Chapter 176 - Despair Against The Giant

"What the fuck do you think you're doing!?"

Vern didn't mind the censure and cheered in his heart! It indeed works!

Duality, when observed under a lens of instability took on greater properties than just being a slashing weapon with a physical form. Beyond the simple idea of its material turning unstable, it turned the blade's representation from objective to instead favor the fundamental of structure.

Until now, this idea was just a conjecture in his mind, but this interaction more than confirmed this was the case. He wasn't really surprised, though. Observation was consistent like that.

It was just fascinating that the interaction of different fundamentals underneath was as logical as he'd hoped. On top of that, he was coming around to appreciating the gains achieved from more active imagination.

While he could do a lot with just his eyes without even lifting a finger, there seemed to be a better way. Supplementing it with actions that firmed the mental image of consequences in his mind caused the effect of the visions to be more potent.

That was to say, simply acting out the action of shattering with his hands made the following vision a tad more powerful because it helped him envision the cause and effect better.

In the same vein, cutting through something using instability with just his eyes wasn't as potent as him coating Duality with instability and slashing through objects. It wasn't just about the sword having physical form, it was the better mental imagery that came with it.

Though I think that minor buff is further enhanced for Duality because its susceptible to my visions in a way that doesn't entirely changes its representation. It reacted very differently to its structural manipulation than anything else.

Not letting this little success get to his head, Vern ignored the vicious mockery of the captain who cursed at him like some angry god and beelined straight to the next pillar.

Now that he knew how to wreak havoc in this cage, he wasn't about to waste even a single second. Hmm, if this can really allow me to get out of here, I will still have to handle this guy outside. Hopefully, the man was injured enough to not be too troublesome.

"Stop! Stop. Stop! What the fuck are you trying to do?! It’ll explode! You’ll kill yourself."

This gave Vern a pause, but he didn't let it show in his actions. He wasn't about to take something this man said at face value. Regardless, there was indeed a possibility that destroying the cage from the inside could cause it to implode and take him with it.

Well, I don't think I need anyone to tell me whether something is unstable enough to explode.

Vern narrowed his eyes and focused on the stability of this artifact as a whole. Before he'd sliced away one of the pillars—which was still crumbling down piece-by-piece—the lattice of the whole world was pure white.

Right now, however, it had taken quite a hit, putting itself close to a shiny gray. The crumbling pillar was just a part of the structure, but the whole artifact was still far from reaching its tipping point.

This analysis made the situation more than clear, Looks like I can take out another three pillars before things get dicey.

And while doing so might not be enough to get him out of there, he knew doing what his foe didn't want him to do was his best option to push back and get out of this stalemate.

Waiting in here was tantamount to extending his neck for them to chop away. This was the only way to force a change and tip the balance in his favor once again.

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A serious look on his face, Vern first stabilized the Duality to avoid any long-term defects, and by the time he reached another pillar, it was glowing purple with instability once again.

"No, you stupid fuck! You'll kill yourself, and Madame will kill me for losing the artifact. Just stop and accept your defeat."

Zingg…

Vern made sure not to respond. He didn't trust anything. There was no need to give any openings by unnecessarily responding to someone who could very well use those words to manipulate his back.

When the sword was hazy and unstable enough…

Crack!

This time, a part of the ring underneath the ground also cracked.

"No! No! No! FUCKING STOP! You're ruining everything. This cage is far more precious than your pathetic life!"

The whole world shook, and the ground trembled, but his perception told him things had yet to get out of hand. So, without a delay, he repeated the cycle and rushed towards the next closest pillar.

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Crack!

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"Angels are watching you, you blasphemer! STOP THIS RIGHT NOW! IT WILL KILL YOU AGHH!!"

Vern almost lamented not having some way to capitalize on this man's emotions. If he could use his anger to hijack his mind or something like the first of these raiders did to Vern, this guy would probably be dead already.

