Chapter 177: Space-Time erasure
Though Victor had casually killed a World Realm Titan, that Titan was, after all, merely a foot soldier. The Titans, just like the other ancient races, were born at the World Realm. Even so, the sudden appearance of someone capable of killing a World Realm Titan so effortlessly was an interruption that no one had expected.
The Ice Flame Phoenix soldiers who had been moments away from dying under the Titan’s attack froze in place. Where the enormous Titan had stood, a young man was now floating calmly in space, his silver hair drifting gently in the void. None of them had ever seen this young man before, yet for some reason, his aura felt strangely familiar, almost as if he were actually a member of their own race.
They were about to thank him, but Victor had already disappeared from their sight. He had deliberately suppressed his entire cultivation aura, making it impossible for anyone to determine which realm he had reached. To everyone watching, he was nothing more than a mysterious young man who had suddenly appeared and vanished after killing the Titan.
"Astrion, open your mind barrier. I want to learn some Immortal-grade skills," Victor said casually.
"Master, all of my skills belong to a much higher quality since I remained in the God King Realm for countless years. However, there are one or two techniques that can still be used in the lower realms," Astrion replied from within his soul.
"Then teach me the Space-Time Eraser. The technique that Immortal used to erase that portal," Victor said.
He was unusually relaxed because no one from the higher realms had noticed what he had done yet. The person he had killed was only a World Realm Titan, which meant the disturbance had not yet attracted the attention of the truly powerful beings. Victor still had some time to study.
"Master, that technique erases both space and time. It is one of the fundamental abilities of an Immortal. The space-time that is erased is converted into a new source of energy and absorbed by the universe, allowing the universe to repair the damaged region afterward. Everything within that space-time, aside from space and time themselves, is destroyed," Astrion explained.
"But it consumes an enormous amount of energy. Nearly half of an Immortal’s total energy reserve can be consumed depending on the scale of the space-time being erased. That is why Immortals rarely use this technique unless absolutely necessary," Astrion warned him.
"Huh? Isn’t that the perfect technique for me to spam?" Victor’s eyes lit up with a crazed smile. "I’m going to fight all those Immortals anyway."
Astrion’s expression twitched.
His master truly possessed an abnormal amount of mana. Even after merging with Victor, Astrion could not determine the true depth of his energy reserves. And now this lunatic was preparing to learn one of the most catastrophic techniques available to Immortals, a technique that even Cosmic Realm existences could use.
Astrion suddenly wondered what would happen to this universe if Victor started using it without restraint. The mana required by the technique was directly related to the amount of space-time being erased, along with the combined energy contained within that region. For an Immortal, erasing something as large as a Galactic Realm existence could potentially drain their entire energy reserve.
"Very well, Master. I am going to transmit the technique now," Astrion said seriously.
In the next instant, Victor felt as though a tsunami of information had crashed into his mind. Countless principles, laws, concepts, and intricate patterns flooded his consciousness like an endless torrent of information. This was the fundamental technique that Immortals naturally learned after achieving immortality.
Normally, the technique was taught by the universe itself.
The principle was simple yet profound. An Immortal would use their fundamental law to connect with the laws of the universe, wrapping the surrounding space-time around the designated area. Once the connection was established, the Immortal would request the universal will to erase that portion of reality.
The Immortal was not truly destroying the space-time themselves. They were merely borrowing the authority of the universe to accomplish it.
But Astrion taught Victor something fundamentally different.
The technique he imparted had the same basic function, but Victor no longer needed to ask the universal will for permission. With sufficient mana, he could forcibly erase a region of space-time even if the universal will itself objected.
More importantly, no existence less than three major realms above the Immortal Realm would be capable of interfering with the technique once Victor activated it. It was an absolute form of authority that completely surpassed the ordinary methods used by Immortals.
Victor slowly opened his eyes.
His purple pupils gazed toward the endless battlefield stretching through the void. The moment he focused his attention, he could perceive the countless layers of space-time surrounding him with unprecedented clarity.
If he wanted to, he could erase the entire battlefield.
Every soldier, every Titan, every Phoenix, every fragment of space and every moment of time within the affected region would disappear together. There would be no escape because there would be nowhere left to escape to.
