The world stopped.
That was the only way to describe what happened when Kazuki activated Frozen World. Time itself seemed to crystallize, freezing everything in absolute stasis. The roaring crowd fell silent mid-cheer, their mouths open but producing no sound. Floating cameras hung motionless in the air. Even dust particles suspended like tiny stars.
Everything except Kazuki Shirogane.
He moved through the frozen moment with casual grace, ice energy radiating from his body in waves. His smile was victorious as he approached Zororo's position slowly, savoring the moment.
"This is what separates true elites from pretenders," Kazuki said, though his voice sounded distorted in the temporal stasis. "For the next thirty seconds, I am the only one who exists in this timeline. You can't move, can't think, can't even perceive what's happening. You're completely helpless."
But Kazuki was wrong.
Thanks to Hiroshi's Temporal Resistance Serum, Zororo could move slowly, painfully, like pushing through molasses, but he could move. His enhanced perception allowed him to track Kazuki's approach, and his mind processed options with desperate speed.
Twenty percent mobility wasn't much, but it was infinitely better than zero.
Kazuki raised his hand, ice forming into a blade. "I'll make this clean. A single strike through your chest, stopping just short of fatal. Painful, humiliating, but you'll survive to remember"
Zororo's arm moved, impossibly slow from Kazuki's perspective but still moving. Shadow Monarch's Blade manifested in his hand, and he activated his defensive technique.
"Shadow Aegis," Zororo whispered, forcing the words through frozen time.
A barrier of condensed shadow formed between him and Kazuki's descending ice blade. The barrier was sluggish, incomplete, but present.
Kazuki's eyes widened in shock. "Impossible! You can't move during Frozen World! No one has ever"
His ice blade struck Shadow Aegis and shattered it, but the barrier had absorbed enough impact to deflect the strike from lethal trajectory. Instead of piercing Zororo's chest, it carved a deep gash across his shoulder.
[HP: 850/1250]
[BLEEDING STATUS APPLIED]
Pain exploded through Zororo's body, but he forced himself to act. Moving at twenty percent speed in frozen time meant he was effectively moving at incredible speed relative to normal time flow. He needed to maximize these precious seconds.
With agonizing effort, Zororo activated Shadow Step. The teleportation was sluggish, taking three full seconds instead of the normal instant, but it worked. He materialized behind Kazuki, his legendary blade ready to strike.
But Kazuki had already recovered from his shock and spun to meet him. "So you have temporal resistance! Clever! But moving at twenty percent speed still leaves you vulnerable!"
Their blades clashed in frozen time, creating a soundless explosion of ice and shadow. Kazuki pressed his advantage, his superior speed and experience evident even in this distorted timeframe. He landed three more hits before Zororo could properly defend.
[HP: 650/1250]
[MULTIPLE WOUNDS DETECTED]
[WARNING: CRITICAL DAMAGE THRESHOLD APPROACHING]
Zororo's breathing was labored, blood flowing from multiple cuts. But he'd survived the first phase of Frozen World that alone was a victory of sorts.
"Impressive resilience," Kazuki admitted, circling like a predator. "But Frozen World lasts thirty seconds. We're only fifteen seconds in. How long can you endure?"
Not long, Zororo knew. Even at twenty percent speed, Kazuki was overwhelming him. He needed to change the dynamic completely.
"Shadow Domain," Zororo whispered, activating his most powerful technique. "Evolve. Abyssal Dominion!"
Dark energy erupted from Zororo's body, spreading outward in waves. The shadows didn't move quickly they couldn't in frozen time but they moved inexorably, creating a sphere of absolute darkness that began to overlap with Kazuki's frozen time effect.
Two ultimate techniques, clashing for dominance over reality itself.
The arena floor cracked from the strain. Ice and shadow warred for supremacy, neither willing to yield. Inside the overlapping fields, time moved at impossible rates frozen in Kazuki's domain, accelerated in Zororo's, creating zones of temporal chaos.
"What are you doing?!" Kazuki shouted, his composure finally cracking. "You can't counter Frozen World! It's absolute!"
"Nothing's absolute," Zororo replied through gritted teeth. "You control time. I control space. Let's see which is stronger."
Abyssal Dominion expanded fully, and within its boundaries, Zororo's abilities amplified by one hundred percent while enemies suffered fifty percent stat reduction. Even Kazuki's Frozen World couldn't completely suppress those effects.
The result was chaos. Kazuki found his movements slowing slightly while Zororo's accelerated. The power balance shifted incrementally but critically.
Zororo pressed his advantage, launching a barrage of shadow attacks. Shadow Blade split into multiple weapons swords, spears, daggers all striking from different angles. Shadow Clones materialized, each moving with purpose despite the temporal distortion.
Kazuki defended brilliantly, his ice barriers intercepting most attacks, but some got through. For the first time in the duel, Kazuki took damage.
[KAZUKI HP: 1780/1850]
The crowd remained frozen, unable to witness this impossible clash of ultimate techniques. If they could have seen it, they would have witnessed something unprecedented a level nineteen fighter standing toe-to-toe with a level twenty-eight elite in a battle that warped reality itself.
"You're insane!" Kazuki roared, abandoning composure entirely. "This much power at your level what are you?!"
"Your worst nightmare," Zororo replied coldly. "An opponent you underestimated."
Kazuki's Frozen World began to flicker, its thirty-second duration ending. Abyssal Dominion still had over two minutes remaining. When Frozen World fully collapsed and time resumed normal flow within Zororo's domain, the advantage would shift dramatically.
