Gabriel moved through the frozen time.
Entering the magic tower, he saw magicians inside who had not yet grasped the situation.
They were frozen with expressions asking "What's happening?" due to the sudden impact and roaring sound.
Gabriel moved carefully, avoiding collision with these magicians.
In this frozen time, he had no need to hurry.
If Rudger had proceeded according to plan, what he needed to do was simple.
'Even so, climbing all these stairs is exhausting.'
Because time was frozen, even the elevators weren't moving.
No matter how slowly he walked, climbing the high stairs of the magic tower required considerable stamina.
Even when trying to catch his breath, it was inevitable that he would become increasingly breathless."Huff. Huff. If I had known, I would have exercised more."
Despite saying this, it was a commitment he wouldn't keep even if he had the time.
Finally reaching the target floor, Gabriel looked inside.
He had memorized the map completely, so he knew exactly where the storage room was located.
"Here it is."
It would have been easy to recognize even without the map.
A massive tunnel had been created throughout the entire floor.
It was truly impressive that someone had broken through the New Magic Tower's defense system to make a path.
Everything in the trajectory of Rudger's magic had been blown away.
It was fortunate that no one lived here; otherwise, there would have been significant casualties.
Even though they were raiding the magic tower, it would have been unsettling to cause the death of innocent people working here.
Rudger seemed aware of this too, as he had aimed only at precise pinpoints.
"He really drilled through it perfectly."
Where Rudger's magic had passed through, a path had been created, cleanly cut as if carved out by something.
And along this path was a place where important materials and items of the magic tower were stored.
Gabriel headed inside the storage room.
This place, filled with various items from the New Magic Tower, also stored magical artifacts that would be released by the New Magic Tower in the future.
As he entered, a spectacle of diverse items unfolded before him.
Gabriel gulped at the sight.
'How much is all this worth?'
Taking and selling anything within reach would be enough to earn a fortune.
In a situation where someone without self-control might have their eyes roll back and take everything.
Gabriel shook his head and remembered his purpose.
'Get a grip, Gabriel. Right now, the ingredients for the medicine to heal Rene are more important than money.'
Though it was more of a curse reagent than medicine, what did that matter?
Gabriel began scouring the warehouse to find the items, recalling the information he had been given beforehand.
"Take this. And this too."
Rare herbs difficult to find, remains of ancient beasts, ice essence from perennial snow mountains, debris created by spirits.
"I guess it's fine to take a few other things too."
Gabriel also equipped himself with some artifacts that could be carried lightly.
The moment he took items carelessly, a theft alarm would sound, but that was only possible under the premise that time was flowing.
In frozen time, no alarm could sound no matter how many items were moved.
Gabriel gathered all the items.
Though they were quite heavy, it wasn't impossible to carry them alone.
After struggling down the stairs, he left the New Magic Tower and reached a secluded alley.
Being far from the magic tower, it was unlikely to be noticed.
"Time stop. Release."
-Tick. Tick.
The second hand of the clock floating above Gabriel's head began to move with a sound, time flowed again after being stopped.
-BOOM!
With an explosion in the distance, people passing by turned their heads toward the New Magic Tower, wondering what had happened.
Soon, a loud alarm sounded from the New Magic Tower, and people scattered in panic.
'That guy. I wonder if he'll be able to escape safely?'
Gabriel suddenly began to worry about Rudger.
Rudger had volunteered for the most dangerous role in this operation. Having done this to the magic tower, even ten lives wouldn't be enough.
"No. Why should I worry about him? I'm sure he'll manage to come back alive."
Gabriel decided to focus on his own mission first.
For now, the priority was to take the items and return to the secret hideout.
-Rustle.
Gabriel, focused on Rene's treatment, failed to notice the malicious presence approaching stealthily.
Just before the enemy's ambush reached Gabriel's body, an artifact he had stolen from the New Magic Tower emitted light.
-Slash!
