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Chapter 221: The One Who Escaped from the Speed Force Prison...
2022-10-19 Author: Great Demon Spirit
If Tony were still here, facing the Time Wraith head-on, he would be dead for sure. There would be no possibility of escape unless the Sorcerer Supreme intervened to save him.
Time Wraiths are a group of peculiar skeletal beings, possessing only the upper half of a human body, that live exclusively within the Time Stream.
The Time Stream is a place fraught with peril for other life forms, even for Speedsters capable of traversing time. The slightest misstep could send one tumbling into a chaotic timeline, left to await death in a decaying world.
Throughout the long ages, countless beings have witnessed the greatness and cruelty of time with their own lives. It is a cold-blooded, ruthless screening process. Life forms that can influence or even travel through time have already surpassed ninety-nine percent of their peers, yet they too must tread carefully when it comes to matters of time.
The Time Wraiths, however, are a species that treats the perilous Time Stream as a cozy haven. Everything Speedsters can do—supersonic movement, Time Travel, Time Manipulation—the Time Wraiths can do as well, and perhaps even better.
This is because the Time Wraiths were born from time itself.
Conversely, they harbor immense malice toward any being that disrupts time. If one is lucky enough to traverse time without being detected, they might be spared. But once discovered, they will be hunted relentlessly until one party is utterly destroyed.
The fate of a Speedster attacked by a Time Wraith is incomparably tragic. A mere touch from a Time Wraith will cause their entire body to decay at an astonishing rate, their appearance twisting to resemble the wraith itself. Their consciousness and soul will be erased, transforming them into a low-intellect, fanatically loyal slave of the Speed Force.
Time Wraiths loathe Speedsters, but they pay no mind to unrelated individuals. They are a species of low intelligence but astonishing ability, backed by an immense power (Time and the Speed Force Wall backstop them), yet they are "clear about their grievances and allegiances."
Throughout the long ages, there has never been a single recorded instance of an innocent bystander being killed by a Time Wraith. Never.
But at this very moment, a shocking scene unfolded. A massive swarm of Time Wraiths surged out from a passage to the Speed Force, their howls rising and falling in waves. Their simple minds were filled with elementary emotions like "fury" and "severe punishment."
Hundreds of Time Wraiths burst forth, zipping back and forth at a hundred times the speed of sound, confining themselves to this area. They seemed to be searching for something in a rage. But soon, they appeared to reach some sort of consensus and charged ferociously in a single direction with a great howl.
Their piercing shrieks, which sounded like the call of the Grim Reaper to Speedsters, went completely unnoticed by any ordinary human.
It seemed that something that shouldn't have appeared had appeared, prompting the numerous Time Wraiths to join forces and lay siege to it.
Indeed, a single Time Wraith could hunt a group of Speedsters until they had nowhere left to run. Yet here they were, swarming together to besiege a single individual.
In a far-off region, upon a vast, emerald-green prairie, a cool breeze blew, refreshing the spirit.
A tall, glowing figure suddenly appeared. A few seconds after he stood there, the grass on the ground looked as if it had been scoured by some violent storm, flattened and dishevelled.
A streak of electricity, stretching from the edge of the horizon to the center of the prairie, abruptly appeared and then vanished just as suddenly, leaving only the tall figure standing there in a daze.
He was two meters tall and, from his appearance, looked like a high-tech mech warrior straight out of a science fiction movie. His exterior was intricate and seamless, belonging to some unknown race. His body glowed with a brilliant light, crisscrossed by deep and shallow grooves that created a breathtakingly beautiful aesthetic.
Looking up at his head, one would see a smooth, inverted-triangular face. From his two pupils, horrifying beams of not-quite-white light shone forth.
His entire body, inside and out, seemed to emanate a conspicuous radiance, as if he were a being of the future who had stepped out of the timeline.
He stood there stunned for a long time before finally coming to his senses. He stiffly lowered his head, looking at his own broad, integrated hands. His five fingertips were also long and sharp—not like the long fingernails of a normal human, but as if the fingers themselves were shaped that way.
Within his two pupils, there was confusion, and... an astonishment bordering on disbelief at this unexpected turn of events.
"I... I am..."
The tall figure spoke. A hoarse and strange voice emerged from behind his inverted-triangular face, unsettling to hear. It seemed he had not spoken for many years, to the point where he had almost forgotten how.
His right hand slowly clenched into a fist, feeling the tangible power and the sensation of touch. He was verifying, bit by bit, that everything was real and not some new trap or method of torture devised for him by the Speed Force's Collective Consciousness.
"I am..."
Both hands suddenly clenched tight, and a terrifying power, dormant for many years, erupted forth, as if he could shatter a planet with a casual blow!
