Chapter 711: An ‘Existential’ Gamble
"Uh, Jamie? Maybe speed up that whole space-repairing thing?"
Jamie snapped, clearly annoyed, as he continued stabilizing the space with one hand.
"Dude, do you have any idea how hard it is to fix space in my current state? Why don’t you give it a shot?"
Arthur waved off the suggestion without hesitation.
"Yeah, no thanks."
Arthur had no desire to risk overloading his Spatial Pseudo-Origin core trying to stabilize space damaged by a Deity.
The only reason the current weakened Jamie could even manage this feat was because he’d been the one to wreck it in the first place.
Meanwhile, the magma dragons closed in, unleashing lava breaths that tore through the air at supersonic speed.
Arthur’s left eye glowed, slowing the flow of time around them as he thrust his right hand forward and activated the Cosmic Teleporter, materializing a swirling Cosmic Gate before them.
"Let’s go, boys!"
Arthur shouted before diving into the portal without hesitation. Jamie and Evan followed immediately, their bodies vanishing just as the barrage of magma breaths tore through where they’d been.
Since they were falling in a straight line, Arthur didn’t bother setting precise exit coordinates. He simply configured the Cosmic Teleporter to create an exit exactly a thousand kilometres directly below them—and that’s what it did.
Emerging on the other side, they were hit by an intense heat wave that was nearly unbearable. Arthur’s skin began to scald almost instantly, and the trio had to expend even more energy to shield their bodies from the combined onslaught of extreme heat, dense cosmic energy, and crushing gravitational pressure.
Jamie clenched his right fist, dominating and consuming the dense cosmic energy around them to activate one of his ’Skills’.
[Imperial Privileges: Second Privilege: Space.]
The ambient cosmic energy concentration suddenly dropped, funnelled into stabilizing the shattered space around them for several thousand kilometres. The fractured spatial fabric groaned, then began to settle as Jamie’s silent decree took hold.
They free-fell for another few hundred kilometres before another wave of magma beasts emerged from the surrounding mantle, roaring and lunging toward them.
Arthur summoned Celestia, releasing crescent-shaped destruction slashes that tore through the beasts, shredding their magma bodies into fragments of dissipating energy.
Jamie waved his palm, carving portions of space with each movement, erasing the magma beasts from existence entirely.
As for Evan, he summoned his sword and placed his other hand on the blade as he muttered.
"Activate Slot 2: Frostshade."
The blade released a powerful frigid aura, a stark contrast to the blistering heat around them.
With a powerful swing, Evan unleashed a massive tidal wave of ice, the slash cutting through the magma beasts in one go. Despite the intense heat of their environment, the icy attack froze the creatures solid, reducing them to chunks of ice that quickly evaporated into vapour.
Right after the last magma beast crumbled, Arthur activated the Cosmic Teleporter again. Another swirling portal formed, and the trio dove into it, dropping another thousand kilometres deeper.
They repeated this process twice more. Each cycle involved around fifty seconds of freefall, during which they covered roughly 500 kilometres, followed by a cosmic gate teleportation that propelled them another 1,000 kilometres downward.
In just over three and a half minutes, they had descended far enough for the planet’s outer core to come into view—or rather, the layers of magma and mantle that had surged to cover the core.
This was Evan’s moment to shine.
Reaching out his hand, Evan activated his Unique Skill in tandem with another of his skills.
"Vortex + Elemental Gale."
The dual activation commanded the elemental laws of fire and earth within the sea of magma surging over the planet’s outer core. It began to churn and spiral, forming a colossal vortex of molten rock.
Evan’s magic power drained rapidly, his reserves dropping at an alarming rate. Noticing this, Jamie grabbed him by the shoulder and transferred his magic power, preventing Evan from falling into an energy-deficient state.
With this magic power, Evan expanded the eye—the calmest part of any storm—creating a path through the vortex of liquid fire which the three of them dove into.
Their descent was unhindered as they followed the fiery corridor Evan had created, and soon their bare eyes could make out the damaged outer core of the planet.
Though they were still a considerable distance away, they had drawn close enough for Jamie to act.
Extending his hand forward, Jamie plunged his arm into a small void that formed before him, and in an instant, everything around them was swallowed by darkness.
The world itself seemed to vanish, and even Bewússtsein could no longer perceive what was happening.
From within the darkness, they heard two words.
[Dimensional Slash.]
Light exploded back into existence, accompanied by a colossal surge of cosmic energy. The energy crashed into their bodies like a tidal wave, nearly forcing them upward.
Before them lay the results of Jamie’s slash, a long tear ripped through the fabric of space.
The magma below had been cleaved apart, and the space it occupied was severed as well, fractured like glass under immense pressure. The tear extended through everything in its path, including parts of the space around the planet’s outer core, leaving a gaping void that stretched infinitely downward.
The three of them fell through the tear, gravity pulling them deeper into the planet.
As they passed through, it felt as though they were passing through a sea of leaves, each one brushing against their bodies. But the leaves were thick, like the density of water, pressing against their skin with an almost liquid weight.
The dimensional walls parted reluctantly, their fragmented remnants resisting their passage as though trying to repel intruders. The sensation was uncomfortable, a pressure that neither sight nor sound could fully capture.
