Chapter 492: If Time Stop Doesn't Work, Then Time Acceleration It Is!
Inertial thinking kills people.
Even though she already knew that Cheng Tian was also a user of Time Stop, this couldn't easily change Aoko's original combat habits.
Besides her ultimate move, 'Aoko's World,' which uses Time Stop, the Head Maid also has many smaller moves and special attacks that utilize Time Stop.
Just now, facing The World's punch, the Head Maid's body acted faster than her mind, instinctively releasing a counter-hit skill called 'Perfect Maid.'
From a game perspective, this move is a defensive counter-attack skill, similar to Geese's Aikido counter-hit, requiring a pre-emptive read of the opponent's close-range attack trajectory.
Upon successful activation, time would stop for an instant. The Head Maid would then release a large number of silver throwing knives around the target and, before the Time Stop ended, appear behind the opponent, striking a perfectly standard JOJO pose.
But this time, she was facing The World, which also possessed Time Stop abilities. The moment her pocket watch stopped, it directly triggered Cheng Tian's counter-mechanism against Time Stop. Then, at the cost of 100 MP per second, Cheng Tian's main body successfully resisted the Head Maid's Time Stop, landing a punch that should have been frozen in time, denying the opponent the chance to successfully counter-hit.
The Head Maid is an excellent Time Manipulator and her physical combat abilities are quite formidable, but ultimately, she is still human. In terms of actual physical strength, she is completely incomparable to the Great Yokai of Gensokyo.
The lightning-fast exchange left all the spectators dazzled, wishing their eyes had a slow-motion function so they could watch the two exchange blows frame by frame.
However, the fact that Perfect Maid's counter-hit failed and she was sent flying still caused all the spectators to gasp instinctively.
When they saw Cheng Tian's The World pursue relentlessly, some spectators, who had become loyal anti-fans of Cheng Tian due to the Athena incident, immediately booed, but more cheered excitedly.
Their voices, however, didn't reach Cheng Tian's ears. Currently in a state of intense concentration, Cheng Tian's eyes saw only the Head Maid.
His dictionary had no such thing as 'cherishing and protecting the fair sex'; only giving his all to an opponent he respected!
But just as The World was about to charge into the dust cloud, a sudden twitch occurred in the Tai Chi True Eye on Cheng Tian's forehead, as if sensing some danger. The World, which had already charged, came to an abrupt halt, and in the next second, a blade flash pierced the air.
Swish!
A long gash appeared on Cheng Tian's entire right arm, and correspondingly, an identical blade wound appeared on The World's arm in the same position.
His red health bar, which should have been entirely replaced by the blue bar while in the protective barrier, showed a noticeable decrease.
The World's overwhelming power made many people forget one thing: damage to a Stand would be synchronously reflected onto the user's body, and this damage would bypass the protective barrier, directly reflecting the full amount without reduction!
If it weren't for the danger instinct brought by his high mental fortitude causing The World to stop abruptly, both Cheng Tian's Stand and his main body might have lost an entire arm!
The graceful Head Maid, stepping out of the dust, had severe bruising and slight deformation on her left forearm. Clearly, she had suffered no small injury from blocking The World's punch with her physical body. This level of injury would inevitably affect her future throwing knife usage.
The blade flash that had almost severed The World's arm was unleashed with her right hand.
What appeared to be just one blade flash was actually an unknown number of accelerated blade flashes stacked together.
The moment she was sent flying, the Head Maid's mind prioritized countermeasures over pain.
Since Time Stop wouldn't work, then Time Acceleration it was!
Unfortunately, Cheng Tian's perception of danger was also extraordinary, allowing him to evade the limb-severing blow at a minimal cost.
With a flick of her right hand, the Head Maid magically put away her throwing knives and instead held a pocket watch.
The hands of the pocket watch covering her injured arm began to spin clockwise, accelerating, and the bruising and deformation of her arm rapidly returned to normal as the hands turned.
The Head Maid had selectively accelerated the time on her arm, accelerating the body's self-healing to achieve rapid self-recovery.
The exchange, which seemingly saw Cheng Tian gain the upper hand, at this moment seemed to return to its original state.
But only those with a deeper understanding of the Hisoutensoku spell card system knew that this series of rapid offense and defense had consumed far more of the Head Maid's fixed card slots than imagined.
On Cheng Tian's side, apart from the arm injury, there was almost no loss. His blue bar had already recovered to over 60% and was still continuing to recover.
"An unbelievably high-speed offense and defense battle! Is this the Aoko we know?!"
"I strongly recommend all spectators purchase and subscribe to the official tournament recordings after the match. Mere words can no longer describe the battle between these two contestants!"
The diligent, mustachioed man in sunglasses didn't forget to seize the opportunity to promote the organizer's recording products.
Looking at the Head Maid, who seemed to have temporarily blocked out the young lady's lifespan theory, Cheng Tian didn't intend to continue influencing her with his 'Word of Power.' Considering that if he successfully entered the top four, his profession and skills would gradually be sealed as a challenge, there was no need to keep certain things hidden anymore.
The Head Maid watched Cheng Tian take a deep breath, her muscles unconsciously tensing further, and the veins on the back of her hand gripping the throwing knife bulged, showing how much force she was exerting.
Cheng Tian was the most pressure-inducing existence she had encountered to date.
Regardless of whom she faced in Gensokyo, Izayoi Aoko, with her highest-level time manipulation abilities, could actually maintain absolute invincibility. Even if she truly encountered someone she couldn't defeat, she was confident she could escape danger at any time and go anywhere safe.
But only when facing Cheng Tian did her greatest trump card, Time Stop, fail. Her originally strong self-confidence would inevitably lose a small piece, and she couldn't be as assertive as she was against other beings.
However, from this perspective, the opponent's Time Stop also couldn't affect her, which somewhat provided the Head Maid with some comfort.
The orange-gold The World reappeared in front of Cheng Tian by disbanding and re-summoning.
But then, the Head Maid and the eyes of the many spectators involuntarily widened.
Cheng Tian stepped forward, The World stepped back with one foot, and the Stand and user merged seamlessly, radiating a dazzling light.
When the light faded, only one entity remained on the scene.
A Cheng Tian whose height and build had surged, whose muscles were as solid as a statue yet possessed an indescribable sense of slenderness, carrying an oxygen tank, weights, buoyancy compensator, and wearing a half-face mask... Cheng Tian!
Profound! Dark! Fantasy!
Cheng Tian had actually merged with his Stand, The World, through 'Devil's Concerto'!
Ch. 492 / 855