Astounding Talent

From high above, central Tokyo looked like a pitch-black dot, with silver ripples spreading outward in turbulent waves.

Those ripples were, in reality, the sight of a modern metropolis—like a forest of steel—completely collapsing.

A destructive shockwave erupted from where the Sword of Damocles had landed. The distorted force swept outward in wave after wave like the tremors of a devastating earthquake above magnitude nine.

Whether they had hidden in air-raid shelters or taken refuge inside other buildings, people were instantly shattered by that destructive force.

Bright red blood was like droplets falling onto a painting, spreading through it in the blink of an eye.

The reincarnators using various abilities and methods to remain in the air all stared in stunned disbelief, some still unable to process what had happened.

A few among them had encountered similar scenes in Derivative Worlds before, but those had only been Derivative Worlds!

No matter what they said aloud, reincarnators generally harbored a certain arrogance that stood above a bottom line.

They were unique individuals capable of traveling through countless worlds. Plot Characters and Plot Worlds were often little more than games to them.

Those things could be destroyed, killed, twisted—whatever happened, they would never feel too deeply shaken.

But this was different!

This was the real world!

This was the ordinary world where every reincarnator had lived from the moment they were born, the world they had always depended on back when they had been as muddleheaded as the ordinary people the Mad King had crushed to death in an instant!

At that moment, even someone with Red Dust’s temperament stood frozen on the spot under the enormous impact. Mo Shi Mo Wang instinctively grabbed at his hair.

"This… this madman…"

"Where are the Supreme Experts? Where is that guy Azure Sky… Why is no one stopping this? Why can an ability like this be unleashed without restraint…?"

Mo Shi Mo Wang felt his scalp sting. The feeling that the rules of reality had been broken, that the last safe harbor had vanished, left him utterly unable to accept it.

He had family. He had friends. He had so many things he cared about. The thought that someone like this could freely unleash such abilities in the real world from now on was unbearable to him.

Pfft!

The uncontrollable killing intent he felt toward the Mad King nearly caused the searing pain of the contract to melt through Mo Shi Mo Wang’s nerves. The string within his heart was about to snap.

Red Dust’s left hand trembled without pause. Below them, the enormous Sword of Damocles stood impassively embedded in central Tokyo as seawater began to rush inland.

A silver figure radiated ring after ring of ripples beneath the Sword of Damocles, spreading his arms as a familiar yet unfamiliar voice shook the air.

"My lords, there is no need for panic, nor any need for hesitation. This is the growing pain of an age changing hands, the suffering of a world in transformation."

"Follow behind me. No karmic evil shall touch you. The truth of this world shall reveal itself in the end…"

The man codenamed Mad King, whose real name no one knew, broke free from the prison of his flesh. He naturally floated into the air as countless memes and Information Factors converged within him.

His silver-white body naturally stepped upon layer after layer of stairs built from information, beginning to ascend into the sky.

Those illusory silver-white stairs wound around the massive Sword of Damocles like a stairway to heaven.

The Mad King’s phantom silver-white figure climbed step by step, the ripples across his body growing increasingly intense.

Just as ignorant medieval humans had once believed Earth to be the center of the universe, several centuries later, reincarnators likewise ignorantly believed their own world was the noblest and most unique of all worlds.

The Mad King’s illusory figure remained utterly calm. The sounds of buildings collapsing, the ground shattering, seawater flooding inland, and even the continental plate below rupturing rang out endlessly.

Yet he seemed to be contemplating the laws of the world.

He understood the Infinite Dimensional Space and all sorts of Derivative Worlds, Secondary Worlds, and Native Worlds more thoroughly than most reincarnators did.

In the end, this world was neither noble nor unique. Its sole special feature was that the Infinite Dimensional Space, this observer, existed within it. That was all.

Humans, reincarnators, and this world had all become special because of the existence of this observer.

Yet the supposedly higher-dimensional understanding that reincarnators had always believed set them above those Plot Characters was merely a self-righteous arrogance.

The proof was that once those Black Kings likewise gained the observation of the Infinite Dimensional Space and broke free of their original worlds, they could freely dominate reincarnators like them.

Those Avengers, who had long since had everything destroyed, were perhaps searching for an entrance—an entrance into this world…

A calm, natural smile rested on the Mad King’s face.

This world was so frail, and these humans so foolish. When that day came, what would become of this world?

"You think so too, don’t you, Mercenary Tao? This world should not continue like this. A world capable of giving birth to talents as astounding as you and me should not meet its end at the hands of those insects…"

The Mad King calmly looked at Mercenary Tao, who had somehow appeared on the stairs before him to block his way.

Bai Cangshu grinned widely, his eyes gleaming as he cocked his head and looked down at the Mad King’s true form.

"The power of the stairs… Heart Light Pulse… the Fourth Tier?"

Boom!

Intense fighting spirit, wrapped in golden qi, burst from Bai Cangshu’s body. He had yet to activate Kaio-ken, but after the Kirin Armor was activated, his battle lust had already been ignited. Now that he had encountered such an exceptional opponent, the qi throughout his body began to surge with unprecedented activity.

The Mad King looked at Mercenary Tao, who had not bothered to properly listen to him at all, and shook his head.

Sure enough, even a rare beast was ultimately still a beast. It had no interest whatsoever in subjects such as the survival of the world or the rise and fall of humanity.

As the Mad King watched Mercenary Tao’s qi ignite, he admired the other man’s control over and desire for power, while also feeling somewhat disappointed that no one could ultimately understand his lofty ambitions.

He was not mad, yet everyone believed him to be a madman.

"In the end, that is why a king can only call himself solitary."

"I, draw my sword."

A stabbing pain came from Bai Cangshu’s scalp as an all-pervading sword intent attacked from every direction. He blinked, and the third eye between his brows opened.

The next instant, the world seemed to slow down. The Mad King’s silver figure, slow yet swift, pierced into the void before gradually drawing something out.

An illusory silver long sword emerged from the air.

You have come into contact with Heart Light - All Things Descend

Pfft pfft pfft pfft pfft!

The distorted Three Parts Return to Origin Force around Bai Cangshu’s body was enveloped by countless dazzling sword lights in an instant. Sword intent penetrated everywhere, and his terrifying force immediately became riddled with holes.

Yet the Mad King had merely drawn out that sword and pulled it back.

In the sky, Mo Shi Mo Wang held down his constantly trembling flying sword, his expression stricken with panic.

He realized that he had suddenly lost his level 9 Swordsmanship Specialization perk, along with several flying-sword abilities.

The Space offered only one prompt.

You have been affected by Heart Light - All Things Descend. You have lost some abilities and traits.

The next instant, Red Dust’s face suddenly turned pale. His body dropped straight down as the Mad King below raised one hand, and amid the plunging temperature of heaven and earth—

A terrifying blade aura stretching several thousand meters had already appeared.