The Mage of Primordial Chaos

"Oho…" The prince smiled. "Are you challenging me, pest?"

"Oi, oi… is calling people 'pest' your kink or what?" I chuckled. "Does it make you feel good, acting like you're superior to everyone else?"

"That is because I am."

"…"

How delusional is this guy?! Well… he'll learn soon enough.

"Looks like someone needs to knock you down a few pegs," I commented, folding my arms. "Do I want to be the one to do that? Eh, not really. But since you're already here… I'm the only one who can."

"Ha. Just because you avoided one of my attacks, you think yourself worthy to face me?" Auldren snorted.. "Very well, pest. I will make an example out of you by mounting your severed head on a pike for everyone in the capital to see. Then, once I am done with that… I will claim Aucerina for myself — her true destined partner!"

"Huh? You don't mind that I've already had sex with her about fifty times?" I laughed. "Knowing your pride and arrogance, I'm sure you would have gotten angry."

"Oh, don't get me wrong… I will kill her first, then resurrect her again anew to become my wife," Auldren sneered. "She will have no memory of her past life… and be mine alone."

"So… technically, I could kill you here, then resurrect you as my own pawn?! Cool!" I clapped my hands together casually, as if thoroughly enjoying this conversation.

"Bastard…!" He gritted his teeth in rage. "Are you mocking me?!"

I smirked. "Maybe, who knows."

My plan had worked. He was now agitated and enraged, and would definitely make the first move on me. Show me your powers, Auldren… be my test subject!

"RAGH!"

As expected, Auldren began by dashing towards me and swinging his sword, which was now charged with a silver glow. 

'Blink.'

Instantly teleporting behind him, I wagged my fingers as he cut nothing but thin air.

"Wha-"

"Over here, moron," I taunted once more, a smug grin on my face.

"Damn pest…!"

Auldren cut towards me again, but I teleported away with just the same ease.

"What's wrong? Can't hit me? Hm… would you like some glasses? I don't have any, but I can get you one if you pay me 200 bucks."

"BASTARD!"

"Heh."

I shifted out of the way again and again, not letting him hit me a single time. He slowly got more frustrated, which was playing just to my tastes.

But then, on the final time, he didn't stop his sword and instead continued swinging, rotating his body around to face me. Then, out from the blade of his sword came a projectile attack I did not expect, causing me to widen my eyes.

"Woah-!"

Blink had a cooldown, so I couldn't use that anymore. Instead…

Level Three Void Magic — Void Rift.

I opened a tiny hole in space just big enough to swallow his attack, sending it directly to the void, then closed it up again.

"Hm, that was dangerous, little prince," I said, shoving my hands into my cloak's pockets. "You could've broken some funiture there… you wouldn't want to wake Axilia up, would you? Then it will turn into a 2v1. If you are already struggling so much against me… I don't think that's a wise choice."

"… Ha."

The prince let out a low chuckle, surprising me.

"What are you laughing at…?"

"HAHAHAHA! LOOK AROUND YOU, IDIOT!" He roared, pointing his sword at me and laughing his balls off. "YOU THINK I WAS JUST MISSING YOU BY ACCIDENT?"

"Wha-! This is…!" I looked around and widened my eyes as I saw an entire net of razor-sharp lines that had now been connected with one another, whereas before they had just been hanging loose so I couldn't see them. "Is this… the power of that sword…"

"Indeed… since you are about to die anyway, I shall tell you this weapon's name. It is Silkweaver — able to produce razor floss on every swing! I have used this weapon enough to know how to link them all and ensnare entire armies of soldiers within its nets — and soon, you will end up just like them: dead, cut into a million pieces!"

"… I see," I replied calmly, blinking as if nothing dangerous was happening.

"DIE, PEST!"

The prince thrust his sword forward, causing a string of razor floss to come shooting straight for me from the tip. But instead of panicking… I merely sighed.

"… Seriously? This was your power? How disappointing."

Level Three Time Magic — Chronofreeze.

