[The World]!
Time, stop!
And then, the world came to a halt.
More precisely, only the space around me did.
The original's absurd, sky-high range is still a Root-breaking level of difficulty for me.
But for now, this is enough.
The part I'd been a little worried about was whether it would work on a god.
Fortunately, it seemed to be working pretty well.
Of course, Freya was currently suppressing her Arcanum of her own will, just like the gods of the lower world, so this couldn't be called a precise result.
Still, the fact that it worked even in this state was something.
"One second elapsed."
As usual, I reached into my clothes, pulled out the Black Keys, and hurled them.
The target was Freya behind Ottar, twenty blades in all.
"Two seconds elapsed."
At the same time, I leaped backward.
I wasn't letting my guard down.
My opponent was the strongest man of the current age, no matter how you looked at it.
That put me out of Ottar's attack range for the moment.
But since I was already here, I might as well make the most of it and move the shadow of the Imaginary Number realm to tightly bind Ottar's body.
That should stop him, however slightly, however briefly.
No, let's at least hope it does.
"Three seconds elapsed."
I moved the moon-spirit liquid connected to me and lowered a sharp tentacle blade toward the nape of Freya's neck.
Even if I were to get taken out by some miscalculation, this blade, already prepared in advance, would still wound her neck.
Even if I couldn't kill her with this alone, if I could leave even the slightest mark on that beautiful, precious skin, this side would come out far ahead.
"Four seconds elapsed."
Just in case, I drew "it" out from the Imaginary Number realm.
Its tuning was still unstable, and controlling it on activation was completely impossible... no, to begin with, it was still a total unknown whether it would even activate properly at all.
Still, having my best trump card ready in advance put my mind at ease.
Theoretically, even Ottar would have no means or countermeasures against this.
So if things went wrong here, then in the worst case, we'd be killing each other together.
Let's see who dies first.
"Five seconds... impossible."
Tch. Time's up.
So this was the limit after all.
The space rippled, and I caught the phenomenon of the world pressing down on and denying my magecraft.
As expected, this was the limit for a shortcut that was basically a pseudo-Reality Marble.
Since it was closer to binding only the flow of the surrounding space than truly stopping the world like in the original, I suppose it couldn't be helped.
Even so, the efficiency was still terrible compared to the cost I'd paid.
What exactly would I have to fix and improve to make it better...
"[Time resumes.]"
In any case, the promised limit had arrived, so I released the magecraft I'd activated.
At the same time, the forcibly restrained flow of the surrounding space began moving again.
"Hm?"
"F-Freya-sama!"
Of course, Freya and Ottar, who had been standing still until just a moment ago, also started moving again.
Along with the restraining attacks I had already set in place.
"Hh, huff!"
Riiip, riiiiip!
First, a light breath.
With that alone, Ottar tore free of the Imaginary Number shadow binding him, shredding it apart with the force of muscles that had swelled just a little.
I don't know. What is that? Terrifying...!
Boom!
At the same time, he stamped the ground hard enough to break it.
With just that strong, restrained leap, Ottar's body instantly put distance between us and reached right in front of Freya.
Whoosh, clang! Clang!
Then came the sword strike.
With that single swing, Ottar's greatsword knocked away and shattered all twenty Black Keys aimed at Freya, clearing away most of the threat heading her way.
And then, just as his hand was about to finally tear away the tentacle blade...
"Okay, okay! That's enough."
Drip.
A very thin line of blood, no more than a thread, ran down Freya's neck and along her delicate skin.
Startled, Ottar hurriedly withdrew the hand he had reached out with.
"You bastard...!"
Grrrrrrr...!
Was it because I had dared to lay a hand on the beloved goddess's sacred body?
The savage growl of an enraged beast rang clearly in my ears.
But to his great misfortune, the one holding the initiative in this situation was none other than me.
It's my turn.
"You know what I'm about to say, right? Stay put over there. If you don't, then if things get messy..."
I lightly shook the tentacle blade as I taunted Ottar.
He glared back in frustration, but didn't make any other move.
Any further blemish on the beloved goddess's body would be something he could never accept himself.
Thus, Ottar's interference ended here.
With that, the first button had been fastened properly.
"Good. A very good, best possible situation."
"You won't die cleanly, you bastard...!"
"Heh-heh-heh, what a scary thing to say. You're sooooo terrifying I might just make a mistake without even realizing it."
"Tch!"
Unlike my fearless, arrogant provocation, I still wasn't in a body that could kill her or send her back to the heavens.
However, at the very least...
At the very least, there was no problem with carving a scar—an affront—into the body of their precious, precious goddess.
