[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
Oscar looked around.
Everything except himself was frozen in place.
The halted air and wind, even the mana that had lost its destination and solidified.
‘So this is the influence of Absolute Stasis.’
It went without saying, but this was his first time seeing it used in actual combat.
And his impression of it...
There was no other way to describe it besides beautiful.
Because the entire frozen world felt like a single work of art.
Oscar shifted his gaze.
The five Spatial Slashes he had created were descending toward Ado Vail.
An inevitable killing combination that could neither be blocked nor reacted to.
“Farewell.”
Even though the words fell like a death sentence, Ado Vail remained standing still.
Judging from the fine tremors running through his body, he was probably trying to resist with all his might.
However, a body already trapped within the domain of Absolute Stasis could no longer move in the slightest.
That was what Oscar thought in that moment.
A small change appeared in Ado Vail’s body.
The corners of his lips had risen slightly—just slightly.
The moment Oscar saw that, his eyes shook.
‘Why?’
Why was the thing he moved with such desperate effort the corner of his mouth?
At the very least, he could have understood moving a finger.
That could be interpreted as an act meant to somehow cast magic and resist.
But the corner of his mouth?
Couldn’t that only be interpreted as him moving in order to smile from the very beginning?
An inexplicable sense of unease washed over him.
Just as Oscar tried to shake off the feeling by increasing the speed of the Spatial Slashes—
Swaaaash!
A sound rang out.
From behind.
‘Behind?’
The moment he hurriedly turned his head, he saw three blades flying out from deep within the forest.
Deleting everything they touched with their edges as they approached, they were unmistakably spatial magic.
‘Wait, those are definitely...’
The magic Ado Vail had used at the very start of the battle to cut down every tree in the surroundings.
Oscar’s last memory of them was watching them indiscriminately slice through the forest before vanishing deeper inside.
‘Then why are they only now...’
Oscar’s eyes widened for an instant.
‘Don’t tell me... Ado Vail predicted this entire situation from the start?’
Not that it was impossible.
No, rather, it would be strange if he hadn’t.
Just as the Thought Entity knew his capabilities, Ado Vail also knew the Thought Entity’s capabilities.
‘Then from the very first attack, he prepared for this exact moment?’
Swaaaash!
Oscar’s gaze locked onto the approaching blades.
The direction they were coming from lay outside the domain of Absolute Stasis.
In other words, behind the Thought Entity.
‘If I kill that bastard as things are now...’
The Thought Entity’s body would be shredded apart from behind and erased.
He was currently in a state of No Mind, No Self.
He had not even recognized this situation.
“Damn it.”
Grinding his teeth, Oscar made a split-second decision.
Three of the five Spatial Slashes abruptly spun around and charged toward the incoming blades.
‘Two are enough to kill a frozen target.’
He even deliberately created a time gap.
First, intercept the blades.
Then, exactly 0.5 seconds later, the remaining two Spatial Slashes would pierce Ado Vail.
‘The plan is perfect.’
The Spatial Slashes controlled through delicate mana manipulation collided at a moment that could practically be called simultaneous.
Kagagagak!
The violently rotating spatial blades shattered apart.
After confirming it, Oscar quickly turned his head toward Ado Vail.
‘It worked.’
The two Spatial Slashes had already reached right before him.
The instant Oscar unconsciously clenched both fists—
Flash!
A burst of light erupted from behind him, momentarily illuminating the dirt ground.
The sound came after.
KWA-AAAAANG!
Together with a violent explosion, a powerful wave of mana strong enough to shake the entire forest slammed into his back.
‘An explosion? Don’t tell me...’
A chilling cold spread over the pain boring into his back.
Explosion upon destruction.
Unless such a property had been intentionally built into the magic from the moment it was created, this situation made no sense.
‘He anticipated and prepared all the way to this point from the very first move?’
Realizing his thoughts and actions had been read, Oscar ground his teeth hard.
Barely managing to turn his head, he looked toward the Thought Entity.
Just like himself, the man had been caught in the explosion, but vitality returned to his transparent eyes.
Which meant No Mind, No Self had been broken.
“Damn.......”
Before he could even finish speaking—
As though the frozen world was demanding compensation for its halt—
Everything began rushing forward at a mad pace together with the aftermath of the explosion.
