Hargeon Harbor, the time-stopped world.
Under the gaze of Kenichi, Erza, and the others, the golden shockwave before them slowly dissipated.
After a few seconds, a massive circular crater appeared in their field of vision.
However, right in the center of this circular crater stood a solitary stone pillar.
Dimaria was standing on that pillar.
But the Dimaria now was no longer her former self.
Her long hair stood on end, and her entire body was covered in gold and black patterns.
A layer of golden flame seemed to burn around her, giving her an immensely mysterious aura.
"What in the world is this...?" Looking at the transformed Dimaria, Erza, Wendy, Mirajane, and the others all had drastic changes in their expressions.
Although Erza, Wendy, and the others didn't know exactly what had happened to Dimaria, they could feel a strong sense of unease emanating from her.
"Be careful! She's emitting a sinister magical power!" Erza furrowed her brows. While warning the others, she tightened her grip on the sword in her hand.
Soon, under everyone's watchful eyes, Dimaria slowly raised her head.
"Take Over: God Soul!" Dimaria declared to everyone in an absolutely cold voice.
"God Soul?"
"This is the power of a god?" Hearing Dimaria's words, Erza, Wendy, and the others, who were already tense, became even more uneasy.
"I am Chronos, the God of Time!"
"You insects who defile this world must receive divine punishment!" As she spoke, Chronos scanned the group as if looking down upon mere mortals.
Soon, her gaze locked onto Erza.
She raised her arm and pointed a finger towards Erza through the air.
[Time Stream]
Swish-
A golden beam of light, moving at a speed invisible to the naked eye, instantly shot towards Erza.
However, just as the golden beam was about to hit Erza, Kenichi's figure appeared before Chronos as if teleporting, shielding Erza.
Simultaneously, Kenichi swung his arm, and the golden beam was violently deflected, ultimately striking a frozen Alvarez Empire's soldier in the distance.
Kenichi and Chronos's movements were so fast that Erza, Wendy, and the others couldn't react at all.
By the time they processed what happened, they only saw that Kenichi had somehow suddenly appeared in front of Erza, holding his arm up in a blocking motion.
Additionally, they saw an Alvarez Empire's soldier's body pierced by something.
"What, what just happened?"
'I couldn't see anything at all!' Wendy thought to herself, her heart pounding.
"Such a fast attack... Is this the power of a god?"
"If it weren't for Kenichi, I probably would have..." While feeling shocked, Erza looked at Kenichi's back before her, her eyes shining with a complex mix of emotions.
While Wendy and Erza were reeling from the power of Chronos, Chronos herself, whose face had been like still water until now, showed a rare look of surprise.
"A mere human... can block an attack from a god?" Chronos looked at Kenichi, her voice filled with both astonishment and anger.
In the next second, a golden sphere condensed once more at the tip of Chronos's finger.
"Time Stre-"
Just as Chronos was about to fire the golden beam, Kenichi suddenly appeared behind her.
Slash-
In just an instant, a streak of crimson blood sprayed from Chronos's body.
Struck by the heavy blow, two overlapping afterimages appeared on Chronos's body.
One afterimage was Chronos, wreathed in golden flames, the other afterimage was Dimaria in her armor.
Soon, Chronos's afterimage vanished.
And Dimaria reappeared in everyone's sight.
"How...?"
"Even the god was..." As Dimaria's body collapsed, she looked at Kenichi, her face filled with utter disbelief.
She simply couldn't believe that a human could defeat Chronos, the God of Time.
And it was an instant defeat at that.
"So weak for a god," Kenichi said, looking at Dimaria, his tone flat.
Soon, Dimaria collapsed onto the ground.
Simultaneously, the previously stopped time resumed its flow.
At that moment, the whip Millianna had thrown continued its original trajectory, whistling towards a group of Alvarez Empire's soldiers.
Ahhh-
Accompanied by a series of screams, the soldiers were sent flying.
Risley, Beth, and the other members of Mermaid Heel also continued the actions they were performing before the time stop.
In an instant, the previously quiet Hargeon Harbor regained the cacophony expected of a battlefield.
Of course, there were also some unlucky individuals who had been sent flying by the terrifying shockwave generated when Dimaria performed her Take Over during the time stop.
When time resumed, they were bewildered to find themselves lying on the ground, severely injured.
There was also one guy who, after time resumed, discovered his heart had been pierced by something, and then promptly died.
"Time has resumed?" Erza, Kagura, and the others, seeing everyone who had been motionless now moving again, knew that time had returned to normal.
"Kenichi, what should we do with her?" Erza looked at the fallen Dimaria and asked Kenichi.
Although Dimaria was motionless, Erza could sense that Dimaria's magical power hadn't completely vanished.
"The God of Time inside her is still somewhat useful to me. Let's capture her for now." With that, Kenichi stored Dimaria away in a different dimension.
Kenichi had wanted to obtain the Time Stop magic ever since his time on the Western Continent.
He just hadn't encountered Dimaria back then.
Now that Dimaria was right here, Kenichi naturally wouldn't let the opportunity pass.
Of course, Kenichi had also considered simply killing Dimaria and then using Necromancer Curse to summon her and collect the Time Stop magic attribute.
But Dimaria's ability to stop time came from the God of Time, Chronos, inside her.
Kenichi wasn't sure if a manifested Dimaria would still be able to use the God of Time's abilities.