Author's Note: Unedited Chapter ------------- ("There's only one way to achieve full immunity against Strum's Manipulation of time,") 'Hmm... it should be fine since everyone else is affected right now...' Gustav knew exactly what the system.was referring to. His main self closed his eyes and focused on the center of his being, tapping into the power that lay within... Fwwhii~ Captain Strum dashed towards Gustav's figure in mid air and was about to land another punch when his eyes suddenly emitted a bright glow. Tiiinnggg~ A wave of unfathomable energy spread forth from Gustav's figure as his irises turned reddish pink and a cross shaped golden glow appeared in his eyes. Zhrrriihhhh~ Gustav's second figure pulled backwards suddenly and merged with his first, causing Captain Strum's punch to miss. "Huh? How...?" Captain Strum's face lit up with an expression of confoundment as he swiftly spun around. He spotted Gustav's figure starting to glow up as an unknown amount of pressure descended upon the vicinity. The pinkish with a mixture of gold aura circulating Gustav's being sent forth a divine wave across the battlestage that made Captain Strum feel like he was in the presence of god. A feeling of complete submission welled up from within as he stared at Gustav with an expression of reverence. Every fibre of his being was wanted to bow down in the face of Gustav's wake. Pah! Captain Strum slapped himself as he noticed he was subconsciously succumbing to Gustav. "Is this... Is he... Could it be...?" Captain Strum couldn't believe his eyes as he watched Gustav free himself from the shackles of time reversal. Gustav stared raised his right arm, staring at his glowing figure with an straight face as he clenched his fist. 'I haven't activated Cosmic Superiority in full scale in a long time... Even without doing anything, its already taking effect on the environment,' Gustav said internally while raising his face to stare at Captain Strum up ahead. "You are... It doesn't matter! I won't let you defeat me!" Captain Strum yelled and charged at Gustav in the next instant. Fwwhooossshhh~ Gustav peered at his incoming figure with an unbothered expression before making an utterance. "Stop!" Thrrriiiihhh~ His words rippled with absolute command and unfathomable power that immediately spread across the vicinity. Captain Strum's figure instantly paused in place with his multiple limbs outstretched. 'What in the world? He is truly a Cosmic Superior Being! A Cosmic Superior Being participating in IYSOP! This must be a joke! My mind must be playing tricks on me!' Captain Strum yelled internally as his body paused in place. "Fall!" Gustav's voice rang out again and Captain Strum's figure descended from the air with speed. "Faster!" An unfathomable pressure descended upon Captain Strum's figure causing him to fall faster. Bang! He slammed into the ground in the next instant, forming a new crater as his knees stamped to the cracked battle stage. Fwwhiii! Gustav landed before him with an expression devoid of emotions as he stared directly into Captain Strum's eyes. "That prideful look... do you... hnnghh... think you're better... than me?" Captain Strum struggled to speak as shot an hateful glare at Gustav. "Hmm since you can still speak it means I'm being too lenient..." Gustav was surprised that Captain Strum managed to even speak with his Cosmic Superior energy active but he wasn't done. "Down!" His voice rang out authoritatively causing Captain Strum's figure to push against the ground ten times harder than before. "Hghnnn!" Captain Strum tried his best to fight the pressue while trying to regain control of his body but the more he tried to define, the stronger the pressure became. Every fibre of his being defiled his command, overwriting his will and following that of Gustav's as his body descended even further. Bam! He fell face flat in the next instant, bowing completely before Gustav. Captain Strum had never felt so humiliated before his life as he tried to roar out in defiance but even his voice chose not to obey his will at this point. Despite the fact that spectators couldn't witness this moment due to the current state of time, he still felt immensely humiliated. He never expected the battle would go this way. He didn't think he'd be fighting with a Cosmic Superior Being. Step! Step! Step! Step! He could ear Gustav's foot step echoing as he made his way across the cracked icy mirror like ground. The moment the sound stopped, Captain Strum knew Gustav was right in front of him. In the next instant, his feeling of humiliation multiplied. Gustav raised his right foot and placed it on Captain Strum's head. Stomp! His foot buried Strum's head deeper into the ice as he placed his right elbow on his knee and remained in place, daunting a relaxing expression for a bit. Captain Strum couldn't even writhe in dissatisfaction since his body had completely succumbed to Gustav's will but his mind was reeling in wrath. 