Free Tier - Accidental Champion (Book 9) - Chapter 42 - Change the Conditions

“Of all the bad ideas you’ve had over the years since I’ve been inside your mind, this is the worst. You can’t seriously think you have a chance at succeeding against this S Grade, especially as hampered by the time dilation field as you are. On this floor, you’re already not able to play to your strengths. You can’t possibly defeat the S Grade True Dragon.”

Xavier pursed his lips. “Not with that attitude.”

But Roln was right. There was no way he would be able to defeat the S Grade dragon. Not under these conditions.

So, he needed to change the conditions.

He’d altered what time stream the System timer on this floor adhered to because he didn’t want millions of years to pass by back in the sectors he ruled. And, now that he thought about it, it would be even longer than he’d first calculated, as there was no way his people wouldn’t become stronger—and with their strength, their time dilation fields would become even stronger.

His people would be completely and utterly unrecognisable when he returned, if he cleared the floor in the usual way.

But he wasn’t about to let that happen. His goal of clearing the floor wasn’t the most important thing anymore as he wouldn’t be able to clear the floor at all if he couldn’t defeat the True Dragon. Everything else was moot.

He released a breath, pacing around the mental space, plans forming and unforming in his mind. The way to deal with this S Grade enemy wasn’t clear, but a few initial steps came to mind. There were things he needed to do that he’d come to think were impossible. He needed to look at this entire floor in a different light to how he’d done just moments ago.

Xavier stopped pacing and started idly tapping his foot. He closed his eyes, thinking deeply on everything.

Then he snapped his eyes back open. Not with his mental apparition inside his mind, but with his true body outside in reality. Nothing had changed out here. The True Dragon hadn’t moved. Chronomantic Mindforge was still active, and he’d made time out here pass even slower by retreating into the mental space. But he couldn’t stay in that mental space forever.

Beside him, a few feet away, a figure materialised out of thin air. A man that wasn’t truly there at all. Roln crossed his arms and released a theatrical sigh. “I don’t want to watch you die, Xavier, but if it comes to that, I’ll be by your side in the end.”

I don’t intend to die, Xavier replied with a thought. Ever.

“Intentions aren’t worth much,” Roln muttered, but he did not argue any longer. He simply hovered there and watched.

Xavier felt for the strand of energy that connected him to the Time Alteration spell that was currently active around the planet Galadsea, the barren moon he and the other Champions had arrived on, and the Empire of Servitude’s armada.

He altered the spell, just a fraction, but it was enough to ruin the balance he’d struck with the System timer. He’d forced it to change, but the whole time it had been fighting against that change. Which meant the moment Xavier changed the spell, it snapped right back to the speed it had been at before.

Then, Xavier contracted the time dilation field. It took barely a fraction of a fraction of a second, but in his current state it looked as though it took a lot longer.

There’s no going back from this decision now.

Roln looked over at him, tilting his head to the side, but didn’t speak.

Xavier deactivated Chronomantic Mindforge. Now that the time dilation field was contracted only around himself, he could make it work far more efficiently. He sped up time within the field to his absolute limit—a limit that had improved since the last time he’d done it. He rolled his head around his shoulders, cracking his neck satisfyingly, and slowly flapped his wings, looking over at the True Dragon in the distance.

He examined it as closely as he could, using The All-Seeing Eye to have a better look than his natural vision could manage, and homing in on it with his Immortal Soul lens at the same time, trying to discern exactly how fast this S Grade True Dragon was.

He only had to wait a few seconds before he saw it move. It wasn’t a fast movement, but the fact that it was able to move visibly at all in that short period of time meant it was faster than any being he’d ever encountered.

And yet it’s still hampered, considerably, by being outside my time dilation field.

That didn’t mean he was about to go fight it, however.

Xavier may be insane, but he wasn’t crazy. Fighting the S Grade True Dragon was a part of his plan—it was the whole reason he’d altered the time dilation field in the first place—but it wasn’t the first part of his plan.

He knew he was strong, but even a single scratch from that thing could lead to his demise. He had no idea what its capabilities were, and while it might not realise the time dilation field had been contracted, if Xavier started attacking it… it would adjust. He didn’t know how it would adjust, but he knew that it would.

And that was something he couldn’t allow happen. Not yet. He needed the beast to be completely unaware of what Xavier was doing.

Xavier turned his gaze upward, far past Galadsea’s atmosphere to the Empire of Servitude’s armada. He narrowed his eyes and examined that area, sighing when he confirmed that the time dilation field that had been present around the armada when he’d been up there was still present. The Denizens on those ships would be well aware of what he’d just done.

