Ch-21 < Kevin vs Chronoa >

Kevin smiled, his calmness almost unnerving. "You've come all this way for him? I admire your dedication. But you're fighting a battle you cannot win."

Without warning, Chloe launched her first attack—a blazing Holy Cannon, a ray of golden light made up of spritrons, aimed directly at Kevin.

The energy, made of spirtrons—particles capable of bypassing space-time—raced toward him. But Kevin merely raised his hand, summoning a crystalline barrier around himself. The golden light collided with the barrier, but it dispersed harmlessly.

Hinata's heart sank as she watched her attack dissipate. "That was supposed to bypass all spatial barriers..." she whispered.

In her mindscape, Chloe's voice echoed. "That's Velzard's ability, the Ice Dragon's Crystal Barrier. How is Kevin using that?"

Chronoa asked aloud, her voice laced with confusion, "How do you possess Velzard's power?"

Kevin's smile deepened as his aura surged, sending waves of pressure in every direction. "There's no need for you to worry about that," he said calmly. "Your attacks are meaningless here."

The air around them trembled under the sheer force of it. Chloe, stunned, communicated to Hinata in her mind, "His aura… it rivals a True Dragon's!"

Before Chloe could respond, Kevin moved. Using Starboard—a technique that harnessed the propulsion power of stardust—he closed the distance between them in an instant. Chloe barely had time to react as he reached for her mask, tearing it from her face in a swift motion before vanishing again.

"No! Don't!" Chloe screamed, her heart pounding in desperation. "Give it back!" she reaching out as Kevin vanished once again.

Kevin, now holding the ancient mask, inspected it with interest. He could feel the vast temporal energy within it, energy older than even the primordial beings. With a slight exertion of his Finality Aura, cracks began to form on the surface of the mask.

Chloe's eyes widened in horror. "If the mask breaks, then this person possess the ability to break the timeloop!" she screamed in her mind. Fueled by desperation, she summoned her mythical-grade rapier, Moon Mistress, and charged at Kevin.

Kevin, his thought acceleration enhanced to over 100 million times normal speed, could see every movement Chloe made in slow motion. As she lunged toward him, he calmly drew his sword, Ice Edge, meeting her strike head-on. The sound of metal clashing echoed across the landscape, sending shockwaves that tore through the surroundings.

In his mind, Kevin's wives, watching from afar, communicated with him telepathically. "Do you need us to step in?" Jyahnar asked, her concern evident.

Kevin, still focused on the battle, responded, "No, just put up a barrier. We don't need to destroy more than necessary."

Chloe's movements became sluggish as Kevin's authority over ice seeped into her body, freezing the energy within her.

Chronoa gritted her teeth, feeling her body slowing down. She glanced down and realized her movements had become sluggish. "What… what's happening?"

Hinata explained from within Chloe's mind. "It's not just physical ice. He can freeze the energy within your body, slowing down your movements."

"We need to create some distance!" Chloe shouted internally.

Chloe attempted to retreat, but Kevin was relentless. As their swords clashed again, he landed a heavy blow to her solar plexus, sending her flying backward, crashing into the ground.

In her mindscape, Hinata activated her skill Mathematician, analyzing Kevin's moves. But even with its predictive calculations, Chloe was at a disadvantage. "He's countering everything," Hinata muttered. "He must also possess calculative powers, similar to mine."

"He's too strong…" Chloe thought, but she gritted her teeth. She wasn't about to give up yet.

Determined, Chloe activated her Infinite Prison, warping the space around Kevin to bind him in layers of complex imaginary numbers. The space distorted, trapping him in a dimensional lock. But with a mere thought, Kevin unleashed the power of the Herrscher of the Void, whose mastery over spatial manipulation far surpassed hers. The prison crumbled to dust as Kevin stepped forward, unaffected.

"It won't work," Kevin said, his voice calm. "Not here, not against me."

Chloe's mind raced, her desperation mounting. Every skill she tried to use, Kevin either countered or neutralized effortlessly.

And then, with a swift movement, Kevin elbowed Chloe with a burst of Authority of Light, sending her flying back once again.

"He's using light and ice together?" Hinata marveled.

But Chloe wasn't done yet. She activated her skill Rewind, restoring her body and resetting the battle around her. Her wounds healed instantly, and she lunged forward with renewed vigor. Melt Slash—a blinding arc of holy energy—tore through the battlefield, aiming directly at Kevin.

Kevin coated his sword with Authority of Darkness and corruption, a power imbued with a deadly virus capable of devouring anything it touched.

Light and darkness collided, the sheer force of the clash shaking the earth beneath them. But Chloe's attack was engulfed by Kevin's darkness, dissolving into nothingness.

Hinata, inside Chloe's mind, felt a moment of panic, but Chloe regained control. "We still have one more chance," Chloe whispered to herself, summoning the full power of her ultimate technique—Absolute Severance.

The sword glowed with the power to cut through anything, and Chloe swung it with all her might. But Kevin, prepared for this, coated his own sword with stardust.

The clash sent shockwaves across the battlefield as Chloe's attack was blown away. She suffered intense damage, her body trembling from the power of the stardust.

When the dust settled, Chloe looked up in disbelief. "What… how…?"

"You've shown me the depths of your power, Hero," Kevin said, his voice calm yet resonating with authority. "And now, it's time for you to return."

In next move, Kevin used the Authority of Finality to manipulate the surrounding space, creating a gateway back to Chloe's world. The weight of his victory echoed through time and dimensions.

Chloe, now enveloped in a radiant light, felt the pull of the exit. "Rimuru…" she whispered, her heart aching as she was swept away, back to the place where she had first activated her time-traveling skill.

Her fight was over, and Kevin had emerged victorious, copying and analyzing all of her skills as if they were his own.