In the world of stopped time, everything around was frozen in stillness.
Dimaria, clad in armor and holding a longsword, strolled leisurely through the battlefield.
Soon, she walked up to Erza.
At this moment, Erza was frozen in a sword-slashing posture.
Affected by the time stop, Erza, like everyone else, was as motionless as a statue.
Dimaria rested her sword on her shoulder and carefully examined Erza before her.
"What is this woman's relationship with Irene? How can she look so much like Irene?"
On the battlefield, Wendy, Seilah, Mirajane, Kagura, and all the other mages from Mermaid Heel were all women.
Logically, they should all fit Dimaria's particular interest.
But Dimaria targeted Erza first precisely because she noticed Erza looked almost identical to Irene, whom she knew.
"Whatever, they're enemies anyway!" After a fruitless moment of thought looking at Erza, a smirk curled Dimaria's lips.
As she spoke, she raised the sword from her shoulder and pointed it at Erza.
"Although this woman isn't Irene herself, it would still be nice to see a woman who looks just like Irene make that kind of expression."
By now, Dimaria had already started fantasizing about the blushing expression Erza would make after time resumed and she discovered her clothes had been sliced apart.
Thinking of this, the smile on Dimaria's face widened.
She didn't hesitate any longer, and the sword in her hand thrust directly towards Erza's clothes.
However, the moment Dimaria made her move, the sword in her hand was caught.
'Hmm?'
This sudden turn of events stunned Dimaria.
After all, this was a world of stopped time.
In Dimaria's view, no one in this world should be able to move except her.
But now, something was obstructing her action.
In her daze, Dimaria reflexively turned her head to look.
She saw a man standing behind her.
And the one holding the sword was this very man.
'Why?'
'Why can this guy move in my world?'
'What is going on?'
Dimaria looked at Kenichi before her… the smile on her face had long vanished, replaced by confusion.
Kenichi didn't give Dimaria time to think. A violent surge of golden lightning traveled along the sword in Dimaria's hand and instantly coursed through her entire body.
Zzzzt-
Struck by the violent golden lightning, Dimaria let out a pained grunt.
But Dimaria was no ordinary person either.
She immediately released the sword in her hand, pushed off with her feet, and her body shot backward, putting distance between herself and Kenichi.
Dimaria stabilized her stance and looked at the suddenly appearing Kenichi. The confusion in her heart had now turned to rage.
"You...!" Dimaria roared at Kenichi, her voice filled with fury.
In Dimaria's heart, this time-stopped world was her world alone.
Now, another person had appeared in her world.
This was nothing short of desecration.
At this moment, Dimaria wished she could immediately kill this intruder.
However, Kenichi paid no attention to Dimaria's anger.
He walked up to Erza, then turned his gaze towards Seilah, Wendy, Mirajane, and Kagura.
"Arc of Time!" Kenichi didn't hesitate and immediately activated the Arc of Time he had obtained from Ultear.
As the Arc of Time magic activated, Erza, Wendy, Mirajane, Seilah, and Kagura, whose time had been stopped, all regained the flow of time.
Swish-
The moment time resumed its flow, Erza, who had been motionless, seamlessly completed her sword slash, striking an Alvarez Empire's soldier in front of her.
Kagura, Wendy, and the others also continued the actions they were performing before the time stop.
But soon, Erza, Kagura, and the others noticed something unusual.
"What's going on?"
"Why are all these people not moving?" Looking at the people on the battlefield standing motionless like statues, Erza, Kagura, and the others were all filled with confusion.
"Kenichi, when did you get here?" Remember, Kenichi had come to Erza's side during the time stop.
But for Erza, it was as if Kenichi had appeared out of thin air in front of her.
"Only a few of us can move freely. Kenichi, do you know what's happening?" Wendy scanned the battlefield, then, along with Kagura and the others, walked up to Kenichi and asked.
"This is a time-stopped world," Kenichi said.
As soon as the words left his mouth, Erza's pretty face changed dramatically.
"A time-stopped world?"
"Are you saying someone stopped time for this entire world?" Erza looked at Millianna, whose whip was frozen mid-swing in the sky, and asked with disbelief.
'Stopping time for the entire world?'
Hearing Erza's words, even Seilah, who had lived for who knows how many years, showed a look of shock on her exquisitely beautiful face.
"You damned insects! How dare you defile my world!"
"I'll kill every single one of you!" While Seilah, Wendy, and the others were still reeling from the shock, Dimaria, her face full of murderous intent, screamed furiously.
Bzzzt-
In the next second, an intensely brilliant golden pillar of light erupted from around Dimaria's body.
The pillar shot straight up into the sky like a rainbow piercing the sun.
Simultaneously, a violent shockwave spread out in all directions with Dimaria at its center.
As the shockwave hit them, Erza, Kagura, and the others immediately assumed defensive stances.
The Alvarez Empire's soldiers, whose time was still stopped, were all sent flying by the impact.
"What terrifying magical power!" Erza, guarding with her arms in front of her, looked at the golden pillar connecting heaven and earth, her face filled with awe.
"This is..." Mirajane seemed to have noticed something unusual.
Soon, she added, "This is Take Over magic!"
"It seems she has taken over a truly terrifying existence!"