Chapter 432: Ninety-Second Floor, Waiting Room (1)
[Exterminate all enemies. Time remaining: 16 minutes 53 seconds.]
I kept my eyes open this time. Even though I could sense everything even with them shut, witnessing it directly was its own experience altogether.
The stroke of blue-gold light drew a perfect line through the immense black hole that was vast enough to swallow dozens of stadiums. In its wake, it left behind a faint emerald afterimage, beautiful and indicating the end.
Saboden had died.
I had cleaved the all-consuming void, striking at Saboden’s essence itself. Still somewhat in a trance, I retraced the motion I had just performed.
For a brief instant, I surpassed what I thought possible.
The movement I had unleashed had gone beyond the limits of what I understood or could consciously execute. Amidst the surging tide of power, every action I had performed seemed vividly clear.
Before that sharpness faded, I followed the sequence in my mind step by step. The placement of my fingers upon Soulbound, the contracting muscles, the steadiness of my breath, my posture after the strike, and finally, the moment the axe touched the black hole.
Perhaps it was the thrill of combat, but my mind felt razor-sharp, acutely awake. Because of that, it didn’t take me long to organize what I had absorbed.
After a brief moment of meditation, I turned toward the colossal black hole. It twisted faintly, slid on a diagonal, and began to split. The monstrous mass had been cleaved in two.
What is happening?
Although I had split it, the black hole didn’t dissipate. It had ceased expanding, but continued to consume the smaller black holes nearby. I was dumbfounded for an instant, then steadied myself. Eventually, the two halves started consuming one another, and as they fed, they slowly diminished.