However, the erased space-time could not simply vanish without consequence.
It had to be returned to the universe. Otherwise, a massive imbalance in the law of entropy would be created. If Victor continuously erased space-time without returning its fundamental essence to the universe, the accumulated imbalance could eventually destabilize the entire universe and destroy it.
Worse, if Victor attempted to steal the space-time he erased rather than returning it to the universe, the universe itself might respond by sending its Eight Cosmic Realm Guardians.
Victor had no intention of provoking that level of trouble yet.
"Stop."
A calm and absolute voice suddenly echoed throughout the battlefield.
The sound was not particularly loud, yet it instantly suppressed every other noise in the surrounding space. Even the five Universal Emperors who had been devouring the Ice Flame Phoenix soldiers stopped in their tracks.
They all looked upward.
A young man with silver hair was standing silently in the void. His expression was calm, almost indifferent, and his purple eyes contained no trace of fear. Yet none of them could sense his energy or determine his cultivation realm.
"Huh? Who are you?" one of the Universal Emperors asked coldly. "You aren’t from the Phoenix race. Are you a slave?"
His question was not entirely unreasonable.
The ancient races often captured talented members of weaker races and brought them into the Core Region as slaves. Some were eventually trained and transformed into military forces that served their masters.
Victor slowly raised one hand.
The instant his fingers moved, the entire region of space-time froze.
Everything stopped.
The countless particles of dust suspended in the void became motionless. The raging flames stopped burning. Even the laws themselves seemed to fall silent as the five Universal Emperors found themselves completely immobilized.
Their expressions instantly turned pale with horror.
A being capable of freezing them so effortlessly had to be at least a Universal Supreme. Otherwise, there was no possible way they could have been suppressed without even being given the opportunity to resist.
The Universal Emperor who had called Victor a slave became especially terrified. He desperately wanted to open his mouth and apologize, but his body would not obey him.
Even his divine sense had been completely sealed.
"Begone."
Victor’s voice was quiet.
The next instant, that Universal Emperor disappeared.
There was no explosion.
No struggle.
No trace of blood.
He was simply erased from existence.
Then, like a cosmic thunderclap reverberating across the endless universe, an enormous disturbance erupted through the laws of reality. The universal will immediately sent distress signals toward every nearby Immortal.
Someone had just erased a Universal Emperor without permission.
And even more terrifyingly, that person possessed enough energy to forcefully accomplish it.
"Master, we are in trouble," Astrion said with a wry smile.
"Let them come."
Victor’s expression remained calm, but the temperature of his gaze gradually dropped. He looked toward the countless ancient race members surrounding the battlefield, his purple eyes carrying a terrifying coldness.
"I don’t have time to play around anyway."
A faint killing intent emerged from his body.
"I think it’s time to teach these ancient bastards a lesson."
The entire battlefield fell into pin-drop silence.
The four remaining Universal Emperors felt their souls tremble. They were not ignorant fools who had no understanding of what had just happened. Every single one of them knew exactly how terrifying the situation had become.
That man was an Immortal.
And he had just erased a Universal Emperor.
It was an impossible feat that no Immortal had ever accomplished before. Immortals could indeed erase existences from reality, but such abilities were normally limited to beings below the Universal Realm, and even then, the price was extraordinarily high.
Yet this man had casually erased a Universal Emperor as if he were removing dust from his sleeve.
"We are finished."
The Titans reached the same conclusion almost simultaneously. Their hearts sank, and their bodies became cold with fear. They had originally believed themselves to possess an overwhelming advantage, but the appearance of this mysterious Immortal had completely shattered everything they knew about the situation.
As for the Ice Flame Phoenixes, they were completely bewildered.
They could not understand what the hell was happening.
They only knew that a mysterious silver-haired man had appeared out of nowhere, killed a World Realm Titan, and then casually erased a Universal Emperor. Now even the remaining Universal Emperors were trembling in fear.
Snap!
A crisp sound suddenly echoed across the battlefield.
The frozen space-time resumed its flow.
The flames began burning again, the shattered rocks continued drifting through the void, and the countless soldiers who had been frozen in place finally regained control of their bodies.
"My friend, may I know your identity?"