"What a ruthless man."
Time was still paused. The severed leg had lost its vitality in midair and remained suspended there. Shade raised a hand to control a drop of blood, then used his thaumaturgy:
"Blood Echo!"
More than ten seconds later, Shade leaped down from the rooftop and intercepted the man with the burned face on the frozen Golden Music Avenue.
He was a middle-aged man who looked to be in his forties, somewhat shorter than Shade and of average build. His tattered clothes gave no indication of his origins. His right leg had already returned to normal, but under the sunlight, Shade felt more and more that he was not human.
This did not refer to his appearance, but rather to his mental state. His savage face and manic expression made it clear that he was insane. The chaotic traces of elements indicated a Ring Arcanist who had lost control. Shade did not know what he had experienced in the past; he only hoped that the missing Miss Danist had not become like this.
Everyone on the street was frozen within the halted spacetime. Shade intended to speak with him, since in theory, a Fifth-Ring Arcanist like this should not have mastered thaumaturgy of such a level.
But the instant the stranger saw Shade again, he launched another fierce attack. Without a word, his time-accelerated body left an afterimage in the air. In the next second, he appeared directly before Shade, his right hand reaching once more for Shade's heart.
Shade's reaction could not keep up with such speed, yet that hardened right hand, even with the boost of speed, still failed to tear out Shade's heart. It only left deep finger marks in his chest.
Shade threw a punch forward in retaliation, but the stranger, still under