MIGHT AS WELL BE OP-Chapter 975: Temporal Erasure
Through the haze of smoke and destruction, as Aaaninja was methodically destroying Lucian’s attacks one after another, Lucian appeared like a phantom, as though he were the perfect assassin born from darkness itself, his katana tearing forward toward Aaaninja’s waist as he moved to split the man cleanly in half from the torso with a single decisive stroke.
But Aaaninja’s head snapped toward the direction as though he had foreseen this outcome and had been patiently waiting for it all along, his expression calm and cold as he activated Temporal Slip and Reverse Causality at the same time. The next moment, he vanished from where he stood as he slipped through the folds of time and space yet again, phasing out of existence like a ripple disappearing into still water, and following his disappearance, Reverse Causality erupted instantly as it targeted Lucian’s head with merciless inevitability.
But Lucian didn’t fall for it, he too vanished as he slipped through the folds of space like a fish swimming effortlessly through water, untouchable and fluid. The moment he appeared at his new position, Aaaninja was already there as though he could see directly into the future itself, his presence arriving with unnatural precision, but before Lucian could even move or respond, Aaaninja activated another skill; Stasis Field.
Mana immediately erupted violently from Aaaninja’s core like a detonating star, spreading outward in an expanding sphere as everything within a couple hundred kilometers ground to an absolute halt, mana flow, blood flow, sun rays, particles, molecules, vibrations, even sound itself, everything was frozen in time as though the universe had been paused by an unseen hand. Lucian himself came to a complete halt as only his thoughts remained active at the moment, his body trapped in suspended stillness like a statue carved from reality.
Aaaninja didn’t hesitate, he moved as he was the only one granted motion at this moment, the sole entity permitted to act within a world reduced to silence, but the moment he closed the distance, something happened, something he hadn’t accounted for, something Lucian had already anticipated far in advance.
The next moment, the entire Stasis Field collapsed instantly, time snapping back into place with violent recoil, the clouds beginning to move once more, light flowing again, sunlight scattering across the sky, particles vibrating back into existence, but mana didn’t, it simply ceased as though something else had interfered with it, and indeed something else had.
Lucian had activated an ability of his called Null Field.
His activation timing was executed with utter perfection, precise down to the smallest fraction of a second. Null Field erased all energies within a particular distance, be it mana, be it Faith energy, be it Savor energy, as long as it was classified as energy, it was erased without exception or resistance. And the moment he had activated this ability, Aaaninja’s Stasis Field collapsed entirely as the mana required to sustain it had been rendered null and nonexistent.
Aaaninja, who seemed to be on the advantage and Lucian on the disadvantage only a moment ago, instantly found their situation flipped with brutal clarity, the roles reversing so suddenly it felt almost mocking.
The next instant, black lightning crackled violently around Lucian’s fist and body, crawling like living serpents of destruction, and with titanic force he punched outward with devastating impact, the attack landing squarely against Aaaninja’s gut with a cataclysmic burst that shattered the air itself, his body lifting off the earth before being violently torn backward as his frame folded forward like fragile paper caught in a storm.
Pain blared within his mind and body like sirens, his skin torn open and apart as the attack had connected without obstruction or mitigation. His regeneration kicked in immediately, injuries and pain disappearing alike, flesh knitting itself together as though nothing had happened, his body twisting as he dug his feet into the earth and carved trenches through stone before finally coming to a halt.
Lucian didn’t hesitate for even a fraction of a second, he appeared before Aaaninja yet again, his foot screaming toward the man’s jaw as it tore in from the side, covered entirely in pure lightning. With another titanic impact, Aaaninja’s head snapped violently to the side, his body shooting sideways like a dying star cast across the void, crashing through the air with explosive force.
Lucian was able to use his elements despite clearly not using mana simply because one of the countless talents he had copied allowed it, granting him an abnormal freedom that defied conventional limitations and rendered typical restrictions meaningless. 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢
As for Aaaninja, he was forced onto the receiving end of the assault, he could see the attack clearly, his Eyes Of Genesis tracking every microscopic movement as it didn’t require mana to perceive such basic physical phenomena, but his body couldn’t generate the necessary speed to dodge. He needed mana or Sword Intent to boost himself, but Lucian had severed all connections to those sources entirely, leaving him trapped in a purely physical state.
His jaw bones were broken, teeth torn out of their gums, crimson blood pouring from his mouth in thick streams, but injury wasn’t anything new to him, pain was something he had long since grown accustomed to, something he simply endured with cold acceptance, but at the same time he knew he couldn’t keep this going, he knew Lucian’s Null Field ability had a time limit, yet he couldn’t gamble on that uncertainty, he had to use something else.
Lucian erased the distance between them yet again, his katana already singing toward Aaaninja’s neck as he moved to end it once and for all without hesitation or delay, after all, this was Aaaninja, and Lucian knew better than anyone what absurd skill the man might pull out of nowhere if given even the smallest opportunity.
Aaaninja’s perception of reality and time stretched unnaturally as everything around him slowed, the world becoming viscous and heavy, his Eyes Of Genesis brightening brilliantly as Lucian’s katana covered in lightning closed in for his neck, and he was merely a few fractions of a second away from decapitation.
Aaaninja had no choice, to keep this battle ongoing he had to use something he didn’t want to use, something he had been reserving solely for Anthony; his Eyes Of Genesis... or rather, an ability hidden beneath it, one that didn’t require mana, but lifespan. Although Lucian’s Field still categorized vitality as energy and therefore should have prevented it, Aaaninja’s Eyes Of Genesis simply bypassed that rule as though it were child’s play, ignoring the restriction entirely.
Aaaninja’s lips parted slowly as he spoke, Temporal Erasure.
The moment those words left his lips, Aaaninja felt a portion of his vitality vanish instantly, a chilling emptiness spreading through him as years of life were stripped away without mercy.
Temporal Erasure was an ability that allowed Aaaninja to erase specific events, objects, or even people completely from the timeline itself. The cost to his lifespan depended entirely on what he was erasing, and at this moment Aaaninja had lost thousands of years of lifespan, because his target of erasure was singular and absolute, Lucian Darkheart.
The next moment, Lucian Darkheart simply vanished from reality, there was no dramatic flare or chain reaction, no explosion or distortion, no warning of any kind, he simply disappeared as though he had never existed in the first place, because he had ceased to exist entirely. He had been completely erased from the timeline by Aaaninja, his presence deleted from causality itself.
And with that, Lucian Darkheart was deleted and erased from reality.
