"Can anyone tell me what just happened."
The voice was the first to sound after an entire three-hour period. In that time, no one else had even so much as breathed.
While this sounded like an exaggeration, for experts on their level, this had well and truly been the reality.
Even from a mere projection, all of them felt like the Eclipse Class Threat was right before them, swinging that blade at their necks.
They were all S Class warriors, and not of the normal variety either—insofar as an S Class existence could be normal, anyway.
And yet, they felt as though they didn't even have the right to lift their heads before a mere projection.
But they had all seen the same thing. Too many of them had witnessed it.
The silly boy who was in over his head and had become a convenient errand runner for the Imperial Wind Lineage's Thalion had reversed the situation.
The shocking part?
They knew exactly how he did it. They understood the logic. They could praise even the ingenuity, and they even found comfort in the fact that, all things considered, almost anyone with strong enough Time Godsfall Intent affinity could do the same.
The problem?
99% of people would be in the same shit-eating state as the boy-man.
And 99% of that remaining one percent would never have something as rare as Time Godsfall Intent to begin with.
You could hardly find many Space Godsfall Intent users these days, let alone a Time Godsfall Intent user.
The greatest shame was that there was simply no source of Time Godsfall Intent anywhere. One would have to flip the skies themselves to find a droplet of Space Godsfall Intent to take advantage of.
To make matters worse, with their experience, they could tell that Zarek didn't have high Intelligence Growth Potential.
It felt like a waste of the Gods' treasures, for such affinity to appear on a boy that couldn't even properly use it.
And yet, none of that allowed them to settle the beating of their hearts or the drumming in their heads.
"Sharp. Methodical. This boy seems reckless, but he operates with the confidence of a veteran and the shrewdness of someone who's experienced death more times than he could count.
"When he should have felt anger toward the Wind Lineage—"
"Imperial. Wind. Lineage."
A cold voice cut him off.
"—he completely ignored the boy instead, compartmentalizing perfectly. Then everything from his timing, to his execution, to his intelligence in coming up with such a unique method in the first place…"
The man continued as though he hadn't heard the correction, and the irony of it was certainly not lost on the others.
BANG!
A violent upswelling of wind surged through the blackened region. It was hard even to see the faces of those present, but one didn't need to think very hard to know a representation of the Imperial Wind Lineage when they saw it.
"Silence."
The voice cut off the wind as though it was never there.
"Beetrum. What did you see?"
"I'm sure your excellency has already understood, but I will do my best to explain nonetheless.
"The boy seems to have seen through a weakness of the Challenge Hub. Usually, this weakness wouldn't be able to be exploited under normal circumstances, as the Hub would have enough power left over to block such forms of spatial manipulation.
"However, this Hub has been a cherished resource of the Association for many generations and is often left on the Trial World as a form of remembrance of just how many Threats there are left in the outside world and how much more we must nurture our own strength to be able to combine them.
"Usually, the aura on the Hub is enough to deter others, and at this stage, there are a very rare few capable of fighting A Classes in the first place, so it is normally not triggered and has only further deteriorated over the years.
"Due to this, when the Eclipse Threat was summoned, the Challenge Hub had very little remaining strength, and its barrier was lacking—not enough to rush out of, but enough for a trick such as this one to function.
"The boy seemed to have seen through this possibility earlier and left what seems to be a replica Dimensional Sphere on the outside.
"When the battle began, he formed another one, linking it by a unique Talent I believe is actually one that many will recognize here… Atom Link.
"Then, using a Crystal Hourglass Shard, he stoked the Time Godsfall Intent within to bolster the strength of the Space Godsfall Intent Matrices that made up the Dimensional Spheres.
"The Eclipse Class Threat was arrogant and didn't feel danger from the Dimensional Sphere, as it shouldn't. However, the goal of the Dimensional Spheres wasn't to harm it, but instead to trick the barrier into thinking a piece of the black knight had appeared outside of the barrier, causing failsafes to trigger.
"The Hub thus acknowledged the victory of the boy, and he was granted the first Eclipse Class Reward documented in 27 Generations."
The entire room cooled.
They were all focused on a single line. No, it was more like a pairing of words, not enough even to be a phrase.
Atom Link.
How had a Luck Participant entered with a Talent only Hero Candidates should have? And why was Beetrum speaking as though this was completely normal?
A heaviness returned to the room as many sensory perceptions swept out as though waiting for some sort of battle to erupt.
However, nothing came.
There was news of a new order at the top of the Hero Association. But what they didn't realize was that things had already changed this much right under their noses.
Were the eras of the Great Lineages coming to an end?
Who had made the decision to place a Hero Candidate Trial on an off-network world?
And what was their purpose for doing so?
Many gazes landed on Zarek once more, whether unfriendly or otherwise.