“Ghk, cough! Cough!”
His body, blasted away by the immense impact, rolled across the dirt ground.
A scorching heat flared from his back along with the coughing, but that was not what mattered right now.
Barely lifting his head, Oscar stared ahead through the thick cloud of dust.
A lone figure stood motionless.
So still that it was impossible to tell whether he was alive or dead.
Soon the dust settled, revealing Ado Vail standing firmly in place.
“Hm.”
A relaxed voice still slipped through his lips.
Slowly narrowing his eyes halfway open, Ado Vail looked down at Oscar sprawled on the ground.
“That was quite a convincing strategy. You almost killed this old man. I shall praise you for that.”
“......How?”
At Oscar’s trembling voice, Ado Vail tilted his head slightly.
“How? Ahh. You’re wondering how I noticed your strategy?”
Letting out a scoff, he grinned.
“It’s because, aside from the combination involving Absolute Stasis and Spatial Slash, I simply could not envision a future where this old man loses.”
The one and only defeat condition he could predict because of his absolute confidence in his own abilities.
If he knew that, then naturally, using it against them was easy enough.
“That’s.......”
Oscar bit down hard on his teeth.
His head spun.
Not because of the aftereffects of the explosion.
But because of the pressure brought on by a wrong decision and the irreversible situation it had created.
‘Once again, I...’
The trauma related to the Great Emperor was slowly beginning to rise again when—
“Blink.”
With that quiet murmur, the surrounding scenery changed in an instant.
“Cough! Cough!”
Just like Oscar, the Thought Entity had also been lying on the ground, coughing from overexerting himself with forced magic use.
Of course, the damage from the explosion itself had not been that great.
From the start, the purpose of the explosion had merely been to break 『Absolute Stasis』.
“Hoo.”
After catching his breath for a moment, he rose as though nothing had happened and brushed the dirt off his knees and shoulders.
Then he stared directly at Oscar and asked,
“How long does a young man intend to keep lying there?”
Oscar pressed his lips together and stood up.
The Thought Entity approached him and brushed the dirt off his clothes.
“Throw away that expression that looks like you’re about to cry. Anyone seeing you would think you made the wrong choice.”
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
“But because of me.......”
“Do not misunderstand.”
The expression of the Thought Entity, who had placed both hands on Oscar’s shoulders, turned serious.
“You chose the best possible judgment you could make in that situation. Even the original body would have done the same.”
“......Even if you say that, the result still turned out badly, didn’t it?”
“What an amusing thing to say.”
The Thought Entity wore an expression as though he genuinely could not understand.
“Do you think there exists a person who goes through life making nothing but correct choices?”
“That... probably not. But my situation is different from ordinary people, isn’t it?”
“Then tell me. In what way are you so different from them?”
Strangely enough, he had no answer to that question.
Because he was special?
No.
Rather, he had never once thought of himself as special.
He did possess talent in magic, but talented mages were common enough to be found everywhere.
“You cannot answer, can you? Because there is nothing that makes you different from them.”
“Listen carefully. Every human being makes mistakes and stumbles. Since you still have a long life ahead of you, you will undoubtedly continue making many mistakes in the future as well. And each time that happens, are you going to droop like this with an expression ready to burst into tears?”
Pat, pat.
The Thought Entity tapped Oscar’s shoulder.
Though the hand was incredibly small and light, for some reason it felt heavy today.
“You are certainly a special human being, but that does not mean you are someone who must never fail. If you fall, then rise again. Please do not impose standards upon yourself that are far too harsh.”
Oscar stayed silent for a long while before giving a small nod.
“Thank you.”
“And have you perhaps ever heard this saying? That one learns nothing from victory, but can learn everything from defeat.”
“......It’s my first time hearing it.”
“Then make sure to remember it. It’s quite a good saying.”
Though their one decisive killing combination had failed, the Thought Entity spoke without shrinking back.
“What do you think our cause of defeat was?”
“I suppose the problem was that our strategy was seen through.”
“Exactly. That’s precisely it. Just as I knew the opponent well, the opponent also knew me too well. That was our fatal mistake.”
The Thought Entity smacked his lips.
