In front of the half-destroyed watchtower, the two people facing each other with icy stares simultaneously had this thought.
The recent wave of attack and defense had made both of them realize the other’s thorniness, the other’s strength.
"That last strike was clearly a type of sword technique with extraordinary power and speed; this person is not only a magician highly skilled in battle techniques but also a formidable swordsman."
The mysterious priest watched Reiger coldly, feeling particularly grave in his heart.
"Moreover, this person has used that instant teleportation magic more than once—the spatial magic. Is he an adept of spatial displacement? What a hassle!"
The mysterious priest, thinking this, did not realize that Reiger viewed him as an equally troublesome opponent.
"A magic mirror that can reflect magic attacks."
"A vestment robe that can defend against physical attacks."
"So, neither sword techniques nor magic have much effect on this guy, right?"
Reiger’s gaze swept over the mysterious priest’s pure white vestment robe, and he remembered the other’s use of that meteor-like flash attack, his brows furrowing imperceptibly.
"What kind of magic is that exactly?"
In their recent bout, Reiger had cast "Magic Dissolution" against the mysterious priest’s flash magic, intending to neutralize the spell, but had failed.
Reiger had thought this was due to the mysterious priest’s magical knowledge surpassing his own.
"Magic Dissolution" can dispel an opponent’s magic, but if the opponent’s magical ability is higher than the caster’s, the dispelling effect becomes incomplete or even entirely ineffective.
Based on this, when "Magic Dissolution" failed, Reiger became cautious, subconsciously considering the other a formidable enemy with superior magical knowledge.
However, in their recent clash, while the other displayed impressively strong abilities, the level of power shouldn’t have been enough to surpass his own.
Therefore, the flash magic’s ability to resist "Magic Dissolution" might very well be an inherent feature.
Together with the speed that even a Sword Saint might not be able to react to and its considerable power, the opponent’s balanced offensive and defensive tactics had made Reiger see him as a problematic opponent.
"What a hassle indeed."
And so, Reiger arrived at the same thought as his opponent.
However, there was one point in which Reiger differed from the mysterious priest.
That was, he still had an ace up his sleeve.
Perhaps sensing something, the mysterious priest suddenly launched another attack, lifting his golden scepter; a series of flashes turned into meteors, tearing through the air towards him.
"[Advanced Teleportation]!"
Reiger disappeared in an instant and reappeared behind the mysterious priest.
"Don’t think of escaping!"
The mysterious priest spun around fiercely, pointing his scepter, and the meteor-like flashes immediately turned back and continued towards Reiger with breakneck speed.
But at this moment, Reiger had already initiated his trump card.
"[Magic Resistance Augmentation - Time Stop]!"
Indeed, it was time magic.
The time magic that could stop time and bring the entire world to a halt was undoubtedly a terrifying trump card.
And so time began to stand still, the world began to freeze, and the flashes streaking across the city were frozen in the atmosphere, unable to move further.
Naturally, the mysterious priest was also caught in the absolutely still time-space, frozen in place with his scepter raised, no longer able to move.
In this world, only Reiger could move; there was no second creature nor non-living thing that could.
———It was supposed to be , at any rate.
"Crack, crack, crack..."
Suddenly, the time-space around the mysterious priest started to fluctuate.
A magic mirror appeared in front of him, its surface reflecting an unusual radiance that made the frozen time-space seem to shatter, creating fissures.
"...Can it reflect even time magic?"
Looking at this scene, even Reiger couldn’t help but express his amazement.
If Reiger hadn’t anticipated this and augmented the "Time Stop" with enhanced resistance, perhaps the magic mirror might have simply reflected the spell in one fell swoop.
"What a dangerous guy."
Reiger watched the mysterious priest surrounded by fissures in the time-space, narrowing his eyes.
Although the other still couldn’t move, it seemed that his consciousness had been restored, and he seemed to understand the situation, his gaze rippling with uncertainty.
Indeed, that was the case.
"Time magic!? Damn it! How can this kind of magic exist...!?"
The conscious again mysterious priest looked at the world that had come to a standstill, shocked, while inwardly screaming.
"Even for someone with spatial displacement aptitude, using this kind of magic is just cheating...!?"
Possessing time magic basically meant being invincible; there was no possibility of defeat.
Even in a game like "YGGDRASIL" where players of levels 7 and higher are commonplace, once you reach level 70, you had to prepare countermeasures for time magic; otherwise, no matter how strong, you would only meet one outcome against an opponent who could use time magic, and that is a wipeout.
The mysterious priest should be grateful that his magic mirror could have an effect on all types of magic; otherwise, he wouldn’t stand a chance against time magic, not able to put up any respectable resistance.