“What is that? Miss Alice, what’s happening?”
Clara shouted into the walkie-talkie.
“Wasn’t the wormhole beacon up there already shut down?! Is this the witch’s reinforcements?”
“This isn’t a wormhole opened by the beacon! The color’s different! Something’s passing through the wormhole at high speed… Run, she’s coming out!”
Who could the visitor be? And where was the other end of the wormhole?
After Alice’s warning, Clara, who almost made escape an instinct, hugged the hard-won relic and took large steps backward. She even considered jumping down from inside the mainframe.
tap—
When a small foot in high heels stepped out of the wormhole, making a light sound in the empty air, an ice-blue domain spread through the entire computer room at incredible speed starting from that point.
Unable to move, Clara froze in a backward-leaning posture.
But I don’t feel tired?
What is going on?
Not just herself—everything in her field of vision had come to a standstill, including the long hair that had been flying up as she turned. This was just like [Time Stop].
[Time Stop.]
Nyx voiced Clara’s guess.
However, my mind can still think in this frozen time.
Only then did the mysterious visitor completely emerge from the wormhole.
“You there, what are you trying to do to my child?”
She was a noble-looking young girl, about fifteen or sixteen years old, wearing a black, high-slit sleeveless cheongsam with gold embroidery and high heels. Her ice-blue side ponytail swayed as she stepped down from midair on invisible stairs, walking slowly.
Who is she?
Her eyes drooped slightly, and her tone was languid.
Before time was frozen, Clara’s field of vision had just held Kamui, who was also unable to move. But Clara wasn’t sure if Kamui could still think like she could. Or was her own ability to think due to Nyx’s influence?
[Probably. Your body has stopped; normally you wouldn’t be able to think, let alone perceive the outside world.]
Nyx made this guess.
[But the enemy’s power has no effect on Nyx, so your consciousness is temporarily running inside Nyx’s hardware.]
So I’m parasitizing the Drive Unit that’s parasitizing me?
[Yes.]
So who the hell is this? This is no ordinary Executive-level monster! An overpowered time-based ability—this is ridiculous.
[If Nyx is not mistaken, she is the President of the Fourth Calamity, Tang Shuangyu (Frostrain).]
So this incident is also caused by the Fourth Calamity?
The President of an evil organization… Obviously a powerhouse on the same level as the Supreme Leader.
For the leader of one of the top three evil organizations to personally invade the Association—that was way too arrogant. Even with two Top-tier Heroes on site, they probably couldn’t handle her.
[From what I can see, her domain seems to be able to freeze time. Even if it’s a time stop with a range limit, it’s still too absurd.]
Was it confidence in her strength? If she was on the same level as the Supreme Leader, two Top-tier Heroes really wouldn’t cut it.
The Supreme Leader was a “living legend” who had beaten more than ten Top-tier Heroes single-handedly. The President of the Fourth Calamity probably wasn’t that far behind.
But why would a powerhouse of this level appear here?
[She just said “my child.” She’s probably here to save the Snake-Eye Witch.]
So Alice’s information was true. The Fourth Calamity really had recruited the Snake-Eye Witch, who had escaped from the Expo Center scene.
Tang Shuangyu didn’t look at Clara. Instead, she walked straight toward Kamui, who was still holding down the witch.
“Medusa, I’ve come to pick you up.”
That was the witch’s code name, right?
As she said this, the President “gently” pushed Kamui. She “gently” freed the little witch from her hands, then began adjusting Kamui’s pose like she was handling a cloth doll.
Clara watched as she pressed Kamui to the ground and slowly adjusted her into a dogeza apology position—kneeling, forehead to the ground.
“Apologize properly!”
This President’s behavior is a bit childish. So she’s getting even for the little witch?
But she looks kind of tired. Only she can move in the frozen time domain; it must take a big toll. From the start, her movements have been slow and languid. Clara thought it was elegance.
But even just adjusting Kamui’s posture left Tang Shuangyu a bit out of breath. So after that, she first steadied her breathing, then pretended not to care and dispelled the time-freeze domain.
She really cares about saving face. Clara saw it all.
“Huh, why did I…?”
Kamui, inexplicably forced into a dogeza position, looked up and saw Tang Shuangyu before her.
“Who are you?”
The violent maniac reacted quickly. Even as she asked, Kamui swung her fist and attacked.
But she was now facing the leader of an evil organization. Although she didn’t look that strong, her ability to control time was genuinely powerful.
Kamui is going to lose… I have to tell her about the enemy.
But before Clara could speak, another ice-blue domain expanded. Tang Shuangyu, holding Medusa in the frozen time, dodged Kamui’s punch, then dispelled the domain, letting Kamui stumble from the force of her own swing.
How can anyone win against such an opponent?
After some teasing, Tang Shuangyu didn’t intend to kill Kamui, nor did she go after the relic in Clara’s hands.
“—We should go back, Medusa.”
She wasn’t here to help the witch complete her mission?
Perhaps even for a leader, infiltrating deep into the Association alone was dangerous.
If the wormhole was interfered with and eliminated by the Association, she wouldn’t be able to leave easily. So her goal was merely to rescue the Snake-Eye Witch?
But before that, as she was about to leave with Medusa, the President, who hadn’t given Clara a single glance, finally noticed her.
Clara’s heart sank. She was still on the Fourth Calamity’s wanted list; she didn’t know what would happen.
Am I going to die?
But Tang Shuangyu pinched her chin, squinted, and leaned in to examine Clara’s face.
Wait, did she realize I’m still thinking?
No, impossible? My body really is frozen, I haven’t even moved an eye.
Tang Shuangyu widened her eyes as if suddenly understanding something.
“Heh, it’s you, the wild girl who dared to provoke my Fourth Calamity…”
So she hadn’t recognized me until now?
Clara wasn’t wearing her gas mask now; she had a face that was somewhat similar to Kamui and Lucia. Since she wasn’t facing the drone crow’s camera or appearing on screen, Clara thought she didn’t need to wear the mask…
Since she recognized me, she’s probably going to retaliate?
But instead, Tang Shuangyu turned and looked at Kamui.
“Time is limited, so I’ll leave a gift for you.”
She seemed to have some mischievous idea.