Vogue activated Time Step simultaneously while Time Warp was still active.
He flashed across the distance, appearing right beside her while time was still flowing backward. The combination of the two techniques made him move at a speed he didn’t even know was possible.
"Hm, these two techniques used together are insane," Vogue was impressed at the discovery.
He reached out and grabbed the woman’s neck with one hand just as time snapped back to normal flow.
The woman had just been visualizing the schematic diagram of a jet propulsion engine in her mind, about to transform it into reality, when she suddenly saw Vogue standing directly in front of her like he’d teleported. His hand was around her throat before she could even react, fingers pressing against her windpipe. L
"How is that possible?" she gasped, genuine shock and horror filling her entire face.
How could the difference in strength be this huge? In her academy back home, she wasn’t the most talented student, but because of her knowledge and unique talent, she ranked among the top five in her entire class and was considered an elite prospect. Once she finished the Osympic Trial, she was supposed to enter one of the top universities in the continent and continue evolving her strength until she became powerful enough to challenge even the legendary Radiant Knights who could absorb solar energy.
But who would have known that some random kid who looked like he came from a backwater village would defeat her so effortlessly? It didn’t make sense.
Vogue would admit that the woman’s strength was incredibly impressive. If he hadn’t created a clone to take the artillery shell hit, he would have been severely injured. His regeneration was powerful, but he still didn’t know if his head would regrow when destroyed. That was one experiment he wasn’t willing to try.
Which is why, despite his seemingly reckless fighting style, he was actually being quite mindful about protecting his head.
Vogue immediately activated Time Decay while maintaining his grip on her throat.
"Ahhhhhh!!!"
The young woman screamed in agony, pain, and sorrow as her strength rapidly weakened. Her body transformed from a fit young woman in her prime to an 80 year old woman in her prime in under 5 seconds. Her skin wrinkled and sagged and her beautiful face turned ugly. Her bountiful body dropped and sagged as her hair turned white.
Vogue threw her withered form to the ground without ceremony. She landed in a heap, looking up at him with rheumy eyes that could barely see.
The now-elderly woman howled when she realized what happened. "What did you do to me!?" Her voice trembled as she screamed hysterically.
"It’s completely reversible if you do what I tell you to and if you don’t stop screaming, you ca forget about it." Vogue said indifferently.
The woman immediately went quiet, staring at him with fear and hope. Her eyes, despite the cataracts clouding them, showed complete obedience.
"Huh," Vogue was genuinely stunned at how quickly she complied. "It’s true what they say. Women are like pets. If you don’t show complete dominance, they won’t listen properly."
He shook his head.
"Follow me."
The woman struggled to her feet with the slowness of the very elderly. "As long as you don’t rape me, I will do whatever you want," she said quickly, her voice trembling.
Vogue’s eyes turned ice cold. He grabbed her by the neck again, much and activated Time Decay once more. Another five years of her life drained away in an instant, her already frail body becoming even more weak.
The young woman who had been aged to eighty was now 85 years old. Her breathing was rough and her heart struggling to pump blood through failing veins.
"Please! Please, anything you want, I am willing!" she begged, her voice barely a whisper now.
Vogue threw her to the ground with disgust. "Hmph! If I needed to sleep with someone, I’d rather do it with a young and healthy woman, not some dried-up corpse. Keep your assumptions to yourself."
With that, he turned around and started walking toward the next street, heading east along West 34th Street toward Madison Avenue.
It was full night now, all four suns having set below the horizon as the new three moons took place.
The radiants were hiding now, they were completely weak and vulnerable. Without sunlight to fuel their regeneration and strength, they became weak.
The elderly woman struggled to follow him as she gasped.
"J-Jessica. My name is Jessica."
Vogue didn’t acknowledge her introduction, walking in silence for a full minute before speaking. "The material of what you visualize, is it limited to common metals, or can you create even higher-grade alloys like titanium? What about artifact materials like Nevulium steel?"
Jessica voice was weak as she replied. "If I absorbed enough Nevulium steel, then I can create any artifact I want, but only based on my current rank. For now, I can barely create a Type 9 Artifact, which is the lowest grade. But once I become a Stellar Knight, I should be able to work with stronger materials."
Vogue’s face immediately turned cold and he turned around to kill her. "Then there’s really no need to keep you alive.what’s the use of you being alive?"
Jessica’s face changed drastically, pure terror flooding her body. She gritted her teeth but spoke."I-I managed to absorb a Nevulium ore before I came here."
Vogue stopped walking and turned to look at her with narrowed eyes. "This world doesn’t have Nevulium ore yet, does it? The trial just started. How did you manage to get one in here?"
Jessica gritted her teeth, weighing her options, but ultimately decided to tell the truth. "We have a device in my city that’s able to detect a trace of someone’s talent before the trial. I managed to embed a sizable Nevulium ore in my stomach before the trial descended. Now that I awakened, I’m able to use it."