"The God of Speed!!!"
"I am the master of all time!! The owner of all Speed Force!!!"
The tall figure roared, and countless lightning-like flashes, crackling with thunderous energy, exploded outward from his body, spreading across the entire world!
A tiny figure, in an instant, illuminated the whole world!
Before him, even the Sun seemed utterly insignificant and laughable!
The Speed Force he had stored for years was, at this moment, unleashed in a furious outburst, directed at the entire Universe, the Multiverse, and all the Great Entities within and without the Speed Force Wall. After countless years, he let out his first roar!
"I am back! This time, I will not fail again. I will take back what is mine! Especially you, Speed Force Wall!"
Hundreds of Time Wraiths came howling, swarming toward him. Filled with a grim aura, they lunged directly at the man who called himself the God of Speed, in a manner both resolute and tragic!
"A bunch of pathetic mongrels. The Speed Force Wall can only send worthless creatures like you to deal with me..."
As his consciousness gradually coalesced, his stiff, buried memories were picked up again, piece by piece. The accumulation of countless ages only served to make certain negative and dark things even more terrible.
Time is the best catalyst for certain hatreds, bar none.
He moved.
In one second, he traversed every corner of the Earth. He ascended the mysterious K'un-Lun, entered the reclusive Paradise Island, and toured the underwater Atlantis. After observing the Earth countless times, after greedily reminiscing countless times, he returned to this spot and began his slaughter of the Time Wraiths.
The high speed of the Time Wraiths, far surpassing that of most Speedsters, was practically motionless before this mysterious man. With ordinary punches and kicks, he crushed the nigh-unkillable Time Wraiths as easily as stepping on ants.
More and more Time Wraiths charged out of the Time Stream, but no matter how many came, he slaughtered them all. Eventually, he himself lost count of how many billions he had killed.
In the past, he wouldn't have even deigned to acknowledge such a lowly species.
But his weakened state forced him to act personally, and it even took him tens, or hundreds, of seconds. What a waste of time.
"This time, I will become the one true god. I will take back everything that is mine, including you, Speed Force! You shouldn't have locked me in the Speed Force Prison, and you certainly shouldn't have given me the chance to escape!"
He roared with indignation. God only knew what cruel tortures he had endured.
"I am the God of Speed—Savitar!!!"
(end of chapter)
2022-10-19 Author: Great Demon Spirit
If Tony were still here, facing the Time Wraith head-on, he would be dead for sure. There would be no possibility of escape unless the Sorcerer Supreme intervened to save him.
Time Wraiths are a group of peculiar skeletal beings, possessing only the upper half of a human body, that live exclusively within the Time Stream.
The Time Stream is a place fraught with peril for other life forms, even for Speedsters capable of traversing time. The slightest misstep could send one tumbling into a chaotic timeline, left to await death in a decaying world.
Throughout the long ages, countless beings have witnessed the greatness and cruelty of time with their own lives. It is a cold-blooded, ruthless screening process. Life forms that can influence or even travel through time have already surpassed ninety-nine percent of their peers, yet they too must tread carefully when it comes to matters of time.
The Time Wraiths, however, are a species that treats the perilous Time Stream as a cozy haven. Everything Speedsters can do—supersonic movement, Time Travel, Time Manipulation—the Time Wraiths can do as well, and perhaps even better.
This is because the Time Wraiths were born from time itself.
Conversely, they harbor immense malice toward any being that disrupts time. If one is lucky enough to traverse time without being detected, they might be spared. But once discovered, they will be hunted relentlessly until one party is utterly destroyed.
The fate of a Speedster attacked by a Time Wraith is incomparably tragic. A mere touch from a Time Wraith will cause their entire body to decay at an astonishing rate, their appearance twisting to resemble the wraith itself. Their consciousness and soul will be erased, transforming them into a low-intellect, fanatically loyal slave of the Speed Force.
Time Wraiths loathe Speedsters, but they pay no mind to unrelated individuals. They are a species of low intelligence but astonishing ability, backed by an immense power (Time and the Speed Force Wall backstop them), yet they are "clear about their grievances and allegiances."
Throughout the long ages, there has never been a single recorded instance of an innocent bystander being killed by a Time Wraith. Never.
But at this very moment, a shocking scene unfolded. A massive swarm of Time Wraiths surged out from a passage to the Speed Force, their howls rising and falling in waves. Their simple minds were filled with elementary emotions like "fury" and "severe punishment."
Hundreds of Time Wraiths burst forth, zipping back and forth at a hundred times the speed of sound, confining themselves to this area. They seemed to be searching for something in a rage. But soon, they appeared to reach some sort of consensus and charged ferociously in a single direction with a great howl.
