(MC POV)
This was the first time I stopped the entire universe from moving intentionally which, surprisingly, wasn't really hard to do.
I took that moment to see everything in front of me.
I want to know everything. What happened?
This piece of moving flesh had slapped Cai Hong.
Why?
He has a fetish for breaking little things which includes children with particular interest in little girls.
When?
Since he was young, he felt a sense of empowerment when he broke the toys he was given. It then extended to living things after he crushed a small bird with his hands.
How many?
To date, fifteen thousand, five hundred and thirty five victims. Of which, eight thousand, five hundred and sixty six are human or youkai children.
Society?
The children are slaves, orphans, or unwanted children sold to the king by their parents. The king pays for all the children he breaks and thus, no one who knows about the king's pastimes sees it as a problem.
Root cause?
The entire society is built upon the worship of money, allowing a price tag to be put on life as well.
Alright, that's enough.
I snapped my fingers, resuming time but only for the king.
At the same time, I also stopped Cai Hong's defensive inscriptions from activating.
It had done its job on protecting my little dragon perfectly.
The slap would have felt like a soft breeze to Cai Hong and if she had her eyes closed she wouldn't even have felt it. Cai Hong turning her head was merely an instinctive movement on her part so she was not hurt in any way.
If I didn't stop the universe from moving, the king would have been teleported into Shizuri's cave where I could enact vengeance on anyone who dared lay a hand on Cai Hong. That is, after being subjected to several months of torture in an illusory prison first which would only take a second to finish in real time.
But for this guy who dared do it in front of me... This was an event I could not allow to exist.
With time resumed for him, the king completed his motion of bringing his hand back to his side, looking especially pleased with himself.
"Ah, that felt really--"
I slapped him across the face before he could finish his words.
This one was just a normal slap, so it wasn't like he was sent flying away or anything.
The moron held the cheek I slapped with a hand and looked at me in shock, "Did you... Did you just slap me?!"
I slapped his other cheek, this time with a little more force which caused him to stumble back a step.
"What are you doing?! How dare you?!"
Annoyed by his screaming, I slapped his face again.
And again.
And again.
And again, and again, and again, and again, and again...
"Stop this at once!!" He roared, taking a few steps away from me to escape. "How dare you slap this King?!"
I moved forward and punched him in the face, breaking a few of his teeth loose.
"No, how dare you slap my daughter?" I asked, my voice barely a whisper.
"I... I can pay! Why are you making it such a big deal?! I'll pay you!"
I stopped and tilted my head at him, "You can pay?"
"Yes! I can pay you!"
I fished out a copper coin from my sleeve and gestured for his hand.
The piece of human excrement was a little confused but did as I asked, allowing me to deposit the copper coin on his palm.
"Wha--"
I didn't let him finish his question before I did an uppercut to his jaw, knocking out all of his front teeth and sending him crashing onto the floor.
I then took out another copper coin and tossed it on his chest, the bastard looking down to recognise the coin before my fist met his face again, causing his nose to break with an audible crack.
Grabbing his collar, I pulled him on his feet and materialised another copper coin to show him. Once he realised what I was holding, I shoved it into his mouth and punched.
He gargled as the coin was forced down his throat, his hands desperately clawing at his throat as if it would help in getting the object out.
I showed him another copper coin I was holding in my palm, the bastard only managed to shake his head once before I clenched my fist over the coin and struck his gut hard enough to snap several of his ribs from the force alone.
The air in his lungs forced out the coin that was stuck in his throat, allowing me to catch it in midair. I then took out a second coin and placed each of them on his eyes with my thumbs against its cold metallic surface.
Without hesitation, I pushed my thumbs in and heard the satisfying pop behind the coins.
I watched the person most unworthy of existence scream for a while until I got tired of it, so I punched him in the throat to shut him up.
Once I felt the sight of him stumbling around while grasping his throat became annoying, I took out a pouchful of copper coins and tested their weight.
Happy with how heavy it was, I hefted it in my hand and tossed it at him, the pouch smashing into his face and scattering the coins in every direction.
Now that payment has been made, I stepped forward and grabbed his hand, pulling it towards me while ignoring his screams of mercy. One by one, I broke his fingers joint by joint before moving to his wrist, then his arm, then his other hand, and then that wrist and arm too.
Once that was done, I tripped him to start on his legs, stomping on them slowly so that I could drag out his pain.
And when his limbs were all thoroughly broken, I moved to his ribs, cracking each piece one by one.
With almost all of his bones broken, I finally moved up to the final piece.
My fingers closed in around his neck, grasping onto him while I ignored his desperate pleas and begging. With a simple twist, the universe was silent again.
I stood up and looked down at this pathetic piece of shit. Somehow even just looking at his dead body also pissed me off.
Oh, you thought I was done? Not by a long shot.
I manipulated his Origin and brought him back to life again. The bastard gasped and looked around him, scrambling away when he saw my face.
"What... What do you want from me?!"
I tilted my head at him, "What do I want? I only want one thing right now... I want to make it such that you never tried to slap my daughter in the first place."
"What are you talking about?! You're crazy!"
He reached for a nearby vase and tried to pick it up as a weapon, only to realise that it did not budge. He looked at the vase in confusion and tried to pull at it again, the vase still not budging despite using every ounce of his strength.
Finally, his eyes caught sight of the rest of the room where nothing else was moving, not even the candle flames.
He turned and goggled at me, "Who... Who are you?"
I stretched out my arms, "I... am Origin."
