Strider x1]
[Obtained: Bottled solid x1]
[Leveled up]
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...
...
'So the sword that shattered the meteor when my teacher told me the story was actually due to the power of Draco, not Gemini.' Maya thought to herself.