chsdbacks Chapter 432 Mirror
Chapter 432 Mirror
Chapter 432 Mirror
Realizing that they had reached a dead end, all defenses were stripped away layer by layer, and even the "truth" that they relied on for refuge was coldly dissected.
The will that coalesced within that sphere, in its desperate madness, erupted with its final and purest malice.
It no longer maintains that grand, cold appearance, nor does it utter any powerless pleas.
A violent impulse, a mixture of endless resentment, fear, and self-destructive tendencies, like the final bite of a dying viper, glared fiercely at Jemin, who had just gained supreme access and was preparing to take further action.
"Let's die together!!!"
Hearing this declaration that exploded directly in the depths of his soul, alarm bells rang wildly in Jeming's heart!
Almost the instant the other party's will shifted, he sensed the madness of mutual destruction.
Without any hesitation, he interrupted all commands, retreated rapidly, and his mental energy surged forth, adding several more layers of the protective measures he had prepared beforehand.
However, these protective measures were completely useless against the other side.
For the core of a time paradox generator, when it disregards everything and even abandons all other functions, the "last resort" it can mobilize is faster than the conventional response.
Jemin felt as if the world around him was being violently distorted.
The temple, the light, the air, and even the texture of the space itself all exhibited a spiral-like curvature, representing a forced rewriting of the more fundamental "logic of existence."
Before he could finish his retreat, he was captured by a "shearing" force originating from the very rules of time, and was then violently "thrown" away by this seemingly irresistible force!
……
……
Almost at the same moment that Jemin was forcibly thrown into an unknown timeline, in the core timeline world where the sphere was located.
Space seemed to be cleaved open by a sharp blade, and a pitch-black crack with rich starlight flowing along its edges tore open once more.
Artorias the Starforger stepped out of the rift, his grey robes billowing, and his usual calm expression was replaced by a rare solemnity.
His gaze swept instantly over the enormous mechanical sphere in front of him.
At this moment, the energy conductors on the surface of the sphere dimmed and their flow became sluggish.
Most importantly, just now, the macroscopic "system protection mechanism" and "proactive defense will" that had been struggling against him and stubbornly resisting actually retreated on their own initiative in that instant.
In that instant, the opponent not only retracted all its power back into the core of the sphere, but also relinquished control over other areas, which allowed him to escape.
Combining the unusually violent temporal disturbances that had just subsided on the sphere's surface, with Jemin's lingering presence and complete disappearance...
Artorias's eyes narrowed as he realized what had happened.
"Oh no!"
He whispered something, his figure blurred instantly, and the next moment he appeared in front of the mechanical sphere that had all firewalls disabled.
His powerful mental energy, like a domineering torrent, poured directly and forcefully into the sphere!
At this moment, the sphere, having lost its autonomous defense system and firewall, is like a giant stripped of all its armor and weapons.
It has a huge body and energy, but it has lost the most crucial "fighting will" and "defense commands".
Artorias, an eighth-level wizard, used his mental power to penetrate almost without hindrance, quickly taking over the highest authority and beginning to violently search and analyze massive amounts of data streams.
His goal was quite clear: to prioritize finding the logs and operational records of the "Final Defense Protocol" or "Emergency Response Procedure."
"Hopefully I'll make it in time..." Artorias thought to himself, but his hands moved with lightning speed, countless silver runes flowing from his fingertips and disappearing into the sphere, accelerating the extraction and deciphering of information.
He was well aware of the troublesome aspects of time-related abilities.
For beings trapped in different time-flow branches, a moment in the main world may have been several days, months, or even longer in the main world.
Every second wasted could mean a huge risk for Jemin inside.
He quickly located and extracted the relevant information of the "final agreement" that had just been triggered from the vast sea of data on the sphere.
When Artorias saw the name of the protocol, its mechanism of action, and the preset parameters of the target side world, his tightly furrowed brows relaxed slightly, and he even breathed a sigh of relief.
"Thank goodness..." he muttered to himself, a hint of understanding flashing in his eyes. "If it's this... that little guy might suffer a bit, but given the abilities he's shown... he shouldn't die."
He then realized why this "defense protocol" could be successfully triggered under his control.
While the defensive measures triggered by this protection protocol are unique, their inherent threat and offensiveness are not considered the highest among the many defensive measures available on the sphere.
When Artorias had completely suppressed its offensive defenses, he subconsciously loosened his grip on this kind of "non-lethal" trap protocol a little.
