Hunter Academy's Battle God

Fragments were known to hunters as pieces of another being’s strength that could be absorbed or inherited, but that was just a general term. Each fragment varied greatly in power.

In Sumire’s case, it was a boss monster witch. There were also some hunters that had been sealed by the Tower, but then there were fragments of other, unthinkable things.

The fragment Lorelei had obtained entered the third category.

- I'm Chronoa.

- I am the goddess that watches over time, and I want you as a follower.

Her first meeting with Chronoa was when she was going through the Trial.

It was, from a certain point of view, destiny, but it was also a necessity. 

Lorelei was the first hunter to obtain the [Time's Manager] Trait, so Chronoa had been wanting her for quite a while.

The Witch Aris had recognized Lorelei's talent, and Goddess Chronoa gave Lorelei her fragment, so getting stronger had been relatively easy for her.

- This barrier could destroy an average person's mind. Of course, you're an exception.

Chronoa had been one of the biggest reasons she could stay sane when she went through the Trial.

- It's quite funny that someone like you likes fairy tales. Despite being a goddess, I also find them interesting.

- Goddesses don't believe in destiny. Does that mean that there isn't such a thing as a destined love?

Chronoa wasn’t considered a special ability, and she hadn’t needed to actively do much.

Challenging the Trial meant that you would wander around an endless amount of knowledge. Chronoa's voice was of huge relief to Lorelei back then.

When Lorelei absorbed half of the strength, Chronoa asked her a question.

- Lorelei, did you know that the fragment chooses someone similar to the original owner?

- That means that my choosing you is, in reality, part of a bigger picture called ‘destiny’.

‘I don't know about complex things like that.’

She wanted to deny it, but she already knew what was being told to her.

Lorelei could absorb Chronoa's strength because they were similar.

Still, she couldn't understand how she was similar to Chronoa.

Chronoa seemed to think differently.

- Lorelei? Just like a fragment searches for its owner, the Trait also picks its owner. ‘Time’s Manager’ belongs to those who cling to time the most.

- Ah… To be more precise, those who cling to the past.'

- That's why [Time's Manager] seeks those who regret something in their past more than anyone else and has things they want to fix.

Lorelei stopped reading. Her expression hardened; then, Chronoa began to speak again.

- Aren't you worried about what sort of past I, a goddess, am hanging onto the most?

What could a goddess regret? What made her cling to the past that much? She hadn’t been that curious about it at first.

Then she had been lonely during the Trial and started to wonder.

"I'm curious."

Lorelei was surprisingly polite when she was seeking knowledge. That was one of the aspects Chronoa liked about her.

- I broke a promise.

- I lost something important to me.

- I became a broken fragment and chose to wander around the time of another dimension to keep that memory.

Lorelei had read a similar story in a book about a goddess that fell in love with a human.

It was a mythic story where the most important god was angered and killed the human before turning the goddess into a constellation.

'It's probably similar to that.'

When Lorelei thought that, Chronoa asked her a question.

- Then, Lorelei, why were you given ‘Time's Manager’? Even I'm… curious about the past you’re clinging to.

"My…past?"

What was she hanging onto?

Lorelei thought back to her past when Chronoa said,

- I understood. Why you’re hanging onto the past, the moment that trapped you, is…

Sound faded and became distant.

She found herself in a dark abyss. As a distant light approached her and shone over her, Lorelei saw a familiar face.

[You're as dangerous as a waiting bomb, but you also have a strength that could save the world.]

[Not even I know how your Talent will be used.]

[I cannot guarantee anything because I don't have a strong sense of responsibility, but…]

Sound faded again.

Was the Clock Tower’s Trial supposed to be like that?

She couldn't feel any strength in her body. Feeling that she was floating in the abyss, Lorelei tried her best to grab the air.

[If I were to get a disciple… as expected, I think you'd be the best.]

‘Ah…’

‘Someone this strong…’

‘Someone this cool…’

‘Wants me.’

‘I don't want to disappoint her…’

Lorelei finally understood what she was trying to hold onto.

- To think you'd want to answer the expectations of others… Truly a child-like thought.

Unlike her words, Chronoa's voice was warm.

The barrier broke, golden books scattered away, and golden knowledge also fanned outward.

* * *

Reaper Scans

Translator - Daniel Shin

Proofreader - ilafy

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* * *

That was when Lorelei finally understood what the last condition to clear the Trial was. 