Regardless, Vern prepared for another assault. His reserves of flux weren't doing the greatest, but he still had about forty percent left after all he'd done. Hopefully it's enough to conclude this situation.

He did have his Insight Sphere on him, but the flux stored within it had poor conversion efficiency and required him to focus entirely on it. Which could be fatal under the watch of this furious captain.

Standing next to the fourth pillar, he extended his arm to the right, destabilizing the blade for the umpteenth time.

"Oh, you darned fucker, STOP!"

Vern didn't even bother to acknowledge the words this time. If all the man had were empty threats, he couldn't care less.

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Boom! Echoed the explosion in this white space after the pillar split away from the ring and pulled a chunk of the ceiling with it. Vern—free to focus this time—disintegrated the falling phantasmal rock before it could come close. Who knew if it had lost some of that illusory essence and instead of passing right through him, it crushed him?

That's when a shriek that almost threatened to burst his ears echoed everywhere, "YOU'VE DONE IT! YOU'VE FUCKING DONE IT!"

Vern refocused as a new shape suddenly entered his perception, followed by the whole realm rumbling. He narrowed his eyes, a little uneasy, Is he entering this space?

Suddenly, a voice echoed from far away, "I don't get how you're ignoring my daydreams or Midra's sleep, but no matter." A figure materialized by the pillar farthest from Vern, and it screamed, one hand clutching the bloody wound on his chest, "NO MATTER, I'll show you why this cage kept even a hallowed angel in check."

He raised his left hand as if trying to reach the sky, and in tandem, the world shook. Air roiled, and white particles escaped from pillars—broken and intact—coming together to form a ghostly phantasmal arm extending out from the captain's thin elbow.

Vern stepped back, apprehension gripping him. This man was most probably a third shade observer who would already be a near impossible match for him out in the objective world. But in here? In a domain of cognition which he had explicit control over? Could the odds get any worse?

He didn't know how to feel about this situation. It was logical that the man would jump in here to try and stop him, and it would be a lie to say he didn't expect this, but even with Axiom's singularity warding off majority of illusions and so-called Midra's sleep, this didn't look good for him.

No. He soon refuted himself, This is probably for the best. The longer Vern was in here, the more the man would have gotten a grasp on his skills, maybe even find proper counters that would turn this already terrible match into an impossibility.

Also, he's still injured, Vern assessed. A dark hole of instability was wriggling in the man's chest and only the haze releasing from his right hand somehow kept it plugged. I just need to get closer once again.

However, there were bigger problems to handle before that. While on one hand, this sophisticated palm took shape high up in the air, the ground randomly shot up at others, creating nightmarish mounds and garbled mess. Almost as if the order the captain created came paired with chaos.

Vern's heart surged blood through his body with intense ferocity, louder every second, as he eyed the towering palm that formed entirely from nothingness.

Yet, he wasn't about to let his enemy do whatever he wanted without reacting. He's clearly going to try and crush me with it.

Vern kicked the ground and rushed out of the impact range of this palm.

"Hahh! You think you can run!? YOU THINK!??" the captain bellowed, and the gigantic phantasmal arm followed Vern's motion, pivoting alongside the captain's elbow.

Tch, Vern clicked his tongue. Well, that didn't work.

So, he slowed down, and while that palm became more and more tangible in the air, he stood straighter and regulated his breathing. Before long, his eyes shone bright and he took a proper stance, the sword glowing a fierce purple once again.

Will have to go about it the same way, it seems. If it could slash through the pillar, hopefully this arm won't be any different.

Zinggggg!

Thud! Bamm!

Random spots shot into the sky near him as the world trembled. Dust and debris flew everywhere, and amidst this—two figures dominated this vista. On one edge stood a man in black-purple-robes, a gigantic phantasmal arm extending out of his shoulder—blotting the very skies.

On the other, a tiny figure in comparison, held firm—facing the colossal phantom with a disturbingly calm demeanor.