In an instant, everything greyed out. I let out a sigh, then began counting in my head.

1 second. Let's see how long I can stop time for, using True Essence and Chaos combined.

I summoned my Chaos katanas and prepared to cut through all the razor flosses, but then got a better idea and smirked.

"Heheh…"

2 seconds. Level Three Space Magic — Portal Pair.

I placed the first portal right beneath my feet, then the second outside the net of razor floss. Then, I dropped down through the portal, came out on the other side of the trap, then whistled nonchalantly as I picked up Auldren's mid-leap, frozen figure and dropped it into the portal before closing both of them. With this, Auldren was now in the trap he set himself.

5 seconds.

Now, once time starts to flow again, his forward momentum will push him forward… straight into one of the razor flosses. It was a perfect set-up!

6 seconds.

Hm… how long can I keep this up for, I wonder? The last time I used this was a long while ago, but I remember not being able to last very long. That makes sense, considering how powerful of a spell this is. But… even after 7 seconds, I don't feel my power dwindling at all.

Soon, ten seconds had passed. Now, I was beginning to feel strain.

11.

12.

13.

14.

15.

At last, the spell broke, and time began to flow again.

"WHA-!" Auldren's eyes widened as he realized he was about to fly into a razor floss, but it was too late for him to turn back. His own razor floss cut through his entire body, cutting his bones and organs with ease.

"Gragh…" He gurgled blood as he fell quite disgustingly, spilling blood everywhere. I covered myself up with my cloak to avoid any of it spilling on my face, as his entire body disintegrated into fog.

… Wait. Disintegrated?

"You… bastard…" I heard a voice coming from behind me, ghastly and familiar.

"Tch-!" I hurriedly spun around and cut through the air with my Chaos katanas, but they were harmless against the fog that had taken on the shape of Auldren.

"Now… I have to find a new body… CURSE YOU, MORTAL! I WILL BE BACK — DON'T THINK YOU CAN RUN!"

With this accursed scream, the fog that was Auldren's soul slipped out through the kitchen's exhaust fan, leaving through the roof. I narrowed my eyes as I watched him go, dematerializing my Chaos katanas.

That's weird… is everyone in the Death Realm like that? Unkillable?

And then, I heard the sound of a door being pushed open from upstairs, and looked in that direction. Axilia, who had changed into her normal clothes, rubbed her eyes sleepily and leaned on the railing. I found the gesture quite cute with one of her stunning pink eyes open, but that was besides the point.

"Darling… what happened~?" She murmured softly, blinking a few times in a gentle manner.

"… Your brother came looking for trouble, so I… uh, killed him," I replied blankly.

"… Eh?" Axilia stood up straight. "Did you exorcise his soul as well…?"

"Exorcise his soul…?" I frowned in confusion.

"Fufu~ then you haven't truly killed them, darling~" She giggled, beckoning me to come upstairs. I did as told and followed her into her room, in which she pulled out a book from one of her enormous bookshelves and handed it to me. I had a feeling her and Lan Xiao Su would get along well… that is, if Axilia didn't murder her off the bat.

"Here, darling. It tells you a lot about the Death Realm… I think you will find it helpful~"

"Thanks."

I sat down in a chair, opened the book, and began reading through it, Axilia standing behind me and hanging her arms around my neck to hug me.

Inside, the Death Realm was described with great detail. From its origins to the existence of other realms, this book contained everything. It was quite thick, though, so it took me a couple of hours to finish the whole thing. Axilia stayed with me for most of that time, even though she had already read this book before. I appreciated her dedication to staying here, explaining anything I didn't understand. She was a kind girl — but her mind was distorted by whatever happened in her past.

Around 7, however, she finally left the room. I assumed she just got bored — I couldn't exactly blame her. But when she returned an hour later, she had an apron on and a warm smile on her face.

"Darling~ dinner is ready~"

I blinked at her in surprise, unsure of what to say.

"Axilia, you…"

"Fufu~ you must be tired after reading for so long, so I decided to make dinner for you, darling~"