Ottar knew that too, which was why he couldn't do anything right now.
And what I was counting on was precisely that reverent nature of theirs.
Freya Familia was certainly a group whose individual members were stronger than Loki Familia, strong enough to be considered the strongest on their own.
Their strength was driven by their reverent worship of their goddess.
But at the same time, that very strength was also their weakness and fatal flaw.
Normally, Freya's charm as a goddess—her allure, her enchantment, her seduction—kept that from becoming a serious issue.
But for someone like me, who had prepared in advance, it was unquestionably a weakness.
Even if it wasn't, it was still a gap worth exploiting.
And the result was this.
"Ottar..."
"Wait. Let me say this in advance, but that's not all I prepared. So please don't give such devoted orders just yet, goddess."
In a situation like this, Freya had only two choices.
One: take a peaceful step back for now and wait for another chance.
Two: ignore a mere scar and force her way through.
Given her personality... she'd probably choose the second.
So, unlike what I'd shown before, I displayed the things I had prepared right in front of her eyes.
Snap!
Hummm...
Immediately, countless magic circles filled the space around the three of us from every direction.
At a minimum, there were dozens of them, and in response to my signal, they blazed fiercely, announcing their presence.
"This is...?!"
Even to an outsider's eye, the momentum was clearly abnormal, and Freya couldn't hide her surprise.
Seeing that dumbfounded expression on her, which was so unlike her, put me in an oddly excellent mood.
Mm, this is even better than I expected... the most HIGH! feeling ever!
I wasn't planning to smile while blowing a hole through someone's head like certain people, but still.
"So, what'll it be now? Go on, try if you can. Of course, needless to say, I'm not going down alone without a fight. At the very least... I'll make sure to thoroughly wreck your goddess's skin and retire."
"Um, Freya-sama..."
Ottar wore a very troubled expression, rare for someone on the outside.
Behind him, Freya...
"Pfft!"
""Huh?!""
suddenly burst out laughing all by herself.
Even as Ottar and I both stared in confusion at that absurd reaction, Freya couldn't seem to stop herself from laughing.
How long did the goddess laugh alone in this awkward space?
"Haa... fine, I understand. It seems best for both sides to end things here today. It's already very late."
She gave that one-sided declaration, then turned around and walked off on her own before anyone could answer.
At that utterly natural, self-willed behavior, her escort Ottar followed after her like some duckling, still awkwardly holding his weapon and unable to properly put it away.
Left alone behind them, I couldn't even react properly.
No, what in the world was that?
"Then let's meet again."
Liar.
Only after hearing Freya's final words as she disappeared into the darkness did I finally begin to understand this ridiculous situation.
Ah, I see. So that's what it was.
"Come to think of it, bluffing doesn't work on gods."
Human lies don't work on gods of the lower world.
That was common knowledge, something every resident of this world knew.
And yet I'd forgotten something that obvious, even if only for a moment.
Maybe I'd been more tense than I realized.
"I guess I did have some presence after all."
In the end, it was a relief that I didn't have to use "that."
Still feeling both disappointment and relief, those two utterly complicated emotions, I cut off the flow of magical energy connecting me and canceled the magic circles all around us.
In truth, only about four of them were real for restraining, intercepting, or attacking.
The rest were all just decoys and traps, emitting ominous light with complicated patterns, drawings, and letters for show.
Obviously, with just that much, I wouldn't even be able to get past Ottar's protection, let alone land my magecraft on Freya.
Goddess Freya had realized my bluff all on her own and laughed like that.
Ah, really... this is mortifying.
"No, but still. I mean, I couldn't help it either. Those rude night guests weren't expected at all tonight. I was underprepared to receive them, or something like that. Besides, this isn't even my territory to begin with. I didn't have nearly enough room to prepare anything in advance."
I muttered to myself in self-reproach, trying to make excuses, but it was no use.
Ugh, this is really embarrassing.
If there were a mouse hole nearby, I'd shrink my body and crawl into it.
Though if there actually were one, I still wouldn't really go in!
"Sigh, let's just do what needs to be done properly."
In the end, I somehow managed to whip my floundering, shame-ridden self into action and stand up.
Then this body turned around.
I threw myself into the darkness and vanished.
"Still, even if this was an unexpected emergency..."
I really hope I'm not too late.
If that "audience" has already gone home in the meantime, I'm absolutely going to demand proper damages later!
Though in reality, it'll probably end with me getting roughed up by a boar and publicly humiliated.
I, a Magus, am terribly pitiful today as well.
Sniff sniff.