"Hahaha, I told you to stop, didn't I? But you didn't. You didn't. You fucking didn't. If it weren't for you pathetic resistance, I wouldn't have had to resort to cannibalizing the cage, and you could have had an honorable death, nourishing the Eye of Seraph."

Shwaa….

"BUT NO! You wanted this." A manic expression on his face, he bellowed, "SO SUFFER!"

The unmoving palm that merely blocked the skies suddenly began its descent. In mere moments, it picked up an ungodly speed, creating a pressure so terrifying it made it impossible to breathe.

The garbled, chaotic structures that had popped up crumbled like sand castles against its might as dust and wind kicked everywhere—picking up a pace that rivaled the stormiest of seas.

Vern's hair billowed in this tempest, yet he stood unmoving as dust and debris flew past without hampering him too much. He'd stabilized his immediate surroundings, making them just calm enough to allow him to focus on the defense.

He slid one leg back, planting it firmly on the ground as his upper body streamlined. He bent his knees, lowering his center of gravity. Squaring his shoulders, he tilted his torso forward, aligning his extended arm and sword for the attack.

The spectral palm parted the sandstorm of particles with its sheer momentum and came hurling towards Vern like a meteor. "Hahaha! Despair against true power. DESPAIR!!" bellowed the source of this arm, a pleasurable glee in his eyes.

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The spectral palm descended with calamitous force, but Vern remained unflinching, his feet already buried a few inches deep into white sand.

Right when the massive hand was about to make contact, he pivoted on his back foot, bringing his sword up in a precise arc.

Shing!

A flash of purple and white erupted as the blade met the phantasmal flesh. For a moment, it seemed as if the immense force would overwhelm Vern, but then—

"AGHHH! You imbecile!"

The slash cleaved a giant wound in the phantom arm that wriggled incessantly, but it only cut so deep into something as gigantic as this.

Damn! Vern cursed. He didn't even have the time to think this through as the simple touch from all that weight knocked the breath out of his lungs, swatting him into the ground.

Fuck! It almost worked.

Not caring about the potential backlash or his protesting bones, he mentally observed the gaping wound in the phantom.

With a fervor unlike anything else, he envisioned it widening—exacerbating its flaws right down to its very source, as arbitrary insights sparked in his thought space in a sequence—activating the vision.

Shatter! he yelled in his mind.

CRACK

In an almost instant feedback, the palm that was about to crush him into smithereens suddenly stalled. Cracks extended out of the wound like spiderwebs, and the pivot controlling the hand faltered.

Not waiting for the process to finish, Vern snapped back up in a not-so-smooth jump and made to escape from underneath it in full force.

He knew that thing had too much force behind it to go out just like that. Parts of the palm dropped all around him, exploding into minor balls of light, and Vern barely dodged them as the core of the palm slammed into the ground.

Thump!

Behind him, a blinding light exploded out of the growing cracks of the husk, and Vern did his best to get the hell away from it. But there was only so much time and space for him to maneuver.

The light grew so bright it overexposed even this white world, and Vern's heart ran cold. How the hell am I supposed to defend against this? His brain rushed through myriads of possibilities, but his feet didn't stop.

He mentally tried to stabilize the core, but unlike his sword, not everything could easily transition from one extreme to another. The effort barely kept the bursting sea at bay for another few seconds—giving him a little more distance.

When his perception of the object behind screamed of total instability—ready to burst at any moment, he was barely out of the palm's initial span. It won't be enough, he realized with a grim expression. I need to stand my ground.

He wrung his mind dry of all the ideas—including unfurling the defensive umbrella or just out-healing the damage, but he rejected these worse choices for hopefully a better one.

Feeling his heart almost ready to explode, he took a deep breath and did it. He stopped right in his tracks and turned around—facing the coming explosion head-on.

It's an explosion of only structure and cognition, not all eight fundamentals. That was the final thought he had before—

BANNGG!