Chapter 712: The Weighing of Existences Ceremony
|The ’Weighing of Existences Ceremony’ has Begun.|
|While the Ceremony is in effect, both Parties cannot move or use any of their abilities.|
...
|User Confirmed.|
|Please Designate Allies...|
’Jamie Westley. Evan Bourne.’
|User Party Confirmed|
|Designate Target(s)|
’Cruotis Prime’s Consciousness. Bewússtsein.’
|Target(s) Confirmed|
The Scales of Balance.
A Cosmic Artifact Replica which Arthur had gotten months ago, when he had stormed the Aldwell base on Aramis with McEnda and Alvey. (Chapters 457/458)
|Scales of Balance: Replica No. #396
Type; Low Grade Cosmic Artifact.
This is a Replica of an Ancient Cosmic Artifact with the power of ’Balance’.
Effects:
This Artifact is bestowed with the Ability to Start a [Ceremony of Weighing Existences]. While the Ceremony is in effect, both parties cannot move or use any of their abilities.
The Ceremony is conducted with Two Parties: The User and designated allies (If Any) and a Designated Target or group of Targets.
Both Parties can have a Maximum of 5 Existences as Members.
Depending on the ’Overall Power’ difference between the User and the Targets, ’Compensations’ are granted to the User, allowing them to ’BALANCE’ their Power Level against a more powerful foe.
Restrictions:
It can only be used ONCE every set of 24 Hours.
As this is but a Replica and not the ’True’ Scales of Balance, it has a Limited Number of Activations.
Remaining Activations: 3
Current Owner: Arthur Vaughn.|
This, was Arthur’s safest Trump Card.
Due to the Existence Realm Limitation imposed by Bewússtsein, Jamie’s power had been capped at Level 1000.
However, this restriction did not apply to Bewússtsein himself.
If Bewússtsein succeeded in creating his Perfect Vessel, his power level would rise to at least Deity Level 100—the minimum threshold required to attain the status of a Cosmic Being.
In other words, Bewússtsein’s power currently exceeded that of Arthur, Evan, and the restricted Jamie combined.
As such, the Scales of Balance responded just as they had when used against Alvey and McEnda.
The golden scales tipped dramatically to one side, and the ’Remaining Activations’ dropped from ’3’ to ’2’.
Then, a notification materialized in their field of vision.
|The ’Overall Power’ difference between both Parties is incredibly high.|
|Due to the difference exceeding 100%, an appropriate ’Compensation’ and ’Debuff’ will be applied to the respective Parties.|
Suddenly, the Core Dimension began to quake.
The Cosmic Artifact activated, working to ’Balance’ the power disparity between the two sides.
It calculated the total combined power of all four combatants, then split that sum evenly in two. One half was allocated to Bewússtsein, while the other half was distributed among Arthur, Evan, and Jamie.
Magic power and cosmic energy surged from the ground in massive torrents, slamming into the protagonist trio. The energy coiled around them, forming pathways that funnelled more energy into their bodies.
The ambient energy concentration plummeted as the frozen Bewússtsein’s expression shifted to one of disbelief and despair.
He could feel the energy of the planet—his energy—being siphoned away.
Evan’s existence realm barriers shattered under the overwhelming influx of power, and within moments, his strength surged to match that of Arthur and Jamie at Level 1000.
But just as the Scales of Balance attempted to push their power beyond that threshold, something halted the process.
The Existence Realm Limitation that Bewússtsein had imposed.
Sensing this, Bewússtsein wanted to laugh, to mock them for their plan’s apparent failure. But his smug half-laugh quickly faded as he noticed the restrictive universal laws distorting.
’What?! HOW?! This is a Planetary Defence Mechanism! It’s a fundamental law of the Universe!! How can it bend so easi—?!’
His eyes widened, and his pupils darted back to the trio before him as realization dawned.
’Fuck! They’re High-Grade Singularities!! They’ve messed up the laws in this place!’
The combination of factors—the disruption of laws caused by Jamie’s Galaxy Sword splitting the Core Dimension’s walls, their Singularity Natures, and the Cosmic Artifact’s power—had successfully exploited a loophole.
This loophole was one Arthur had planned to exploit from the start.
In truth, the loophole could still be exploited even without their Singularity Natures, but Arthur was unaware of this fact.
Considering the effects of the Scales of Balance and the Existence Realm Limitation, the loophole was rather obvious.
The ’Scales of Balance’ was NOT directly altering their ’Existence Realms’.
Instead, it was infusing them with raw ’Power’ to balance the disparity between both sides.
This ’Power’ wasn’t permanent—it would dissipate and return to its source once the Scales’ effects expired.
In essence, the artifact had created a bizarre situation where ’Mortals’ wielded the ’Power Level’ of ’Deities.’
As a result, even though the Existence Realm Limitation functioned as intended, their power levels continued to rise beyond their imposed limit.
