It Became a Time-Stop Slit-Eye chapter 101

101 – 101. World.

Crash──!!

Whoosh──!

Successive explosions of the air.

Wavelength.

Every time the two swords clashed, the forest split in two, and the ground twisted.

In tune with the footsteps of the gods, the earth rose like stairs, and the autumn trees witheringly bent their branches to make way for them.

Kwaaah!

What faintly caught the eye was the sight of the natural environment vanishing in an instant.

An overwhelming presence felt even from a distance.

Not a weapon of modern science or a grand magic gathered by a high-ranking sorcerer.

The aftermath of two beings clashing swords with the power of flesh and soul.

Truly a battle of myths.

A meeting where mere humans dared not intervene, only the gods coming together.

“Shiki.”

Infinitely close to them, yet a sorcerer who could never reach them was present here.

Sawamura Sento stood motionless on a flower bed, watching their fight.

He thought of the man who had long since left.

At some point, the man who had occupied most of her life had once said:

“You are special.”

A liar.

A very bad guy who, at crucial moments, still muttered about being unreasonable.

The woman, lips trembling, clenched her small, trembling fist.

In truth, she knew as well.

By now, they would be quite close.

She had entertained arrogant thoughts, but there was still a distinct gap.

Both in terms of skill… and in the emotional distance with Ichimaru Shiki, and the secret he held.

Sawamura Sento thought.

She and he were still far apart.

That man always smiles, but he truly does not know what he likes or dislikes, not even simple preferences.

Only when he speaks does he realize, and he barely manages to do what he asks, nothing more.

Even now.

Standing still in the same spot, a fool who can do nothing.

“Why is that?”

The moment he faced the woman in the garden, he realized.

She was a creature of a different caliber. Just like when he first encountered Ichimaru Shiki, he felt a suffocating sensation just by her presence, as if life itself were being squeezed out.

He could die right there.

Despite the numerous advancements he had made so far, he was still far inferior as a life form compared to that monster.

Somehow, he instinctively moved his body, but in reality, there wasn’t much he could do.

At most, he could resist.

Therefore, when he was grabbed by the wrist by Ichimaru Shiki, what crossed his mind was indeed not dissatisfaction.

No.

“…Shiki.”

It was a sense of relief.

Being able to buy some time in the face of death, his body naturally relaxed.

Though despair and self-blame may have come to mind afterwards, the first thing that arose was indeed a sense of relief.

He thought it fortunate to survive.

And now that the man had left, Sawamura Sento was standing in the hell of frustration.

Thump-thump. Feeling the vibrations transmitted through the air and the ground, she pondered.

‘Why did I agree?’

Why didn’t I follow?

Why did I freeze in fear and stop?

Why did I let that man go alone and stand here like a fool?

If she wanted to live together, wasn’t it right to follow him, the only possibility of victory?

Should she have held onto his ankle?

Did she instinctively step back out of fear of being a hindrance?

“…No, that can’t be.”

Sento cleverly found the answer in no time.

She shook her head, messing up her neatly braided hair early in the morning.

There, torn pink cosmos flowers were scattered on the uncovered ground.

Just like a flower facing death even if it bloomed on time, cowardice had found its way into her heart.

It’s just because of weakness.

Because her inherent abilities were weak, she was so afraid of death that her heart trembled.

That’s why she retreated.

As Sawamura Sento looked at the broken flower, she reflected on her state of mind.

After a long series of questions and answers, she eventually arrived at a certain question.

If Ichimaru Shiki were to lose in that fight, even though that man was strong, if he were to lose his life, vanish from my life…

‘What should I do?’

That question was too heartbreaking and dark, and no answer seemed to emerge.

Sento simply closed her eyes tightly.

Being weak, even in such a dreadful scenario, was her reality, where she had to flee.

…I am weak.

I am, too weak.

Sawamura Sento stood still, deep in thought.

I chewed on despair, defeat, humiliation, weakness, and helplessness endlessly.

At some point, Shiki Ichimaru realized that a life without him was not valid for me.

Having reached this understanding, she made a decision.

“I have a wish.”

Was there no way she could help that man?

Senzo, suddenly raising his head, gazed at the man far away.

