Taking Command of the Floating City

Time Stop ended, as if the pause button had been canceled.

The scene inside and outside the control room resumed from stillness to motion. Voices, gunshots, explosions, and all kinds of other sounds rang out again in an instant. The wizards maintained their terrified expressions for six seconds before finally moving again.

"Stop it!"

"Grand Speaker..."

One cry after another was filled with panic and urgency, then suddenly turned into shock and daze.

In everyone else's eyes, Kolsted had vanished in an instant, replaced by Rayne standing there. The warhammer in his hand crackled with electricity, as if he had just smashed something to pieces, while a cloud of ash drifted down.

The Soul Jar in Ansiwodoss's hand was gone as well.

"What happened?"

"What is going on?"

The wizards looked at one another and found only confusion in each other's eyes.

Normally, even a Legendary Wizard would find it difficult to perceive the existence of Time Stop after being affected by it. From their perspective, those six seconds had simply vanished.

There had been no transition.

There was no change of scene, either. It was like cutting from one frame to the next, jumping forward without the slightest warning.

Only a few powerful Legendary Wizards vaguely sensed that something had happened, including the three Speakers and Osiria, who also possessed the Key of the Gate. Her Key of the Gate was only at the Sixth Circle and had failed to resist the effects of Time Stop, but to her senses, it felt as if she had merely spaced out for a moment. She knew that something must have happened.

Speaker Rony was the most puzzled.

Before Time Stop, he had shouted loudly, only to stop inexplicably in the middle of it, as if he had gotten stuck before finishing.