Realizing this, Kazuki made a desperate gamble. He released all remaining energy from Frozen World in a single massive attack an ice explosion that filled the entire arena.
"Absolute Zero Detonation!"
The attack was devastating, powerful enough to freeze even shadow energy. Zororo's Abyssal Dominion flickered under the assault, its integrity compromised. The two techniques annihilated each other in a cataclysmic clash that would have killed any normal fighters caught in the crossfire.
When the energy dissipated, both ultimate techniques had cancelled out. Time resumed its normal flow.
The crowd suddenly erupted with sound again, though no one understood what had just happened. To their perception, Kazuki and Zororo had been standing still for several seconds, then suddenly both were injured and separated across the arena floor.
"What what just happened?" the announcer stammered. "Did anyone see that? The cameras caught nothing but static!"
Zororo stood, breathing hard, blood dripping from multiple wounds. His HP was critically low, but he was still fighting. Across the arena, Kazuki was on one knee, also breathing heavily. The Ice Dominion user's pristine appearance was ruined his custom suit torn, ice armor cracked, and a look of genuine shock on his face.
[ZORORO HP: 450/1250]
[KAZUKI HP: 1580/1850]
Kazuki still held the HP advantage, but his confidence was shattered. He'd used his ultimate technique and failed to secure victory. Worse, Zororo had somehow moved during Frozen World something that should have been impossible.
"Impossible," Kazuki muttered, standing slowly. "You survived Frozen World. You're level nineteen. This doesn't make sense."
"You wanted to know what I really am?" Zororo said, deciding to stop hiding. His golden eyes flared with dark power, and his Villain's Aura activated at full strength. "Let me show you."
Shadow energy erupted around Zororo's body, far more intense than anything he'd displayed so far. His true power began to manifest not B-Rank, not even A-Rank, but something far beyond.
The crowd gasped as Zororo's presence transformed. Those sensitive to power levels felt it immediately this was no ordinary student.
"Impossible," someone in the crowd whispered. "That power level... is he S-Rank?"
"Higher," another voice breathed. "I've never felt anything like it."
Yukari watched from the front row, pride and worry mixing on her face. Zororo was revealing his true nature to the entire school. There was no going back from this.
Renji stood abruptly, his Hero System reacting violently to Zororo's unveiled aura. Golden light blazed around him as his system screamed warnings. "That's... that's a Villain System! A high-ranked one!"
Murmurs of shock and confusion rippled through the crowd. Villain System users were rare, feared, and heavily monitored by authorities.
But Zororo ignored the reactions. His focus remained entirely on Kazuki.
"I told you before," Zororo said, shadows coalescing into weapons around his body. "Don't underestimate your opponents. Now let me show you what real power looks like."
He activated Shadow Monarch's Presence at maximum intensity. The arena darkened as shadows came alive, responding to his will. Lesser shadow creatures began manifesting from the darkness wolves, hounds, shadowy humanoids all bowing before their monarch.
[SHADOW MONARCH'S PRESENCE - MAXIMUM ACTIVATION]
[SUMMONING SHADOW ARMY]
[CURRENT MINIONS: 15]
[ALL SHADOW ABILITIES +50%]
Kazuki stared in disbelief at the shadow army forming around Zororo. "You're not B-Rank. You're not even A-Rank. What the hell are you?!"
Zororo smiled coldly, shadows writhing around his form like living creatures. "I'm SSS-Rank, Kazuki. And you just made the fatal mistake of making me angry."
The revelation sent shockwaves through the arena. SSS-Rank systems were legendary only three had ever been recorded in history. Now a fourth stood before them, and it was a Villain System.
"This fight is over," Zororo declared, raising his Shadow Monarch's Blade. "Surrender now, and I'll show mercy. Continue, and I'll show you why villain systems are feared."
Kazuki's face twisted with rage and humiliation. His entire plan had been to dominate an inferior opponent and cement his superiority. Instead, he'd been deceived, outmaneuvered, and now stood revealed as the weaker fighter.
"Never," Kazuki snarled, ice energy building around him again despite his exhaustion. "I am a Shirogane! I don't lose to anyone!"
"Then you're a fool," Zororo replied.
He signaled his shadow army forward. Fifteen shadow creatures charged at Kazuki simultaneously while Zororo teleported through their ranks, using them as mobile anchor points for rapid Shadow Step chains.
Kazuki defended desperately, his ice barriers and projectiles destroying shadow creatures, but for every one he defeated, Zororo manifested two more. The shadow army was endless, fed by Zororo's massive MP pool and the shadow-rich environment he'd created.
Within minutes, Kazuki was overwhelmed. Ice energy depleted, movements slowed by exhaustion, defenses crumbling. Zororo appeared behind him one final time, Shadow Monarch's Blade at Kazuki's throat.
"Yield," Zororo commanded.
The arena fell silent. Thousands of eyes watched the impossible scene a level nineteen student holding a level twenty-eight elite at blade-point.
Kazuki's hands clenched into fists, his entire body trembling with rage and humiliation. But he had no choice.
"I..." The words seemed to physically pain him. "I yield."
The referee's magically amplified voice rang out: "Winner by surrender ZORORO KUROGAMI!"
The arena exploded with noise shock, disbelief, excitement, fear. The impossible had happened.
Zororo released Kazuki and stepped back, his shadow army dissolving. His golden eyes surveyed the crowd, seeing their mixed reactions. He'd won.
[END OF CHAPTER 19]