Chapter 404
Second, and more directly, Ilux had to determine whether this new body of Xavier reacted like an ordinary living being.
Did he still possess physiological weak points, vulnerabilities to structured energy, or had he already become something entirely different.
"Reverse Resonance—Gradual Absorption."
Xavier did not step back or launch a reckless counterattack.
As an entity who had endured thousands of battles across ages and realities, his response to Ilux's elegant probe was instead filled with patience and deep observation.
He stood upright, allowing the enormous luminous sigil structure to approach, surround, and eventually touch him.
The perfectly structured elemental energy wrapped around his form, emitting various testing frequencies, probing every potential gap in his defenses.
Xavier allowed it to happen.
He was not merely enduring.
He actively received the attack, not as a threat that had to be destroyed, but as a valuable set of data.
His sharpened consciousness dissected every component of Ilux's formation.
Controlled thermal pressure, water conduction networks, the reality anchors of earth, air distribution pathways, and the thin cosmic touch that compelled reality's acknowledgment.
He studied them at astonishing speed, analyzing patterns, measuring efficiency, and most importantly, understanding the intention behind them.
Within seconds, he had absorbed the entire academic logic and testing purpose that formed the foundation of the attack.
Even so, to an untrained eye, it might appear that Xavier was slightly pressured.
His movements seemed stiff, as if he were struggling to withstand the burden of the formation surrounding him.
His energy aura fluctuated slightly, absorbing and adapting.
Yet this was not true weakness.
It was deliberate bait, a subtle performance at the level of perception.
Xavier intentionally projected a small opening, an impression that his new body might still possess vulnerabilities, that the law of cause and effect still applied to him.
"Perception Dominance—Reality Distortion."
Ilux immediately realized that his field test had been answered with a deeper game.
A short, cold, cynical laugh escaped his lips.
There was no disappointment—only a flash of acknowledgment that his opponent was indeed worthy.
Without wasting time, he shifted immediately.
The second attack he launched was no longer an elegant probe, but a philosophical escalation that struck directly at the core of his opponent's way of thinking.
This was Perception and Reality Logic Dominance, a maneuver that elevated the battle from the physical level to the existential.
Here, Ilux utilized half of his Perception Alteration power, merging it with elemental fusionism that was no longer orderly, but twisted toward a more malicious purpose.
His target was not Xavier's physical body, but the foundation of his consciousness.
Ilux attempted to grasp and lock the way Xavier interpreted the world, particularly the primary narrative that defined him.
His history as the great Heroism of Humanity, the bringer of prosperity to most cosmic boxes.
By damaging this perceptual foundation, Ilux hoped to cripple the legend's self-coherence.
The attack manifested as a subtle yet horrifying distortion of reality around Xavier.
The field surrounding him began to lose certainty.
The concepts of "up" and "down" trembled and then faded in meaning, making gravitational orientation nothing more than a suggestion that could be ignored.
Distance ceased to be linear.
The space between himself and Ilux could suddenly stretch infinitely or shrink to zero without warning.
Colors and shapes melted, blending into abstract impressions that did not follow ordinary optical logic.
This attack did not come from any direction, because direction itself no longer applied.
It came from "conclusion," appearing directly as the result of premises of reality that Ilux had tampered with.
For example, if Xavier "concluded" based on his memory that he should be in a certain position, then from that conclusion a direct threat would manifest.
Most insidious of all, Ilux inserted subtle interference into the flow of Xavier's memories.
Flashes of his glorious history, memories of the prosperity he had brought, began to distort.
His achievements felt hollow, as though they had been predicted and meant nothing.
His sense of heroism could suddenly twist into a sensation of empty arrogance.
This was an attack on identity, an attempt to make Xavier question the fundamental truth about himself, and thus weaken the will that served as the source of his power.
Within this ambiguous field, every certainty was a trap, and every memory could become a weapon that turned against its owner.
"You build, you prosper… that is your role."
Haaah!!
"But reversing the meaning of victory and defeat? That is not a destiny written for you."
At first, the impact of Ilux's second attack seemed effective—extremely disturbing, even.
Xavier, standing within that field stripped of meaning, appeared shaken.
His once perfectly upright posture now leaned slightly, as if his legs searched for footing upon a floor that constantly changed its consistency from solid to liquid, then to gas.
His gaze, usually so focused and authoritative, now seemed empty and confused, glancing around as if trying to solve a visual puzzle with no solution.
He even appeared entangled, trapped within the web of distorted perception and logic woven by Ilux.
His movements became slow, no longer reflecting thousands of years of combat experience, but rather like someone trying to walk through a nightmare.
Seeing his opponent in such a state, another cynical laugh burst from Ilux.
This time, the laughter was longer, filled with piercing superiority.
Within that laughter slipped a verbal mockery aimed directly at the core of Xavier's legend.
Ilux insinuated that perhaps behind all the symbols of prosperity and heroism attached to him across every cosmic box, Xavier had never truly been destined to understand or master deeper reversals of meaning.
Perhaps all his past victories had merely been straight movements in a game whose winner had already been decided.
And perhaps he had never possessed the capacity to overturn a situation when the rules of the game itself were altered—when victory and defeat had their definitions exchanged by a clever academy student.
"I am the pacifier of the fractured cosmos. I am the one who ended war by delivering prosperity. I am the Essence of Humanity's Heroism—a name to be worshipped, not questioned."
Fhaaaah!!
"With all praise and devotion gathered, essence itself bows to me. Victory recognizes me as its destination. Defeat recognizes me as the reason for its creation."
Baaaam!
Baaam!!
Baaam!!!
"Rise—Authority of Heroism! Kneel—for I am the eternal symbol sustained by belief."
Yet all of Ilux's advantages suddenly ceased to be guarantees.
Within the still ambiguous and blurred field, where the logic of space-time had been twisted, something unexpected began to occur within the seemingly flustered figure of Xavier.
From behind his back, a light that had once been dim and uncertain began to consolidate, thicken, and radiate with ever-increasing intensity.
It was not white light nor the flash of ordinary elements, but a pure golden aura—warm, and filled with authority.
The light did not dazzle, but permeated, as if giving new definition to the surrounding chaos.
Along with the emergence of that golden radiance, a phenomenon of sound—or more precisely, psychic vibration—began to fill the perceptual space that Ilux had corrupted.
It was not Xavier's own voice, but a chorus, a symphony of countless praises.
The voices layered upon one another, coming from different eras and different corners of reality, uniting within the same frequency.
Worship toward the Heroism of Humanity.
Every syllable within it was recognition, gratitude, and reverence toward the figure of Xavier XVII.
They repeated again and again, not as murmurs, but as a grand litany, a collective confession of faith that shook the very layers of reality.
Its frequency was so powerful, so cult-like in devotion, that it created a resonance seemingly capable of forcing anyone who heard it to kneel and worship.
To be continued…