Their piercing shrieks, which sounded like the call of the Grim Reaper to Speedsters, went completely unnoticed by any ordinary human.
It seemed that something that shouldn't have appeared had appeared, prompting the numerous Time Wraiths to join forces and lay siege to it.
Indeed, a single Time Wraith could hunt a group of Speedsters until they had nowhere left to run. Yet here they were, swarming together to besiege a single individual.
In a far-off region, upon a vast, emerald-green prairie, a cool breeze blew, refreshing the spirit.
A tall, glowing figure suddenly appeared. A few seconds after he stood there, the grass on the ground looked as if it had been scoured by some violent storm, flattened and dishevelled.
A streak of electricity, stretching from the edge of the horizon to the center of the prairie, abruptly appeared and then vanished just as suddenly, leaving only the tall figure standing there in a daze.
He was two meters tall and, from his appearance, looked like a high-tech mech warrior straight out of a science fiction movie. His exterior was intricate and seamless, belonging to some unknown race. His body glowed with a brilliant light, crisscrossed by deep and shallow grooves that created a breathtakingly beautiful aesthetic.
Looking up at his head, one would see a smooth, inverted-triangular face. From his two pupils, horrifying beams of not-quite-white light shone forth.
His entire body, inside and out, seemed to emanate a conspicuous radiance, as if he were a being of the future who had stepped out of the timeline.
He stood there stunned for a long time before finally coming to his senses. He stiffly lowered his head, looking at his own broad, integrated hands. His five fingertips were also long and sharp—not like the long fingernails of a normal human, but as if the fingers themselves were shaped that way.
Within his two pupils, there was confusion, and... an astonishment bordering on disbelief at this unexpected turn of events.
"I... I am..."
The tall figure spoke. A hoarse and strange voice emerged from behind his inverted-triangular face, unsettling to hear. It seemed he had not spoken for many years, to the point where he had almost forgotten how.
His right hand slowly clenched into a fist, feeling the tangible power and the sensation of touch. He was verifying, bit by bit, that everything was real and not some new trap or method of torture devised for him by the Speed Force's Collective Consciousness.
"I am..."
Both hands suddenly clenched tight, and a terrifying power, dormant for many years, erupted forth, as if he could shatter a planet with a casual blow!
"The God of Speed!!!"
"I am the master of all time!! The owner of all Speed Force!!!"
The tall figure roared, and countless lightning-like flashes, crackling with thunderous energy, exploded outward from his body, spreading across the entire world!
A tiny figure, in an instant, illuminated the whole world!
Before him, even the Sun seemed utterly insignificant and laughable!
The Speed Force he had stored for years was, at this moment, unleashed in a furious outburst, directed at the entire Universe, the Multiverse, and all the Great Entities within and without the Speed Force Wall. After countless years, he let out his first roar!
"I am back! This time, I will not fail again. I will take back what is mine! Especially you, Speed Force Wall!"
Hundreds of Time Wraiths came howling, swarming toward him. Filled with a grim aura, they lunged directly at the man who called himself the God of Speed, in a manner both resolute and tragic!
"A bunch of pathetic mongrels. The Speed Force Wall can only send worthless creatures like you to deal with me..."
As his consciousness gradually coalesced, his stiff, buried memories were picked up again, piece by piece. The accumulation of countless ages only served to make certain negative and dark things even more terrible.
Time is the best catalyst for certain hatreds, bar none.
He moved.
In one second, he traversed every corner of the Earth. He ascended the mysterious K'un-Lun, entered the reclusive Paradise Island, and toured the underwater Atlantis. After observing the Earth countless times, after greedily reminiscing countless times, he returned to this spot and began his slaughter of the Time Wraiths.
The high speed of the Time Wraiths, far surpassing that of most Speedsters, was practically motionless before this mysterious man. With ordinary punches and kicks, he crushed the nigh-unkillable Time Wraiths as easily as stepping on ants.
More and more Time Wraiths charged out of the Time Stream, but no matter how many came, he slaughtered them all. Eventually, he himself lost count of how many billions he had killed.
In the past, he wouldn't have even deigned to acknowledge such a lowly species.
But his weakened state forced him to act personally, and it even took him tens, or hundreds, of seconds. What a waste of time.
"This time, I will become the one true god. I will take back everything that is mine, including you, Speed Force! You shouldn't have locked me in the Speed Force Prison, and you certainly shouldn't have given me the chance to escape!"
He roared with indignation. God only knew what cruel tortures he had endured.
"I am the God of Speed—Savitar!!!"
(end of chapter)