“Of course, I thought that earlier combination was something impossible to stop even if one understood it...... but it seems the one who was wrong was not you, but me.”
“Is there any way to win?”
“Hmm? What are you talking about? Didn’t the opponent himself tell us the method to win?”
“Pardon?”
Oscar’s puzzled frown relaxed slightly.
“Don’t tell me.......”
“Yes. Didn’t that fellow clearly say it with his own mouth? That aside from the combination of Absolute Stasis and Spatial Slash, he could not envision a future where he loses.”
In other words, that very combination of those two magics was enough to defeat him for certain.
Oscar asked,
“But I’ve heard Absolute Stasis consumes mana, mental strength, and willpower to a ridiculous degree. Can you use it again immediately?”
“Hmm? I cannot. I would need a full four days to recover my energy.”
“Then how.......”
Tap.
The Thought Entity pointed at Oscar with his index finger.
“Isn’t there you?”
“Pardon?”
“That fellow does not suspect in the slightest that you can use Absolute Stasis. Since under normal circumstances, it is impossible.”
But he himself could theoretically use 『Absolute Stasis』.
Though it was close to a loophole, and came with the minor risk of losing random emotions......
“Understood.”
Oscar nodded heavily.
“I’ll try it.”
Ado Vail did not pursue the two of them and instead waited in that very same spot.
“You’re late.”
Rising slowly from where he had been sitting on a chopped tree stump, he lightly rolled his neck.
“Since there is nowhere to run in this place anyway, let us not waste unnecessary energy on each other.”
“That is true.”
The Thought Entity nodded.
“Let us settle this here.”
“Heh, still acting tough, I see.”
Ado Vail curled one side of his lips upward.
Through the previous battle, they had already exhausted 『Absolute Stasis』.
Which meant the only thing he needed to be wary of now was 『Spatial Slash』.
‘Though if there is one variable.......’
His gaze turned toward Oscar.
‘That brat handles Spatial Slash quite freely.’
Oscar and the Thought Entity.
He needed to avoid the Spatial Slashes the two of them would bombard him with.
Other magic would be one thing, but those were not something you walked away from unscathed the moment they touched you.
“Begin whenever you are ready.”
The Thought Entity did not bother refusing Ado Vail’s leisurely proposal.
“My thanks.”
Immediately afterward, mana surged from his entire body and tore cracks into space.
“......There are quite a lot.”
What appeared throughout the sunset sky were no fewer than sixteen Spatial Slashes.
Shaped like inverted crosses, they even looked holy at a glance.
“Here I come.”
At those words, Ado Vail nodded and glanced toward Oscar, who was simply standing still.
‘Is that guy planning to use Spatial Slash later?’
Well, if he intended to aim for an opening on this side, creating it during the midst of intense combat would indeed be better.
Though naturally, Ado Vail had no intention of letting such a chance slip by him.
Piiiiing!
Together with a clear ringing sound, the Spatial Slashes floating in the sunset sky descended.
KWA-AAAAANG!
Despite their thin and slender forms, their explosive force was tremendous.
The dirt ground exploded apart, and the instant Ado Vail lightly leapt into the air to evade—
Ping! Piping!
The waiting Spatial Slashes rushed toward him.
“Hm.”
Ado Vail did not hurry and calmly dodged each attack one by one.
Even amid that, his eyes occasionally drifted toward Oscar.
‘......He’s still standing there?’
Just as he became utterly unable to predict what the boy was waiting for—
The moment Ado Vail saw his opponent’s eyes gradually turning transparent, his face twisted.
“What? What is this nonsense......?”
『Absolute Stasis』—something he himself could not use due to the impatience brought on by madness.
And a mere level 7 mage was attempting it?
It was an absurd attempt.
If attempted a hundred times, it would obviously fail a hundred times.
“You insolent brat...... yes, I suppose you have no choice but to gamble on something like this.”
Ado Vail forced himself to deny the unease creeping into his heart as he mocked the two of them to the fullest.
Then—
“Hm?”
For an instant, it felt as though the world had slowed down.
And the moment his gaze instinctively turned toward Oscar while searching for the reason—
『Absolute Stasis』
The world stopped.
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]

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