Unexpectedly, this gave the desperate sphere's will the opportunity to launch this final "mutual destruction" attack.
This thing used most of its remaining power and authority to activate and strengthen this "defense protocol," intending to trap or wear down Jemin, the "key disruptor," within it.
"What a hassle. This thing has completely given up on manipulating that world... There's no way to retrieve people directly from here..." Artorias stared into the depths of the sphere, as if he could see through the metal shell to the activated timeline.
The silver runes on his fingertips spun faster as he began searching for clues related to that timeline world.
As long as there's a clue, he can get the person out directly.
"Little guy, hang in there," he thought to himself. "With your strength, you should be able to withstand this kind of test..."
……
……
Jemin felt a sudden dizziness, and when his vision refocused, he found himself in a completely different "place".
It's still a temple setting, but it's dilapidated, rough, and primitive.
The stone wall was bare, without any intricate energy wires or strange rune markings, only natural cracks left by the erosion of time.
The air was filled with the smell of dust and decay, as if this place had been forgotten for millions of years.
"This is..." Jemin's heart sank, and he immediately realized that he had been tricked.
At the last moment, the will of that sphere forcibly sent him into another completely unfamiliar timeline world!
This is likely one of its pre-set traps to imprison or eliminate intruders.
My mind raced, but my body reacted even faster.
Because of his previous stress response, almost the instant he landed and saw his surroundings, he activated all the multiple protective measures he had been preparing!
Multi-element resistance energy shield, distorting force field, soul protection barrier...
The complex protective system, layer upon layer, protected him completely.
The moment he landed and appeared—the attack came.
A beam of dark golden light shot out without warning from the shadows deep within the temple, heading straight for Jemin's forehead!
It was moving at an extreme speed, arriving in front of Jemin almost the instant it appeared!
The next moment, his meticulously constructed multi-layered protective system, capable of withstanding the barrage of attacks from ordinary level five wizards, was as fragile as glass in the face of that extremely refined dark gold beam!
Puff, puff, puff, snap!
The shield shattered, the force field vanished, and the soul barrier trembled and cracked!
All the defenses only managed to block the beam for a negligible moment before collapsing completely!
A deadly sense of crisis made Jemin's hair stand on end.
In the face of life and death, Jemin unleashed his full potential.
In that brief moment when the protective system delayed him, just as the dark golden beam of light was about to touch his body, the Five Elements Transformation Rainbow Mirror within his dantian shone brightly!
Huaguang!
His figure suddenly became ethereal, and his entire being transformed into a pure and hazy light.
At the same time, the dark golden beam of destruction intersected with his body after he "transformed into light".
Thanks to the properties of light itself, Jemin's body, after being transformed into light, was not seriously damaged after being touched by the light.
However, the terrifying power contained within the dark golden light still made him feel uncomfortable.
Jemin felt as if he were in the center of a raging energy furnace, with every inch of his "lightened" body enduring unimaginable pressure and burning.
He gritted his teeth and, relying on his Nascent Soul realm primordial spirit's subtle control over his own state, forcibly stabilized the "transformation into light" form.
At the same time, it remained firmly "anchored" to its current position, instead of taking the opportunity to escape as it had done in the past.
Not only because the actual scope of the time-slot worlds is not large, and acting rashly could easily lead to new traps, but also because this attack is too strange and too familiar, he must figure out its source!
The energy of the dark gold beam finally dissipated slowly.
As the light faded, Jemin staggered and deactivated his light-transformation state, his solidified form returning to the ground.
His face was slightly pale, clearly indicating that the fight just now had taken a heavy toll.
But he didn't have time to catch his breath. He immediately looked up and locked onto the direction from which the attack was coming—the deepest shadow in the temple.
There, a figure was slowly lowering his raised finger.
A tall, well-proportioned figure, a simple gray wizard's robe, and that handsome face...
At that moment, Jieming's pupils contracted violently, his heart felt as if it were being squeezed by an invisible hand, and he subconsciously licked his lips: "Hey, hey, feed me... this joke has gone a bit too far..."
When he sensed that move, Jemin had already anticipated it, but he was still shocked when he actually saw it.
That face was both incredibly familiar and incredibly strange to him.
Those eyebrows, those features, the subtle spiritual fluctuations emanating from them, and the energy characteristics released by that move just now…
No matter the angle from which you approach it, or the method of perception you use to detect it...
Standing in the shadows, the one who had just delivered the fatal blow to him was none other than…
Another Jemin!
(End of this chapter)