Conversely, Bewússtsein’s power began to dwindle—unsurprising, given that the energy being pumped into the trio came from him.
The Scales of Balance were debuffing him and compensating them.
It was ’Balancing’ the equation.
As the Deity-level power surged into their bodies, a fiery sensation rippled through Arthur and Evan, each pulse like molten lightning coursing through their veins and energy circuits.
Jamie was fine since he originally possessed power greater than this, but for Arthur and Evan, saying they were OVERWHELMED would be a misnomer.
Their bodies couldn’t keep up, cracking under the strain before swiftly reconstructing themselves, each cycle leaving them stronger.
Energy swirled within their cores, compressing into denser, more potent forms, while the cores expanded to contain the overwhelming influx.
Bewússtsein’s enraged expression twisted further as he strained against the force of the Cosmic Artifact.
His body trembled as he tried to move, his fingers twitching as he attempted to summon the destructive power of his Candidate Sigil.
Cosmic energy sparked around him as he struggled to resist the artifact’s movement-limiting effect and shatter it with sheer force.
But it was futile.
Despite being ’Low Grade’, it was still a Cosmic Artifact beyond his reach to affect, even with his Candidate Sigil. Only someone not under the Ceremony’s effects could disrupt it, and there was no one like that here.
The situation worsened as more power was drained from him to fuel the trio’s power-up.
Bewússtsein’s defiance gave way to deep rage, his features contorting in frustration as he realized the inevitability of his diminishing strength.
It was then that a message appeared before all eyes present.
|The ’Weighing of Existences Ceremony’ has Concluded.|
The invisible pressure lifted the instant the message appeared, and all four regained their ability to move.
Jamie acted first.
Cosmic energy surged from within him as he raised his hands and snapped his fingers.
|Azure Void Authority: Negative Space Torrent.|
Space fractured like glass struck by a stone, and a massive torrent of negative space— a force holding the absence of matter—converged into void-like beams.
They tore through the air with an eerie sound, streaking toward Bewússtsein’s incomplete vessel with alarming speed.
Upon impact, the void collapsed inward, tearing apart the positive fabric of space in a violent explosion of cosmic energy that sent shockwaves rippling outward in concentric destructive waves.
Bewússtsein’s incomplete vessel was sent careening through the cavern, crashing into jagged rock walls as blood sprayed into the air.
The destructive force ravaged his body, shattering parts of the vessel’s physical shell, and even his soul wasn’t spared from injury.
The cavern quaked under the force, cracks spiderwebbing across the walls as debris rained down.
Jamie then landed softly, his shoes barely making a sound against the ground.
Arthur and Evan weren’t so lucky.
Their bodies, still struggling to adjust to the overwhelming surge of deity-level power, came crashing down beside him. The impacts created small craters beneath them, cracks radiating out from where they landed.
Seeing the two sprawled on the floor in the middle of the craters, Jamie fought back a laugh.
Jamie extended his hand, his spatial power wrapping around Arthur and Evan, before lifting them from the craters they’d created.
But before either of them could utter a word, Jamie’s fingernails sharpened into claws and he swung his hands across their wrists, slicing them cleanly.
Blood spilt from the cuts, silver from Arthur and crimson from Evan, yet the droplets didn’t fall. Instead, they hovered in the air, defying gravity, swirling into two separate orbs which Jamie infused with magic power.
Arthur and Evan froze for a moment, their wide eyes betraying their shock. Their instincts kicked in, and they tried to jump away from him, wary of his sudden and unpredictable actions.
This, however, ended disastrously for them.
Arthur’s attempt at a ’small jump’ ended with him launching himself skyward with such force that his head collided with the cavern ceiling—a staggering height over a thousand kilometres above.
The impact was followed by a shower of rocks and fragments of the Core Dimensional barrier he’d broken.
Evan’s leap fared no better. He ended up soaring into a pool of lava several kilometres away, plunging into the magma with a resounding splash.
At the sight, Jamie instantly erupted into laughter, his voice echoing through the area.
"BAHAHAHA!!!! These kids! Did you really think—HAHAHA—controlling your bodies would be easy—GAHAHA—with your current power?!"
With a snap of his fingers, he teleported both of them back to him. His laughter only grew louder as he looked at the results of their missteps—Arthur sporting a crooked crown of rock and fragmented space, while Evan stood drenched in magma, his clothes burned to ash.
Despite their mishaps, the two were unharmed, evidence of their increased durability.
The reason for this clumsiness was as Jamie had stated: their power had skyrocketed so suddenly that their bodies were no longer in sync with their movements.
Adjusting to their enhanced strength wasn’t going to be instantaneous, and no way Bewússtsein was going to give them the luxury of time to figure it out.
This then begged the reason Jamie had drawn their blood.
|Blood Magic: Blood Puppetry.|
