Chapter 363: Twelve Divine Moons (4) |
When a student at Stella collapsed, they were typically taken to the Stella infirmary. But this time, the situation was anything but ordinary.
Hong Bi-Yeon, the princess, had collapsed while engulfed in flames.
This mysterious phenomenon, unique to the royal bloodline of Adolevit, was beyond Stella’s ability to handle. With no other options, they had to rush her to the Adolevit royal palace without delay.
It seemed the Adolevit side had anticipated such an event. A specially prepared carriage, fortified against flames, stood ready. The escort team - magic knights and warriors alike - wore robes resistant to fire.
By now, the transport had already departed, an hour ahead.
“... They already left?”
Arriving too late at the scene where Hong Bi-Yeon had collapsed, Baek Yu-Seol’s expression twisted in frustration.
‘Damn it! I’m too late.’
At this moment, Baek Yu-Seol was the only one capable of stabilizing her condition.
Even with Baek Yu-Seol’s Flash ability, catching up to a moving carriage was impossible.
— I’ll help you.
“Silver Autumn Moon...”
Silver Autumn Moon appeared behind him, his body partially translucent. It was likely to avoid drawing attention from others.
— I originally saved your spare life for situations where your survival was at stake...
“Use it. If it means saving Hong Bi-Yeon, I don’t care if I have to spend my spare life.”
— I knew you’d say that.
Without hesitation, Silver Autumn Moon raised one hand and began to gather energy.
Unlike the natural mana that filled this world, this was an entirely different and mysterious power—the magic of time.
As the spell activated, it enveloped Baek Yu-Seol’s body.
[Silver Autumn Moon’s skill ‘Stillness of Flowing Time’ has been activated.]
[For the next 5 minutes, time will flow at 10 times slower speed.]
Baek Yu-Seol’s eyes widened in shock as he felt the effects of the skill.
“This is…”
— You haven’t fully synchronized with my blessing yet, so the duration is short. Move quickly!
“Yes!”
He snapped out of his reverie and immediately began sprinting forward, using Flash to cover more distance.
On Earth, Usain Bolt, the fastest sprinter, could run about 10 meters per second.
However, thanks to his Nature’s Heavenly Energy Body, Baek Yu-Seol’s physical abilities far exceeded that, allowing him to accelerate even faster.
And now, with Silver Autumn Moon’s blessing amplifying his power, it wasn’t unthinkable for him to cover several hundred meters in the blink of an eye.
But—
‘I… can’t breathe…!’
Even with his superhuman body, sprinting at full speed in a time-accelerated state was incredibly taxing.
While the flow of air around him felt slowed, his body required an enormous amount of oxygen to sustain his speed.
It was an unexpected limitation, something even Silver Autumn Moon, who had never tested time acceleration on a human, hadn’t foreseen.
At that moment, Baek Yu-Seol made a critical decision.
He instantly redirected the mana coursing through his body, converting it into oxygen energy to reduce his reliance on breathing.
Though far from an ideal solution and likely to cause severe aftereffects, his ability to adapt so quickly under pressure left Silver Autumn Moon visibly astonished.
— To think you’d utilize the circulation of natural energy like that… I never even considered such an application.
Yet, despite his clever improvisation, Baek Yu-Seol wasn’t entirely spared from the toll of accelerated time.
In this altered state, even the wind he encountered felt like a tenfold hurricane.
In other words, he was sprinting while enduring intense air resistance that would crush an ordinary human instantly.
It was only because Baek Yu-Seol’s physical abilities surpassed those of normal humans that he could grit his teeth and keep pushing forward.
'Found it...!'
After sprinting for about three minutes - covering several dozen kilometers - Baek Yu-Seol finally spotted a convoy of carriages crossing a canyon between cliffs.
The hurried departure was evident in their sparse escort formation.
But then—
‘What is that...?’
Something was wrong.
In the slowed-down world of 10x speed, Baek Yu-Seol’s eyes clearly captured the scene—a massive troll standing in front of the lead carriage, swinging a giant club.
‘A troll...?’
In tales, trolls were often dismissed as sluggish, brainless brutes.
But in this world, trolls were classified as risk level 7 monsters. They were highly dangerous threats.