'I'll kill you I swear Gustav Crimson!' 'I'll end you!' 'I'll destroy you!' No matter how much he yelled in his mind Gustav left his foot resting on Captain Strum's head regardless. He knew how prideful Captain Strum was and his major aim right now was to complete squash that pride. "Do you remember how you harmed my subordinate?" Gustav voiced while twisting his leg to rub the sole of his boot on Captain Strum's head throughly. "Yeah... you caused major problems to someone i care about," Gustav voiced while continuing rubbing foot across Captain Strum's head. "This will teach you to watch who you mess with," Gustav proceeded to take his foot off. Captain Strum's pride was bruised but he thought it was at least over now. "Turn over," Captain Strum's body flipped over with his face up and his back kissing the icy ground. Stomp! Gustav stomped his face in the next instant, rubbing the sole of his boot throughly on it. 'I'll KILL HIM IF IT'S THE LAST THING I DO,' Captain Strum became even more infuriated as Gustav foot abused his face repeatedly. "Up," Captain Strum's body floated upwards a bit before Gustav. "Speak," Gustav gave Strum free will over his speech. "I will kill you! I will make you beg for mercy! I will gouge out your eyeballs and eat them!" Captain Strum yelled out with a deep tone of fury and hatred. Pah! Gustav slapped his cheek, causing a loud sound of collision to ring out as Captain Strum's neck instantly twisted. Krrryychhh~ His head turned 180° degrees and blood flew out of his mouth. "Arrrgghhhh!" Captain Strum screamed in pain as his face became rooted to the back. This of course was not enough to kill him but it inflicted an indescribable pain. "Oouu sorry my bad. You were talking trash so I had to slap it out of your mouth," Gustav voiced with a tone of pity while grabbing Captain Strum's head and twisting it back to place. "I'll Kill you! If its the last thing I do! I don't care about IYSOP anymore! You're dead! You're dead! You're dea..." Pah! Krryychhhh! Another loud slap reverberated across the vicinity, accompanied with the sound of bone cracking as Captain Strum's neck twisted once more. "Ghharrrghhhh!" "My bad... I should have let you finish speaking first," Gustav twisted Captain Strum's neck back to its original angle. "Aaarrrghhhhh!" Captain Strum's face was plagued with an expression of pain and hate as he began screaming profanities again. Pah! Krrryychhh~ "Aaagghhhhh!" Pah! Krrryychhh~ "Aaagghhhhh!" Pah! Krryychhhh~ "Ghaarrrhhhh!" The same scenario played out repeatedly with Captain Strum being on the receiving end of Gustav's brutal assault. Eventually Captain Strum voice turned hoarse from screaming and he lost the will to threaten Gustav. His expression soon turned from unwillingness to tiredness as his voice started to lack the liveliness it had at the start. Captain Strum's Encour was incapacitated at the far end of the Battle Stage barrier. Gustav hadn't inflicted any damage on it in a while but he guessed it was incapacitated due to the scale at which Captain Strum was manipulating time. Time was Still being reversed even at this point and Gustav could tell that this would continue to be the case until Captain Strum stopped it, ran out of energy or passed out. "Alright, It's about time we ended this charade," Gustav voiced as he let go of the Dracon who was no longer voicing out profanities. "Up!" Fwwhiiii~ Bang! "Down!" Fwwwhiii~ Bang! "Left!" Fwwwhiii~ Bang! "Right!" Fwwwhiii~ Bang! Captain Strum's figure catapulted across the entire battle stage at fast pace, slamming into different areas as he continously ricocheted off the ground and the icy structures in mid air. Gustav's command was absolute and couldn't be battled against. It was like whatever he voiced would become.reality. "Blast!" Booom! A loud explosion rang out, sending Captain Strum flying as his figure immediately became scalded. "Blast!" Boom! Another explosion rang out, sending Captain Strum shooting forward this time. Gustav floated in the direction Strum's figure was headed and in the next instant he sent forth a fist. Bang! His fist slammed into Captain Strum's abdominal region causing the Dracon to spit out a jet of blood as his body caved in.