The massive navy-blue tree pierced through the ceiling of the giant underground chamber.

I slid down the tree, which had burst through the space, taking in the vast underground scene before me.

A large city stretched out below, with an endless slope reaching upward on one side and a facility resembling a research lab and opulent mansions on the other.

'The atmosphere’s actually better than I expected…'

The air had a faint bluish glow, the ceiling resembled a night sky, and the city itself had a distinct ambiance.

The buildings in the city were all stone, resembling ancient temples and giving off a vibe similar to a European tourist site.

It made me think how nice it would be to have a place like this in the Mini Reaper Garden!

However, there was one issue.

The city wasn’t filled with humans but rather with “harmful objects” at the level of evolutionary fluid.

As I landed on the ground, taking in the sight of the sinister city, the fine sand beneath my feet began to slowly float into the air.

The impact of my landing caused the grains of sand to rise sluggishly, as if in a slow-motion video, until they eventually froze in mid-air.

As if time had stopped for the sand.

‘?’

As I looked curiously at the suspended sand, a psychic wave from the Mini Sprout Reaper reached me.

[Mom, you’re so fast!]

The Mini Sprout Reaper was perched atop the head of what seemed to be its cherished human, smiling brightly at me.

It looked healthy, though the firewood light was slightly dim, possibly from having used most of its strength to grow the tree.

I gently patted the Mini Sprout Reaper’s head and turned to face the object, which seemed to be an enemy of the Mini Reapers.

A rather aristocratic-looking man glared at me with a hardened expression.

His demeanor appeared flawlessly composed, yet he strangely felt quite fearful.

But more unsettling than his attitude was the thick stench emanating from him.

It was far worse than the combined harmful objects at the center of this underground chamber.

He was by far the most dangerous being I’d ever encountered.

What could he have done to smell so vile?

‘I need to evacuate the Mini Reaper and the humans before fighting such a harmful creature.’

I summoned the Mini Reaper Garden and sent off the Mini Sprout Reaper and the two humans.

[Mom, no!]

The Mini Sprout Reaper seemed to be saying something to me, but I didn’t pay it any mind.

“Heh, hahaha!”

As soon as I sent the Mini Sprout Reaper back to the garden, the harmful man started laughing.

‘What’s this? Suddenly, he’s all smug.’

I looked at him in bewilderment.

In that moment, the towering tree that had soared sky-high began to wither.

As if in fast-forward, its majestic form shriveled, leaving only bare branches behind.

‘Did it wither because the Mini Sprout Reaper is gone?’

Just as I pondered this obvious question, the world went dark.

A void without sound or light.

‘!’

And then, as if trapped in concrete, the very space around me solidified, immobilizing my body.

In the world where everything had stopped, the man laughed loudly.

He laughed as if filled with utter satisfaction.

“Truly fortunate!”

An unidentified object had appeared, one that had nearly granted him true dominion, just as if a deity had sent him an adversary.

But that object had vanished on its own.

It was practically a guarantee that he was chosen as the ruler of the world.

He felt as though the world itself was speaking to him.

[There exists an adversary in this world, so be prepared and ready yourself!]

“Heh, hahaha!”

The man laughed out loud once more, unable to contain himself.

‘Indeed, every supreme being needs a worthy adversary.’

After a while, he stopped laughing and, with a calm expression, looked down at the Gray Reaper, frozen in time.

“Thanks for taking care of the adversary.”

He raised his right hand, and parasites burst from his arm’s skin, coiling together to form a sharp spear.

“With gratitude, I’ll kill you in an instant.”

Then he aimed the spear-like arm at the Gray Reaper’s heart.

“In this frozen time, you won’t even realize you’ve died!”

With that cry, he thrust the massive spear toward the Gray Reaper’s heart.

But the sharp spear could not penetrate the Gray Reaper’s skin.

‘!’

Seeing this, he raised his arm again.

“Then!”

The spear trembled and slowly turned ethereal.

Splut!

The massive, stake-like hand vanished, obliterated along with the Gray Reaper’s heart.

With its heart pierced, the Gray Reaper was left suspended in the air, held by the frozen space.

“It’s over.”

The man muttered as he turned away from the Gray Reaper and walked out.