A dangerous glint flashed in the air.

“Give me strength.”

***

Clash!

The blades leaped to kill each other.

Occasionally, the forest was felled and the earth trembled by the traces of power flowing.

Kugugugung…!

The world crumbled under the anger of the gods.

It had been a long time since someone shared a sword equally.

When all their power was put forth, everything was split in half, and even Kenichi, who was an exception, found it difficult to clash as much as he wanted.

“─Shiki! You’ve gotten quite strong!”

The situation was likely the same for the presence in front of their eyes.

Deus Machina wielded a sword radiating dazzling starlight with a bright smile.

Facing the blade that seemed to cut through everything, the sword clashed.

Kwarrlrrring──!!

As a result, thunder roared in the heavens and earth.

A sword strike became thunder, an earthquake, and the judgment of the gods.

The collision of beings whose souls expanded to the extreme encompassed the universe, bringing about unfavorable effects on the world.

“By the way, what was that woman doing earlier!”

However, it seemed like the less of two evils; the presence in front of them was worse than a demon, making me the only one concerned about the surroundings.

Clash!

Clash──!!

Deus Machina stared wide-eyed at each other with their swords crossed before them.

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The beautiful smile on their faces looked like that of a devil to me.

The devil whispered to me.

“Have you found something precious?! Do you have the confidence to protect anything? You, who have lost everything long ago! How dare you put anything beside me other than myself!!!”

If our merging with swords is music, it would be a discord.

If it were a waltz, it would be a farce of stepping on each other’s toes with shoes.

If it were a play on stage, it would be a revenge drama seeking the chance to stab the enemy’s neck.

There isn’t much time left now.

Hence, I could also smile and respond to the enemy.

“If you die, there will be no worries of disappearing.”

I could decide on someone to stand by me after that.

In response to my words, the demon, beyond that, a being worthy of being called a devil, chuckled.

“You can defeat me?! Really?!”

“Of course I can.”

Kwang! She lightly brushed off the skillful sword strike coming from the side and smiled.

The woman holding the sword furrowed her brow as if realizing something belatedly.

The power contained in the Deus Machina’s sword had run in a different direction than that of the evil spirit, but it wasn’t difficult to handle.

I have my own strength, but there was a much simpler reason.

“─You’re weakened, aren’t you?”

It was a seal set by the world itself.

No matter how powerful the Deus Machina might be, there was no way it could escape without any harm.

He must have taken a significant risk to be out there.

“Hah! Do you really think you can defeat me?!”

Machina swung the sword more fiercely, but I still easily parried, sometimes letting the sword’s energy flow outwards.

It could be called a past life.

The former Ichimaru Shiki had reached a conclusion after observing for a long time.

The sealed being, occasionally for amusement, would split my soul.

While the true body was bound, it projected my spiritual body outside the barrier.

To put it simply, it was like a doppelganger.

But since it was part of my soul, that existence was also Machina herself, and if it disappeared, it would be a loss.

Machina, who stood in an unassailable position, probably thought she would never die, but sometimes misfortune could also find her.

I had waited for a long time.

I had hoped she would come first, without rushing.

“I intend to kill the main body, so I certainly can’t let the spiritual body live.”

I roughly understood the difference in power.

Suddenly appearing in front of me, a monster that destroyed everything precious to a child.

The truth of that being, which had felt even more terrifying as a nightmare in my head, was revealed.

“Is this all you’ve got?”

I was much stronger.

I added strong magic and the will I had been controlling well to the firmly held handle of the sword.

Griiing─! The tightly maintained blade tilted down to the demon king’s chin in an instant.

Machina, with narrowed eyes, gazed sharply at my face, then smirked.

“You’ve certainly gotten stronger.”

Her voice still full of joy showed no hint of regret or resignation.

Only blind faith in victory.

The demon king, who had not shown power like mine, surrounded himself with a crimson hue and chanted.

“Then, pull me down to the ground again.”

Deus Machina finally unleashed her power.

The invincible ability to manipulate ‘space’ reached the level of liquefaction.

But just like me, she had never been defeated in divine power.

I swung the divine sword.

“Unfold.”

“Unfolding.”

Simultaneously, the world unfolded.