Chapter 1318

<Chapter 1318> 1318. The Plum Sword Master Reincarnated Into a Count’s Family

Yuria gazed at Wayne with half-lidded eyes.

“Aren’t you going to revive him?”

Wayne looked down at Rolf’s corpse with an emotionless gaze.

“I judged it better to fight myself rather than expend energy to turn back Rolf’s time.”

“You should’ve intervened earlier then.”

“I lack much confidence in combat. Moreover, if I fought you, it was glaringly obvious I’d lose at least thirty years of my lifespan.”

“Indeed, you wish to conserve your lifespan. But thirty years would be woefully insufficient to defeat me.”

“To that, I have no rebuttal. However, there is no issue.”

Wayne extended his hand into the void, retrieving something. It was a rainbow-colored orb.

“This is the first time I’m pulling this out in front of others.”

“…So it’s an artifact.”

“It’s a relic gifted by Leosio. It can store one hundred years of lifespan. It’s unfortunate that it’s single-use, but since you’re not an opponent who allows me to spare my lifespan, it’ll do. My surplus lifespan totals one hundred fifty years. That should be sufficient time.”

Wayne grinned and swallowed the orb.

His long golden hair fluttered as Yuria detected the massive surge of malevolent mana emanating from him. The malevolent mana gathered behind his back, forming into a shape.

It was a colossal violet skull. On its forehead was an embedded red clock, and its hollow eye sockets burned with blue flame. The Spirit of Time, Muphada.

“Muphada! It’s been a while since our last deal. Take my lifespan!”

The violet skull opened its mouth.

A pale substance emerged from Wayne’s body, resembling smoke, before being absorbed into Muphada’s maw and disappearing.

“This omnipotence… it’s always the best, no matter how many times I feel it.”

He wore a satisfied smile. The sensation of time and space feeling like extensions of his own body—nothing compared to this ecstasy. A feeling those who haven’t experienced it could never understand.

“It’s unfortunate I can’t maintain this state for long.”

In this condition, every second costs him a week of his lifespan. If he indulges too long in this omnipotent power, he’ll die.

“First, I’ll casually expend twenty years for a start.”

Huuuuuung.

An invisible ripple spread outward from Wayne, forming a transparent barrier.

He wasn’t stopping the world’s time. First, he created an appropriate barrier and halted time only within that space. Though slightly imperfect upon close inspection, to those inside the barrier, it appeared as though time had stopped.

“It’s done.”

Within the frozen-time space, only Wayne moved. Drunk on his own power, Wayne leisurely moved despite knowing his lifespan decreased with each passing second.

A sword formed in his hand, forged from the power of time. It cost him a full ten years of his lifespan to create this blade.

‘The Sword of Time is a special blade capable of killing even a dragon. There goes another thirty years of my lifespan.’

He didn’t regret the loss of lifespan.

This sword could fell even dragons.


Dae was stronger than anyone he’d faced so far. The woman who toyed with Lorf, the Demon of Lightning. She must be killed with Full Strength while the chance is here!

Wayne swung the Sword of Time. From above to below. He intended to cleanly split Yuria’s body in half. But Yuria’s body narrowly moved back, evading the Sword of Time.

He was astonished. Yuria had seen the sword and dodged. In this World where time stood still, she too had moved.

“How… how are you moving?!”

“I’ve seen time reversed over 200 times. Thanks to that, I was able to gain some understanding of the concept of time.”

“…The reason I kept killing Lorf wasn’t simply to tire me out, was it… No, don’t boast. It’s absurd to think that merely witnessing the power of time would lead to understanding its concept. You just witnessed it, right?”

“Actually, I started getting hints around the 30th time, and by the 100th time, I was certain. It doesn’t matter if you don’t believe me. I don’t particularly care about your trust anyway.”

“…I believe you. I almost made a mistake. You’re a Monster who killed Lorf 272 times. I won’t make the foolish mistake of expecting common sense from such a Monster. Instead of doubting, I’ll use Full Strength to kill you. You’re too dangerous.”

“Indeed. That quick and cold judgment truly is your greatest strength.”

Yuria now held a dagger in her right hand.

She had been trying to use the power of time while conversing with Wayne. The goal was to rewind or fast-forward time. For Yuria, who was not a demon, manipulating time like Mupapa, the Demon of Time, was impossible. Even her overwhelming talent couldn’t mimic the authority of demons. That kind of power was on an entirely different level unrelated to talent.

However, it wasn’t completely fruitless. Having understood the concept of time, she could move within the stopped time. In other words, she had gained resistance to time.

“I’ll kill you at the speed of Spirit.”

The Wayne standing in front of Yuria disappeared. Wayne reappeared behind Yuria and swung the Sword of Time. Yuria used Shadow Step to evade behind Wayne. Wayne stiffened his face and turned around.