Their monstrous regenerative ability could regrow severed limbs within a day. But their true menace lay in their towering stature, exceeding 20 meters, and the earth-shattering force they wielded.
A shimmering blue mana barrier crackled to life, struggling to withstand the troll’s crushing blows.
Above the canyon, another troll loomed, gripping a massive boulder, ready to hurl it down at any moment.
‘What the hell is going on?!’
Why was Hong Bi-Yeon’s transport convoy suddenly under attack by such deadly monsters?
Moreover, trolls possessed the intelligence of young children. They usually avoided attacking large, well-armed groups.
‘I don’t know why this is happening, but I’ll stop them!’
Without hesitation, Baek Yu-Seol vaulted to the opposite cliffside, sprinting straight toward the troll poised to drop the boulder.
At that moment, Silver Autumn Moon’s voice rang out in alarm.
— Wait! If you recklessly swing your sword in this 10x accelerated state, your wrists will shatter!
‘I know that already!’
Baek Yu-Seol couldn’t afford to waste breath speaking aloud in his accelerated state, so he sent his thoughts instead.
Clenching his eyes shut, he summoned every ounce of strength before snapping them open.
[The skill ‘Stillness of Flowing Time’ has been temporarily deactivated.]
BOOOOM!!!
"W-What...!"
Even though Silver Autumn Moon hadn’t intended it, the time acceleration effect had been released.
The aftershock of Baek Yu-Seol’s high-speed advance surged forth like a violent tempest, tearing through the air in his wake.
— Kuwaaarrrgh!!!
The troll was startled by Baek Yu-Seol’s sudden appearance and raised its massive foot high in the air.
Its legs alone were five meters long, making it easy to crush someone of Baek Yu-Seol’s size—or so it thought.
But that was a grave mistake.
Before the force of his accelerated charge could completely fade, Baek Yu-Seol ignored the backlash and unleashed his sword with unrelenting ferocity.
With one devastating strike, the troll’s legs crumbled, bones and sinew bursting apart in a grisly explosion.
It was not a display of refined swordsmanship but an unbridled, ruthless onslaught.
Within moments, Baek Yu-Seol reduced the troll to a mangled ruin and immediately turned to assess the unfolding chaos.
"Damn it!"
Even though he had dispatched the troll with brutal efficiency, he hadn’t stopped it from hurling the massive boulder.
The massive rock, the size of a small house, was already hurtling toward Hong Bi-Yeon’s carriage.
Would the carriage’s protective barrier withstand the impact?
No.
It was impossible.
The barrier could barely hold up against the troll’s club—it would undoubtedly shatter under the weight of the boulder.
Stopping both threats…
Impossible.
In less than a heartbeat, Baek Yu-Seol made his choice.
He squeezed his eyes shut, then flung them open once more.
His irises shimmered with a radiant silver glow as waves of temporal energy rippled around him.
[The skill ‘Stillness of Flowing Time’ has reactivated.]
Time acceleration flared back to life, and once again, Baek Yu-Seol stepped into a world where everything crawled at a tenth of its normal speed.
— Unbelievable…
Silver Autumn Moon observed from behind. He was so stunned that he couldn’t even form proper words.
— To think a human could understand time magic to this extent…?
Few mages throughout history had ever dared to manipulate space, but time magic? That was a realm thought forever beyond human reach.
The mana of this world was something that mages could observe, sense, and comprehend because it closely resembled the foundational energy that formed the world itself.
But time was different.
Though time and space were intrinsically linked, their currents flowed in opposing directions. For over a millennium, no mage had unraveled the mysteries of time’s elusive nature.
No one—
Except the Progenitor Mage.
Yet, here was Baek Yu-Seol, imperfect but undeniable, brushing against the impossible. He had not only glimpsed the mana of time but had bent it, if only slightly, to his will.
Sure, all he had done so far was to interrupt and reactivate the time spell granted by Silver Autumn Moon—
But the difference between 0 and 1 was immeasurable.
A 0 represented absolute impossibility.
But a 1? It held the potential to become 100, even 10,000, over time.
— Could it really be… That child…?
