Chapter 685 Time vs Time
When Alina dared her enemy Travelers to make a move against her, she expected them to come out with the intent to end her life quickly.
But even with this expectation, Alina still failed to hide her surprise after seeing the first move that her enemy used.
There is no way that Alina can be calm, when her enemy just used an ability related to Fate itself! Such kind of abilities are rare, and even Alex had to cheat in order for him to have some semblance of control over Fate!
So seeing her enemy use it in this way certainly threw Alina off, and it also made her worry of what could happen later.
"As a Chronomancer, I can see the mechanics of Traveler Xavier"s ability. By setting a start and an end point in time, he trapped everyone in this place inside a time loop." Alina muttered to herself, with her face in a perpetual frown. "He then forced all of us to relive a few moments of time inside this loop, creating a cycle that is happening right now."
Such frown made her veil shake, but Alina did not give any care about it. She was more worried about the powers working against her, which is a viable thing to worry about.
"Judging by the intricacy of this time loop, it will take at most a minute before everything goes back to normal... A minute might be short, but for my current state, a minute of time is really, really, bad…"
With her body forced to follow the constant reversal and renewal of time, Alina was obviously unhappy.
"Tsk, this already makes me mad, but do you know what makes me more p.i.s.sed? It was the fact that my opponent had no qualms on using this ability against the innocent bystanders… Sigh, if you want to fight me, why don"t you target me alone? Is that hard enough for you to do?"
The same unhappiness was present in other people too, as they were also a victim by this ability.
However, these "other people" were not only feeling unhappiness as of now. They were also feeling fear, which is to be expected in their current state.
After all, everyone affected by this "Event Loop" are now vulnerable from attacks coming from anyone that is not affected by this ability. That scenario is bad by itself, so for the affected people to fear is just proper.
In Alina"s case, she should be fearful too, as it is highly plausible that she will be attacked by Xavier"s Companions, who are all freely moving as of now.
But unlike the other guests who were already hysterical from fear, Alina did not let herself succ.u.mb into terror.
Sure, this forceful event loop has brought her in danger of being killed easily, but Alina actually had a way to deal with this.
Alina was after all a Chronomancer, which means that dealing with time-based abilities such as the Event Loop is just easy for her….
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"If the Divine Maiden was not me, this loop of yours might have worked. But it"s too bad that it was me that you are facing…" Alina said, with her voice not even showing a hint of worry at all. "I am unhappy with the effects this loop, but that"s just it. This loop cannot hurt me more than what it could do now."
These words made Alina sound confident, as if what was happening to her was nothing more but an inconvenience that she can fix with some effort.
"But I still give props to you for using this move. This is certainly effective, but it"s not just the right fit against me…" Alina added, as she seem to be more and more unworried about her situation. "Oh, and I can see that your companions are trying to attack me now. Hmm… I wonder what would they feel once they seem me moving properly…."
This nonchalance from Alina might sound narcissistic coming from her, and Alex will surely criticize her for saying stuff like this.
Alina of course knew how bad she sounded, but she just could not help but boast right now, as she realized that she can actually win here.
Contemplating about her actions will just be done later. For now, Alina should do her best to win, and that is what she has been intending to do.
"To break a time-based ability, a time-based ability must be used too… In my case, I just have to use a minor Chrono Magic to free myself from this loop…"
Without waiting for the companions of Traveler Xavier to start attacking her, Alina already beat them to the punch. She did not let them even approach her, as she quickly used her power to break free from the event loop.
[T-MANIFEST: ORDO]
"Boom!"
In an instant, 1,000 Years of Time were quickly spent by Alina, an amount that did not go to waste.
A portion of it manifested as a s.h.i.+eld that protected Alina from possible attacks, while the majority transformed into a green-colored light construct that covered her body.
This green light construct fit snugly on Alina"s body, to the point that it became her second suit, with the entirety of her skin and face covered by this green light.
"Clonk." The presence of this light construct made Alina look like a glowing goblin, with her now green skin and glowing visage enough to catch the attention of everyone.
"!!!"
Such change in appearance is enough to make ALina"s enemies wary, and it obviously jerked both Traveler Xavier and his companions into a tense and wary mode.
The attempts of Xavier"s companions to attack were actually delayed, as they seem to be unsure on what to do right now.
This seems the right move, since Alina just did something unexpected.
But as it turns out, delaying their attacks was actually the wrong action to do… Especially with someone like Alina.
"You still did not attack me even when I did this? Tsk, are you really my enemies that are targeting me? You seem to be a little inexperienced for this…"
At this point in time, the event loop just underwent its reverse state, meaning that it is about to reverse everyone"s actions, including the ones performed by Alina and the others.
But to the surprise of Xavier and his Companions, the current Alina was not dragged back by the Event Loop!
Alina just stood nonchalantly in the middle of the venue, with her green suit and glowing body floating loftily above the venue!
The effects of the event loop did not even manage to pull her down, and not even a strand of her hair was affected!
This scene brought another feeling of shock to all that witnessed Alina"s state, and her nonchalant words just made this look more unfathomable.
"Oh… now this is nice. Using T-Manifest: Ordo was actually the right choice here. It may have forced me to spend around 1,000 Years of Time…. but against these opponents? This is all worth it…"
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Even idiots can see what is happening here.
