The prince stopped time. Technically, that wasn’t exactly what was happening, but it appeared that way from his perspective. Of course Darian himself could still move. The air around him moved enough to allow him to breathe, and he could touch anything he liked to allow it to move as well.

An ability to kill with a single thought was a considerable threat, but if the power relied on the boy’s conscious choice to activate it, the solution was clear: offer no chance for it to be activated. Kill him before he realized that he was about to be killed.

Darian’s companions had been killed just as they’d made the decision to attack, so the boy likely had some sort of ability to predict such things. But if time was stopped, such a power became irrelevant. Darian’s ability to do just that was enough to resolve almost any situation he found himself in. But as convenient as it was, it did have its weaknesses. While time was frozen, he couldn’t use any of his other skills or magic. Anything he threw would freeze moments after leaving his hand. So if he wanted to defeat someone in that state, he had to approach and attack them directly.

Darian walked around behind the boy. With time halted, his adversary wouldn’t be able to see him anyway, but he figured it was best to use extreme caution. Stepping close enough for his sword to reach, he paused. From his perspective, the boy was trapped in time. There should have been no brain function. He shouldn’t have been able to perceive any killing intent and therefore shouldn’t have been able to react to an attack. If any issue arose, it would be because his enemy was resilient enough to survive a strike from a blade.

Darian’s earlier inspection had found no traces of any magical items, skills or other such effects on the boy. He appeared to be an ordinary human, meaning a single slash would be enough to cut him down. That much was a certainty.

Even so, he continued to consider whether he had overlooked anything. Stopping time consumed an enormous amount of magical energy, but he could maintain that state for about an hour. There was no need to rush. He considered everything carefully, ensuring that there were absolutely no holes in his plan.

And then a thought occurred to him. Was it really acceptable to kill him? Using such a power, or even having a chance to study it, could be of great help to his plan to save humanity.

He immediately discarded the thought. This boy was an enemy of humankind, one whose very existence threatened them all. Letting him live for even a second longer was too dangerous. He would deliver a blow to the head, swiftly ending his life. There wouldn’t be the slightest opening for a counterattack. That would put an end to his Instant Death power.

Still, he wasn’t used to the idea of striking a defenseless opponent. He hesitated briefly but soon pictured the result in his mind: he would slice the head from the top right diagonally downwards, then again from the top left. He would follow with a horizontal slash through the skull, and then finally a single straight slash from the top of the head down through the body to the groin. Although the first attack would likely kill him, he would take no chances.

Darian drew his sword.

Then their eyes met.

“Huh?”

With no warning, eyes had appeared. In the space between Darian and the boy, they began to open up in front of him. They weren’t just eyeballs but full eyes, furnished with eyelids and set as if within a face.

A chill ran through him as the eyes continued to appear one after another. It was hard to tell how much time had passed while everything was frozen, but in what seemed like the briefest of instants, the space around him was filled with eyes in numbers beyond counting.

Eyes.

Eyes.

Eyes.

Each and every one of them was staring fixedly at him, watching. As Darian began to tremble in fear, the pupils moved, tracing his faint movements, observing every minute detail.

Even so, Darian raised his sword. The eyes followed the tip of the blade as it cut upwards through the air. They were watching him carefully. What would happen if he tried to bring the sword down? There was no way they would allow it. He was certain they would strike back at him somehow.

This was the line. If he turned his sword even slightly towards the boy, he would be killed. He was absolutely sure of it. And he realized that if he were killed, it wouldn’t be something as simple as death waiting for him. It would be far worse.

-Volume 5 pages 81-84