TWEM Vol. 8 Chapter 9
Chapter 9 – Evil God Chronos I
Seated on the throne, Chronos slowly raised one hand and pointed his palm at me.
A moment later, a transparent orb the size of a fist appeared.
Its presence was barely visible, only noticeable due to the shimmering distortion in the air.
At the exact moment I instinctively cast “Space Rupture Barrier – Aegis” in front of me, the orb was already flying straight at me.
But my “Detect Danger” skill screamed in warning, and I leapt away.
The moment Chronos’s attack expanded to about two meters in radius, it swallowed my barrier and the floor beneath it then instantly shrank and vanished.
Had I stayed where I was, I’d be dead. No—erased would be more accurate.
“Oh? You managed to dodge that. I’ll give you credit for trying to defend yourself with a method similar to mine.”
Not exactly a compliment I was happy to receive. I didn’t bother replying.
Chronos continued, unfazed.
“Severing space as a form of defense; impressive, but meaningless.”
“Meaningless…?”
“Yes. I’ll teach you something.”
He held out his palm again, and another transparent orb just like before appeared.
“You know what kind of god I am, don’t you?”
“Time and space… So you’re saying that even space manipulation is meaningless against your attacks.”
“Correct. You’re rather clever, for a High Human.”
So that’s what he meant. Defensive barriers won’t work on him.
Still, it’s not like I can’t do anything at all.
I just need to figure out what will work.
“Then, let’s go again.”
With that, Chronos launched another attack.
I locked eyes on the incoming orb and cast another barrier—”Space Rupture Barrier – Aegis”.
But this time, I deployed it differently.
Instead of shielding myself, I enveloped the orb with the barrier itself.
As expected, the orb began to expand again, but perhaps due to the interference from my barrier, it didn’t grow nearly as large as before and soon fizzled out.
“Hmm. So you changed your approach to defense. Fascinating.”
No surprise there. There’s no way I’d have time to develop a brand-new spell on the fly.
Chronos smirked and kept launching attacks.
I couldn’t block every one of them, so I dodged what I could and blocked the rest with Aegis.
But if I just kept playing defense, I’d never win.
Time to go on the offensive.
I teleported right in front of Chronos.
“Oh? You even use teleportation?”
Chronos was still sitting on his throne, watching me with mild interest.
I drew my blade.
“―‘Cherry Blossom Flash – Extreme’.”
A crimson arc of light tore through the air.
Like before, it was held back for several seconds, then finally pierced the barrier—
—but a new one formed immediately.
“Same result as last time. You break the barrier, and it just regenerates. So how do you plan to deal with that?”
“Yeah, it’s a pain. But… what about beneath you?”
The moment I said that, a massive pillar of flame erupted from beneath our feet, punching through the ceiling.
I backed off and readied myself as the flames died down—
—and saw Chronos still standing there, grinning with amusement.
“Ahahaha! How delightful. No one’s ever tried that before. Truly amusing… but unfortunately, that won’t be enough to reach me.”
Thought so.
He’s got protection in all directions, even from below.
That doesn’t leave many options.
I’d have to rely on something outside of conventional magic.
I channeled mana into my blade and took a stance.
Then I used “Ground Shrink” to instantly close the distance.
Our eyes met.
This time, I put even more mana into my blade than before.
It tore through the barrier before it could regenerate and closed in on Chronos.
This should land.
But—
With a simple motion, Chronos caught my strike barehanded.
“What!?”
I cried out in disbelief.
Chronos just smiled.
“Fascinating. But… you’re still not there yet.”
With a casual flick, he sent me flying.
At this rate, I wasn’t going to win.
Unless I could neutralize or bypass that barrier entirely, Chronos wouldn’t even take me seriously.
I was still reeling when Ellis’s voice echoed in my mind.
《Master, I have a suggestion.》
A suggestion?
《Yes. Here’s what I propose—》
As she laid out her plan, I immediately sensed it could work.
Alright. Let’s try it. I left the timing of the activation to Ellis.
《Understood.》
I began by casting the spell as instructed.
“―‘Niflheim’!”
In an instant, the throne room was transformed into a frozen realm.
But naturally, Chronos remained untouched, protected by his barrier.
“Magic alone can’t break this barrier.”
“I know.”
The reason I used this spell wasn’t to deal damage.
It was to gauge the exact size of his barrier.
I had a vague idea already, but now I could clearly confirm that it extended precisely one meter around him in every direction.
I raised one hand toward Chronos and activated the next spell.
“― ‘Mist’!”
A thick fog filled the room, concealing my presence.
There was no reaction from Chronos, but I pressed on with the plan.
Next, I used a skill to create a clone wielding a blade identical to mine and had it charge at him.
The clone’s mana signature was nearly indistinguishable from mine—he wouldn’t be able to tell the difference.
“Oh…?”
Finally, I heard a curious voice from Chronos.
Shortly after, Ellis spoke up in my mind.
《Master. Preparations are complete. Initiating countdown now.》
Perfect.
The only variable now was whether Chronos would move, but if my prediction was correct, he’d stay right where he was.
Why? Because he didn’t think he could lose.
He believed there was no reason to move in the first place.
That’s why I had to teach this arrogant god a lesson—
Don’t underestimate humanity.
In my head, Ellis’s countdown began to echo.
《Three… two—》
At that exact moment, I slashed toward Chronos’s barrier with my blade.
