MIGHT AS WELL BE OP Chapter 979: Checkmate

Grinning broadly, Lucian activated his latest bewildering power, causing reality to twist around him as space shook fiercely while he uttered his words, the essence of being quaking like it was preparing for an unyielding order it couldn't resist.

In the instant that followed, a surge of golden energy burst from Lucian's form, expanding across the whole isolated realm like divine illumination pouring down from the skies. This glow wasn't soft or comforting; it was total dominance, oppressive, wielding a force that compelled total yielding from all it encountered.

Aaaninja gazed at the golden radiance, his Eyes Of Genesis analyzing it instantly to figure out Lucian's action, yet the harder he probed, the less progress he made, as if the power lay outside the reach of any analysis.

A few fleeting instants ticked by quietly, with no strike unleashed on the world, then a whole second elapsed, and finally... Lucian's voice rang out.

"No time-based ability or skill shall work, be it innate, be it learned, be it physical. As long as it is related to time, it shall be obsolete."

Those words boomed like thunder in Aaaninja’s ears, profound and final, bearing the burden of an ironclad directive. Right after, his heart, which had pulsed in flawless rhythm all through the fight, faltered, pounding wildly against his ribs with terrifying force as a strange wave swept over him.

It wasn't the fear that comes from flirting with death, nor the icy shiver that grips the veins and back when facing sheer might.

It was a different thing altogether... something deeper, something far more basic, akin to the agony of a core part of one's self being ripped out by force.

Moments later, he sensed it, beginning with his eyes. For the first time ever, Aaaninja's link to the Eyes Of Genesis broke. His irises, once swirling with rainbow hues like intricate clocks, faded to plain white, their captivating patterns dissolving into bland void.

Yet it didn't end there.

Aaaninja experienced his natural, unbreakable bond with time dissolve completely. The time particles that had swirled around him joyfully and freely, without any order, now floated off as if rejecting him, treating him like an outsider.

Then realization struck in his thoughts, the impact total and irrefutable; every power and technique tied to the time element had been stripped from him. It was all gone.

For a figure like Aaaninja Chronisynth Eternos, who entered the world with solely Time affinity and no other gifts, this wasn't just a setback—it was a devastating calamity that cut him off from the root of his power.

Lucian beamed like a lunatic while eyeing Aaaninja with a gleeful, malicious smirk, obviously relishing the raw astonishment and denial on Aaaninja’s face, drinking in every bit of that quiet agony like the finest prize.

Through Law Imposition, Lucian Darkheart could dictate rules over reality to his liking, provided his mana sustained the decree. Right now, he had set a rule making all time-linked powers, in every form, utterly ineffective. In effect, Aaaninja lay helpless like a fish awaiting the knife, robbed of the core tool that shaped his identity.

Instantly, he blurred out of sight in a swift dash, accelerating to his top speed to cover the gap in under an eyeblink, his katana whistling toward Aaaninja’s neck in a fatal gleam as he targeted a clean beheading. Even without his eyes, Aaaninja wasn't rendered powerless.

He retained his vision, he could track Lucian's assault, for with strength on a planetary scale, his awareness was insanely sharp in all ways, Eyes Of Genesis or not.

Right then, he lifted his sword, igniting his Sword Intent with a roar that enveloped his body and blade completely. A deafening crash erupted as the weapons clashed, unleashing a massive blast of destructive power and sheer pressure, shockwaves shredding earth and heavens both.

Spotting Aaaninja's shift to Sword Intent, Lucian promptly activated his version, but went further. Dark lightning surged wildly across his frame as he morphed into a tempest of blackness, resembling a bolt of thunder cleaving the darkness, wild and fearsome.

Lucian's voice resounded as his power fixed Aaaninja in space, holding him fast like a bug preserved in resin. He surged forward in a haze, katana lunging in a killing stab to shatter Aaaninja’s mind in a single, final blow.

However, Aaaninja was merely pinned in body. With one mental push, his Sword Intent erupted, ripping space apart like fragile cloth. Freed in that instant, he blinked away instantly via teleportation.

Lucian's katana sliced only empty air once more, the void imploding at the strike's end. He wasn't shocked that Aaaninja evaded with teleportation. Though lacking space affinity, masters who honed Sword Intent to its peak could warp through it.

This explained how Null Michael, the Sword Saint, moved anywhere at will. By shattering space via Sword Intent, one could enter the rift it formed, or shift straight to a spot marked by prior Sword Intent.

Still, Lucian couldn't avoid shaking his head at Aaaninja’s cleverness. The guy always found a survival trick, carving an improbable escape where none seemed possible. That said, Lucian didn't plan to prolong the clash. After all, Law Imposition was draining his mana steadily, and combining it with Event Rewriting to restore his mana fully wasn't an option.

A smirk crossed Lucian's lips as he recalled a move Aaaninja had pulled on him before, and with that in mind, he declared once more.

Mana throbbed as he etched his intent straight into the fabric of reality, and soon Aaaninja felt his movement seize up. His shape reversed through space in backward flow, as if time were under revision, pulling him back to the point when Lucian first deployed Dimensional Lock.

Aaaninja’s eyes bulged as he identified the technique. It was his Time Displacement skill.

Yet Lucian had mimicked its outcome via Event Rewriting, sidestepping time control altogether, now forbidden by Law Imposition.

Abruptly, Aaaninja reappeared at the position he'd just fled less than a second prior, facing Lucian whose katana was already swinging with a broad grin plastered on his features.

"Checkmate," Lucian Darkheart whispered with a smile as his katana streaked in a silvery streak, the rip of meat resounding as a head flew high in a bloody curve.

Aaaninja Chronisynth Eternos lay decapitated.

_____