Pressing his palms together, he set his destination for his desired free time: [Universal Warp: Tokyo, Japan]
In order to avoid freaking the people walking around the bustling city, he made sure to warp into an empty alley, walking out as he was greeted by a lively city; streets were filled with people, mainly Japanese but a few tourists as well. Digital billboards loomed over, playing advertisements and the such.
At first, he couldn't understand anything being said by passing people, nor could he read the signs.
'Let me fix this,' he thought.
[Universal Translation]
For his own perception, he altered any foreign language he perceived, whether by reading or hearing it out loud, to automatically translate into English for himself. Being quite the degenerate enjoyer of media himself for a large part of his life, Japan was a place he always wanted to visit, and with seemingly boundless power at his fingertips, it was a simple dream to fulfill.
"Man, this fried chicken is the bomb!"
As he walked through a block of the city filled with pop-up shops, all of which were food related, he could hear the denizens of the city speaking clearly.
[Universal Freeze]
It was time for one of the tests of his new evolution of power: how long he could keep time stopped. As he brought everything to a halt, the city-filling noises of chattering and digital billboards stopped.
"Alright," he muttered to himself.
There was always an unequaled feeling of freedom while stopping time; the people around him all became living statues, caught in the moment; the goods of establishments also became completely open to his whim.
The first thing he did was indulge himself on the culinary treats of the city, walking by casually and nonchalantly choosing from ready dishes whatever it was that caught his eye. Whether it was spicy noodles or sauce-lathered fried chicken, he had his fill.
It wasn't even that he was hungry, really; Noah simply had a new habit of just indulging.
"Yum."
As he walked around casually while time remained stopped, something caught his attention as he moved down the street, finding an odd sensation combing over his back. It was his own senses, for some reason; those enhanced instincts of his flared as he checked behind him.
"—"
Behind him, somebody stood there, frozen in time, yet they were watching him intently—at least, it appeared so. Time had been stopped long enough for him to walk a few blocks, so somebody looking at him beforehand didn't make much sense.
The person was a Japanese citizen with short, platinum hair and irises that stood out as they were subtly golden. Noah found himself staring back at the figure frozen in time before shrugging it off, turning back around.
"You're not welcome here."
—Just as he turned around, those words met his ears with malicious intent as a sense of bloodlust was felt, forcing Noah to spin back around just as he witnessed the platinum-haired man right in his face with a katana driving itself towards his chest.
"—!"
[Universal Pulse]
In that split-second, caught in surprise, he unleashed the spell between him and the assailant, sending a shock wave against the katana-wielding man that rippled through the street, knocking him back.
It was shocking enough to him that the figure was able to move within stopped time, but [Universal Pulse] didn't seem to inflict any meaningful damage either as they got up quickly.
'A system wielder? Is he a part of SENTINEL?' He questioned.
What perplexed him further were the movements of this empowered stranger: the swift figure ran along the sides of the flashy buildings as a blur, leaving afterimages in his wake with speed that embodied confusion more than sheer swiftness.
"Noah Grays—'destroyer', 'villain'—you're not welcome here."
The katana-wielding stranger's voice echoed as he moved around as a blur, circling around Noah who remained standing in place while the rest of Tokyo remained statuesque in frozen time.
Noah held his hand out, choosing not to play cat and mouse with the empowered stranger.
[Universal Pull]
Using a singularity in front of him that had the sole conceptual power of dragging forth the speedy, platinum-haired stranger, he awaited the figure to be placed before him, although it failed to drag the man inward.
Instead, the agile figure came in of his own volition, unleashing an unstable strike directly against the back of Noah.
It certainly caught him off-guard: the stranger's ability to resist [Universal Pull] struck him as odd, but when combined with the fact they were seemingly immune to the stoppage of time as well–he began to realize something.
"You're using REATH metal, aren't you?...Or something like it," he muttered under his breath.
Though a slash had etched itself across his back, it was quickly mended through [Universal Recovery], rewinding the wound entirely both to his flesh and the fabric that covered it.
"I do not indulge the questions of murderers," the stranger spoke, "I only give them retribution."
The platinum-haired man stopped a dozen meters before him, standing between the statuesque people of Tokyo as his black trenchcoat swayed, unperturbed by the stoppage of time.
It was now that the system prompt finally showed Noah who he was dealing with:
[Haru | Level X | Ethereal System]
There wasn't much information given to him beyond just the name of the System wielded by the man named "Haru", though it began to give him an idea of what he was dealing with.
'Ethereal System, hm?' Noah thought.
As Haru rushed him again with that mesmerizing speed that operated on a different wavelength of agility entirely, Noah chose to go on the defensive for the time being while watching his opponent.
[Universal Instinct]
Heightening the natural reflexes of his body to a supernatural level, he perceived the incoming slashes, allowing his body to dodge from them automatically as he watched the golden-eyed man move.
It was a further test for himself as he was also surprised at the fact he was able to sustain active combat along with other spells in unison with [Universal Freeze] for this extended amount of time.
"Yokai Shudder."
–Suddenly, Haru's body flickered before an unexpected direction was taken to his assault: the silver-haired man dashed through Noah's body itself, moving as an icy-cold air that swept past the foreign villain in an instant.
Noah felt a force ripple through his body, though was quick to counter it with a snap of his fingers:
[Universal Absorption]
Before any damage could spread through his body from the unorthodox attack, he converted the force itself into usable energy before spinning around to where Haru had ended up behind him.
[Universal Expel]
Flicking a bright, crimson sphere of energy in the direction of the Ethereal System user, Noah blew a chunk off of the street of Tokyo in the attempt to annihilate his foe.
"You will not hit me."
Through the smoke, Haru revealed himself to be unharmed by the [Universal Expel], standing there without a scratch on his pale skin as he cast away the billowing smoke with his katana.
"Hm," Noah squinted.
'That didn't hit him? "Pull" didn't seem to work either. I'm beginning to wonder…is he even tangible?' He thought.
Beginning to understand the thrill of such a duel, Noah cracked his knuckles with a smile appearing on his lips, "Come on–try and take down this 'villain'--if you can."
Haru seemed fully intent on shedding blood that day, racing across the frozen city and going for a strike against Noah before–the figure vanished before the man's golden eyes.
"Over here," Noah playfully said from behind.
"--!"
Haru spun around with a freezing slash of his katana, but once again, only struck wind as there was no sight of the foreign villain.
It was a continuous usage of [Universal Warp], used in succession at a rapid rate, it made him essentially intangible himself, hardly appearing but for a fraction of a second before vanishing again before the edge of the blade could reach him.
"Stop these games," the stranger breathed out in frustration.
To Noah, such encounters were less than even skirmishes; games that held no impact on his own life. There was already a clear idea he had in his head about the true nature of Haru's System, though he spent a minute warping around the figure before actually putting it to the test.
[Universal Soul Shock]
Warping behind the silver-haired figure and placing his hand against his back, he unleashed a nefarious force through Haru's body that bypassed the need to assault a physical body, but instead aimed for the soul instead.
"Nnngh…!" Haru let out in pain.
The force at which the man had his soul rattled was anything but "gentle", as Noah kept his hand pressed against his back, continuously emitting the nefarious, stygian force.
"So, it looks like attacks directly on the soul work," Noah remarked.
Releasing his hand from Haru's back, he allowed the man to fall over, out of breath and panting as he was left in pain on the ground.
"Once I figured out the nature of your System, it was pretty simple to beat you," Noah explained, "It'd work on most System users, but you see, I'm pretty versatile myself. You're essentially a ghost; that body of yours operates regardless of time or physical hold."
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