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Chapter 373: Wood: There Is No Such Thing as an Invincible Power!
🕑 Added 2024-11-07 15:38:19 +0000 UTCThe Sin Archbishop of Gluttony had the power of instantaneous movement. As soon as his figure disappeared, he reappeared in front of Wood in the blink of an eye.
Just like when he attacked Ram, the Gluttony Archbishop called out Wood's name as he launched his assault. He learned Wood's name after hearing Ram call it several times during the fight.
It wasn't just Wood's side that was gathering intelligence in the middle of combat; the Archbishops of Gluttony and Greed were doing the same.
Since Gluttony had tried repeatedly to get close to Ram, Wood didn't know all the conditions needed for Gluttony to activate his Authority. Still, he chose to keep his distance and counter with magic.
The moment Wood dodged Gluttony's attack, the stone that Greed had thrown was already hurtling towards him.
Though it was just an ordinary rock from the side of the road, Wood instinctively felt its danger.
Without hesitation, he swung his longsword, and the clash between the rock and his sword echoed with a metallic clang in the air.
But then something unexpected happened, even to Wood!
Though not an extraordinary weapon, Wood's longsword was a standard-issue blade from the Royal Guard of Lugnica—crafted from refined steel, and of considerable quality.
Yet when his sword clashed against the stone, the ordinary rock managed to bend the blade in an instant. It pushed it to its breaking point, and, with a resonating "clang," the blade snapped!
With his sword broken, Wood barely managed to tilt his head in time to avoid the rapidly approaching projectile, which ultimately flew past, cutting some of his hair, and went on to shatter a large tree behind him.
"To be able to react and evade an attack in such a situation... You must be among the best of the kingdom's Royal Guard," Greed said, admiration on his face, showing no surprise over the fact that the stone had shattered Wood's blade.
"Your power is acceleration? No... If it were purely time acceleration, you wouldn't have been able to neutralize our previous attacks so easily.
"Normally, an object thrown like that would slow down after a certain distance due to friction, and obstacles would further reduce its speed. But your stone maintained its speed even when it clashed with my sword. That must be your true power, correct?
"You can make any material you touch enter a state of absolute stillness, even when thrown, allowing it to maintain its initial speed indefinitely. It becomes an absolute killing projectile."
This was the only explanation Wood could come up with regarding Greed's abilities.
As a "great swordsman," Wood had a keen sense of high-speed attacks. However, the stone that had flown at him—still maintaining its speed after breaking his sword—defied logic.
No matter how strong, an object will lose momentum when encountering resistance—that is a fundamental law of nature.
But the rock Greed had thrown completely ignored the rules of physics. Considering what he had already observed, Wood concluded that Greed's power must be related to "time stasis."
When applied to himself, this Authority allowed Greed to ignore all physical laws, elevating him to something akin to a superhuman.
Earlier, Greed had been pushed back by Wood's slash, only because he used his Authority on Wood's attack. The resulting damage to the ground had indirectly affected Greed.
However, when this Authority was used on himself, Greed was essentially in a state of "time stasis," impervious to anything around him.
"Your observational and analytical skills are impressive, but even if you can deduce the ability of my Authority, 'Lion's Heart,' what good will it do you?
"Absolute defense, projectiles that maintain their initial speed... There is nothing you can do but despair," Greed said as he stooped to pick up several more rocks, ready to attack Wood again.
The Archbishop of Greed was not only a talkative person but also someone who, despite claiming to be "selfless," habitually forced his values upon others through terror and violence.
Wood's excellence irritated Greed. Even if it wasn't originally part of his mission, Greed now aimed to eliminate Wood.
"You Sin Archbishops of the Witch Cult are truly something else. First, there was the 'Diligent' Sloth, and now a 'selfless' Greed.
"In my eyes, you're just another hypocrite who claims 'selflessness' while boasting about your existence and forcing your values on others through violence and fear,” Wood taunted.
"You enjoy making weaker opponents despair by flaunting your supposedly invincible powers, and when you encounter someone better than yourself, you try to negate them and make them yield through sheer force."
Wood created another longsword out of ice and covered it with Haki. "In this loop, I haven't encountered Sloth yet, so I'll say this to you instead. There is no such thing as an invincible ability. Unless, of course, you have something like Reinhard's cheat-level blessing of immortality.