Frozen in disbelief, Silver Autumn Moon could only watch as Baek Yu-Seol hurled himself toward the oncoming boulder.
BOOOOM!!!
“Ugh...!!”
A sickening sensation shot through his body as the bones in his right knee cracked under the recoil of his powerful kick.
The pain was enough to send shivers down his spine, but Baek Yu-Seol gritted his teeth and endured it.
For an ordinary man, such an injury would have spelled the end. A wound like this could mean permanent disability.
But Baek Yu-Seol trusted in the regenerative abilities of his Nature’s Heavenly Energy Body.
Even if it didn’t fully heal, he would make the same decision a thousand times over.
SWOOSH!
Using the recoil from kicking the boulder, Baek Yu-Seol propelled himself through the air.
His blade pointed not at the troll’s club, but at its wrist—
The very source of its destructive swing.
A fully grown troll’s club was powerful enough to shatter fortress walls with ease. Blocking it directly was suicidal.
— Deactivate the acceleration for this! Just this once!
No.
Baek Yu-Seol refused.
If he canceled the time spell now, he might not have the strength to follow through.
If he failed, Hong Bi-Yeon might really die.
Even if his arm were shattered, swinging his sword now was the better choice—
— If you won’t do it, then I will!
Before Baek Yu-Seol could react, Silver Autumn Moon forcibly dispelled the time acceleration.
In that instant, Baek Yu-Seol’s sword struck the troll’s wrist.
SLASH!
— KUUUAAAARGH!!!
The troll’s club, which had been moments away from smashing into the carriage, lost its trajectory as the troll’s severed wrist was flung into the air.
Baek Yu-Seol didn’t stop there.
Using the momentum of his spin, he planted his uninjured leg on the troll’s forearm, launched himself upward, and severed the monster’s head in a single stroke.
At that moment, he saw it—
The troll’s yellow-glowing eyes.
Baek Yu-Seol immediately recognized the unmistakable aura of the Twelve Divine Moons radiating from them.
Yet, before he could regain his footing, his balance gave out, and he plummeted to the ground.
THUD!
The troll’s massive corpse toppled over with a thunderous sound.
It had taken just 3 seconds.
Two risk level 7 monsters were defeated in 3 seconds.
“W-What just happened…?”
The Adolevit royal guards, who had been tense and prepared for battle, were left stunned at the sudden collapse of the trolls.
Their stunned silence quickly turned to alarm when they spotted Baek Yu-Seol sprawled on the ground.
“Wait... Was it you?!”
“Save the thanks. Just help me up, please.”
Despite looking ready to collapse, Baek Yu-Seol forced himself to stay composed and extended a hand to the knight.
“Ah... Right. Got it.”
With the knight’s support, Baek Yu-Seol made his way toward Hong Bi-Yeon’s carriage.
He peered inside, and upon confirming that she was still unconscious, the tension finally drained from his expression.
There was no longer any need to pretend he was fine.
“Ugh... I feel like I’m dying.”
“Wait—your knee... it’s—!”
“I’m fine. It’s healing.”
“Healing?!”
Though the knights couldn’t see it, Soft Green Spring Moon was gently channeling life energy into Baek Yu-Seol’s knee, knitting the fractured bones back together.
The pain lingered, sharp and unforgiving, but there was no time to dwell on it.
Baek Yu-Seol lifted his head and looked toward the sky.
There, a colossal figure resembling a bronze giant—Blue Winter Moon—stood with its arms crossed, gazing down at him.
— I will channel extreme frost through you into Hong Bi-Yeon. Are you ready?
“Always.”
The pain of having his heart frozen would be indescribable, but Baek Yu-Seol didn’t flinch. Not even for a moment.
Seeing this, Blue Winter Moon bared its blue-tinged teeth in a grin.
— That’s right. You’ve always been like this since the first time we met.
Baek Yu-Seol gave a slight nod and placed his hand over Hong Bi-Yeon’s chest.
— I don’t know what those bastards are scheming, but we’re not letting them win.
“Of course.”
With those final words, Baek Yu-Seol gritted his teeth and closed his eyes.
The pain would be unbearable, as if dying and coming back to life in an instant…
But it was still far better than letting someone precious slip away.