The mass of destructive energy didn’t make a sound.
So much power, so much force—more than he’d unleashed against the World Destroyer, he imagined, considering just how many A Grades and B Grades had been a part of this catastrophic explosion when his actions had caused the devastating cascade or ship cores to erupt.
All that, and not a damned sound.
Xavier couldn’t funnel the full force of the explosion toward the S Grade True Dragon. He didn’t have that kind of power. All he could do was try to manipulate where the S Grade appeared. The energy flowed outward in every direction, and the True Dragon was only at one edge of that explosion.
Xavier wondered just how much of that energy he would be able to take. He didn’t think it would be very much.
The S Grade True Dragon was a different beast.
The dragon didn’t appear to have mastery over time. It had been able to create the time distortion around itself that enabled it to get close to Xavier’s current time stream, but as far as his examination of the creature’s actions had gone, that almost seemed like it had been an instinctual reaction. As though there was something inside the dragon—that hidden core, perhaps—that was simply reacting to everything that was happening around it.
The True Dragon wasn’t able to affect Xavier’s time distortion in a strong enough way to revert the explosive force that was coming straight for it. The True Dragon didn’t alter its own time dilation field, nor did it create a field another to counteract Xavier’s. Though it was powerful, the range of different actions at its disposal appeared very limited—like most other beings Xavier encountered.
The True Dragon reacted exactly as Xavier suspected it would. That defensive energy it had used to rebuff his last attack erupted from its hidden core, enveloping its entire body in less than an instant, able to block the energy from harming it faster than Xavier had ever thought would be possible.
From as safe a distance as he could manage, Xavier watched the dragon intently. The moment the dragon’s defence formed, the mass of destructive energy slammed into it, rapidly eating away at that defence. Holes in the defence appeared. The dragon’s scales melted. The flesh beneath burned.
Xavier analysed the True Dragon’s health, watching as one percentage point after another was lost. It went down to 95 percent health. Then 80 percent. The S Grade’s health continued to plummet, falling down below 50 percent, and still going.
The ship cores’ explosion was clearly more powerful than I’d thought…
Xavier fingers twitched. He still held the bone bow he’d created. It wouldn’t take him long at all to create an arrow for it. He started to wonder if that might be necessary. What if this thing got down to 3 percent of health, and shooting it with another arrow would be the final thing he needed to do?
With the damage creating an arrow would do to him, moving all that energy through his channels, he’d only just be powerful enough to shoot the damned thing. After that, he wouldn’t have enough energy to escape.
He gritted his teeth. Perhaps it was finally time he summoned the Spirit of Time. He’d vowed to only do it when he was in dire need, as he didn’t wish to create a whole new universe with an unfolding just to have another version of him die. He could basically use the spell at any time, but to him it was the absolute last resort—right next to abandoning a fight altogether, if he thought there was no hope at all.
One of his teeth cracked he was gritting them so hard.
The dragon’s health kept going down.
Until it stopped.
At 35 percent, it just… stopped dropping.
Xavier’s concentration intensified. He loosened his jaw. His fingers ceased twitching. He became so still he looked as though he was frozen outside a time dilation field himself.
The explosive energy coming at the S Grade True Dragon hadn’t stopped. There was still a massive amount left that was flowing toward the beast. By Xavier’s calculation, it should have been enough to kill the dragon considering how much damage it had already taken.
And yet the dragon wasn’t taking any more damage from the energy at all.
Something strange was happening.
It wasn’t that the dragon’s defence had grown stronger. In fact, all the defensive energy that it had brought to bear had been burned straight through. Every inch of the dragon’s scales had been melted. Its entire body was seared, its flesh burning with what must have been an ungodly amount of pain.
Something other than the defensive energy was stopping the True Dragon from taking damage. Another eruption of energy from its strange, hidden core, putting Xavier’s earlier assessment of this beast having limited abilities into question.
This strange energy felt akin to Willpower Energy and something else Xavier wasn’t familiar with. It pushed back the attack, making the destructive energy flow around the beast, as though the dragon was a large, immobile boulder in the middle of a fast-flowing stream.
The dragon’s health began to climb back up. Energy rippled through its body. Its maw was open wide in a silent roar. The wounds healed almost as rapidly as they’d been formed. It extended and contracted its wings, the energy still flowing around it even as it moved. Then it turned its head to look directly at Xavier. Xavier had a good friend who was a dragon, and he was familiar with the expressions dragons made, and how they differed from other species—even those who were dragonkin.
The expression the True Dragon wore when it stared at Xavier would have been clear to even someone who’d never even heard of dragons before, let alone seen them.
