Under everyone's gaze, Lucci—standing before the neutron star furnace's console—finally moved.
Like a dwarf, he did not reach for any of the terrifyingly complex gauges and switches that would make even the greatest engineers break into a cold sweat. In his eyes, the dense runes and energy lines were crude and inefficient.
Slowly, he extended a hand.
"No! Stop!"
Eitri, collapsed on the ground, let out a desperate roar. He squeezed his eyes shut, too afraid to watch the scene of destruction he expected.
Countless dwarves also turned their faces away, their expressions filled with pain and regret. They regretted not having used force to stop the prince earlier—because now it was too late.
In Asgard, Odin's single eye widened; it felt as if his heart might stop. Heimdall, too, was tense—his golden pupils reflecting the hand reaching for the console.
The next moment—
Lucci's hand, without the slightest hesitation, gently touched the cold control core forged from Uru metal.
No earth-shaking explosion.
No catastrophic surge of destructive energy.
Everything was terrifyingly quiet.
Deep in Lucci's eyes, a faint golden radiance flickered—like hundreds of millions of stars being born and dying in an instant. The mystery of "Stellar Forging Art" he had comprehended flowed into his fingertips like linked laws.
At this moment, he was no longer an independent living being.
His consciousness, soul, and power—through his palm—formed a mysterious connection with the entire neutron star furnace, and with the dying neutron star in the distant void that radiated infinite might.
He was using himself as a bridge, as a guide—and as the "reins" of a cosmic force violent enough to destroy everything.
Wake up.
An indifferent thought echoed in Lucci's heart.
In the next instant, a miracle occurred!
With one hand, he made a casual guiding motion—so understated it almost looked like nothing.
BOOM—
The long-silent dying neutron star responded immediately, as if it had heard the decree of a supreme god-king!
A peerlessly condensed, blinding white beam—carrying destructive energy that seemed capable of tearing spacetime apart—erupted from the neutron star's core and shot toward Nidavellir at faster-than-light speed!
"It's over!"
Eitri and the dwarves went blank at the sight. Odin and Heimdall's hearts tightened to the extreme.
But what happened next completely overturned the understanding they had accumulated over tens of thousands of years—shattering their worldview.
That planet-destroying neutron star beam, just before it reached Nidavellir and poured into the forge, did not need to be routed through countless apertures to be filtered and guided.
Instead…
Under Lucci's seemingly casual guiding gesture, it became unbelievably obedient!
The torrent of energy that had been as savage as a cosmic beast breaking free of control now flowed like a tame stream—smooth, precise, with not the slightest leakage—guided by Lucci straight into the forge's dark core.
BZZZT—
The dead forge ignited instantly upon receiving that pure, immense power!
It roared like never before, and the entire ring-world trembled faintly. But this was not the sign of destruction—it was the joy of rebirth!
The forge core shone brighter than ever—stable, pure, dazzling.
Its light was like a newborn sun, warm and brimming with creative force. In an instant it illuminated all of Nidavellir—along with the stunned faces of every dwarf.
At that moment, time seemed to have been paused. Even space looked frozen.
Dwarf King Eitri—who had lived for millennia and prided himself on being the greatest smith in the cosmos—stared blankly at the figure suspended in the forge-light.
Unconsciously, his mouth opened wider and wider.
Behind him, thousands of dwarves wore the exact same expression. Some rubbed their eyes, thinking it was an illusion. Some pinched their thighs hard, trying to prove this wasn't a dream.
A few went limp and collapsed to the ground, whispering unconsciously:
"Gods… a miracle… this is truly a miracle…"
In Asgard.
Odin remained facing forward, unmoving, as if petrified. The forge's brilliance reflected in his one eye—while deep within it surged shock and ecstasy like rivers and seas.
What had he just seen?
Unarmed.
Restarting the neutron star furnace with bare hands.
Not even a "restart"—a taming.
Playing with the power of a neutron star… a power even he feared.
What level of strength was this?
What terrifying comprehension of the laws of energy?!
"Your Majesty…"
Heimdall's voice was dry and trembling. As a guardian who had watched the changes of the Nine Realms for ten thousand years, he realized—for the first time—that his vocabulary was far too poor to describe the impact in his heart.
He could only stare as that figure slowly descended through the curtain of light—like looking up at a creator god walking the world.
At this moment, all dwarves of Nidavellir—along with Odin and Heimdall in Asgard—were filled with the same thought:
This… is no longer something humans or gods can do.
This is the ultimate power of the universe!
This… is the authority of a supreme god!
…
Bonus chapter at 300 PS