Transparent spatial fragments, carrying terrifying impact and astonishing lethality, screamed through the air as they flew forward.
Boom!
In an instant, a long scar was carved into the ground before Syd, dirt and rocks flying everywhere. Deep, invisible cuts appeared along the path of destruction.
Witnessing this, Syd's eyes flashed with astonishment.
"Did the space... actually shatter?"
Or perhaps the space previously broken by Divine Finger was only a superficial layer, not truly fractured. Now, at Level 5, Divine Finger seemed capable of breaking space itself.
Syd mused over this revelation before letting out a sigh.
"If I had this level of power back then, Captain Marvel would've died by my hand already, wouldn't she?"
His thoughts drifted to his past encounter with Captain Marvel.
Back then, when her fist collided with his Divine Finger, the impact merely sent her flying. Her fist bled, but the wound quickly healed.
"With the current Divine Finger, just the spatial fragments alone could severely injure or even cripple her," Syd speculated, stroking his chin.
As he prepared to continue testing Divine Finger, he suddenly sensed something and turned his gaze toward the fractured space he had created.
The black void was closing, air rushing into it with a suction force that seemed intent on pulling him in.
However, this suction posed no real threat to Syd. It was weak enough that it could only affect unprepared ordinary people.
What truly caught his attention was the sight of a massive creature on the other side of the void.
The creature had smooth, brown skin and an enormous body, but only a small portion of it was visible through the fractured space.
It seemed to be approaching, attempting to break into the physical world.
Before it could succeed, however, the void healed itself, sealing the breach.
In the distance, Syd faintly heard an enraged roar of frustration.
"What was that…?"
Syd frowned. "An interdimensional entity? Or perhaps a being from another universe?"
He wasn't unfamiliar with extradimensional creatures. The Guardians of the Galaxy, including Star-Lord, had hunted such beings before.
The one-eyed tentacle monster that Doctor Strange had fought in Doctor Strange 2 was also an extradimensional entity, as was Dormammu.
Thus, the appearance of such a creature beyond fractured space was surprising yet not entirely unexpected.
Still, Syd couldn't gauge the threat level of these entities.
If that monster had managed to enter reality, how much damage would it have caused? How powerful would it have been? Could it have posed a threat to him?
"Sometimes being too powerful is a burden," Syd muttered, feeling a mix of frustration and resignation.
With Divine Finger's capabilities now so immense, he had to exercise caution even when using it.
Fortunately, the space had healed quickly. Otherwise, he might have had to face that creature in combat.
After a brief contemplation, Syd refocused on testing Divine Finger.
Changing his location, he resumed his experiments.
Before long, he discovered that the range of Divine Finger also scaled with his photon energy.
"What would happen if I used all my photon energy in a single Divine Finger attack?"
The thought intrigued him, but he hesitated and ultimately set the idea aside.
If he miscalculated and ended up being dragged into the void beyond reality, there would be no one to hear his cries for help.
Next, Syd turned his attention to Soul Extraction.
"Let's try it on an animal first."
Using Spatial Shift, he vanished from his spot.
About ten minutes later, he found a gray rabbit.
Holding the rabbit by its ears with his left hand, Syd prepared to use Soul Extraction with his right hand.
As he activated the ability, he paused in surprise.
His right hand felt as though it had passed through a layer of water before touching the rabbit.
Without resistance, Syd instinctively pulled the rabbit's soul out of its body. The process was seamless.
After some tests, he concluded that Soul Extraction now had the ability to bypass spatial distance.
This meant that even if a target was a kilometer away, he could stand in place and extract their soul effortlessly.
Additionally, this feature could be used to retrieve objects, making it an unparalleled tool for theft.
If a thief had this ability, no treasure would be safe.
Moreover, Soul Extraction no longer required a grabbing motion. A simple strike could also expel a soul from its body—much like how the Ancient One in The Avengers had knocked Bruce Banner's soul out of the Hulk's body.
While impressed by these enhancements, Syd also noticed some limitations.
The ability's success depended on his precision and speed.
If he aimed incorrectly or moved too slowly, giving the target time to dodge, Soul Extraction would fail.
For instance, trying to extract Quicksilver's soul would likely fail due to his supersonic movements.
Syd also speculated that against beings with exceptionally strong souls, the ability might be ineffective.
Still, at Level 5, there were likely very few who could resist it.
Ordinary humans? He could pull their souls out with a mere flick of his wrist.
Further tests revealed that the farther the target, the more photon energy Soul Extraction consumed.
Like Spiritual Light Beam, the ability now had no fixed range limit; its effectiveness depended solely on energy expenditure.
Having completed his tests, Syd felt a sense of satisfaction.
Though abilities like Black Particles weren't as overwhelming as Sunshine, they were still impressive.
In many ways, his overall strength had grown significantly.
In particular, his capabilities under the Messiah identity had risen to a new tier.
Using Messiah's identity in the future, he would no longer feel lacking.
"Now, it's time to focus on photon energy..."
As the sunlight continued to replenish his energy, Syd's eyes sparkled with curiosity.
With so many abilities reaching Level 5, how much had his photon energy increased?
How much stronger had abilities like Sunshine, Chaos Magic, Divine Word, and Levitation become?
Basking in the sunlight, Syd awaited his energy reserves to fully replenish.
(End of Chapter)
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