章 47: 47:When Time is Frozen

At Rimuru's arrival, Sasha visibly tensed. The look she gave was as though all her plans had been revealed even before they were executed.

'That's impossible, right? I planned for this all my life and didn't even mention anything to anyone,' Sasha thought as she was about to go into an internal dilemma. Rimuru spoke again.

"Sasha, while I respect your wish to replace yourself with Misha, that is not what she wants."

'How did she know?' Sasha screamed internally.

"So let me give you an alternative. From what Misha told me, both of you were separate souls who had the same source before Avos cast <Dielga> on you two. Since you, who have the highest Demon King aptitude, were chosen to be the main source while Misha would be the one who fuses. Am I correct?" asked Rimuru.

"Yes, that's correct," Sasha nodded.

Clapping her hands, Rimuru said cheerfully, "Then the answer is quite simple. You just have to use a time reversal spell and go back in time to fuse with your sources after the spell was cast."

"I see. If both half sources merge with their future selves at the same time, making the conditions for fusion magic complete, there would be no need to forcibly fuse with each other as they are already fused," Anos finished, analyzing the solution Rimuru proposed.

"That sounds good and all, but we need a huge amount of magic power to cast the spell," Sasha voiced out.

Both Anos and Rimuru looked at each other and smiled. "Hahaha, leave that to us," they said simultaneously as a blood-red magic circle manifested under their feet.

Sasha, marveling at it, exclaimed, "This is Origin Magic!"

As someone who had studied to create the perfect spell for her cause for the last ten years, she naturally knew about Origin Magic. She had personally tried to make her own, as in Origin Magic, you borrow the source of someone more powerful than the caster.

"Yes, this is Origin Magic, which lets your source travel back in time. And for the missing magic power, Rimuru will support it. But for this Origin Magic to work, you must follow one crucial instruction. You must borrow the source of someone powerful enough to make time ineffective in his presence—the one hailed as the Demon King of Tyranny, in other words, my source. You must believe in me and not Avos Dillheavia," Anos said seriously.

Both Sasha and Misha nodded. With this as a signal, Rimuru started to supply magic power to the spell, making it glow more brightly. Just when Anos was about to activate it, someone broke through the roof and was about to stab Anos when Rimuru stopped the attack with her finger.

Looking at the assailant, Rimuru remarked, "Anos, when we are done with this, you better clean this mess up." Saying so, she forcefully took the sword from Avos and threw it like a javelin, impaling Avos to the wall that cracked at the impact.

Dusting her hands, she turned to Anos and said, "With that disturbance taken care of, we can continue what we were doing."

Anos nodded, not minding that one of his subordinates was impaled on the wall. Even though he sensed him a bit later than Rimuru, he would have done the same thing, as this ritual is way more important now.

"<Ingdu>"

The world stopped moving, and soon their surroundings began to crack. They were transported to a black-and-white world.

Not liking the atmosphere, Sasha asked, "Hey Anos, what's happening here? Did the spell malfunction?"

"No, the spell worked perfectly. We are now in a state where time is frozen."

"Oh, so why are we here then?"

"We're here because the person guarding time has summoned us. Whenever someone tries to change the past, he shall appear."

As if taking his words as a cue, the space in front of them began to be sliced. Enlarging the space that was cut, a pair of hands wearing white gloves appeared. Grasping the space, they wrenched it open further, and a figure slowly emerged. It wore a white robe with a hood, and no matter how hard you stared with your demon eyes, you couldn't see its face. Of course, it was impossible, as this being didn't even have a face to begin with.

"Nee, Anos, who the hell is that?" Sasha asked again.

"Eugo Ra Raviaz, the guardian deity of time. Simply put, it's the god responsible for protecting and keeping the order and flow of time," Rimuru answered this time, as Anos was stabilizing the effects this god had to disrupt the spell.

"A god? I only heard of them as legends," Misha said as she looked at the being her magic eyes couldn't see the origin of.

"Well, that's normal. You see, gods, unlike demons or humans, don't need to socialize themselves. They think that just because they are the order, we all should just be their minions," Rimuru spat with visible annoyance in her voice. She never had a good impression of gods.

"What she meant to say is that gods do not like mortals doing something they specialize in. Hey, I would appreciate it if you just ignored this. I am only saving one demon, after all," Anos said as he addressed the god glaring at him.

"Won't permit… The past shall not be altered… Mortals shall be punished." Saying so, the god sliced the air next to him again, forming a tear that broke through space. From it, he took the dead body of Avos Necron. And just like an illusion, the wounds on his body began to disappear.

"Avos Necron, I grant thee the power of the god of time. Destroy Anos Voldigoad…"

Saying so, he fused with the now-healed Avos, who began to be wrapped in a black cocoon. When the cocoon burst, Avos now wielded two scythes in each hand.

"Hahaha, with the power of Time, I shall kill you both, Anos Voldigoad and Rimuru Tempest. Then, with no one there to interfere with the creation of the perfect vessel, the Demon King of Tyranny shall be reborn," Avos laughed maniacally.

"Pffft, big words coming from someone who only knows how to gloat with borrowed power. Hey Anos, you can have him while I keep this spell active," Rimuru said, giving the green light to Anos to go wild.

"Oh, with pleasure," Anos said as he cast twenty <Geo Greys> with a snap of his finger.

As soon as these attacks came near Avos, they suddenly stopped. With a swipe of his scythe, these attacks disappeared into nothingness.

Avos laughed and mocked, "Hahaha, I am Time. Your attacks won't even reach me if I can just reverse their time."

"Oh really? Then why don't you try this?" Saying so, Anos cast another twenty <Geo Greys>. Avos just laughed and did the same. But as soon as the attacks vanished, thirty <Geo Greys> materialized from them and hit the surprised Avos, who was too shocked to cast a barrier.

"If you're going to turn back the time of my attacks, I just need to cast spells that have their time reversed," Anos said smugly as he watched the explosion.