"Damn it!!" Gaia felt her bindings loosen, her heart filled with immense humiliation. Being in this specific place was what truly pushed the two of them over the edge—if this wasn't NTR, what was?
After all, this Throne of Heroes used to belong to them! Now it was someone else's home, and even worse, their prison? You couldn't just bully World Wills like this! That damn Pandora, she really deserved to die!!
Alaya stared at their surroundings with a dead-eyed, hopeless expression. This was a disaster—they were genuinely prisoners now. She turned to look at Ren Isana. "Won't the other worlds resist you doing something like this?"
*I'm so frustrated.* Being treated like this, she was probably going to be reduced to a tea-serving maid in the future. There was no way in hell she could be happy about that. She glared at the guy in front of her; he was the sole reason this entire chain of events had happened in the first place.
"What resistance? You two are the only ones who fought back," Ren replied. "Other worlds don't have entities like you. Most of them are completely unconscious. You two are special. If you weren't... you probably wouldn't even be here right now." It was a cruel statement, but it was the reality of the situation.
If these two hadn't possessed such a high degree of humanity, they would have been wiped out long ago. Pandora would have just dusted them, and the Type-Moon world wouldn't have lasted until now. In fact, Ren suspected that the only reason Pandora hadn't invaded right from the start was purely because of these two.
Otherwise, considering Pandora's ability to instantly churn out Tier 10 powerhouses, crushing the Type-Moon world would have been child's play. Why would she ever need to waste time playing little games with them?
The two World Wills fell silent at Ren's words. *So that was the reason they hadn't been killed?* Suddenly, everything made sense. No wonder that monster hadn't immediately moved against them.
"Damn it... then why did she still whip us with that little crop?!" Gaia looked like she was about to cry just bringing it up. Just moments ago, Pandora had strung them up and viciously whipped them with a lash condensed from the power of laws.
Ren shot her a sidelong glance. "Who told you to scheme against my classmates? If the timing wasn't so inappropriate, I'd want to whip you myself. Just sit here and reflect on your actions, otherwise you're going to be in for a world of pain later!"
Having said his piece, Ren ignored the two of them and vanished from the spot. They could do whatever they wanted. They were far more familiar with this place than he was anyway, so there was no need for him to guide them around.
Watching Ren leave, Gaia and Alaya exchanged a look, their eyes filled with utter helplessness. Alaya shot Gaia a vicious glare. "This is all your fault! Who told you to go meddling where you didn't belong?!"
Facing Alaya's accusations, Gaia let out a cold snort, her tone equally disgruntled. "Setting the facts aside for a moment, are you saying you're completely blameless? Weren't you the one who wanted to trick people into working for you for free?"
"It's all your fault!!" "It was you!!" "It was you! It was obviously you!!" As the argument escalated, the two World Wills physically lunged at each other, breaking into a catfight right in the middle of the Throne of Heroes. The sheer absurdity of the scene instantly silenced the Heroic Spirits who were still present.
*Following those two is a guaranteed death sentence,* they thought. Thank god they had jumped ship when they did. It was fantastic that they no longer had to serve under those two incompetent screw-ups. Life in this new world was unbelievably comfortable by comparison.
Many of the Heroic Spirits had signed contracts with Pandora. They were allowed to freely enter and exit the Throne of Heroes, provided they didn't cause any trouble in the worlds under Pandora's jurisdiction. In exchange, if an emergency arose, they were expected to lend a hand!
Not a single Heroic Spirit would ever refuse such terms. The conditions were insanely lenient. The core rule boiled down to a single point: as long as they didn't cause trouble, they had complete freedom of movement, with the minor caveat of occasionally helping to maintain the various worlds.
If they wanted to become teachers, they could simply walk into a school and start teaching. Every single academy in this world would welcome them with open arms. The Heroic Spirits were absolutely thrilled by the prospect.
Compared to working for Alaya and Gaia, this place was a paradise. Under the World Wills, they had been treated like pure beasts of burden—forced to fight here, fight there, and even sent to clear out Lostbelts. They had essentially been treated like nuclear-powered workhorses.
But now? This was true freedom. Besides, what was wrong with helping to maintain their own world? They could never fully repay Lady Pandora's boundless grace! Who were Alaya and Gaia? Just a couple of random street punks as far as they were concerned—they didn't know them!
Especially now, watching the two former World Wills rolling around on the floor in a messy brawl, the Heroic Spirits couldn't bear to watch anymore. One by one, they vanished from the Throne of Heroes. It was about time they headed down to the mortal realm to have some fun. They would just leave this place to those two idiots!
Ren, having already left the Throne of Heroes, was completely unaware that Alaya and Gaia had broken into a fistfight. He teleported directly into the airspace above Avant Heim. The floating city was currently deserted. Aside from Think Nilvalen, all the other Flügel were currently over in the Toriko world.
Ren had come here with the intention of studying the laws of space-time. Furthermore, this place housed the relics left behind by the God of War. The residual space-time laws clinging to the scales of the Dragonia were incredibly dense.
With the aid of these materials, his breakthrough would proceed much faster. Now that he had obtained the `[Fifth Magic]` and its control over time, all that remained was to combine it with his spatial abilities to achieve perfect mastery over space-time.
His sudden arrival prompted a confused look from Think, who had stayed behind to guard the city. "Where is everyone else? Why are you the only one who came back? Did something happen to them?"