'Although I was craving knowledge so much… I didn't understand myself.'

That's how she cleared the Trial and finally found the last condition.

Tap, tap.

She heard the bonfire.

Lorelei was clinging to the air just like back then.

'You have 10 minutes.'

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

It was time to prove all of her efforts through the path she’d walked.

Lorelei opened her eyes and said, "Xpóvoa."

It was the Goddess of Time. Chronoa's real name.

Then she used the 10 minutes she'd obtained after offering 10 days of her life.

The light compressed in Lorelei's hands burst out.

FWOOSH!

The sound of a bonfire crackled out, and the golden light began spreading as if it were about to devour the world.

The fire spread more, and the scenery changed.

CLANG-!

The sound of a clock was heard.

Tik-Tak! Tik-Tak!

Hundreds, thousands of ticking seconds hands tik-tak’d away. It was the power Lorelei had created by borrowing the strength of a goddess.

BOOM-! BOOM! Crack!

A fissure appeared on the floor of the Clock Tower and rose into the sky with Lorelei.

The goddess's temple had appeared.

The goddess’s golden symbol floating in the air had wiped away any traces of the night.

Seeing the world being filled with golden light, Lorelei gave YuSung a bitter look and spoke.

"I'm someone that breaks the logic of hunters… an irregular that messes with their order."

The light of the Goddess made the world stop.

To be more precise, it made time flow slower. She began to break time itself like rocks being chipped into sand. 

Lorelei was the only person who could freely move within the area.

"I’m a being whose existence is a cheat against martial artists like you…" Lorelei smiled bitterly.

She was sure that she was going to win. She wasn't being egocentric. What she'd used was one of the strongest techniques from the goddess's fragment. Not even Lorelei was confident that she'd be able to counter it.

Even if YuSung was strong, stronger even than her…

She couldn’t imagine him countering such an ability.

'I don't necessarily like it… but it's for Master… Since she chose me…'

Lorelei carried the trust of her master, Aris the Witch, on her shoulders. Not only that, but she was the hope of the English people.

YuSung silently looked at her from within the changing world.

She didn't regret her decision.

Instead of becoming a princess waiting for her prince, she'd chosen to become a saintess that was going to save her country.

She thought that was enough.

YuSung's eyes were looking up at her.

There was no sign of defeat in his eyes. He maintained his posture despite the golden wave approaching him.

'Destiny…'

YuSung fell into thought.

If he had missed even a single experience or revelation leading to that moment, he wouldn't have been able to overcome the situation.

Maybe him having met Lorelei after going through all that was destiny.

Someone who overturned the hunter world…

An irregularity that destroyed everyone's common sense…

"That's also the case for me."

YuSung recalled the sensations he'd gotten after training for 12 years on the Martial Spirits' Mountain. Mana moved at an incredible speed within his body.

He activated the Super Sense he'd obtained after clearing the Room of Time. The golden light stopped before touching YuSung.

His limited time was endless.

YuSung slowly created mana based on what he could sense through his fingers.

Lorelei's zone was a type of mana he'd never felt before and was on a scale he'd never seen before, but it didn't matter. 

The flow of mana, just like the flow of a river, moved in one direction.

Without going against the current, it finds its way. Even in mana of such a huge scale, there was still a weak point.

What YuSung had to do was resonate mana of exactly the same frequency at that weak point.

Facing a huge attack was easier for him because there were many such weak points.

'I'm also like you.'

Just like her, he had something to prove.

It was time for him to show the path he'd walked.

Just like his master, the Fist King said, he managed to create his own path.

Battle God Style 5th Form - Wave Resonance

Pang! Crack-!

Just like the golden light had filled the world, the blue fissure that YuSung created with his hands shone over the golden world.

"Th-this! Don't tell me… M-mana…! Mana Resonance?!" Lorelei stuttered and shouted. The blue light overcame the world she'd created using the strength of the fragment by exchanging days of her life.

"I… I…" Lorelei mumbled while making a dumb-founded expression, but the world didn't stop crumbling. 

The ground that had risen sank, the temple of the goddess crumbled, and the golden sun started to fade.

She extended her hands to prevent herself from falling, but she found nothing to support herself with.

The world continued to crumble, and Lorelei kept falling.