This is the fourth Time Hound!
It silently slipped into the Consciousness Space through another fissure while Ron was focused on the battle ahead.
"Flowing Shield Wall!"
The silver-gray liquid barely formed a barrier in front of him.
But this attack’s power far exceeded the previous ones, and though the spike was hindered for a moment, it still pierced through the defense.
"Slash——"
Searing pain instantly spread throughout his body, a heart-wrenching agony enveloping Ron.
The consciousness’s right arm was completely penetrated, Spiritual Energy gushing from the wound like a spring.
He could feel the spike’s barbs writhing madly, trying to tear open a larger wound.
"It’s not over yet..."
The Silver Pocket Watch sensed its master’s danger and automatically activated the Time Reset feature.
Warm Time Energy enveloped the wound, rapidly repairing the damaged consciousness structure.
But just as the healing was about to complete, the hound’s second strike had already arrived.
This time the target was the head—if hit, it would be a Deadly Strike, even the Time Reset couldn’t save him!
The spike came whistling down like the scythe of Death, bearing malicious intent.
The shadow of death reflected in Ron’s eyes, time seemed to stand still at that moment.
In this critical moment, the Stand-In Puppet suddenly dashed in from the side.
Though attacked just now, the puppet’s Abyss Crystal core was still barely functioning.
The purple-black body blocked in front of Ron, taking the Deadly Strike head-on with its own body.
"Crack——"
The puppet’s chest was completely penetrated, the internal crystal core shattered into countless fragments.
But it bought precious time for Ron.
"Thank you... old buddy..."
Ron gritted his teeth.
In desperation, he made an extremely dangerous decision.
He took out the cursed Paradox Dice and activated it without hesitation.
"The warnings of the King of Absurdity... can’t worry about that now!"
The polyhedron trembled violently in his palm, the numbers on its surface began to change madly.
1, 3, 6, ∞, ?, ※...
Every transformation accompanied by subtle distortion in the laws of reality.
The space began to show unreasonable geometric structures, time flow became erratic.
Under the influence of this paradoxical power, the attack trajectory of the fourth hound underwent an unexpected deviation.
The spike that was sure to hit Ron’s head suddenly veered fifteen degrees to the right just as it was about to strike.
Narrowly grazing past his ear, only slicing off a few strands of hair.
But the rebound of the paradoxical power immediately followed.
Ron felt his consciousness body enduring tremendous pressure, as if an unseen giant hand was twisting the essence of his existence.
Blood gushed from his nostrils, his vision began to blur.
However, the paradoxical power’s impact on the enemy was even more apparent.
The fourth hound felt extremely uncomfortable in the paradoxical field, its movements turning sluggish and rigid.
Its silver body started showing web-like cracks, its time manipulation ability almost completely failed.
"An opportunity... only once..."
Ron endured the agony, mobilizing his last Spiritual Power.
All remaining Magic Power was injected into a "Spiritual Shock," forming a destructive shock wave around the hound.
The hound let out its last desperate scream, a sound that was ear-piercing like shattering glass.
It struggled frantically to activate Time Reset, but the interference of the paradoxical power made this ability completely unusable.
"Sound Wave Vibration · Erosion State!"
Ron used his last ounce of strength to unleash the final technique.
The twisted Ravings echoed like a funeral song in the Consciousness Space, ancient and evil syllables tearing at the fundamental existence of the hound.
Finally, the body of the fourth Time Hound couldn’t withstand the multiple strikes and began to collapse from within.
Silver light bloomed like fireworks then turned into countless light dots, all absorbed by the Pocket Watch.
[Charging complete! New feature unlocking...]
The price of victory was extremely heavy.
Ron’s Spiritual Power was nearly completely exhausted, multiple cracks formed in the Consciousness Space, his body so weakened he nearly fainted.
The rebound of the Paradox Dice still lingered, he could feel his consciousness structure undergoing some irreversible change.
"There are... three more..."
He leaned against the canyon wall, wiping away the blood at the corner of his mouth with a trembling hand.
From the edges of Consciousness Space, unprecedented commotion emanated from the remaining three spacetime fissures.
It wasn’t a roar of anger, nor the excitement before a hunt, but an emotion Ron had never heard from a Time Hound—fear.
The three surviving hounds lingered at the crack’s rear, their silhouettes flickering in the darkness.
Sometimes gathering, sometimes scattering, as if engaging in some fierce "discussion."
Through deep Perception of the Eye of Observation, Ron could capture fragments of their exchanged messages.
It was a pure conceptual communication beyond language, bearing a primal and intense warning:
"Danger... this presence... not prey..."
"Four same kin... all disappeared... never seen such resistance..."
"Retreat... must retreat... report to higher-ups..."
The tragic deaths of four companions completely overturned the hunters’ perception.
In their long existence, Time Hounds had always been atop the food chain.
They hunted those leaving traces in spacetime, like spiders capturing insects trapped in their web.
Rarely could prey fight back against hunters, let alone consecutively kill four kin.
The instincts of Time Hounds began to issue frantic warnings.
The "prey" before them had already transformed into a "hunter" more dangerous than them.
......
Though so exhausted he could barely stand, Ron’s rational mind reminded him, he absolutely must not show any weakness at this critical moment.