At least there are no more Champions up there.

He started flying upward, but he wasn’t in any rush. His thoughts raced through his mind, jumping from one part to the other as he tried to think of a way to solve the problem of the armada.

He felt like he was back to square one. This was exactly where he’d been when that time dilation field up there had first snapped on. He’d destroyed a thousand of their spaceships and had thought he could destroy every single one of them the same way.

Then everything had changed.

Then, he’d mastered defeating the different waves of enemies on the ground, altering his plan completely.

Then everything had changed again.

And if he wanted any chance at defeating the True Dragon, he would need every advantage he had. Not only that, he knew there was no way to do it while he was still C Grade.

He needed to advance to B Grade as fast as possible—which meant he needed to take out the armada of ships, just as he’d originally planned for this floor.

There was no other way now. Not if he wanted to stick around.

The Denizens aboard the still almost three million ships would be preparing for his imminent arrival. They would know exactly what the shift in the time dilation field would mean. They would have observed the System timer change.

Those beams of energy the ships were able to shoot at him had been incredibly powerful. Even now that he’d gained a few levels and further strengthened his body from dealing with the waves on the ground, there was no way he would be able to withstand a hit from one of those.

“You’re persistent,” Roln said. “I’ll give you that. What exactly do you expect to do differently this time?”

Xavier smiled. He felt like he was back at square one, but that wasn’t entirely true. Actually, a fair bit had changed since he’d last been in this position.

For one, he finally had the mental construct back. Roln had access to far more information than Xavier did, and the way the dead Wanderer had been editing his neural pathways… Xavier was a much, much better killing machine than he’d been last time, too.

Taking out the armada should be a piece of cake, Xavier replied. Especially now I have your help.

Roln did not look convinced.

As Xavier flew upward through the planetary shield, his Immortal Soul lens registered a flash of energy. Several flashes. At least a hundred. Coming from the closest ships of the armada. The spaceships’ beams shot straight for him.

Xavier swiftly flapped his wings, pushing his body backward. He only just made it back under the protection of Galadsea’s planetary shield when all one hundred of those beams slammed into the space he’d occupied.

He breathed sharply inside the Force Armour, a stab of fear in his chest. He was under a concealment. A concealment that the armada shouldn’t have been able to detect. Then again, for a good while he’d realised the armada must have been able to track him down on the ground.

Xavier should have seen this coming—Roln should have seen this coming. But the time dilation field around the ships hadn’t been close to the atmosphere. The ships’ beams shouldn’t have been able to reach him where he was.

Still breathing heavily, Xavier examined the enemy’s time dilation field. It now stretched just past the planetary shield. He tilted his head to one side and examined the memory of the last few moments.

At the exact same instant as those beams had fired, the time dilation field had spread wide enough to make it possible for them to hit him.

This was a gambit. They’ve been watching me, waiting for me to reach this position before they fired.

Xavier bit his lip. This… was bad. How was he supposed to get close to the armada if they could see through his concealment? How was he supposed to get onto their ships and take out their Denizens?

Can we—

Strengthen your concealment? I’m already identifying the necessary changes, although there’s not telling it will work unless…

Unless I fly back into firing range a second time.

Xavier waited as the mental construct worked. Notifications asking for permission to alter the neural pathways regarding his concealment spells popped up in his vision and he accepted them with barely a thought.

He was examining the enemy’s time dilation field.

It was weaker than his own. A good deal weaker. That was the only reason he’d survived. He wouldn’t have been able to fly backward fast enough if the time dilation fields had been equal. That was perhaps the closest he’d ever come to death. Studying the power level of those beams in his memories, there was no way he would have been able to survive even a single one of them, let alone a hundred.

Something he had confirmed, however, from looking into the minds of the A Grade captains he’d taken over, was that the ships could only fire a single beam while inside the time dilation fields, and they couldn’t fire a beam while their Denizens were away. Which meant there were several empty ships out there that couldn’t fire—not just the first 1,000 that he’d boarded to take out the crews, but every wave that had made it to the planet afterward.

But when there were millions of ships, baiting them into using all their shots felt like nothing more than suicide.

Concealment upgraded. Please re-initiate spell pattern.

How sure are you that this is going to work?

There was a short silence before Roln responded. “About forty-five percent.”

Xavier shut his eyes, released a long sigh, then gave a resigned nod.

Perhaps I shouldn’t have asked.

He cracked his neck, stretched out his wings, then launched himself forward and through the shield, coming out in a different spot to the last time, hoping this would work.