Chapter 270: He Who Wields Time
Hal inevitably looked the emperor’s way due to the despairing voices of the Imperial Guards.
Time seemed to stop at that moment.
Everyone was busy dealing with their opponents, and Barras, the only one who was in a position to defend the emperor, had already been killed by Kurava.
Humanity’s hope was about to be snuffed out, and the humans were powerless to stop it.
...Until time quite literally stopped for everyone in the Aetherforth Arena—expressions and movements frozen.
No one could move, except for a silver-haired dude who hummed a jolly tune as he leisurely scanned his eyes over everyone from atop the spired roof of the elevated platform, lingering at Hal for a moment before descending.
The emperor’s grim situation was then revealed to the young man.
"Aihh...you trust me way too much, Samael. I know you can hear the thoughts of those who have The Crown’s mark, but what if I decide one day that I’m annoyed at your cunning face and decide not to act according to your calculations, huh?" The silver-haired dude shook his head, shifting his attention to the frozen Kurava, examining him closer.
"So you’re Kurava, huh..." The young man frowned slightly. "The bastards have quite the talented bunch of youngsters."
They were the same age, and as it turned out, the young fellkin had already become an incomplete Seres.
A few more months, and the bastard would’ve been another source of headache for the Imperium.
"Nice try, but your run ends here."
With a simple tap on the forehead, Kurava began to age at a rate visible to the naked eye, then he withered, crumbling to mere ashes.
What the silver-haired dude didn’t expect was that a void spike would suddenly shoot at his forehead, catching him off guard.
There should’ve been nothing that could move inside his Tempus Sphere.
Yet, the lethal projectile viciously shot towards him, impaling deep into his forehead.
The silver-haired young man fell on his back.
As it turned out, Kurava was all too prepared for this moment.
Implanting a Void Spike in one’s heart meant that the young Seres had already planned to perish today, and Kurava’s gamble paid off!
Or so it seemed...
A few moments later, time reverted to when the young Seres wasn’t ash yet, though he was slowly turning into one.
"Alright, let’s try that again." The silver-haired dude spoke, shockingly still alive.
The moment when Kurava turned into ash replayed once more, but this time, the Void Spike was easily dodged.
The next thing Hal knew, the fell assassin was gone, and in his place was the benefactor he met in the Midnight Pixie’s lair.
It was then that the emperor spoke:
"I knew you’d arrive, Kalna."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever."
As it turned out, the silver-haired dude was Kalna, the Magna who wields time magic.
A few things suddenly clicked in Hal’s head, and he momentarily shuddered.
Before the guards even realized, the threat was already resolved.
The emperor survived.
"Well then, I’m off to the northern battlefield. Stop playing with your life, Samael."
In the next moment, Kalna disappeared once more.
Emperor Samael only nodded. Not once did he stop with the ceremony.
Edmund Ra’s ascension has got to be the most chaotic in the Imperium’s history, and the moment the new Earth Magna awakened, fellkin corpses were already being dragged here and there.
***
**
The situation in Aetherforth Arena eventually settled down.
However, the entire empire was abuzz, as those who witnessed the assassination attempt recounted the story to their friends, and those friends told their friends about what happened and more.
A wild theory that the emperor had been assassinated and that the bastard son of the previous emperor was responsible for the assassination, ultimately usurping the throne, would spread in certain towns and cities a week from now.
But Hal and Ennya couldn’t care less about the crazy rumors.
They witnessed what truly happened with their own eyes: Kalna, the Magna of Time, appeared and saved the day, and Edmund Ra’s ceremony was successful.
The two were more preoccupied with their own thoughts about Kalna’s mysterious yet certainly mighty prowess, how Barras was instantly defeated by Kurava, and how they would fare against them.
Hal and Ennya were both Magna Prospects.
Sooner or later, they, too, would ascend.
It was almost written in the stars, as one had unparalleled natural talent and the other, a power granted by a god unlike anyone had ever seen before.
They were certainly different from the likes of Edmund and Barras, who took the conventional path, just based on how old the two were when they fought for a spot among the Magna Novem.
Nonetheless, the fact that the latter got taken out that easily despite a narrow loss made them uneasy.
Does the fell race have more youngsters at the level of that Kurava?
The two didn’t know.
With the ascension ceremony done, the two immediately left the capital, as staying a night there isn’t really a wise financial decision.
Rarely did they chat about anything positive on the way back.
A week later, they were back in Aeloria.
Ennya had recovered her mood three days after the disastrous ascension ceremony, but Hal noticed she would often stare into the distance during their breaks, seemingly deep in thought.
He had also asked the midget about it, but she was being unusually secretive.
Soon, they arrived at the Solbrand Residence, and Ennya disembarked.
"Well then, see you later, midget."
Ennya momentarily froze at the words before responding with a slight stutter:
"Y-Yeah," the midget said in an uncertain manner, leaving Hal slightly worried as he left.
She then followed up with a rather uncharacteristic set of words: "Take care always, Hal..." before turning around and proceeding to enter the residence.
What the hell was going on with her?
Just a week ago, she was extremely lively, but after what happened at the capital, she was suddenly downcast.
’Does she hate training with her master that much?’ was the only explanation Hal could come up with.
He simply couldn’t imagine how the happenings in the ascension ceremony affected her so deeply.
Unfortunately, he, too, had a lot of realizations.
He had to work hard and increase his strength. Perhaps doing so would also indirectly help ease the worries in the midget’s heart.