It was filled with pure, predatory hatred and rage.
Now, its health was already back to 50 percent and was continuing to climb and climb. Its vast wings were beating, and it was continuing its charge toward Xavier. He needed to do something. And he needed to do it fast.
He looked down at the bow.
He didn’t need to parcel off the energy he’d been gifted by the planet into different arrows. He could funnel it all into one.
Well, he thought he could.
The damage that would do to his energy channels would likely put him out of commission to the point where he wouldn’t be able to use the arrow on his enemy. He’d be too weak. Hell, he might not even be conscious. And he needed to be the one to loose the arrow—this wasn’t something he could get one of his drones to do.
Only another version of himself would be strong enough to do this.
The void… I have to escape into the void…
He wasn’t even sure if this would work. It was the most unhinged part of his plan. The void was not the safest place he could go, and this thing… this thing might very well know how to follow him. And even if it couldn’t follow, Xavier wasn’t entirely sure he could bring another version of himself back from the void.
What if the System didn’t allow that?
But those were risks he was just going to have to take, because he wasn’t seeing any other options. Summoning the Spirit of Time here wouldn’t help him. He knew for a fact now that there was nothing he alone could do to take this thing out—nothing he was aware of, and nothing he could become aware of in time.
He needed help.
Xavier turned and fled from the S Grade True Dragon. The dragon flew straight through the mass of destructive energy that had once been the Empire of Servitude’s armada. Xavier had the drone that was still there retake control over the time dilation field that had been keeping that energy from reaching the planet Galadsea and hoped the dragon wouldn’t kill it on its way.
That would be the least of my problems…
Xavier, while worried about the population of Galadsea, knew they would be able to escape the impending explosion easily enough. Now that they all had the power to use time dilation fields, it was only the True Dragon who was the genuine threat to them.
Xavier cut straight into the void, using a technique Roln had taught him, one the mental construct had seared into his neural pathways, as they had both anticipated a situation like this one. The hole he’d created in the fabric of reality was a small one, but no matter how small it still had the possibility of attracting Void Beings toward it.
From inside the void, Xavier could easily stretch his Immortal Soul lens through the hole he’d cut in reality back to the universe he’d left. The True Dragon was heading straight for the hole, and there was nothing he could do about that.
All he could do was continue forward with this plan and hope to hell it worked.
Maybe the dragon won’t be able to get into the void. There’s no reason to believe it can, after all.
But there’d been no reason to believe it would be able to manipulate time. Hell, there’d been no reason for him to believe the four dragonkin would be able to turn into the True Dragon in the first place.
Instantly, Xavier summoned the Spirit of Time. Everything froze. The beautiful woman appeared in a flash of light, the spirit from the Otherworld staring at Xavier, head cocked to one side. A small smile slipped onto her face.
What have you gotten yourself into this time, Xavier Collins?
Well… He took a moment to explain his predicament. The longer he spoke, the more the spirit’s eyes widened. And so, that’s why I’m here.
The Spirit of Time blinked. You truly believe this is the best course of action?
I believe this is the only course of action. Escaping back to my universe… that would merely delay things.
The Otherworldly being bobbed her head in a small nod and sighed. A part of me wishes to speak some sense into you, but I think your methods are well beyond me. Besides, you’ve renewed some hope in me, Xavier. I wish to see just how far you can go.
How many unfoldings can you create here?
The more unfoldings the Spirit of Time created, the more damage would be done to the fabric of reality. And creating them in the void wasn’t something the Spirit of Time was used to going.
I’m not sure.
She turned her head, looked around. Time was frozen outside the space they shared, though it wasn’t frozen in the same way as it would be if they were inside a universe. The void worked… differently. Still, the True Dragon had not moved since the Spirit of Time had been summoned.
That would change when the first unfolding was created.
Reality feels… weak here. But, there are certain unique abilities at your disposal. She smiled, something pleasing seeming to occur to her as she spoke. I think I can learn a thing or two from your tricks. If my theory proves correct, there may be ways we can circumvent the weakness of reality in this spot.
Xavier narrowed his eyes. You intrigue me. Tell me, what exactly do you mean?
Thus, the Spirit of Time explained, telling Xavier what he needed to do.
When the explanation had been given, Xavier realised just how tense his body had been when he’d summoned the Spirit of Time, for now he felt more relaxed than he had since he’d entered the seven-hundred-and-fiftieth floor of the Tower of Champions. His breathing deepened. His heartrate slowed. The thoughts in his mind cleared of their own accord.
Xavier smiled, then gave the Spirit of Time the order, having her create the first unfolding.
Things were about to become very interesting.