Ren returning completely alone was a bit outside of Think's expectations. *Did that entire flock of battle junkies get wiped out? Now that would be some fantastic news!!*
"What could possibly happen to them? They're currently having the time of their lives in another world," Ren replied casually. "I just came here to attempt my breakthrough. Don't mind me, just go back to whatever you were doing." With that, he headed straight into the depths of Avant Heim.
Think's curiosity was instantly piqued. *Ren is breaking through?* He was already absurdly powerful. Could he really become even stronger? The very concept fascinated her.
However, as she watched his retreating back, she reconsidered and decided it was best not to disturb him. She would wait until he successfully broke through before asking him about it. Truth be told, she was feeling quite lost regarding her own future path.
Her strength had been bottlenecked for a long time now, completely unable to take that final step forward. According to the power scaling of this world, she was currently at Tier 9. Unfortunately, this world lacked the necessary knowledge to progress any further.
Ren seemed to be in a similar situation, didn't he? She would just have to ask him for the details once he came out of seclusion. Having made up her mind, Think returned her attention to her magic grimoire.
Deep within Avant Heim's vault, Ren gathered several items related to the Dragonia and began his secluded meditation. He had already grasped the time-traveling properties of the `[Fifth Magic]`. Now, his objective was to seamlessly fuse that power with his spatial abilities.
Ren was already incredibly proficient in spatial manipulation, but this was his first time truly delving into the domain of time. Merging the two concepts together to forge a unified law that he could fully control was undoubtedly going to be a difficult task.
Taking a seat upon the God of War's throne, Ren began a deep, meticulous analysis of the power lingering within the Dragonia scales, cross-referencing it with his own understanding of time and space.
The Dragonia were born with an innate connection to the laws of space, which was exactly why their scales possessed such terrifying defensive properties. The spatial energy within them formed a perfect, self-sustaining loop. Ren had previously considered using `[Jianjigu]` to copy this exact trait.
However, after learning about its inherent flaws, he had immediately scrapped the idea. Now, his goal wasn't just to copy it, but to reverse-engineer and reproduce the underlying mechanics, forging the energy into his own personal law to achieve absolute mastery over space-time.
His talents were practically tailor-made for this kind of research. He already possessed the foundational powers of both space and time. The moment he began his analysis, a flood of new ideas and inspirations naturally began to surface in his mind.
Wasting no time, Ren immediately put his theories to the test. The dual forces of time and space rippled across the surface of his body, causing his physical form to turn hazy and ethereal. Even though he was sitting right there on the throne, he gave off the distinct impression of being nothing more than an illusion.
As time slowly ticked by, the power radiating from Ren's body began to gradually bleed out, affecting the entirety of Avant Heim. The floating city itself obviously couldn't feel it, meaning the only one who noticed the shift was Think.
She suddenly felt the surrounding space lock down around her. Not only that, but everything felt... sluggish? As she tried to turn the page of her book, her entire body moved as if she were trapped in slow motion. A massive, metaphorical question mark slowly popped up over Think's head.
Subconsciously, she flared her Magic Power to shield her own consciousness, preventing her mind from being completely bogged down by the effect. However, while her thoughts remained clear, she was completely powerless to control the distorted space and time around her.
Her brain was issuing the commands, but her hands were moving at a glacial pace. The sheer absurdity of the situation left Think utterly shocked. *Both time and space are being affected? This has to be Ren's doing, right?!*
*Is that monster actually breaking through?! He just went in there! You can't just decide to break through and instantly do it!* Think was ready to start cursing. *You could have at least given me a heads-up before you started! Now I'm caught in the crossfire!*
Grumbling internally, Think actively dispersed her Magic Power. She couldn't stand the agonizing disconnect between her mind and her body. It was better to just let the spatial distortion affect her completely!
The moment she dropped her defenses, her perception of the surrounding space and time warped completely. Think remained frozen in the posture of turning a page, but the flow of time around her became completely erratic—sometimes accelerating, sometimes crawling to a halt, and sometimes pausing entirely.
In that exact moment, Ren had successfully mastered the iconic special ability of a certain mysterious world: time stop. Given Think's current frozen state and her stunning figure, Ren was in the perfect position to shoot a certain genre of blockbuster movie!
As Ren's comprehension of space-time deepened, the rippling shockwaves of his power continued to spread outward. Soon, the entirety of Avant Heim, floating tens of thousands of meters in the sky, was caught in the distortion. Just like Think, the massive floating city began to sporadically accelerate and decelerate in midair.
The first person to notice the spatial anomalies wracking Avant Heim was Natsuki Minamiya. She was currently stationed near the entrance to the Gourmet World. She looked up toward the floating city, her face etched with confusion.
*What in the world is going on up there?* Why did the spatial fabric surrounding Avant Heim feel so incredibly bizarre? Had something happened? The space in that entire sector was completely spiraling out of control!
Natsuki's head was spinning with questions. Right at that moment, Jibril came flying back from the Gourmet World. The instant she crossed over, she immediately noticed the bizarre state of Avant Heim. It was a phenomenon she was far too familiar with.
"No way, are those Dragonia bastards attacking?!" Space and time were being violently distorted, and the specific signature of the disruption was something she recognized instantly. How could Jibril not be suspicious? The Dragonia she had slaughtered in the past used this exact same trick!
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