He had much to prepare for from now on.

More power to gather, traps and minions to set up to handle any remaining adversaries.

‘It’s a pity I have to hide in the shadows again, but there’s no other choice.’

Just then—

Screeching!

A thunderous noise, as if space itself were being torn apart, echoed from behind him.

The sound was utterly out of place in this “frozen time” world, usually silent and desolate.

When he turned to look toward the Gray Reaper, he saw golden flames blazing.

It was a flame that moved freely, untouched by time.

Starting from the heart, the golden flame quickly spread across the Gray Reaper’s body.

At the same time, its wounds gradually healed, and it slowly descended from midair.

The Gray Reaper lifted its head, its face no longer expressionless.

A faint smile appeared on its lips.

Heh heh.

It was a mischievous, playful expression, like someone discovering something amusing.

A dark void without light or sound, not even movement.

I realized this phenomenon was likely related to the Sprout Reaper’s ability over “time.”

‘Time isn’t flowing.’

Yet ironically, I could feel time passing within that void.

The moment I recognized that, I found I could force myself to move within this frozen world.

The silent darkness shattered in an instant.

With logs clinging to me, I looked at the harmful object in front of me, who wore a startled expression, and grinned.

Heh heh.

With the logs burning and my forced movements, I heard a sound like the tearing of space each time I moved.

Screech.

I moved with the sensation of tearing through space, using a spatial slice aimed at the man.

But the man managed to evade the path of my hand, minimizing the damage from the spatial slice.

“...!”

The man muttered something that sounded like English, but I couldn’t quite catch it.

He was probably asking how I managed to move in the frozen time.

Unfortunately, I hadn’t acquired the ability to stop time.

When I defeated the navy-blue moon, I’d only gained minor temporal acceleration.

Even then, I hadn’t been able to handle it as well as the Golden Reaper.

Time abilities and I weren’t exactly a perfect match.

I had simply realized one thing.

Stopping time wouldn’t hold me down.

As I grew more accustomed to moving in this frozen time, I let out a small laugh.

At this rate, I’d be able to kill this harmful man soon.

The condition to destroy him was simple.

<Depletion of consumed life.>

It was a condition reminiscent of an evolution-fluid-corrupted glutton.

As I adapted to the frozen time, slowly draining his regenerative power, the man suddenly released the time freeze.

I tilted my head in curiosity.

He didn’t have any ability besides time freeze, so why release it?

The man was skillfully dodging my spatial slices, but his expression betrayed his fear.

‘This can’t be happening.’

‘This absolutely can’t be.’

The Gray Reaper was moving forcibly within the frozen time, without the ability to stop time.

It was unthinkable.

‘How could a being that lives in the flow of time reject the power of frozen time?’

Yet, those golden flames seemed to proclaim that this defiance was natural.

‘He’s moving faster.’

‘If this continues, he’ll catch up. I need to escape before that happens.’

The man released the time freeze, dodging the space-tearing attack by the barest margins, but the trajectory of the slice quickly tore his body apart.

As his shredded body regenerated, he called all his followers to him.

‘I’ll show you the force of sheer numbers!!!’

Of course, he didn’t expect his followers to defeat such a powerful opponent.

He only needed enough time to flee.

As he watched the swarm of followers crowd the slope, he smirked triumphantly.

Seeing the massive army, the Gray Reaper tilted its head and then stomped twice.

Thump, thump.

The ground beneath its feet shattered, and golden waves poured out.

That was true force of numbers.

And it spelled the end for the followers the man had gathered over decades.

“Heh, hahaha.”

But the man wasn’t discouraged.

In those brief seconds, he’d managed to gain considerable distance.

He dove toward the island’s exit, shouting as he froze time once more.

“I’ll leave the victory to you, for now!”

But his triumphant expression twisted in an instant.

“I… I can’t… move…”

The man’s steps came to a halt.

‘Wh… why?’

Space solidified around him, silencing even his voice.

And slowly, he began to be pulled somewhere.

In his fading sight, he could see only the Gray Reaper against a menacing black sphere as he was dragged away

As the man was pulled away, his vision faded until only the ominous black sphere and the figure of the Gray Reaper remained in his line of sight.