"Ugh?!"
Gabriel's eyes widened at the burning pain in his left arm.
The attacker was a special experiment subject of Nikolai, wearing a black coat and a fedora.
'How on earth?!'
How did they track his location? No, more importantly, how did they follow him so quickly?
'Wait. That's right. He said that the opponent has mastered most of the city's surveillance systems.'
Even though he had tried to move through areas without surveillance devices, he still got caught?
'They had troops stationed nearby, targeting me from the start.'
Gabriel stared at the bracelet on his left arm.
'If I hadn't taken this from the New Magic Tower.'
It wouldn't have ended with just an arm injury, but his head would have been cut off.
Gabriel felt grateful for this situation but had to focus on the enemy before him.
Nikolai wasn't just targeting Rudger, he was also targeting Cravat and Gabriel who accompanied him.
'Does he intend to kill everyone associated with that guy? Then Rene is in danger too!'
He needed to return to Rene immediately and move her to a safe place.
Meanwhile, the experiment subject who had failed in its attack took a stance and charged at Gabriel again.
Just before the sharp steel swords in both hands were about to cut Gabriel's neck like scissors.
His body disappeared from the spot like a mirage.
"...!"
The experiment subject came to a sudden stop.
Its body slid far, and its swaying eyeballs traced Gabriel's whereabouts.
But Gabriel had already fled far from the spot after stopping time.
"Huff. Huff."
Gabriel panted.
Trying to escape hastily without controlling the bleeding led to extreme consumption of physical and mental strength.
Gabriel took out a recovery potion he had prepared in advance and poured it on the wound on his arm.
After confirming that the wound was healing quickly, Gabriel used the time magic again due to a sudden sense of crisis.
-BOOM!
Magic hit vertically at the spot where Gabriel had disappeared.
"Well, well. A real mouse, aren't you."
The war mage who had cast the surprise attack clicked his tongue.
Waiting nearby as per orders from above, he immediately attacked after confirming the enemy's description as he had been told.
The order from above was simple.
Kill that opponent at all costs.
So he had cast a spell without warning, but the target disappeared from the spot like an illusion.
'What the hell?'
As the war mage wondered, a signal from a colleague flew from afar.
[Suspect found in sector B-12. It's a young man with messy hair. He's carrying a bunch of items.]
"What? He was here just now."
He moved from A-54 to B-12 in that short time? Did he teleport or something?
Then new information came in.
[Wait. He disappeared.]
[Ah. This is sector C-42. I just spotted the messy-haired suspect. W-wait! He's gone again!]
"What?"
What was going on?
Suddenly disappearing, suddenly appearing. This was happening almost simultaneously, confusing the war mages.
"Everyone, stay alert! It seems he's jumping through space. Think of it as that kind of magic and move! Magic of this level must either consume a lot of magical power or have some restriction!"
The war mages regained their composure and moved in unison.
This was a response that Gabriel, who was being chased, could clearly feel.
'Damn it. It's been a long time since I've felt this hunted.'
Gabriel couldn't help but frown at the burning pain in his arm.
Although he had used a recovery potion urgently, the internal wound hadn't completely healed.
No, this wasn't that kind of wound to begin with.
'My arm is gradually becoming numb. Damn it. Did they put poison on the weapon?'
He had been wondering why his breathing was becoming labored, and now he knew.
To prepare even poison in case the attack missed, that Nikolai seemed to be quite a persistent character.
'Damn. The poison is numbing my arm and I'm losing focus.'
Time magic doesn't consume much magical power to maintain it for a long time, once the mana is consumed to deploy it, that's it.
As long as he didn't make time flow again, he could continue to move in a frozen world.
It was a magic with incredibly good cost-effectiveness when you think about it.
Instead, it continued to consume his lifespan.
But even this time magic would easily break if the user's physical condition was poor.
To maintain time magic, it requires homeostasis of the body and condition.
