[center][h1][i][color=007236]Ｚ[/color][color=00a651]ｅ[/color][color=007236]ｎ[/color][color=00a651]ｐ[/color][color=007236]ｏ[/color][color=00a651]ｕ[/color][/i][/h1][/center]



	Time ground to a halt for a brief series of nanoseconds as Zelriane drifted through space with his hand outstretched. The moss at his fingertips began to sprawl outwards like small spines struggling against the flow of time as Zelriane grew nearer and nearer to Zios' immobile body.

	[color=007236][i]𝓜𝔂 𝓼𝓸𝓾𝓵 𝔀𝓲𝓵𝓵 𝓴𝓮𝓮𝓹... 𝓐𝓷𝓭 𝔂𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓵𝓲𝓯𝓮 𝓼𝓱𝓪𝓵𝓵 𝓫𝓮 𝓽𝓸𝓻𝓷 𝓪𝓼𝓾𝓷𝓭𝓮𝓻...[/i][/color]

	Half a second was cut from history, robbed by the lightning-quick martial warrior. His body felt heavy in the moment that he had to himself. Everything felt sluggish, like something was weighing him down from his shoulder, all the way towards his upper ribs. It felt like an anchor, piercing his upper breast and tugging back, trying to keep his body away from a certain victory. It did not prevail, but in the brief window that his mind was pulled out of focus, his form suffered, and his speed dipped.

	The effect ended, and Zelriane had still not made direct contact with Zios' chest, but his body had drifted past the pole's initial point of impact. The fraction of his half-second that he'd wasted meant little, but the pain in his shoulder had returned like a stubborn parasite. He ignored it- He ignored everything, and reached forward without regard for anything around him. His eyes were wide, wider than ever before, with a seething rage. This abhorrent creature would die by his hand [b]right now.[/b]