"I’ve got you at last!"
In that fleeting instant—amid the storm of devastating blows—Amon’s eyes widened as he saw his arm halt mid-air, Gehrman’s hand clamped around it like a vice.
"He caught my arm despite the speed I was striking him with?"
Amon was genuinely surprised, yet he couldn’t understand what Gehrman hoped to gain from restraining him.
After all, Amon could free himself within a second, given the vast difference in their physical strength.
What the demon did not realize was that this brief contact was merely the condition required to activate a certain ability.
Amon understood only when it was already too late .. when he felt the terrifying wave of aura erupting from Gehrman’s body.
Gehrman’s eyes blazed with a roaring blue light as his aura expanded, completely enveloping Amon.
"Chrono Guillotine."
Gehrman finally unleashed the world-breaking ability he had concealed until now.
Chrono Guillotine .. a monstrous power that caused Gehrman’s aura to expand explosively in all directions, then, in less than a single second ..
It all converged around Amon, who released his full power in an attempt to defend himself.
Amon knew what was coming would be no trivial matter. He no longer dared to play around and shifted into full seriousness.
The release of his full power made both Abraham and Gehrman recoil slightly, realizing that their opponent had been toying with them the entire time.
Even so, it was already too late.
Once the ability had been activated, Amon possessed no defense against it.
"You can try to resist it however you like... but it’s useless. Even the Demon King himself couldn’t stop it once it was activated."
In those fleeting moments, synchronized with Gehrman’s words ..
Amon felt disoriented.
Reality itself began to tremble around him, and beside his ear he heard a strange sound.
The ticking of clock hands—slowly striking, slowing further and further... until they came to a complete halt.
At the same time, Gehrman’s power finally spread over Amon entirely, and a circular ring formed over the demon’s chest.
A ring shaped like a clock .. its hands frozen in place.
The instant that happened, something extraordinary occurred.
Amon froze completely in place, his entire body turning gray ..
Gray within a world still filled with color.
"He... froze?" Abraham muttered in shock at what he was seeing.
Meanwhile, Gehrman collapsed onto the ground as his vessel cracked further and further, struggling to catch his breath.
"Chrono Guillotine... hooof."
Gehrman exhaled deeply as he forced himself back to his feet.
"This ability allows me to interfere with the concept of time on a single chosen target. Those affected are trapped inside a sealed void where time does not exist."
"In other words, I can completely freeze them in reality—though the duration of that freeze differs from one individual to another."
"Ordinary people can remain frozen like this forever, without ever breaking free. As for the powerful... they can escape after a certain amount of time."
"That damned Demon King was the fastest to break free .. his case lasted only ten seconds."
Gehrman spoke while summoning every last fragment of strength he had left.
"I’m not at full power... the freeze won’t last long."
"So hurry—attack him with everything you’ve got!" Gehrman shouted as his fist flared with an overwhelming amount of frost aura.
"The strength of this ability lies in the opportunity it gives us .. to attack him while he cannot defend himself!"
"With this limited time, we must inflict as much damage as possible!"
Hearing this, Abraham was momentarily stunned by Gehrman’s combat ability.
"He can freeze time for a single target of his choosing just by making contact... rendering the opponent completely unable to move."
"The minimum duration of this ability is ten seconds—since Agaroth is likely the strongest entity in this world, and no one can break free faster than him."
"In other words... anyone struck by this ability is removed from the physical world—where time flows normally—for at least ten full seconds!"
"This allows Gehrman to deal catastrophic damage to his opponent without any chance of retaliation or defense."
"And even if he chooses not to attack—he could simply escape while his enemy remains frozen."
A terrifying... perfect ability.
Chrono Guillotine.
Ruler’s Hand.
Only now did Abraham truly grasp the sheer horror of the Engineer .. Saint Gehrman, the undisputed number one within the Shadow Sect.
"...Incredible," Abraham murmured under his breath.
Then he focused once more .. there was no time left to be amazed.
Drawing upon every last shred of power he had remaining, Abraham condensed everything into his sword, even halting the regeneration of his destroyed limbs.
"Stardust: Abraham Starlight Style—Star of Purification!"
Abraham unleashed the most powerful offensive technique in his entire arsenal ..
While Gehrman struck with the maximum possible output of his frost aura.
Everything was directed toward Amon’s frozen body.
BOOOOOOM!!!
The combined assault left a massive scar on space itself, crashing down with terrifying force upon Amon’s helpless form.
"Keep attacking!"
At Gehrman’s command, he and Abraham continued their merciless onslaught without restraint.
Amon was violently thrown about by the sheer momentum of the attacks—his mask shattered completely, and his body suffered catastrophic damage.
Neither Gehrman nor Abraham showed him any mercy, unleashing everything they had without pause.
And so the seconds passed—one after another—rushing by in a brutal blur beneath the relentless barrage they inflicted.
Then, finally... after exactly thirty-nine seconds ..
The clock cracked.
Amon’s moment of release had arrived.
Seeing this, Gehrman and Abraham delivered their final strike, sending him flying until he crashed through a mountain in his path and came to rest there in a wretched heap.
Elsewhere, Gehrman and Abraham stood panting heavily, utterly exhausted after pouring everything into that assault.
Chrono Guillotine shattered at last, and time resumed flowing through Amon’s body .. but the demon did not rise, remaining motionless without the slightest sign of movement.
At the sight of this, Abraham stabbed his sword into the ground, using it as support just to remain standing.
"To be honest... I didn’t think we had any chance against that monster," Abraham said realistically.
"But after all that... he shouldn’t be getting back up, right?"
Even the mightiest beings would suffer horrific damage after enduring such a sustained, combined assault.
His reasoning was sound.
Yet Gehrman did not look reassured.
"Don’t lower your guard until the very end."
The moment Gehrman warned Abraham ..
Both of them suddenly felt something terribly wrong.
And their instincts were correct.
The demon appeared out of nowhere between them, smiling.
"Indeed... underestimating me is not a wise decision."
Gehrman and Abraham turned instantly, shocked .. but Amon gave them no chance.
He struck immediately, sending both of them flying with just two blows.
Standing there at last, Amon was fully revealed.