Lord of Prayer

’Damn, Time Type!’

Based on what the Roman had said and his own bizarre experience just moments ago, Zhou Chen instantly deduced the man’s Extraordinary Ability.

’—Time Type!’

Not all Extraordinary Abilities were created equal. The likes of Idealist, Causality, Space, and Time Types were undoubtedly top-tier—mysterious, unpredictable, and incredibly difficult to counter.

Some Vampires dreamed of ruling the world just because they could stop time for nine seconds, but a Tier Four·Crowned King could pause time for far, far longer.

Zhou Chen recalled a document he’d once read. Decades ago, a Tier Three Ascender who had awakened the Time Pause ability lost control of their emotions during an accident. Their power went berserk, freezing time in an entire city district. By the time the Star Association arrived, the Time Pause had already been active for over five minutes. Without intervention, it would have undoubtedly lasted much longer.

And that was just a Tier Three Ascender. The one they were facing now was a Tier Four Ascender from Fallen Paradise; his ability would be even stronger.

In the brief moment it took for this thought to cross Zhou Chen’s mind, the scene before him shifted—the Black-robed Man and "World" suddenly appeared in midair within the grand hall. Blood dripped from both figures, a clear sign they had just clashed violently.

Somehow, these two had found a way to bypass the Royal Tower’s rule against combat.

Just then, "Painter" made a break for the Matrix Core.

’I can’t let her succeed...’ With a flick of his Magic Wand, Zhou Chen used Instant Movement to appear before "Painter." He dual-wielded the Magic Wand and the Sword of Law, thrusting with one and slashing horizontally with the other. His ferocious attack sliced through the air with a piercing shriek.

But in a flash, the scene changed once more.

"Painter" vanished from before his eyes. No, to be more precise, it was Zhou Chen who was suddenly sent flying. His vision went black without warning, and a dizzying sensation flooded his mind as a gale of Essence blasted him away.

He knew this wasn’t an enemy attack, but rather help from the Black-robed Man. After all, if an enemy had hit him, he would be dead.

Zhou Chen steadied himself and looked up. A large, crimson, scorched crater now marked the spot where he had just been standing. If the Black-robed Man hadn’t knocked him away, he would have been incinerated into dust the instant time resumed its flow.

"Painter" had also been moved. "World" had teleported her to a safe distance, and a deep gash now scarred the ground where she had stood a moment before.

’The most direct and effective method is to take the Matrix Core...’ Acting on the thought, Zhou Chen tapped his Magic Wand on the ground, intending to use "Great Transformation of Living People" to teleport in front of the Matrix Core. But something strange happened. The Magic Wand didn’t respond; the ability failed to activate.

Zhou Chen was stunned for a moment but quickly composed himself. He stowed the Magic Wand, stomped his foot, and launched himself like a cannonball toward the Matrix Core. ’The Magic Wand is a Forbidden Object contained by Fallen Paradise, and the restrictions on it haven’t been removed yet. It’s highly likely ’World’ tampered with it during the Time Pause, causing the ability to fail.’

CRACK! "Painter" crushed an Alchemy Talisman Stone. Wind swirled at her feet as she shot forward, closing the distance with a whistle. She flicked her paintbrush toward Zhou Chen, and a curtain of ice-blue oil paint splashed out. In midair, the paint solidified into sharp, chilling icicles that shot viciously toward him.

The next moment, the scene shifted once more. The icicles in the air vanished without a trace, and the ground was now littered with shattered, crystalline fragments of ice, which slowly melted back into oil paint.

Zhou Chen and "Painter" were once again pulled far apart. Meanwhile, the grand hall, which had been magnificent and majestic a second before, was now a scene of utter devastation, littered with shocking battle scars and reduced to ruins.

Nearly half of the instruments and equipment were destroyed, fizzing and spitting electric sparks as thick smoke billowed into the air. Among the immobilized scholars, casualties were innumerable, their bodies twisted into all sorts of gruesome forms.

"How interesting."

"World" was covered in blood, his body riddled with all sorts of wounds. Essence of different Attributes raged within them: flames burned, lightning crackled, and frost spread...

"Your ability to move within paused time must be the wish you made to the Wish Box, right? And all those Extraordinary Abilities... That thing is a real pain to deal with. But your Essence must be nearly depleted. How many more times can you use the Wish Box?"

The Black-robed Man panted heavily, fresh blood dripping from him like crimson rain. His injuries were just as severe: a gaping hole pierced straight through his chest, revealing a mangled ruin of flesh and blood. His right shoulder was charred black and smoldering. His left foot was gone, with only a stark white, broken bone jutting out.

A hoarse, deep voice echoed from beneath the swirling black mist:

"And how many more times can you pause time? You went from seven seconds at the start to just four seconds now. The Power Furnace is giving you a hard time, isn’t it?"

’Seven seconds of paused time down to four...’ Zhou Chen immediately understood what that meant.

’I don’t know the range of ’World’s’ Time Pause,’ Zhou Chen thought, ’but based on the current situation, this hall, and maybe even the entire Royal Tower, must be within its radius. If that’s the case, then the Power Furnace that supplies energy to the whole tower would naturally be affected as well.’

The core of the Power Furnace was the "Eternal Burning Star Core." This was an incredibly vast and expensive Energy Source; a single one could power the entire nation of North Carolina for decades. Even the few Energy Cores installed in Tang Ling’s body were from the same series as the Eternal Burning Star Core. This just went to show the terrifying amount of energy it contained—in terms of its inherent "mass," it was in no way inferior to a Crowned King.