Once acceleration reached a certain level, it created the illusion that time itself had slowed down.
It was a matter of reference frames.
"To the naked eye, this cup of water is suspended in midair. But in reality, it has only just begun to fall freely, and 1.6 seconds from now, it'll splash onto the ground. It only looks completely still because you're moving too fast."
Hoshino picked up the cup and slowly guided the droplets scattered through the air back into it.
"Your complexion?"
Ch'en asked. She noticed that the shrine maiden looked pale, a sign of exhaustion. As time passed, she was like a laborer who had held up a heavy weight for too long, gradually running out of strength—except what she was holding up was the far more mysterious force of time.
Hoshino nodded.
"By normal calculations, this acceleration domain can be maintained for nine seconds. But how much time we experience depends entirely on how I adjust it."
Ch'en nodded gravely.
Perhaps because the NekoCharm Domain had been deployed, everything in her eyes was dyed a deep bluish purple.
It carried an indescribable sense of mystery, as though space and time had entwined with one another. The world had fallen silent, everything frozen in place. Combined with that bizarrely colored filter, to put it in edgy terms—[the world had died].
"I've stopped now."
Hoshino clearly still had some strength left, but she did not want to appear too vulnerable before Ch'en.
She withdrew the domain.
Everything before them returned to normal. The Longjing Tea in the cup churned several times before settling down, without spilling a single drop. Hoshino steadily set down the tea, put away her twin guns, and sat back down. Yet Ch'en continued holding her black sword, seemingly hesitating over whether to strike.