Chapter 553: What it Means to Be a Hero
The black hole’s rotation had massively decelerated, and it was slowly unraveling under its own weight. Rory watched as the green light grew brighter in its depths. Guided by the Sage’s chanting and the twelve runic columns, the light seemed to form a portal in the middle of the black hole, out of which came a hand. It was perfectly human, yet grossly oversized—barely smaller than the black hole itself. Some of its nails were sharp, other trimmed.
Oh boy, Rory thought. If Enas is that big, he must have been super cramped in there.
The hand grabbed the edge of the black hole and started pulling. More of the arm was revealed at an agonizingly slow pace. The Sage started laughing.
***
In the midst of the three armies, the flashes were settling down. Hero was revealed—though he still stood, he was clearly hurt. His hair was burned and disheveled, his handsome face bruised and bloody. Cracks ran down his armor, while his aura was unsteady as if someone had poked holes into it. He breathed heavily as he glared down Jack.
“Do you know why I didn’t end you?” Jack asked, hovering calmly some distance away. Even now, he was barely injured. “It’s because I want the world to watch your downfall. A few years ago, you tried to kill my master. That was unacceptable. I promised to crush you before I killed you.”
Off to the side, Boatman swelled with pride.
Hero snorted. “You will pay for your arrogance.”
Jack gave a hard smile. His statement hadn’t been the whole truth. He did want to humiliate Hero a bit, but he was far too experienced to let an enemy recover. The real reason he stopped attacking was that he sensed something inside Hero—an extremely pure and potent power buried into his body, on the verge of erupting. It filled even him with fear. If Hero decided to use whatever that was and Jack was too close, he might not be able to react in time.