Fwish!
Sam opened his eyes, and for the first ti in what felt like a long stretch of endless dying and reviving, he woke up inside his [Primordial Space].
The shift was always jarring, but right now it struck harder than usual, because he had been dying repeatedly in an instant, each death giving him only the smallest fraction of a mont to think.
And now his mind landed in this place again, this strange realm filled with thousands of watching eyes that had accompanied him for so long.
The countless eyes surrounding him were still there, covering the vast darkness with their unblinking presence, yet sohow they felt different than before.
Their aura was deeper, heavier, far more intense, as if every death he went through sharpened their attention and pulled them closer.
[We’ve arrived at the final destination.]
One panel appeared. Another followed right after.
[I knew this one would reach the "Soul Realm"]
[Sure, but the problem now is he needs to defeat the rest.]
[The situation feels pretty grimm.]
Sam still could not hear their actual voices. He never had.
The only way he could understand anything they said was through the panels they conjured, and for a mont he wondered just how much they talked when he wasn’t here.
When he was in the real world, fighting for his life.
When he was struggling. Or dying.
He assud they kept speaking constantly, or at least watched it all.
But he never knew exactly what they whispered, what they argued about, or what they felt when he won.
Since he would never understand it anyway, he shook his head, pushing the useless thoughts aside.
[Well.]
All the thousands of eyes shifted toward him at once, turning away from whatever silent conversation they had been having.
The shift in focus made the air feel heavier, almost suffocating, as if their full attention pressed down on him with the weight of a mountain.
Another panel appeared.
[You’re facing one of the eleven strongest opponents in existence, those that managed to defeat many of us.]
Sam’s breath tightened for a mont, not because he was afraid, but because these beings rarely acknowledged their own defeats.
For them to admit that sothing had beaten them before ant that what he was facing truly stood near the top.
[Do not falter, Sam Walker.]
[Stay... Determined.]
[And if you don’t, then we’ll surely all be gone.]
RUMBLE!
The entire [Primordial Space] suddenly shook violently, the darkness trembling like a storm was ripping through it.
Sam braced himself, but the rumbling swallowed him whole, and his consciousness slipped away before he could fully react.
Ding!
["Determination is Fuel" has activated.]
Fwish!
His eyes opened again, and he was imdiately back in the real world, the brutal reality snapping into focus the mont his vision cleared.
Sam rose quickly, almost on instinct.
The magnetic field around him wasn’t crushing him anymore, but it hadn’t disappeared either.
Instead it had expanded slightly, going back to circling him like an electrified cage.
A cage that had killed him again and again.
’Supernova?’ Sam thought, the idea flashing through his mind for a brief mont, ’No... not yet.’
Even if he was desperate, he refused to simply throw his strongest technique blindly without understanding the situation.
He needed to figure out a real thod to escape this magnetic trap.
One wrong move and he would die instantly again.
"It’s no use," tyr said from outside the field, shaking his head casually as if the entire situation bored him.
"This won’t be like when you fought the [Pale Monarch]. I won’t let go, even for a second."
Sam huffed under his breath.
The [Pale Monarch] had made the fatal mistake of underestimating him by giving him an opening.
But the [Colossals] weren’t foolish. They were cautious. They didn’t take risks.
’I need to either break the [Magnetic Field],’ Sam thought, ’or... hit the [Colossal] from afar.’
As he studied the towering being through the shifting walls of lightning, Sam noticed sothing subtle.
tyr was keeping his gaze locked on him, almost unblinking.
One of his arms was also slightly raised, glowing faintly with electricity.
It was clear that tyr needed to maintain control over the field to ensure it stayed intact.
aning if tyr lost focus—
Even for a second—
That would be Sam’s only chance.
[Void Watcher: he’s as nervous as you are, he just doesn’t show it yet.]
Sam activated [Void Watcher] to peer at tyr’s intentions, and the insight was exactly what he expected.
tyr wasn’t confident. Not fully.
Sam had seen hints of hesitation earlier, when tyr closed the magnetic field around him the first ti.
However, that didn’t change the imdiate problem.
Escape was still impossible in his current situation.
’I can’t use any of my abilities,’ Sam thought, ’[Cooldown Breaker], [Aura Radar], [Primordial Prediction]... none of them can help right now.’
Even if he used [Cooldown Breaker] to restore his [Primordial Barrier], it wouldn’t matter.
The barrier would just get shredded again instantly.
’Maybe I should—’
SNAP!
tyr closed his hand again, and the magnetic field instantly shrunk.
Lightning slamd into Sam from all directions.
His skin charred. His bones lted. And he died.
Ding!
["Determination is Fuel" has activated.]
Sam revived.
He inhaled—
And imdiately died again because the magnetic field was still wrapped tight around him.
"There’s no point," tyr said as Sam revived again. His voice carried neither anger nor malice, "I know you’ll revive as long as you’re determined enough. But eventually... it will die down."
Zap! Ding! Zap! Ding!
Sam died and revived again and again.
But after so many cycles, the pain barely registered anymore.
His mind stayed clear. His determination didn’t shake.
He used the fraction of a second he had every ti he woke up to think.
’No point in using the [Primordial Clone],’ he thought.
Zap! Ding!
’If I summon the clone, it will die instantly just like .’
Zap! Ding!
’I can’t swing my [Primordial Sword] either. There’s no ti. And I can’t use an [Eclypse Slash].’
Zap! Ding!
’[Primordial Hellscape], [Primordial Tendrils], [Primordial Barrage]... none of them will activate in ti.’
Zap! Ding!
Every revive forced him to eliminate another option.
His expression darkened slowly, not because of fear, but because of the crushing realization that none of his usual strategies would work.
Slowly, his choices narrowed down to only two possible abilities.
’[Supernova] and [Primordial Lightning].’
His [Class Skills] were useless here as well.
[Blood Verdict] needed him to make tyr bleed. Impossible.
[Death Cross] required him to strike tyr. Also impossible.
[Stars of Hatred] didn’t activate because he didn’t feel the level of hatred required to conjure the stars.
And even if they did appear, he was still trapped.
Still unable to move. Still dying instantly.
"Give up."
Zap! Ding!
"I’m not moving the magnetic field anymore."
Zap! Ding!
"You’ll stay like this until... you die."
Zap!
Sam woke in the [Primordial Space] again, probably for the hundredth ti.
He stood in the dark realm, surrounded by the countless eyes that had watched all his struggles.
"Any ideas?" he asked them.
He had never asked them directly for advice before.
Maybe he rarely thought of them as real beings.
But right now? He needed anything he could get.
Panels appeared instantly.
[How about just using "Supernova"?]
[I say you survive for a second and unleash a powerful skill!]
[Perhaps the "Primordial Clone" can tank it enough to do sothing, as it’s gonna have a barrier too.]
More panels popped up rapidly.
They all had ideas. They all watched him so closely that they knew all his abilities better than he expected.
But then... He noticed one panel that stood out.
[His ability is lightning, maybe you should overpower it with your own.]
He turned toward the primordial who sent it.
Its eyes burned faintly in the distant dark.
The idea wasn’t delivered with certainty. It wasn’t grand or loud.
But it struck sothing deep inside him. It made sothing click.
"Yeah..." Sam said, and slowly, a wide grin spread across his face. "I think... this might work."
Ding!
["Determination is Fuel" has activated.]
Sam revived once more. And this ti, he didn’t feel desperate.
He felt ready. He felt alive.
He stood up. His eyes hardened. His will sharpened.
Cooldown Breaker!
It was ti to show the [Colossal] that even in this situation, Sam’s determination would prevail.
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