And then, as suddenly as it began, the sensation ended, and they burst through the other side, tumbling into the cavern Artemisia had described earlier.
The space was vast and irregularly shaped, the walls stretching upward, their jagged contours disappearing into shadow.
Below, the ground seemed alive, pulsing with a rhythm of its own.
The cavern walls were an unnatural blend of stone and something disturbingly organic, pulsating faintly as though alive. Giant lava pools dotted the floor and veins of molten rock wove through the stone, glowing with an eerie light that painted the cavern in flickering hues.
And in the centre, they saw the massive sphere of plasma—the mini-sun that was the planet’s inner core. They could feel its energy radiating outward, pressing against them even though it was encased in a barrier that dampened its output by half.
Below the core, their eyes were drawn to the enemy—Bewússtsein.
The ’Perfect Vessel’ he was constructing lay before them.
From the waist upwards, it was nearly complete, but below the waist, the work was still in progress. The skeleton was still forming, and blood vessels and flesh were growing, wrapping themselves around the skeletal frame.
As for its power, there was no question about that.
It was a vessel capable of holding Deity-level power, with the appropriate energy output, vitality, and durability.
The chest bore a gaping, circular void where something was clearly meant to reside.
The body’s appearance mirrored that of the other vessels he’d created—long black hair, an ordinary face—neither handsome nor ugly—with a hint of stubble on his chin.
But it was his eyes that were different. His pupils were unnaturally large, glowing with an iridescent light.
As soon as they fell into the space, Bewússtsein looked up at them, his expression twisting into one of pure, unfiltered disgust.
From his lips erupted a thunderous scream filled with rage.
[IHR VERDAMMTEN BASTARDE!!!]
They didn’t need the Law of Languages to understand. It was clear he had just called them ’Fucking Bastards’.
[Abgründige Todeswelle!]
Roaring with unrestrained fury, Bewússtsein extended his hand, his incomplete muscles moving stiffly. The ground beneath them cracked violently as a dark wave of crimson-tinged energy surged upward, brimming with the Laws of Death and Destruction.
[Ausrottung des Donnerschlags!]
The air above exploded with golden radiance as colossal bolts of cosmic lightning descended upon the trio with merciless speed.
Cupping his hands together, Bewússtsein summoned a swirling sphere of elemental laws. Fire, water, earth, air, lightning, and ice roared within the orb, their energies colliding and merging chaotically.
Then, with a malevolent smirk, he infused it with the powers of the Laws of Destruction and Death before hurling it toward the trio.
[ELEMENTARE KATASTROPHE!!!]
Faced with these simultaneous onslaughts, Evan summoned his grimoire, casting his ’Absolute Defence’ World Magic Spell.
As the shimmering barriers manifested before them, he shouted over his shoulder.
"Hey, Arthur! Ain’t it about time you start that plan of yours?!"
"Not yet!"
Arthur shouted back as he unfurled his wings, channelling magic power through them. He flapped them once, releasing waves of destructive energy that surged upward, obliterating the descending lightning before it could reach them.
Meanwhile, Jamie erected a barrier layered atop Evan’s. He adorned it with wormholes, which sucked in the surging tide of destructive death energy, redirecting it into nothingness.
"Arthur, seriously! Whatever you’re planning, now’s the time!"
Jamie yelled out as he and Evan blocked the Elemental Cataclysm, but Arthur’s response was the same.
"Not yet!"
Magic power surged into Celestia and he released a downward Extinction Slash that tore through Bewússtsein’s Elemental Cataclysm, triggering an explosion so brilliant it illuminated the cavern like a newborn star.
Enraged by the constant disruption of his attacks, Bewússtsein screamed expletives in an array of languages as he commanded the surrounding magma.
[Brennende Apokalypse!]
The surrounding magma churned violently as it rose into a torrent he infused with a hellish inferno, forming a surging wave of molten destruction that roared toward them.
But despite the overwhelming speed and power of this attack, Arthur ignored it completely, his gaze fixed on the Planet’s Inner Core alone.
Evan and Jamie strengthened their barriers, bracing against the apocalyptic firestorm. Yet Arthur did nothing but watch the massive sphere of plasma in the centre of the cavern.
Finally, they fell below its level, and at that moment, Arthur’s lips curled into a grin.
"I’ve never been one to gamble, but I gotta say, it does feel pretty damn good to win."
With those words, he reached into his subspace and retrieved an object—a Pair of Golden Scales.
The sight of the scales made Bewússtsein’s expression contort in a mix of shock and fury. Jamie’s eyes widened in recognition, while Evan glanced between them, clearly confused, his expression asking the unspoken question: What the hell are those?
Arthur held the scales high, their golden surface glinting as he infused them with ambient cosmic energy.
Then, he screamed out the activation command in his Faux True Voice.
|¬Scales of Balance! Weigh our Existences! ¬|
The moment the command was spoken, the scales erupted with a wave of cosmic energy, its iridescent glow blanketing the area.
Everything and Everyone froze.
And then, before their eyes, a single line of text materialized in the air.
|The ’Weighing of Existences Ceremony’ has Begun.|