That's why Gabriel always tried to maintain calmness in frozen time but now it was different due to the poison.
After walking a little, the magic weakly dissipated.
Gabriel, feeling time flowing again, gritted his teeth.
"He's over here!"
These persistent trackers had immediately located his position and were chasing him.
They seemed to have spread a wide net, and it looked difficult to escape unless he could go down to the third floor.
'I was too careless. If I can just get down to the fourth floor, no, the third floor.'
As he was thinking that, he felt a magical wave from afar.
Gabriel gritted his teeth and cast the time magic again but perhaps due to the poison, the magic didn't activate in time.
Time stopped just before the incoming magic could hit him.
If he had been a little later, he would have been hit but he wasn't completely safe either.
Some of the materials he had stolen from the New Magic Tower were caught in the magic.
'Damn it. Damn it!'
Gabriel had no time to check how much damage had been done.
Getting away from here before the magic broke again was the top priority.
How long had he been moving?
Gabriel, who had been walking slowly, fell from his spot.
Perhaps because the poison was starting to spread, his legs wouldn't listen to him.
As the time stop was released, the items he had gathered spilled onto the floor.
"Ah, damn it."
Gabriel looked around with blurry vision.
He didn't know what this place was, but the wide open space was filled with various steel junk.
And through the gaps in the junk, the pursuers began to appear one by one.
"Ha. Look at this little mouse. Falling over here?"
"He's really something. What kind of magic did he learn to get this far?"
"If he had been a little later, he would have escaped our net. Too bad."
Gabriel bit his lip tightly upon hearing those words.
The thought that he could have escaped if he had just, just held on a little longer sent a feeling of helplessness washing over him like the ebb tide.
"What should we do with this guy?"
"Kill him, of course."
"Isn't that a waste? Whatever magic he's using, let's take it for ourselves."
"That's good too. How long could someone like him withstand torture?"
"If that doesn't work, we can just dissect his brain directly."
As the war mages casually muttered these horrible words.
Gabriel's complexion darkened, and at that moment.
"Who's making all this noise here!"
-Boom. Boom.
A rough shout came from one side of the open space, followed by the sound of heavy footsteps.
The war mages were startled and turned toward the sound.
There, a huge pile of steel was moving.
"What is that?"
It looked like a pile of steel was moving, but that wasn't it.
More precisely, there was a person carrying it with both hands.
"What the..."
A large man with no shirt on was lifting junk that was 10 times his size with both hands.
His upper body, covered in sweat, was writhing with ferocious muscles.
Even more astonishing was that the man was repeatedly lifting and lowering the junk he was holding with both hands while walking.
"Huff. Huff. Great, 5 sets done! Workout complete!"
-Boom.
The man, seemingly satisfied, slammed the object in his hand to the ground.
The debris hit the ground of the open space, causing a small earthquake.
'What the hell is that? Did he lift that alone?'
'And what's "workout complete"?'
'Today's workout completed, something like that?'
While the war mages were exchanging glances, the mountain-like man glared at them and said.
"Who are you to cause trouble in someone else's training ground? Don't you know I hate being disturbed during my workout the most?"
The war mages glared back at him, feeling provoked.
He seemed to be quite a strong knight, but after all, he was bare-handed without any weapons.
How dare he speak such nonsense to the magicians of the New Magic Tower in Isla Machina?
The man, sensing the war mages' ominous gaze and hostility, let out a puzzled laugh.
"Not only disturbing my workout but also showing hostility? It was quite uncomfortable seeing many people bullying one person, but this is actually better."
The man said this while clenching his fist tightly.
A bluish magical power began to form clearly over his fist.
Wait a minute. Mana on his fist?
The war mages realized something was going wrong.
One of them, who had been carefully observing the man, exclaimed with eyes as wide as saucers.
"Y-you! Why are you here!"
The war mage, feeling the crisis, hastily tried to apologize, but the large man spoke first.
"Ah. Too late."