The mirror in Sal's hand looked ordinary, save for the fact that it didn't reflect its surroundings. Its surface was totally white as if painted. As a result, it looked odd and ordinary at the same time.
Despite its unusual nature, no one would look down on it.
Anyone who would look at it would salivate with greed.
But if it was in their enemy's hands, they would piss their pants in fear and furiously retreat.
The World Rendering Mirror, one of the Nine Great Treasures of the World Before The Fall.
Before it, no man could stand tall with a will of his own, and all heads must bow.
It was the only item Sal possessed that could turn the tide of an unfair battle.
As the catastrophic attacks unleashed by his enemies, who were retreating like cowardly dogs, neared Sal, Sal slapped the surface of the mirror.
His hand shattered, turning to dust. At the same time, As if his hand was sacrificed to power unknown, a blinding light burst out of the mirror's surface and washed over the entire Grey Wasteland and everything within it.
Sal felt his spiritual consciousness attaching to everything touched by the light.
Immediately after, he let out a command. "Halt!"
Following his command, the most shocking scenario unfolded.
The massive group of spiritual combatant that were on their path to retreat came to a sudden halt.
The weapon threatening to impale Sal stopped flying, dropping to the ground.
The various mountain ranges overhead that encompassed the entire sky stopped descending.
At the same time, the movement of the ocean that had flooded the Grey Wasteland froze. It stopped flowing towards Sal.
With one command from the Infamous Grandmaster of combatants Sal, everything came to a stop.
What a great display of might this was.
And Sal had all the intentions to make it even more wonderful.
It won't be wonderful for others.
But it would certainly be wonderful for himself.
The massive group of combatants of the three different forces of the 99 High Realms of the 3000 Worlds felt shocked to their core as they lost their ability to move.
"Why can't we move?"
"What did the Great Devil do?"
Now at the mercy of the person they had come to hunt, they were so wide-eyed that it seemed like a single pat on their back would make their eyes pop out of their sockets.
As their backs were to him and their spiritual consciousness suppressed, they couldn't tell what had actually transpired. Otherwise, their shock would have been greater.
While they were feeling so shocked that their expression twisted into one of uncertainty, the voice they feared most rang out.
"Surprised, aren't you? Well, it's a part of my plan," Sal said loudly.
"What plan?" The group wondered.
Their question was destined to not go unanswered today as Sal spoke up once again.
"Grand Elder, you try too hard to maintain your image, so I knew you would pursue the dumb hunting dog of the Holy Emperor into attacking me with all they got if I humiliated you.
"Saintess, you are as greedy as ever. You want everything that catches your eye. I knew when the chances of you getting my heavenly secret decreased, you would stop being cautious and go all out to be the first to kill me so that the possession of the heavenly secret would transfer over to you.
"You both didn't disappoint, playing right into my hand.
"With all of your attacks out in the play, it was the best opportunity to sacrifice a limb and 99% of my lifespan to activate the World Renderer and seize control of all its light touches.
"Now you will experience the taste of your own medicine.
"I wonder how many will survive after this."
The devilish smile on Sal's face grew wider, stretching from ear to ear.
The very next moment, a devastating scene unfolded.
With a thought, Sal bombarded the immobilized group with their own attacks.
The spiritual weapons raised from the ground, flying towards the group before detonating.
Caught in the explosion, countless awakened died.
The interconnected mountain ranges smashed down on the group, instantly crushing countless awakened to a paste of meat, organs, and blood.
The ocean eclipsed them like a tsunami, swallowing them all. It wasn't an ordinary ocean. It weighed hundreds to thousands of times greater than an average ocean. Swallowed to its depths, countless awakened were crushed to death by the sheer pressure alone. The rest died a slow and painful death at the hands of the merciless and bloodthirsty sea monsters inside the ocean.
Tsk!
Sal looked at the devastation he had caused and clicked his tongue.
Although he had killed tens of thousands of awakened, it still wasn't enough.
There were more than 50 thousand remaining, and they were the strongest of the bunch, otherwise, they would have been among the ones that have died.
Sal thought, "They won't remain immobilized for too long.
"After all, the effect of the World Rendering Mirror isn't permanent.
"It usually disappears in half a day.
"But the greater the struggle, the faster it disappears.
"Considering how strongly they are struggling, from my estimate it won't take them more than half a minute to break off.
"I need to make good use of this opportunity when they are still immobilized.
"I can't go on killing them.
"Before I even finish half of them, they would be set free.
"Then I would be the one killed.
"It's not like I can use the mirror again.
"It will kill me.
"Besides, killing them isn't my goal. It's returning to the past.
"I should make good use of this opportunity and get closer to my goal!"
The World Rendering Mirror was a powerful artifact that could render entire worlds immobilized, but the cost of using it was equally great.
Just to render everything immobilized in the Grey Wastes region, it had cost half his lifespan.
If he used it again, before it even activated, he would breathe his last, which was totally against his grand plans.
Thus, he had to refrain from using it.
But it's not like he could not put it to good use.
He looked at it one last time and said, "Thank you for everything."
If not for the mirror, he wouldn't have made it this far. He would have died long ago.
It was just a thing with a nascent soul that was as dumb as a rock, but it had given him more protection and warmth than any other human or his own family. He didn't want to part with it, but he wouldn't be able to advance further if he didn't sacrifice it.
With not much time left before the remaining spiritual combatants would free themselves, Sal acted decisively.
He tossed the mirror towards them.
As it flew across the air, he performed a common hand sign and shouted, "Detonate!"
Boom!