MIGHT AS WELL BE OP

Chapter 977: Temporal Paradox Creation

The moment Aaaninja activated Time Splintering, time particles obeyed him like children before their father, reality obeyed as though he were their creator, and the next moment, existence and reality fractured into various rivers of time, each timeline a flowing golden river that released a radiant golden sheen that could blind people instantly, but only Aaaninja saw it, and to everyone else, nothing seemed to be happening at all.

Everything within Aaaninja’s perception changed, time slowed, existence slowed, order slowed, reality slowed, and he seemed to step into another layer of reality entirely, as though he had slipped beyond the constraints of the world and into a hidden dimension that only he could observe and influence.

Various scenarios occurred within these countless timelines, but one thing was certain: across all of them, Lucian and Aaaninja were battling, yet they weren’t just battling, they were trapped in one particular frozen moment. Every Lucian within each timeline used the Nothingness Technique, while the various Aaaninjas from each timeline tried out countless different methods to defend, evade, counter, or survive.

And needless to say, a few Aaaninjas survived Lucian’s Nothingness Katana Technique. The original Aaaninja’s Eyes Of Genesis locked onto one of those golden flowing rivers, then he immediately willed it into existence, selecting it as though plucking a single thread from an infinite tapestry.

The moment he willed it, reality flipped on its head, as though it had glitched upon itself, time trembled maniacally under Aaaninja’s ridiculous control, and the next moment, the attack that was about to land on Aaaninja’s body vanished entirely as though he had never been there at all.

Nothing happened, the land didn’t tear asunder, no sword marks tore through the sky or lands, no chasm appeared, no shockwave rippled outward, nothing. Just total annihilation and erasure, silent and absolute.

Lucian’s eyes narrowed as he saw his attack had missed. ’Did this guy just edit reality?’ he thought to himself as he had felt reality warp at the last split second, and although it was subtle, faint, and nearly imperceptible, he had felt it nonetheless.

Time Splintering was a skill that allowed Aaaninja to split moments into branching multiple timelines, then allowing him to choose which timeline to follow, and upon choosing, whatever happened within that selected timeline at that precise moment would forcefully be brought into his own timeline as though it had always been the true course of events.

Aaaninja had gotten the idea for such a skill from watching the River Of Time itself. Although he was still too weak and couldn’t control an existence like the River Of Time or even use it to augment his power directly, if not he would have done so against Lucian long ago, but it didn’t mean he hadn’t learned anything from merely being near it and observing its eternal flow.

After all, how many people could branch timelines so casually? Even if they existed, they could be counted on one hand.

’My mana has taken a hit,’ Aaaninja thought to himself, as he had spent nearly twenty percent of his mana reserves just for that single skill alone, after all, it wasn’t easy to create and enforce timelines and then overwrite reality itself with their outcomes.

But despite that, he didn’t hesitate, even with eighty percent of his mana reserves remaining, his reserves were still monstrous and far beyond ordinary comprehension. Another torrent of mana exploded forth from his body, time particles dancing around him with maddening waves and spirals, and Lucian didn’t hesitate either, he blurred backward instantly as he didn’t know what Aaaninja was planning next.

Time Storm

As the words left Aaaninja’s lips, a violent burst of time particles erupted outward in an all-erasing force and cataclysmic power. Within a range hundreds of kilometers wide, time ran rampant and uncontrollably, it slowed, it stopped, it accelerated, it aged, it reversed, it degraded, it fractured into madness, turning the battlefield into a chaotic domain where temporal laws had completely collapsed.

Lucian gritted his teeth as he felt his vitality vanish in real time, his body aging with terrifying speed and pace. He could feel his muscles weakening, his bones becoming brittle, his mana thinning rapidly, and even his katana corroding from the effects of time itself as though centuries were passing in mere seconds.

He immediately tapped into space as he tried to teleport beyond the range of this chaotic Time Storm, but it was futile, as even space itself was affected by Aaaninja’s skill and distorted under the authority of time, making escape nearly impossible.

Aaaninja moved in a blur as he shot forward through the storm, his own blade flashing toward Lucian’s neck with a swift silver arc. After all, at this moment, Lucian couldn’t even move properly. Lucian watched as the attack closed in for his neck, but no danger flickered within his eyes, because just because he couldn’t move didn’t mean he didn’t have something prepared up his sleeves.

With a smirk, he murmured, his lips white and frail, his voice old and cracking, his black hair now completely white as he had reached the limits of his lifespan, just barely a few minutes away from death.

Event Rewriting

His own mana exploded outward in a cataclysmic burst, slamming into Aaaninja like a raging bull, but Aaaninja simply vanished through Time Slip. The next moment, Event Rewriting rewrote the entire battlefield, Aaaninja’s Time Storm ability collapsing entirely as though it had never existed. Normally, everything that had suffered would retain the damage they had endured, but Lucian’s Event Rewriting undid it all, reversing every consequence.

Lucian felt his vitality flow back into him, his body now brimming with energy once more, his pale and wrinkled skin vanishing entirely as youth filled his body again, his height returning, his white hair turning black once more, his aged voice turning young and steady.

His black eyes shifted toward Aaaninja, a wide smile appearing on his face as he spoke, because it was now his turn to attack after all.

Existential Nihility

Lucian had created this skill on the spot. This was basically Aaaninja’s Temporal Erasure skill, but Lucian’s ridiculous talent allowed him to create something similar instantly, shaping concepts into reality with frightening ease.

The next moment, mana exploded outward from his core as though a dam had been broken. Aaaninja felt his entire existence being threatened, and he didn’t need to be told to know he was about to suffer from the same fate he had once bestowed upon Lucian.

Without a shred of hesitation, he tapped into another skill, his mana exploding from his core as he defended against the incoming skill.

Temporal Paradox Creation

Time particles obeyed his command, space trembled violently as he immediately created a Temporal Paradox on the spot, which allowed Lucian’s skill to work, yet he, Aaaninja, remained alive within time itself, existing both erased and not erased simultaneously, hence successfully surviving the attack.