“The speed of Spirit… Your grandiose words amount to nothing more than accelerating your body’s time to move faster, isn’t it?”

“This speed… and you can react?! Damn it. Grow old! Die of old age!”

The purple skull behind Wayne opened its mouth and expelled time. The wind of time swept past Yuria’s body. To Yuria, who possessed time resistance, the wind that could turn even a newborn into an elderly man on the verge of death was no more than an ordinary breeze. Direct time manipulation had no effect on her.

“There’s nothing left to see. Die along with that demon.”

Ying Tian Ryu (Shadow Sky Style) – Dark Turn.

Darkness spread out in all directions centered on Yuria. The space where time had stopped was consumed by darkness.

Wayne stumbled with his legs. He couldn’t see anything. And he couldn’t feel anything. It was as if he were alone in a space of Nothingness. Deep within his heart, fear welled up, making him tremble as he swung the Sword of Time in all directions.

Something grazed his right arm. Thud. The sound of his arm falling accompanied by the intense pain in his upper arm. His arm had been cut off.

“…My leg’s been cut too. My body is falling… Damn it, I can’t even open my mouth. Suddenly, my throat hurts. Has my neck been cut too?”

Wayne recognized his own death.

But he neither raged nor grieved. Because he knew time would rewind.

‘There will be another chance. If I endure, I’ll win.’

He had already confirmed that she didn’t possess infinite stamina or mana. Wayne waited for the inevitable moment of counterattack.

The darkness disappeared.

The World became bright again.

Way…


In the clearing, Yuria stood a short distance in front of him, slightly out of breath as she adjusted her disheveled hair.

“So, your struggles have finally ended. Now it’s my turn to attack.”

Yuria’s blue eyes locked onto In.

“With that body of yours?”

“What?”

In belatedly examined the back of his hand.

The wrinkled, grotesque skin sent a chill down his spine.

He panicked, frantically feeling his face with trembling hands. Through his palms, he could feel the deep wrinkles etched into his once youthful features. His radiant golden hair had turned stark white—lifeless and pale.

“This… this can’t be real…!”

The voice escaping his lips belonged to an old man.

Confused and alarmed, In turned around. The Demon of Time, Mupapa, lay shattered. Half its skull was missing, and the remaining half was cracked all over. The blue flame in its right eye socket flickered weakly like a dying candle.

“Oh, In… I require fresh sacrifices…”

Mupapa rattled its jawbone as it spoke.

“What happened?! This doesn’t make sense! It’s been less than 10 seconds since the darkness enveloped me! Why is this happening?!”

“82 seconds have passed. During that time, I killed you and the demon a total of 311 times.”

“You expect me to believe… that nonsense?!”

“For approximately 70 seconds, your consciousness was absent—that was the duration you were dead. I repeatedly killed you before the timeline could reset. Fighting at full strength like this hasn’t happened in a while… my shoulders are sore.”

In knew every word she said was true. There was no reason for her to lie, and the fading form of Mupapa confirmed it.

Kiiiiiiing!

Time resumed its flow. In desperately glanced back at Mupapa, who collapsed helplessly onto the ground with a loud CRACK! Its skull shattered like glass.

Thud.

In fell to his knees.

“What ARE you?!”

“A maid.”

A massive beast head emerged from the shadows, swallowed In whole, and vanished.

Yuria now faced Bezel, who trembled pitifully like an abandoned kitten. At her feet sat a black cat with three eyes: the Dream Demon, Rebus.

“Rebus, run! Get me out of here! NOW!”

“…Meow.”

Rebus shook his head. Some unknown force was interfering with their teleportation.

“Do you think I’d let you escape again? As soon as I recognized your face, I set up a barrier to prevent any spatial movement.”

“Are you going to kill me too?!”

“I’d love to, but if you die now, the dream world will collapse, which would be inconvenient. So why don’t we chat instead?”

Yuria snapped her fingers. Hundreds of torture instruments sprang forth from her shadow, filling the space around them. Bezel paled visibly.

“And your cute little demon friend too.”

“…Meow.”

As Rebus tried to retreat into Bezel’s body, the shadows surged forward, capturing both of them.

Forced onto a torture chair, Bezel sobbed uncontrollably, wetting herself in terror. Yuria flicked her finger, summoning a small, sharp blade into the air.

“P-please stop! I’ll tell you everything! Is this about what happened at the academy? I admit I messed up back then—it wasn’t my choice; I was just following orders from In! Begging you—I’ll even lick your shoes if you want! Please, don’t torture me…!”

“I remember vividly when Master disappeared into the dream world. The grief and rage I felt then were indescribable. Bezel, I’m truly delighted to see you again.”

“HIIIIIIEEEEK! I-I’m sorry! I’m so sorry! Spare me! Please give me one chance! I’ll do anything!”

“It’s alright. I won’t kill you.”