Chapter 291 Strength Means Nothing
Time rewinds a little.
Just a few minutes before Aaron reaches Fiona, right after she completely obliterated the [Evil God] that had transformed into a fiery embodiment.
Without a hint of carelessness, she was actually being even more cautious, keeping an eye on her surroundings.
"......"
About a minute passed.
"Could it be... I really defeated her...?"
Not seeing any reactions around her made Fiona's vigilance relax just a bit.
That said, she didn't let her guard down on her [magical energy sense] or her future sight.
If, by any chance, the [Evil God] was hiding nearby using some kind of scout skill, waiting for an opening, she felt confident she could react in time.
Fiona's thoughts were not wrong.
Even if it was a surprise attack from [Unmoving Awareness Perception], with her future sight now awakened, Fiona would have been able to dodge it easily.
And then──
"──!! She's still alive──!!?"
Fiona's future sight showed her images. She couldn't perceive the movements of magical energy in the future.
So, the overwhelming magical energy approaching from behind was sensed through her [magical energy sense].
An attack from the enemy. What kind of magic was released from the shining magical energy? Even if she was engulfed by a tsunami of magical energy that exploded and spread all around, Fiona was confident she could either dodge or defend against it. She immediately prepared for a high-speed move with [Flash Strike], trying to read the trajectory of the enemy's attack with her future sight.
But.
(Is the attack not coming?)
Even if it's less than a second into the future, in the middle of high-speed combat that exceeds human limits, it means being able to see attacks several moves ahead.
However, in Fiona's view of the future, she can't see the [Evil God], the trajectory of magic attacks, or even her own form being attacked. All she sees in the future is just herself, on guard, just like now.
That's why Fiona couldn't realize what kind of magic it was.
Pseudo Time Magic────[Time Stop]
This magic spreads magical energy in a space, creating an area where time is temporarily stopped.
Of course, even in the Age of Gods, true time magic hasn't been developed. This magic temporarily halts the material state variations within the area, but it doesn't actually stop the flow of time.
Therefore──even if Fiona is hit by [Time Stop], her future sight still works without any issues.
Still──if she gets hit by [Time Stop], her brain activity temporarily halts, and her consciousness also stops. Because of this, she can only see the future for less than a second after [Time Stop] is activated.
If this were true time magic, Fiona would have been able to somehow avoid the next attack.
With true time magic, she would have been able to see the future from the moment time resumed, so instead of waiting to dodge the [Evil God]'s attack by seeing her own future, she would have desperately escaped from the area where the magical energy was spread.
However, this is not true time magic. The time marked in the world never stops, not even for a moment, and continues to be marked.
In other words, within the stopped area, future sight only shows unchanging scenes, and it halted Fiona's ability from the moment her consciousness stopped.
──A few seconds.
Waiting for the influence of Fiona's future sight to definitely fade, the [Evil God] "teleported" behind Fiona, who had turned around.
A teleportation within the stopped space.
This is also a feat possible only because it is Pseudo Time Magic.
To avoid being seen by Fiona, the [Evil God] appeared behind her, but her expression was slightly tense.
"Oh, that was close...!!"
This was because there had been unexpected developments leading to this checkmate situation.
"I never expected Fiona to defeat my clone without a heavy attribute weapon...!!"
Clone.
The one who had kidnapped Fiona to this place and fought as a flame was merely a clone of the [Evil God].
That said, it was a clone that had half of the physical body, and its memories and abilities were no different from the original. In other words, it was more accurate to call it another main body rather than just a clone.
"I never thought she would awaken her future sight..."
This time, the [Evil God] thoroughly avoided direct combat with Aaron Gale. To do that, she split herself into 2, keeping the chosen main body here, activating [Unmoving Awareness Perception] to wait.
Originally, the plan was to take advantage of the opening while Fiona was fighting the clone and decide the match.
But during the battle, Fiona awakened her ability to see the future, which messed up the plan.
A surprise attack means nothing against someone who can see the future. She can sense an unexpected future, so she can't catch them off guard.
Moreover, even though [Evil God] was careful not to kill her, being defeated by Fiona was something she hadn't anticipated.
──If I take too long, that guy will show up here.
──Should I just consider this a failure and escape outside the labyrinth?
She thought about that, but at the last moment, [Evil God] realized something. Because Fiona had awakened this new ability to see the future, she had created an opening.
Since Fiona could see the future, she was able to counterattack with minimal dodging. Or rather, because her dodges were so precise, she kept avoiding attack after attack.
Because that was now possible, when [Evil God] released magical energy all around, Fiona didn't escape the area of magical energy but instead waited for [Evil God]'s attack.
The fact that [Evil God] was using a powerful area attack while trying not to kill her only encouraged that decision.
"Heh, hehehe...!! Well, no matter what, this means my victory is assured."
It was an unexpectedly close victory, but a win is a win.
[Evil God] transformed her right arm into a dark red tentacle mixed with golden streaks and reached for Fiona's neck.
"If I can just get Fiona... no matter how strong that person is, strength means nothing...!!"
Then, the tentacle struck Fiona's neck.
[Evil God] merged with Fiona.
Assimilation complete in just a few dozen seconds.
Fiona's eyes turned golden, and from her back spread 6 pairs of pure white wings.
"──Ehehe."
Now transformed into [Evil God] herself, Fiona wore a loving smile──no longer running or hiding, she awaited Aaron Gale.
In that moment.
"Oh?"
Suddenly, [Evil God] noticed something and gently placed a hand on her lower abdomen.
"My! Fiona, you...!"
[Evil God]──Miriallia loves humanity equally.
So, even when sensing the presence of a foreign object within her body, she didn't think to eliminate it.
After all, it was still a part of the humanity she should love.
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