Alina, who was supposed to be helpless against the event loop by Traveler Xavier, had actually managed to free herself from its effects!
The very thing that should have been rendering her helpless against Xavier"s Companions were of no use anymore, and Alina seemed to have even used this freedom to retaliate against them!
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With their obviously bright minds, Traveler Xavier and his companions quickly realized what was happening, and they knew in an instant that their previous plan must be aborted.
So Traveler Xavier and his companions quickly adjusted their actions, with their intended goals now geared more on preserving Xavier"s life…
"Boom!" Before Alina could continue speaking, Traveler Xavier forcefully used the remains of his power to distance himself away from Alina.
"Pis.h.!.+" Large chunks of Choric Energy leaked out of Xavier"s body, a type of energy that deftly manipulated the s.p.a.ce around him.
This Choric Energy gave Xavier a boost that he needed to fly away from Alina, and he appeared to continue doing it until he"s a considerable distance away from her.
While Xavier was intent on running, his three companions on the other hand did not show any signs of retreat.
They just shot towards Alina with murderous looks, which displayed their intentions to kill her!
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Earlier, Xavier"s Companions were surprised that their supposedly helpless target was able to break herself free, but that did not deter their interest on killing her.
Even if the current Alina can fight back and kill Xavier, his Companions still outnumber Alina 3 to 1.
This number disparity still made it apparent that they can win against Alina, no matter how ferocious a fighter she could be.
"Schwing…."
This fact was not only known by these Companions, as Alina also knew that in her current state, she was still disadvantaged.
But this did not reduce her fighting spirit, and it instead made her more excited to fight!
"Ok, now that I am free, why don"t I spend this free time of mine whacking some people? Since you are all interested on attacking me, then I should return the favor, right?"
With her body now free from any restrictions, Alina of course will not let the ones who schemed against her go off easy.
Since her opponents wanted to fight her, then Alina will of course fight them back.
"So let"s see… Traveler Xavier is out of commission due to his injuries, and he"s doing his best to run away. His three Companions on the other hand are attacking me now, and they sure are interested on killing me…"
"Hoo boy, those looks from his companions are sure spine-tingling! Even from this distance, it"s obvious that they want to skin me alive!"
"This is legitimately scary, but I strangely feel excited about this fight… Is this a normal reaction? I am not sure…"
Right now, Alina"s heart was pounding in excitement and fear, as she realized that she"s about to face one of the greatest fight in her life.
Alina was just about to face-off against 3 Sixth Stage Beings, all who displayed the interest to kill her!
Yes, 3 Sixth Stage Beings are about to gang-up on her, and they don"t look like the normal Sixth Stage Beings…
"Hoh, this is going to be a tough fight…. 3 Sixth Stage Beings against me alone? This might get dangerous…"
With such fight about to happen to her, Alina knew that she should use every ability that she can use in order to raise her chances to win. If that meant summoning her allies to help her, Alina will obvious do that.
"By myself alone, it will be hard for me to win. But if I free both Queen Mother and Professor Frances form this loop, they can help me out in this fight, right? Yes, that is possible."
With the distance between Alina and her 3 opponents, Alina only have a few moments of time left before she and her opponents actually start fighting.
This few moments of time might not be enough, but for Alina, this time is sufficient to free Queen Mother and Professor Frances.
"So where are those two anyway? Are they- oh there they are."
Through the edge of her vision, Alina easily spotted her allies, who were both standing at the back of the stage. Their positions made it apparent that they were prepared to fight, and the only thing stopping from attacking was the event loop.
Seeing this gestures from the tree woman and the mad scientist made Alnna nod, and she felt more confident on enlisting their help.
"Queen Mother is an extremely powerful Sixth Stage World Tree, while Professor Frances" abilities makes her an extremely tricky opponent. If they help me out right now, killing these three enemies of mine will be easy…"
With her allies now found and her abilities in full preparation, Alina let out a peal of laughter as she began using her Time Magic on her two companions.
But before Alina could use her Time Magic on her allies, a sudden power burst behind her made her stop.
[T-MANIFEST: ORD________] What? What had just happened?"
Instead of continuing her attempt to use Time Magic, Alina quickly raised her guard in order to protect her body, as if this power burst was an extremely dangerous thing.
She even ignored the presence of Xavier"s Companions, as she continued protecting herself from this power burst.
"S**t! S**t S**t! Why does it have to appear now? Argh, now my plans are ruined!"
Why would Alina suddenly act like this? Was it because she was just too paranoid? Or was it because she saw something from this power burst that made her panicked?
As it turns out, Alina had legitimate reasons to act wary against this power burst.
Through her powerful senses, Alina quickly realized that this power burst did not come from Xavier or even from his Companions.
Instead, this power burst belonged to a different person…
And from the looks of it, this "different person" seems to be using this power burst to break himself/herself out of the effects of the Event Loop too!
"So who among the other Travelers has the capability to also free themselves from this Event Loop? Was it the ally of the Holy Order Church? Or the one from the Nature Cult? Ugh, no matter who this person is, his appearance here just makes things more complicated here!"