Author's Note: Unedited Chapter ------------------- He conjured more to be on the safe side due to Captain Strum time related abilities but now it was looking like he had overdone it. The ninth layer of the barrier surrounding the battle stage crumbed to atoms as well and got consumed by the blackholes. Captain Strum's Encour was surprisingly powerful enough to withstand the force of the blackholes in its current state and stared at Gustav with four of its eyes. Gustav was well aware that it was about to activate an attack but it was currently moving slowly due to blackholes around. Captain Strum limbs were slolwy ripping apart as he did his best to withstand the force of all four but what Gustav didn't realise was Captain Strum was struggling to utter a word. He didn't take notice of this because he had already flown towards the Encour ready to pierce it with powerful attacks. The handlers were running helter-skelter trying to contain the spread of the destructiveness from Gustav and Captain Strum's battle stage which was spreading further, disrupting other battles as well as spectators. Some of the powerful spectators joined hands to help despite their astonished expressions. 𝘧𝑟𝑒𝑒𝘸𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝓁.𝘤𝘰𝓂 The battle stage was void of physical objects as everything had been swallowed up and the ninth barrier got blasted to pieces as well. Down below, the damage had eaten deep into the battle ground that it had created a hole through this part of the ninth disk. The solar system could be spotted with an expanse of darkness spreading as far as the eyes could see. "Strum... break out of it, don't disappoint me," In the Dracons spectators area, Brons Midely clenched his fist tightly with a tensed expression as she stared at the battle field. "Who knew the earth was capable of using the power of blackholes," Another Dracon by the side who had widened eyes voiced out. Many of the Dracons were currently on their feet with tensed and troubled expression as they stared at the state of the entire arena. Gustav's usage of abilities had surpassed their expectations and taken them by surprise. In this state, Strum was supposed to be unstoppable but Gustav had proven to be truly beyond phenomenal. -"Come on Strum," -"He still hasn't used that..." Despite the destruction the entire arena was undergoing which was dirupting the battles on other stages, a lot of spectators were at the edge of their seats watching with keen eyes. "Ab..." "A....b..." It still seemed like Captain Strum was uttering something, albeit very slowly. His limbs were already ripping from his body as the blackholes suction force caused space around them to tear and mend continously. Gustav had arrived before his encour but any attack he sent at the Encour would just reverse and completely vanish. The Encour was incapable of attacking Gustav at the moment but reverse was also the case. Gustav seeing as his attacks were getting reversed, turned towards Captain Strum. It was time to end this from the source. Gustav conjured another attack and was about to charge at Captain Strum when the bright blue glow emitting from the Encour suddenly became more vibrant. At this moment, Gustav was left with an expression of regret as he turned to stare at the Encour he had failed to damage. "Absolute Zero!" Captain Strum's loud voice rang across the entire arena. Thrrrriunnhhhhhh~ The vibrancy of the light emitted from the Encour phased past the barrier surrounding the stage... Thrrrriunnhhhhhh~ It proceeded to encapsulate the entirety of the arena and then spread past the arena at very quick pace. From the space watchtower of Planet Ozious, their mouths widened as the glow spread across the entire nine disks and covered them as well in a flash. In just a few moments, the glow had spread across galaxies, causing every single being bathed in its glow to pause their movements. Everything, came to a standstill... Spectators... Participants... Humans... Extraterrestrial lifeforms... Circulation of Orbital bodies... Everything that existed came to standstill including the most powerful people present as spectators in IYSOP. 'Huh? Did he pause time?' Gustav's eyeballs shifted as his figure paused in mid air with his arms extended. ("He did... he manipulated time on a universal scale this time... even your blackholes are affected,") The system confirmed. 'Then, how come I am still conscious and aware...' Gustav questioned internally. ("You're a Cosmic Superior Being... you're one of the few people in the entire universe who is not completely affected by the power of time. In other words, you are immune in some aspects but not entirely,") The system explained. 'Am i the only one in IYSOP who is currently conscious of this?' Gustav noticed that no one else was moving. ("You are not... the others here are just choosing not to interfere or cannot interfere even if they are aware but yes... Everyone else is affected,") At the same moment the system finished explaining this, time began to reverse. Fwwhiiii~ Gustav could feel his body affected by the bending laws of time as his figure reversed along with the atoms of objects in the vicinity turning back to physical matter, rescinding from the blackholes. ("Uh oh...") 'Well damn... he didn't just pause time... he's rewinding it,' Gustav came to this realisation as Captain Strum's limbs which had been ripped from his body, reattached. ("This is completely different from the spear attacks he had been using... this is time reversal on a universal scale...") Miss Aimee sat in place staring at the vicinity around her. She could clearly see that time was being manipulated on a large scale at this moment and just like her, a few other powerful entities were aware. The few powerful entities like her that could break out of its hold would still be aware of everything that had happened even when time had been reversed to the point that Strum was aiming for. 'Now how are you gonna handle this, kid?' Miss Aimee was no doubt worried about the current predicament since Gustav had never faced anyone on this level before but she didn't want to interfere. It was his fight. Her figure slowly floated upwards. While everyone within the bubble of light were reversing, she watched from above with an expression of intrigue. Specks of sands were reversing and turning into solid objects, merging with the area they were currently situated within. The attacks from Gustav's figure had reversed back into his body and he floated around the stage while time slowly reversed. The cracks on the barriers were mending and returning back to their original look as the layers slowly returned as well. Mist moved in reversal and transformed into massive icicles that merged to the ground across multiple spots on the battle stage. ("He is going to reverse the whole battle to a point where he was winning and prevent everything that happened from happening again,") The system announced. 'I can see that... I don't think he is aware that I am conscio...' "Gustav Crimson! You're finished," Captain Strum's voice rang out from up ahead as he sped towards him. ("Regardless of whether you're conscious or not, the time reversal affects your body too so you have to completely break out of this if you want to prevent the same events from playing out again,") Just as the system finished saying this Captain Strum appeared before Gustav and sent a punch at his face. Plaakmmm! An illusionary representation of Gustav phased out of his body the moment the fist slammed into him, spiralling across the air as blood oozed out of his nose. The illusionary figure, turned completely physical in the next moment causing there to be two of Gustav existing in the same place. The first Gustav was still being affected by the reversal of time as his body obeyed the Manipulation Strum had commanded. The other Gustav paused in place as it seemed to be outside of the time reversal effect but was also incapable of moving a muscle. Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Captain Strum unleashed a barrages of attack on the other Gustav beating him to a pulp as he remained unable to fight back while time continued to flow in reverse. ("More problems... he plans to inflict damage on you so when time finally reverses to the point of his satisfaction, you would have sustained a high amount of damage that will leave you incapacitated. Regeneration cannot work right now since time isn't flowing in order so...") 'That should be impossible... any damage he inflicts on me right now should also reverse...' Gustav's body was in pain but he battled to keep his mind active. ("Yeah it should be impossible but that is practically what he is doing... he ability to manipulate time is much irregular than I expected,") The system stated. At this point, Gustav bones made loud cracking noises and blood oozed out of his orifices while Captain Strum continously landed heavy blows on him. 'I need to break out of this...' ("There's only one way to achieve full immunity against Strum's Manipulation of time,")