Chapter 406
Amid the ruins of perception and the pain that enveloped his consciousness, Ilux struggled to assemble a question within his shattered mind.
What had just happened?
How could the law of cause and effect, the logic of counterattacks, even his absolute control over elements and perception, be reversed in such a perfect and humiliating way?
The confusion tormented him more than his physical wounds.
Then the answer came.
Not as a vague inner murmur, but as a clear and authoritative statement that echoed within the space of consciousness still connecting them.
Xavier's voice sounded calm, almost flat, yet it carried an undeniable truth.
He explained, simply, the root of Ilux's absolute defeat.
The five elemental powers and the ability of Perception Alteration that had long been Ilux's main weapons were, in essence, not truly his.
They were Xavier's nature.
They were manifestations of the legend's own essence, a legacy attached to his soul, only borrowed or "overlapped" by Ilux because their bond of reincarnation had not yet been severed.
Therefore, Xavier said, it was something unethical—a violation of the most fundamental natural order—for a missile infused with his own nature to be used to kill the owner of that nature.
It was like raising a sword forged from one's own shadow to slash the source of light that created that shadow.
The law of reality, at its most fundamental level, rejected it.
Thus reality itself, represented by Xavier's will and existence as its source, automatically reversed the attack.
The missile did not recognize Ilux as its rightful master.
It recognized Xavier.
And when ordered to harm its source, the cosmic law that governed ownership and essence intervened, returning the weapon to its sender with an unforgettable lesson about the true nature of the power he had been playing with.
"Even with power at only half, I do not merely match your capability."
Huuuuuh!
"I surpass it."
It did not stop there.
Xavier's voice continued to echo, carving deeper and more piercing truths into Ilux's wounded heart.
He continued his explanation, dismantling one by one the illusions of power that might still linger in the mind of the Star Academy student.
The core of it was simple and undeniable.
No matter how extraordinary the fusionism of abilities that Ilux had learned and mastered, no matter how brilliant and educated he had become during his years at the Star Academy, all those intellectual and technical achievements would ultimately never surpass one thing Xavier possessed: a terrifying capacity for adaptation.
Xavier's adaptation was not merely adjusting tactics or learning an opponent's patterns.
It was existential adaptation—a fundamental metamorphosis at the level of essence and the manner of existing within reality.
Ilux might combine elements with perfect geometric precision, design attacks with impeccable logic, or twist perception with great ingenuity.
Yet all of that was still a game played inside a box, a fixed set of rules—even if those rules were complex.
Xavier, on the other hand, possessed the ability to change the box itself, or even cease to be something that existed within it.
When Ilux changed the rules of the game, Xavier changed himself into a new game whose rules he himself wrote.
And Xavier's final assertion was the most devastating of all.
This terrifying capacity for adaptation remained his, even when the elemental and perceptual powers he could currently use amounted to only fifty percent of his total potential.
It was a declaration that his superiority did not come from the scale of power, but from the essential quality of his soul—from the experience of being an architect of reality across many worlds.
Fifty percent power in Xavier's hands, with his existential adaptation, proved more dangerous and incomprehensible than one hundred percent power in Ilux's hands with all his academic fusionism.
Baaak!!
"Without his sword, Aldraya himself might not even be able to defeat me. Even against my pure existence alone."
Fhooooh!
"Do you believe you are his equal? Do you think a novice—one who is still learning the fundamentals of power—deserves to stand on the same level?"
Their positions now formed a brutal portrait of absolute defeat.
Xavier's right foot, firm and unmoving, pressed down upon Ilux's head with measured pressure, forcing the side of his face into the cold, dusty ground.
Grains of dirt and small pebbles clung to Ilux's skin, becoming physical witnesses to the collapse of his pride.
From his limited perspective, Ilux could only see the tip of Xavier's shoe and the dark stretch of earth beneath him, while his entire body felt paralyzed by a defeat that was not merely physical, but also spiritual and intellectual.
From above, Xavier's voice sounded again.
This time the tone was no longer flat or explanatory, but carried a deep and piercing contempt.
He spoke while reinforcing his position, using a comparison deliberately chosen to humiliate Ilux further.
Xavier mentioned the name Aldraya, the former Supreme Angel who was so powerful and feared—Ilux's former mentor and once a formidable opponent of Xavier in the past.
He revealed a fact that shook the very core of Ilux's confidence.
That mighty Aldraya, even with all the strength of a Supreme Angel, might not necessarily defeat Xavier if the battle occurred without the presence of his sword—the special weapon that served as the key or amplifier of the angel's power.
The statement was crafted to shatter the remnants of Ilux's self-belief.
If an entity like Aldraya, with divine authority and cosmic experience, still depended on certain conditions to stand a chance against Xavier, then what did that make someone like Ilux?
Xavier then completed the insult with a sharp label.
"Snot-nosed brat."
Two words that summarized the immeasurable distance between them.
A legend who had shaped the history of the multiverse against a young human, an academy student who merely happened to be the vessel of his reincarnation.
"One… binding.
Two… separation.
Three… restoration of nature.
Four… absorption.
The entire essence of Authority—returns to me."
Then, without any pause for mercy or further explanation, Xavier continued his action.
His right foot, which had been pressing down upon Ilux's head, slowly lifted away from the humiliating pressure.
Yet this was not a sign that the punishment had ended or that a truce was beginning.
It was merely a change of position for the next action—one far more invasive.
Ilux's body still lay face-down and powerless on the ground, trapped in exhaustion and defeat so deep that he could barely move.
Xavier extended his left hand toward Ilux.
The movement was calm, filled with deliberate intent.
His palm opened, facing downward, directly above Ilux's back.
He held that position steadily, unmoving, for four seconds that felt like eternity to Ilux.
Within that brief yet intense span of time, something horrifying began to occur.
From within Ilux, a strange and stripping sensation began to creep.
The five streams of elemental power that had long been part of his perception and subtle body—burning fire, flowing water, steadfast earth, free air, and mysterious cosmic energy—began to tremble uncontrollably.
They no longer responded to his call.
Instead, they seemed to be pulled out through the pores of his very existence.
Likewise, his ability of Perception Alteration, the finest instrument he possessed, felt as though its threads were being pulled out one by one from the fabric that wove it.
Those currents of power were slowly yet inevitably drained away, like the very fluid of life being siphoned from a vessel.
To be continued…