Within Aiden's Pocket Domain, the four women stood together, with no clear understanding of how to leave or what was happening outside.

Myrenne broke the quiet first. "I can't feel the presence of the goddess anymore," she said while pressing one hand against her temple. "There's no connection strong enough to reach any deity at all from this place."

Aeris remained flustered the entire time with her hands clasped together and her eyes darting around the empty expanse as if searching for an exit that didn't exist.

Arianna and Laela worried the most and both exchanged anxious glances before Arianna spoke. "We don't know what's happening out there," she said quietly. "I wish there was a way we could help."

Laela nodded in agreement. "Being trapped here while he fights feels wrong."

Their worry for their intended husband, was profound.

—

The exchange between Dravion and both dragons had continued relentlessly until the last attack came from Aiden who closed the distance in a blur and drove his foot into Dravion's chest with enough force to send the demon lord flying backward.

Dravion's body crashed into a stone wall structure and his frame carved a deep imprint into the rock before he slumped forward.

This extra strength behind Aiden's kick came from a combination of spells and techniques layered together.

The strength magic he had copied from Katherine, the lightning body enhancement spell he had copied from Kayden, and the opening of the Seventh Gate martial art technique he'd replicated from an Asura who had employed it during the war to destroy chunks of Ursula's meteorites.

Right now Aiden's dragon form crackled with streaks of lightning coursing through his scales and his body emitted vast amounts of ki that rippled visibly in the air around him.

This was him going all out physically.

Aiden retreated briefly to Cronyssia's side and glanced at her. "I wonder why Dravion hasn't used any magic spells yet," he said between breaths. "All he's done so far is rely on his adaptation abilities while trying to get closer."

Cronyssia kept her eyes locked on the demon lord. "The Demon King's power is too great," she explained. "All of Dravion's mana is being used as an additional source to maintain the possession."

Dravion lifted himself off the carved wall with that devious smile returning to his face but suddenly his body reacted strangely and he stopped abruptly, as if something inside him had misfired.

Cronyssia noticed immediately. "He's reaching his limits," she called out sharply. "Now is the time to press on."

She activated her time authority instantly and stopped time in Dravion's area though by now he had adapted so much to her timestop that it only slowed him down instead of freezing him completely.

But anything to press their advantage was what she would take.

Aiden dashed forward almost instantaneously with the lightning coursing through his body transcending from blue to white which signified that he was now using Kayden's Godspeed spell.

However just as he got into proximity close enough to strike the demon lord an invisible force lashed out and struck him with tremendous impact.

POOM!

The blow sent Aiden flying backward several meters through the air and his body crashed into the ground hard enough to bounce once before slamming back down again and skidding across the rocky terrain.

Cronyssia's eyes widened as Aiden skidded past her position but not because he'd been thrown back.

No, it was because of what Dravion currently held gripped in his right hand.

"The Longinus…" she whispered.

That devious smile returned to Dravion's face in full.

In Dravion's hand was the spiritual manifestation of a weapon and it existed in a state between visible and invisible simultaneously.

The weapon took the form of a long spear but its edges flickered in and out of perception as if reality itself couldn't decide whether it was truly there or not.

Not long after, Aiden blitzed back into position beside Cronyssia with blood streaking down the side of his head. "What the hell was that?" he demanded.

"That's the Demon King's weapon," Cronyssia said grimly. "Longinus."

Aiden narrowed his eyes slightly and focused on the object Dravion held but the moment he set his gaze directly on it, a sharp ringing migraine pierced through his skull and forced him to close his eyes immediately.

"Don't look at it," Cronyssia warned quickly. "Even in its incomplete form, its effects are almost the same. If a normal human or creature had stared at it, they would've lost their minds instantly."

Dravion began walking slowly toward them with the spear held loosely in his grip. "Do you remember this weapon, Cronyssia?" he asked mockingly.

Cronyssia said nothing in reply but how could she forget that weapon?

It was the same weapon that had caused the deaths of her siblings, Keyles and Veyqorin.

Cronyssia grunted and used her time authority again in a bid to accelerate Dravion's aging process but instead of turning him to bones and dust as she'd done earlier, it only managed to make him extremely old and wrinkly.

He had already adapted to dying that way so it wouldn't have the same effect as before.

To further slow him down Cronyssia rewound the time around him once more to send him back but this time it didn't send him completely out of sight or extremely far away.

He reappeared at a considerable distance from them but remained within sight.

Cronyssia had successfully bought some time again. First he would have to age back to normal and then fly back toward them.

With that opportunity she turned to Aiden urgently. "Go," she said firmly.

"You need to leave now. That weapon, even though it's not in its true form, is the most dangerous thing we've ever faced. Its true power makes certain that its attacks will always hit no matter what."

A sure-hit weapon.

"Nonsense," Aiden exclaimed immediately. "If the Demon King had to use this weapon of his then it's obvious he won't be able to maintain control of that body much longer."

He straightened despite the pain radiating through him. "The weapon is currently nothing I can't handle until then."

However this was Aiden just trying to soldier on because he wasn't healing as fast as usual from taking that attack.

In fact for the first time the system pulled up a screen in front of him showing a loss in HP.

[HP: 7320/12000]

[Status Reset is attempting to heal bleed damage]

[Due to the effect of that weapon, healing is currently being slowed down]

That had never happened before. His endurance stat currently at 240 which naturally came in clutch when handling damage had been rendered nearly useless.

He tried to activate the healing spells in his arsenal but received failed responses from the system.

[Goddess Embrace Spell is ineffective]

[Recovera Spell is ineffective]

Cronyssia saw his condition immediately and without hesitation used her time authority to revert him to a previous state in time before he'd taken that damage.

Aiden's wounds closed instantly and his HP restored as if the injury had never happened.

Cronyssia pressed on with urgency in her voice. "Each time I use my authority on him it becomes less effective," she said while keeping her eyes locked on Dravion's distant form as he aged back toward his prime. "I wouldn't want to risk you dying this early in our bid to slow him down. You need to leave before he returns."

Seeing that weapon had made Cronyssia feel a certain fear for Aiden's life, especially at his current level where it could affect him far more adversely than it would affect her.

As she spoke she simultaneously activated her time authority again and brought forth a time variant who then summoned another time variant of herself.

This process repeated rapidly until several Cronyssias in their massive dragon forms filled the skies and occupied the surrounding areas.

Some of these time variants were versions of Cronyssia summoned from a few seconds ago, some from a few hours back, and others from even several months in the past.

"Go! Now!" she yelled, but before Aiden could refute or agree Dravion's voice rang out from a much closer distance than expected.

"No one's going anywhere!"

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