Surviving the Magic Academy With Just Intelligence Stats-Chapter 76: Golden-Eyed Tyrant [PART 4]

In the eastern border of the Avaloria Kingdom, the landscape had transformed into a nightmarish tableau, reminiscent of a scene from an apocalyptic film. The air was thick with the acrid scent of smoke and the metallic tang of blood, mingling with the cries of the wounded and the clash of steel. Soldiers from both the empire and the kingdom fought with a ferocity born of desperation, their faces twisted in grim determination as they fell, one after another, like autumn leaves caught in a tempest. The ground was littered with the remnants of battle: discarded weapons, shattered armor, and the lifeless bodies of those who had once stood proud, now reduced to mere statistics in a war that had spiraled out of control.

Friedrich’s earlier tactical use of his power had frozen the imperial forces, allowing for a devastating culling of their numbers. But now, with the odds somewhat evened, he had lifted the temporal barrier. The decision wasn’t made lightly – maintaining such large-scale magic drained precious resources he needed for the confrontation with General Autumn.

High above the chaos below, Friedrich and General Autumn faced each other in the sky. While Friedrich maintained a composed demeanor, rage radiated from every fiber of the general’s being. His frustration was palpable – he had exhausted every strategy trying to force Friedrich to release the freezing spell that had decimated his forces. Only after nine hundred thousand of his soldiers had fallen did the time magic finally lift.

The bitter taste of failure filled Autumn’s mouth. His million-strong army, meant to easily overwhelm Friedrich’s modest force of one hundred thousand, had been reduced to a mere shadow of its former might. His planned swift victory had transformed into a nightmare where he couldn’t even claim numerical superiority.

Combat with Friedrich proved maddeningly difficult. Every attempt to engage resulted in either the target slipping away or revealing itself as nothing more than a temporal clone. When Autumn tried to compensate by targeting Friedrich’s army, the time mage would strike and retreat before any counterattack could land. Despite being in his optimized speed form, Autumn found himself consistently outmaneuvered – not by raw speed, he realized, but by Friedrich’s manipulation of time itself.

As he stared at his opponent, General Autumn wrestled with the humiliating possibility of defeat at the hands of a support-type warrior. The thought proved intolerable. "No! I refuse to accept this!" General Autumn growled, determination igniting within him. In a flash, he disappeared from his position, reappearing behind Friedrich with a speed that defied comprehension. He launched a fist, a devastating blow aimed at the mage, but as his strike connected, he found nothing but empty air. Friedrich had evaded him once more, a ghost slipping through the cracks of reality.

But General Autumn was not to be outdone. He spun around, instinctively capturing a fist that came hurtling toward him from behind. "捕まえた!" he exclaimed, a triumphant grin spreading across his face. With a surge of power, he pushed off the air, gripping Friedrich tightly as he propelled them both into the sky. They soared at speeds that transcended the limits of light, the world below shrinking into a blur of colors and shapes.

T/N - Got you!

Before long, they broke through the atmosphere, the vastness of space enveloping them. General Autumn reveled in the sensation of speed, the thrill of the chase igniting his senses. He turned around, his grip on Friedrich unyielding, and pushed off once more, this time hurtling toward the Earth. The descent was breathtaking, their forms igniting in a blaze of energy as they plummeted toward the ground.

Their descent created a spectacle of fire and fury, their forms becoming like meteors as they tore through the atmosphere. The impact was catastrophic – while Autumn had deliberately chosen a crash site far from his troops, the resulting explosion rivaled several nuclear detonations combined. Even at a distance, powerful shockwaves rolled across the battlefield, a testament to the overwhelming force of their collision.

…

In the aftermath of the catastrophic impact, General Autumn stood at the edge of an enormous crater, his body battered and bleeding profusely. Despite his injuries, a triumphant smile spread across his face as he gazed at what appeared to be Friedrich’s broken form lying motionless at the crater’s center.

"I finally won!" His laughter echoed across the devastated landscape, a sound of relief and victory. However, his celebration proved premature. Before his eyes, Friedrich’s "corpse" began to convulse unnaturally, the sight draining all joy from Autumn’s face.

"Wait! No! No! No!" Panic crept into his voice as he watched the body transform into a clock before dissolving into nothingness. "This can’t be!" His triumph turned to desperation. "How come it’s a clone? I made sure to confirm..."

"Confirm what?" Friedrich’s voice materialized beside him, along with his form. Autumn abandoned words in favor of action, seizing Friedrich’s hand and slamming him into the ground with such force that the earth fractured beneath them. Yet again, the figure dissolved into a clock before fading away, leaving Autumn staring in growing horror at the empty space where his enemy should have been.

His mind began to spiral – were there no real bodies at all? Was everything just an illusion?

"Hey, I was talking..." Friedrich’s voice came again, this time from a safe distance. But before he could finish his sentence, Autumn crossed the gap between them with frightening speed, grabbing Friedrich’s head. He made a slight jump, keeping Friedrich pinned as he leveraged the air itself to drive his opponent deeper into the ground. But once more, only a clock remained before withering away.

"Why are you still playing these games?" Autumn’s frustration boiled over. "Are you afraid to face me without your wife by your side?" The taunt had barely left his lips when he sensed an attack from behind. A smile crossed his face as he spun, catching Friedrich’s fist. His body transformed, muscles expanding dramatically as he delivered a devastating blow that disintegrated his opponent instantly. His enhanced form receded as he fought to catch his breath.

"This is getting boring." The emotionless voice behind him sent chills down his spine.

This content is taken from freёnovelkiss.com.

"What?" Autumn whirled around, launching another attack, but something was wrong. His fist stopped! No! It was still moving, but it moved with agonizing slowness, as if swimming through honey. He realized with horror that he was caught in time magic. His attempt to escape proved futile – his legs moved so slowly that he guessed a single inch would take a year to traverse.

Looking at Friedrich, he managed to speak. "You finally decided to show yourself."

"What do you mean? I’ve always been here," Friedrich replied calmly.

"What are you talking about? Haven’t you been hiding behind your clones all this time?"

Friedrich’s smile held a hint of amusement. "Oh, so that’s what you meant." His explanation followed, revealing the true nature of his power. "With my mastery of time, the concept of a ’real’ body becomes... fluid. Every moment is a new iteration, a new possibility. The ’me’ you strike down? That is simply a moment in time, a fleeting echo. The instant it ceases to be, it is no longer the ’real’ me, but a vestige, a clone of what was."

Autumn struggled to form words, but before he could respond, Friedrich’s expression hardened. "Anyway, this game isn’t fun anymore." The clocks in his eyes began to spin rapidly as he placed his hand on the general.

"Chronal Nullification," Friedrich intoned. Autumn’s form became rigid, unnaturally still as the temporal magic took hold. The clocks in Friedrich’s eyes spun faster and faster while Autumn’s body began to crumble into dust. Only when the proud general had completely disintegrated did the clockwork in Friedrich’s eyes finally cease their rotation.

A/N - I’ll get into Friedrich’s power later, I just wanted to show that he wasnt that weak after getting destroyed by Victoria. Anyway, I’ll stop focusing on these high level characters at the moment and just focus on the main cast.