Chapter 1572: Monster [2]

BOOOOOOOOOOOM!

The battle that was once mentioned for not having many explosions had now joined the rest of the pack.

As Grand Duke Famas' power reached its potential, his every movement started to cause problems.

If he was in the Heavenly World instead of the Heavenly God Plane, the folds of reality would've been straining themselves to even hope to contain his presence.

The Grand Duke, a man whose power was completely opposite to his personality, was a close combat fighter.

He used his fists more than he used weapons or ranged attacks, which, in most cases, was fine.

After all, as long as he could reach his enemy, he could kill them with just a few punches. He didn't need more than a single moment of opportunity to end everything.

This battle had already been underway for several minutes at this point. The power of the Grand Duke's fists was imprinted into the world.

However, facing Serena, his disadvantage rapidly showed itself.

He hadn't even been able to hit her once yet.

The Grand Duke was a powerful man. It was a bit of a shame that he was being underrepresented like this, but what could he do?

He couldn't even get close to her.

Xiu! Xiu! Xiu! Xiu!

Four needles filled with the law of time whizzed past his body, while one managed to puncture his shoulder and push through.

His skin immediately withered away, making his left arm unusable.

Luckily, he managed to avoid soul injury, so without minding the loss of his arm, he continued to push forward.

BANG!

He threw a punch with his right. Space and time collapsed under the pressure of his fist, and a gap formed in Serena's permanent defense.

Without wasting a second, he pushed forward through it and prepared himself to attack again.

'Good.'

Serena wasn't surprised.

She'd led him into this trap.

The longer she and Famas fought, the more she realized her advantages.

He didn't know what she could do.

It was a bit insulting, but when they'd fought in the past, she was nowhere near the level necessary for him to take note of her presence.

While she had a vendetta against him, he was only focused on Dante.

The only reason the Grand Duke knew who she was was because she was married to Dante. As for her power, her intelligence, her fighting style, her anything, really...

The Grand Duke was simply unaware.

All he knew was that he had to be wary of her because she had reached his level.

Since she used Time Laws, Famas assumed that he knew the extent of her power. Everyone who used time as their main law fought the same.

But, just like everything else he "thought" he knew, that was simply incorrect.

It was perfect for her. The Grand Duke could be a terrifying enemy, especially in an environment where his power could be used at its full potential.

However, she had the opportunity to rid him of that environment and lull him into a false sense of security.

She could win this battle without even allowing him to show the world why he was a Grand Duke.

And the instant she understood the possibility, she immediately went to work to turn it into a reality.

The Grand Duke may have shattered spacetime, but he had not shattered Serena's barrier. She consciously removed it so he could be kept under that illusion.

And as he approached to attack again, she watched him carefully, slowly closing her barrier around him as he reached the point of no return.

BOOOOOOOOM!

The Grand Duke slammed his fist out again, once again causing intense damage to the laws that upheld the Heavenly God Plane.

And the moment his force was mere centimeters away from her, Serena made her move.

Time laws were more unique compared to their peers. Regardless of their level, it seemed like the method to directly use them to attack never changed.

After all, while time was incomprehensible to many proper and out of reach to even more, it was relatively simple in the way it actually worked.

It flowed calmly, providing a backbone for everything.

Sure, blasts of time could be shot out as Serena had been doing thus far, but if she wanted to deal a truly lethal blow, could she do the same?

No.

Naturally, she had to put some more effort into it.

The attack she had in mind was already prepared by the time the Grand Duke reached her. Since the time to release it had come...

VOOOOOOOOOM!

Grand Duke Famas' fingers snapped backward as they were forced to freeze in place. Their excess momentum compounded into Famas' wrist and shattered it into pieces.

The atmosphere changed subtly. Well, it was only subtle for a moment.

And then everything went dark.

Space still existed. Movement was still possible.

But time was no longer a factor.

In the surrounding hundred thousand kilometer area, the concept of time itself had been completely removed, swallowed by Serena.

What did that mean for others?

It meant that no change could ever be real. Without time flowing to cement and define change, it couldn't occur.

Grand Duke Famas gathered himself and tried to attack again.

His fist did the same as always. Its impact still shattered the world as it did before.

However, even after he succeeded in striking Serena, she stood there as if nothing was wrong.

Her body was impacted by the force, and for a second, it looked like her chest was going to cave in.

But it never happened. "Reality" didn't respond in a "real" way.

The "change" the Grand Duke had wrought upon the world was reverted.

'This...'

The Grand Duke's eyes narrowed.

He retreated backward several hundred meters, only to see himself rubber-banded back to his original position.

He tried to exert as much of his power as possible to break the suppression. It simply wasn't possible, because this effect did not come from something being forced onto him, but from something being taken away.

There wasn't a way to use his power to overcome this situation. Not unless he could somehow create his own flow of time to counteract Serena's abyss.

Grand Duke Famas was an intimidating guy. He really was.

If one heard the stories of what he was doing back in the day when Dante and the rest were still growing, one might even relate him to the Saint Emperor in some ways.

Of course, he didn't have the latter's heroism or purpose, but in terms of strength, the two were equally terrifying to those below them.

That was why it was a shame. No matter what he wanted to do, Serena wasn't going to allow him to showcase even a speck of his power.

She removed his everything with a single move.

The only reason she let him get so close at all...

"...was so I could do this."

She placed her hand on the man's forehead. He naturally tried to move, but he sprung back into place as if he was begging her to do whatever she wanted.

A scar that had long healed but one that she'd never forget...

A scar that Grand Duke Famas gave her in the past...it was time for her to return it to him in kind