“― ‘Cherry Blossom Flash – Wild Dance’!”
A flurry of slashes, trailing like scattered cherry blossoms, tore into the barrier—
—and finally, shattered it completely.
It had happened several times already today, but this time was different.
The barrier wasn’t just pierced; it was completely destroyed.
Normally, it would regenerate.
So before that happened—
I fired off a spell!
《One… Activating.》
At Ellis’s signal, a brilliant magic circle flared to life before Chronos’s eyes.
“Oh? Planning to strike before the barrier regenerates? Clever. But if you think such a simple attack can harm me—”
Chronos scoffed. But that spell was just a decoy.
The real one was hidden beneath his feet, cloaked in concealment magic.
“—Of course not. That’s why I brought a different trick.”
“What?”
The decoy spell circle before him vanished.
At the same time, the hidden magic circle beneath him lit up.
Chronos glanced down in surprise.
“When did you…!?”
That was the second time I’d heard true shock in his voice.
With such a flashy spell launched in front of him, and his arrogance blinding him, he hadn’t even noticed what was happening below.
In the next moment, glowing chains wrapped around Chronos’s body.
But these weren’t ordinary chains.
They were enhanced with space-time magic to increase their durability, with a built-in effect that warped the surrounding space, and gravity magic to weigh down the target.
Of course, as the God of Time and Space, Chronos would likely break free quickly…
But I wasn’t about to waste the opportunity.
“― ‘Cherry Blossom Flash – Absolute Truth’!”
A crimson flash tore through space itself.
My blade slashed through both the chains and Chronos’s body.
Chronos raised his head. His face was twisted in rage.
“That wound is the price of your arrogance.”
“—You damn…!”
A dense, murderous aura slammed into me—
So intense, it made me want to crumble on the spot.
But I wouldn’t fall here.
Still glaring, Chronos spoke.
“To have wounded a god such as myself… I’ll grant you praise. I’ll even accept you as one of my subordinates.”
Yeah, that’s not happening.
I spat back a response.
“I’d rather die. Better to fall for the world’s sake than serve you.”
“So be it. Then die to atone.”
Chronos rose from his throne and raised a hand.
“― ‘Severance’.”
As he swung it down, a translucent slash tore toward me.
I instantly deployed multiple layers of “Space Rupture Barrier – Aegis”.
But the barriers were sliced through one by one with ease.
Just as the final layer was torn, I twisted my body—
—and the translucent slash carved through the space beside me.
It tore through the floor, the walls; everything in its path, leaving a gaping scar.
“We’re not done yet, are we?”
With those words, a barrage of identical slashes came flying my way.
Knowing “Space Rupture Barrier – Aegis” wouldn’t hold them back, I used teleportation to escape the attack radius, then aimed my palm at Chronos.
“― ‘Inferno of the Abyss’!”
A hellish blaze surged toward Chronos.
“― ‘Space Warp’.”
Just before impact, Chronos whispered, and the flames twisted around him unnaturally—
Slamming harmlessly into the far wall and setting it ablaze.
“What?! You bent space?”
“You understood that quickly. Consider this your reward.”
Dozens of magic circles flared to life around me, boxing me in.
There was no escape.
I dashed toward one of the circles, slashed it apart with my blade, and broke through the encirclement.
“Oh? You can cut through magic? Impressive.”
“Glad you think so!”
Without pausing, I charged at Chronos again and swung my blade.
But a sharp metallic ring rang out; it had been blocked.
Once again, he used his bare hand. Or so it seemed—
Looking closer, I saw that he had coated his hand in a layer of mana.
I pulled back and reassessed.
That barrier had been troublesome enough, but now he was distorting space to defend himself, too.
Still… I had a feeling I might be able to do something similar.
Ellis. Can I bend space like he did?
《Yes, you can.》
Spoken so casually.
Man, she’s really the best partner anyone could ask for.
Then—can I leave the deployment to you?
《Leave it to me.》
Thanks, partner.
I sheathed my blade and bolted forward, channeling mana and picturing a strike sharp enough that it couldn’t be blocked by bare hands.
Chronos summoned dozens of transparent orbs to float around him.
Most likely the same attack he’d used before. Great for defense, too.
Not only did he use space-time magic, but he was still overwhelmingly stronger than me.
“Well? Can you strike me in this state? Surely you can’t dodge them all.”
“We’ll see.”
With that, I surged forward.
Just as one of the orbs was about to collide with me, Ellis warped space—
And the orb flew harmlessly past me.
“You… stole my technique?”
I rushed in and drew my blade in one smooth motion.
“― ‘Cherry Blossom Flash – Violet Bolt’!”
A crimson bolt of lightning exploded from the slash—
—and Chronos’s arm was severed, sent flying through the air.
“Grgh… I didn’t expect you to push me this far. Very well. I now recognize you as my enemy.”
Chronos grimaced briefly, then—
As if turning back time, the arm I’d just cut off regenerated.
He reached into the void and drew a sword.
I immediately appraised it.
.
| Name: | Sword of the Time God |
| Rarity: | Genesis |
| Note: | The blade that etched the very concept of time into the world. |
.
A Genesis weapon, the highest rarity tier.
It was my first time seeing one.
A cold bead of sweat ran down my forehead.
From here on, even I couldn’t predict what would happen.
This fight was about to become truly brutal.
Chronos pointed the tip of his blade at me.
“Now come—show me your full strength!”
Thanks for the treat.