"Alright! He really is my idol, the boss. Looks like he couldn't hold back and took on this task himself!"
"So, should we still go over there?"
"Without the Cosmic Judgement Order to guide us, and since the boss hasn't given us a time-space anchor in his sealed realm, it's full of chaotic currents now. We can't just jump over directly."
"Well, go if you want. I'm heading over—I'm going to be the first to celebrate and break the seal for the boss."
"Oh, and don't forget, the team leader probably went ahead as well..."
"Fine, we'll go join the fun too."
"That's the spirit... Let me grab a couple of stars on the way."
None of these giants realized that their chief judge, Arishem, was still in battle with Zane.
In this boundless Hall of Mirrors, Zane couldn't tell if this isolated realm was larger than the original universe.
To him, both seemed equally vast and boundless.
"With things like this, I can go all out and have some fun with you."
The flame atop the towering Arishem's head burned intensely. As the world around them kept expanding, seven dark, deep orbs slowly appeared behind him.
With the original one, there were eight in total, though one was noticeably smaller than the others.
Even the smallest orb, however, was overwhelmingly larger than little Zane.
The eight black spheres floated behind Arishem, like eight huge blue planets hovering behind a tall man.
Except, on these massive giants of the Celestials, the scale was magnified by nearly a thousandfold.
"Actually, we, the first Celestial beings to appear, were created with predetermined dimensional levels."
"For instance, six-dimensional beings remain six-dimensional; seven-dimensional beings remain seven-dimensional. At most, we extend a bit within the same dimension, but that consumes energy that takes eons to accumulate."
"As for me, since I was born from the Heart of the Universe, I started at a high seven-dimensional level, and all I've done since is keep filling myself with energy."
"That's why I was directly appointed by the Lord Living Tribunal as the Universal Judge, to maintain balance in the ecosystem of the entire universe."
"Beneficial energy is returned to the universe."
"Harmful energy is punished."
"Punishment means reducing that energy back to its origin; on Earth, you'd say it returns to nothingness."
"And behind me, these eight black orbs are all the energy I've gathered over the years."
"I call them the Punishment Celestial Spheres."
"Now then, let all eight Punishment Celestial Spheres explode!"
"Go, judge this criminal who threatens the entire universe!"
"Punishment Spheres: Eightfold Cataclysm!"
Boom!
Zane watched as the eight black spheres behind Arishem merged into a single, massive dark orb and came flying toward him.
It grew larger, filling the newly infinite space around them.
"Going all out right from the start, huh?"
'Looks like teleportation is out of the question…'
Zane felt the terrifying power behind him, stronger than anything he'd ever encountered, and muttered to himself.
'As expected, as long as I remain in the seventh dimension, I can't escape the spatial destruction caused by battles at the same level.'
'Unless I jump to the eighth dimension or higher—only then can I avoid the damage in seventh-dimensional space-time.'
'So, [God's Absence] can't be used this time either. Who knows if this energy sphere would destroy the entire seventh dimension.'
Zane's heart pounded hard; only now did he fully understand the terror of this Celestial, the top power below the eighth dimension.
These eight energy spheres, amassed since the dawn of the Marvel Universe, blasting out together—this was no joke.
'The Heart of the Universe, huh? No wonder it's one of Marvel's ultimate weapons; not even the six Infinity Stones combined could match it.'
Zane recalled how Arishem had mentioned he was born from The Heart of the Universe, and it all made sense why Arishem was so overwhelmingly powerful.
In the original lore, if Thanos, wielding the complete Infinity Gauntlet with all six Stones, could wipe out a bunch of weaker Celestials and go head-to-head with Eternity, one of the five primordial entities—
Then Thanos, with The Heart of the Universe, would even dare to challenge the One Above All, the embodiment of the Marvel Universe's very will.
Although Thanos' feats were likely exaggerated over time, his prowess was still undeniable.
'The Heart of the Universe will be mine, eventually,' Zane silently vowed, setting a personal goal as he looked back at the immense black energy sphere speeding toward him, feeling a surge of apprehension.
'Luckily, Arishem's skill doesn't have the time-axis-defying abilities of the Destruction Celestial.'
"So, I can still buy a bit of time…"
The black energy sphere had already filled the entire space behind Zane, creating a severe separation between him and where Arishem was, as though they were in different realms.
And that black energy was like an overwhelming tidal wave breaking through a dam.
No, it was more like a mega-tsunami.
Zane had witnessed a few massive tsunamis back in his old world, and some people, rather cold-heartedly, had wondered why the victims didn't try to run.
Only those who have experienced it know the sheer terror of a tsunami—it hits in an instant, swallowing countless lives.
The black energy behind Zane was similar; though it wasn't activating instantly, it continued to chase right at his heels.
Every time Zane made a short space-time jump backward, the black flood would follow right behind him.
'This won't work—I need a plan, or I'll be swallowed up in no time.'
Zane was fully aware of the terrifying nature of that black sphere; he wouldn't dare risk facing it head-on. Clenching his teeth, he said to himself determinedly, 'I'll take a gamble!'
With that, a flash of light appeared, and Zane vanished in an instant.
The black flood behind him instantly tore into the space he'd just left, devouring it like a school of piranhas, leaving only terrifying space-time turbulence ripping through the area.
'Got it right! Having the system really is the ultimate cheat.'
Now, Zane found himself safely hiding at the boundary of the Divine Realm. Of course, he didn't believe that simply being in the Divine Realm had saved him.
He knew that, though his SS-ranked skill had been upgraded and could now be named as such, it was still only at the seventh-dimensional level, just like him.
To truly evade that terrifying energy orb outside, he had to be concealed in space-time above the seventh dimension.
The answer, it seemed, was the system, the most mysterious source of aid he had.
'Now I just need to figure out how to get out of here.'
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