The world turned white.
The sudden pillar of white light didn't just shatter the gravity field; it blew away the dark clouds in the sky. The storm stopped. Within a hundred meters, ruins, corpses, even the dust in the air were frozen in suspension by the white light.
Drip. A drop of blood slid down Arbiter Lin's cheek. It was his own blood. A cut from the shockwave.
The high-and-mighty Arbiter touched his face subconsciously. For the first time, his eyes showed... confusion. "Injured? Me?" "By a rat?"
The white light receded. In the center of the ruins, the boy who was crushed on the ground slowly stood up.
His black shirt was in tatters. On his exposed pale skin, the black chain markings were burning furiously, turning into a blinding Pure White. His once-black hair faded visibly, turning into snow-white Silver. His eyes had no whites, no pupils. Only two burning masses of White Void.
[The 0th Law · Phase 2: Divine Tampering] [Life Force Burn Rate: 1% / Second.] [Countdown: 99 Seconds.]
Cade looked up. Those white eyes locked onto Lin in mid-air. No killing intent. No anger. Only absolute indifference... like looking at "corrupted data".
"You..." Lin felt a chill run down his spine. His Blue Tier instincts were screaming: RUN! But his dignity as a God forced him to suppress the fear.
"Cheap tricks!" Lin roared, clapping his hands together. "No matter what forbidden art you used, I am Blue Tier! I am the embodiment of Rules!" "Perish!"
[Ultimate Art: Black Hole Collapse]
VMM—!!! A pitch-black sphere appeared in Lin's palm. Space twisted wildly. Light was swallowed. Steel, concrete, air—everything was forcibly dragged into that black dot by terrifying suction! A simulated miniature black hole. Enough to swallow a skyscraper instantly!
"DIE!" Lin hurled the black sphere at Cade.
Facing this devastating attack. Cade didn't dodge. He raised his hand and made a gentle "erasing" motion at the incoming black hole.
His lips moved. His voice was no longer human, but a metallic reverberation:
"I refuse... the concept of Gravity."
[The 0th Law: Concept Erasure]
Zzzzt! A bizarre scene occurred. The black hole, capable of swallowing everything, vanished the moment it touched Cade's fingertip. Gone.
No explosion. No dissipation. Just... deleted. Like someone used an eraser on a drawing.
"W-What?!" Lin's eyes nearly bulged out. That was the Ultimate Art of the Gravity System! The peak of physical laws! How could it just vanish?!
"Is this your Rule?" Cade's figure blurred.
Next second. He appeared right in front of Lin. No wind. No movement trail. He simply modified his coordinates and "pasted" himself there.
Their faces were inches apart. Lin could see the burning white void in Cade's eyes.
"Too weak." Cade raised his hand. The black sword [Silence] was now burning with white flames.
"NO!!" Lin was terrified. A [Gravity Shield] three meters thick instantly erupted around him. Its density rivaled a neutron star! "You can't cut this! It's Absolute Defense!"
Cade looked at the shield. The sword swung down slowly.
"I don't cut shields." "I cut... the cause of your existence."
[The 0th Law: Causality Severing]
Slash.
The cut was slow. Slow enough for everyone to see. It passed through the "Absolute Defense" like a phantom. It passed through Lin's expensive fluid armor.
Then. It sliced from Lin's left shoulder to his right hip.
Time seemed to freeze.
Lin stiffened in mid-air. He looked down at his body in disbelief. Shield intact. Armor intact. Even his skin showed no wound.
"Ha... Haha..." Lin laughed nervously. "Scared me... just a bluff... You can't cut..."
His laugh cut off abruptly.
Because he realized his upper body was slowly sliding downwards. Even though the shield was there. Even though the skin was connected. The "Concept of Connection" inside his body had been severed.
Atoms no longer attracted atoms. Cells no longer recognized cells.
"W-What is this..." Lin watched in horror as his body dislocated and crumbled like blocks. No blood sprayed. Because even the physical phenomenon of "bleeding" was rejected by this cut.
"This is called—" Cade sheathed his sword. His silver hair danced in the air. Like a descending God.
"Silence."
Click. As the sword locked into the sheath. Lin's body completely disintegrated. He turned into glittering blue dust, scattering into the night sky of District 9.
A Blue Tier powerhouse. An Arbiter regarded as a God. Left no corpse. He was simply Formatted from the physical plane.
Dead silence. Deeper than ever before.
On the ground, Red, Old Ghost, and the survivors weren't just kneeling. They were prostrate, faces in the mud, afraid to breathe. What they saw wasn't a man. It was a Miracle.
"Cough..." In mid-air, the white light around Cade vanished. His silver hair turned black instantly, dull and withered.
An indescribable weakness swallowed him. The cost of overdrafting life force hit.
Cade's vision went black. He fell from the sky like a kite with cut strings.
"Cade!!" A blood-soaked figure rushed out of the ruins. Jinx, ignoring her broken ribs, leaped high into the air with all her remaining strength and caught him.
"THUD." They crashed onto the ground. Jinx acted as a cushion, grimacing in pain, tears nearly falling.
"Hey... Madman... You alive?" Jinx's trembling hand checked his breath. Weak as a thread. Heartbeat almost stopped.
Cade struggled to open his eyelids. His vision was blurry. He saw Jinx's dirty, anxious face and forced a tiny, stiff smile.
"God..." His voice was faint as a mosquito. "God... is nothing special."
With that. Cade's head tilted. Unconscious.
Meanwhile. New Terra. Top of the Order Tower. The Core Temple.
On the massive holographic star map, the blue star representing "District 9 Arbiter" suddenly went dark.
In the center of the temple, seven figures sitting on towering thrones opened their eyes simultaneously. Terrifying pressure swept through the entire Upper Sector.
"A Blue Tier has fallen." "A 'Variable' has been born in the Outlands."
On the central throne, a figure shrouded in golden light slowly stood up. His voice sounded ancient, carrying undeniable authority.
"Investigate." "At all costs." "Find the Variable." "Then, initiate... Extinction Level Cleansing."