"But based on what I've seen so far, your so-called 'invincibility' isn't truly invincible. I've already found two possible weaknesses."
As Wood spoke, he kicked off the ground with the "Soru" technique, using an incredible burst of speed to close the gap between himself and the Archbishop of Greed.
"You boast too much! My Authority is truly invincible—there are no weaknesses!"
Greed's Authority was the manifestation of his egotistical desire. Wood's words were denying his value—something Greed couldn't accept.
Though Wood's speed was great, Greed barely managed to track his movements through afterimages, throwing one of the stones he had picked up.
What had been a simple rock was now a lethal weapon in the hands of Greed.
The first stone missed and landed near Wood's feet, shattering the ground and leaving a crater several meters in diameter.
The second stone was aimed at Wood's shoulder, and as it neared, Wood swung his ice sword and intercepted it. Greed watched, confident that Wood's ice blade would be shattered and that his body would be pierced—only to be stunned when the ice sword met the stone, causing sparks to fly.
The refined steel sword had been shattered, but this fragile-looking magical ice blade was holding its own against his enhanced stone!
"How can ice be harder than refined steel?" Greed thought, bewildered.
"This is your first weakness. Even if the objects you throw can maintain their speed, they are still fundamentally ordinary materials. Once they reach their limits, they will shatter," Wood said, feeling his arm go slightly numb from the impact. He quickly conjured another ice blade, covering it in Haki.
Seeing this, Greed's face twisted in fury, and he threw another stone at Wood.
But what he didn't realize was that Wood had closed the distance between them. In an instant, Wood accelerated again and lunged at Greed, thrusting the ice blade toward him.
"You think you can close in on me and do something against my invincible Authority? You're deluded," Greed sneered.
Ignoring Greed's taunts, Wood continued his assault.
From Wood's observations, Greed's "time stasis" Authority seemed only able to affect one target at a time.
The first indication was that Greed never threw more than one stone at a time.
The second was that, in the beginning, Greed used his Authority on Ram's and Wood's magic instead of himself. It was only after realizing Wood's close combat skills posed a genuine threat that Greed shifted his Authority to protect his own body.
To test his theory, Wood opted for this risky approach, catching Greed at the moment he threw a stone, hoping that during this moment, Greed's body would not be in its invincible state.
The Haki-covered ice sword shattered against Greed's body—and Greed emerged unscathed.
Not only that, but Greed leaned toward Wood and mockingly exhaled, the resulting blast hitting Wood with the same force as the initial velocity of the stone, sending him flying backward.
"Your instincts are indeed sharp. In such a short time, you have deduced many things, even realizing that my Authority can only affect one target at a time.
"But you were wrong about one thing. My Authority can simultaneously maintain a projectile at its initial speed while also making me invincible through 'time stasis.' This means that I can always be both offensive and defensive."
Greed's face was full of satisfaction as he looked at Wood, who had been thrown back.
Wood had managed to deduce Greed's weaknesses, but even this insightful knight had failed to overcome him. Crushing the confidence of a clever opponent like this brought Greed immense satisfaction.
"Wood, if it isn't possible, we should retreat for now. Lord Roswaal and the villagers from Arlam have already gotten away. We should be able to leave without much issue," Ram urged as she dashed to Wood's side, shielding him.
To be honest, Ram felt that, based solely on their mana reserves, neither Greed nor Gluttony seemed all that impressive. The issue, however, was their bizarre powers. With no clear understanding of how they worked, fighting them was too dangerous. Ram thought it was best to retreat for now.
The Authority of Greed was truly formidable, but it lacked mobility. He could never catch up to Wood and Ram if they chose to escape.
Gluttony, on the other hand, had an ability akin to instant teleportation. However, if he dared to chase them alone, both Wood and Ram were confident they could turn around and take him down.
In a typical scenario, Ram's suggestion would be the best course of action. But Wood knew that if they retreated now, once Subaru died again, the timeline would reset. Escaping now would be meaningless.
If that was the case, then they might as well use the limited time to gather as much information about Greed and Gluttony as possible, in the hopes of defeating them in the next loop.
Wood was puzzled. If Greed's "time stasis" ability truly had no flaws, why hadn't he just kept it on himself from the beginning, maintaining an invincible state indefinitely?
Yet, initially, Greed had chosen to use his Authority to counter Ram's and Wood's magic, only switching to self-protection after realizing Wood's combat prowess.
