The entire center of the purple sea explodes, completely dominated by the red and blue gel radiating off of our attacks when they collide on the silver Demon's chest and back.
Every last remaining silver thread in its fleeting form detaches and surges through the shockwave of fire and ice. Many of these threads fold back into the void and disappear from sight.
Large pockets of space open up all over this sea of consciousness, as its main binding force of gravity just got entirely obliterated and overpowered.
Even from the outside perspective, looking through Ember's eyes, there is no longer a uniform spherical blob of gel inside this soul array.
It has become a bent, chaotic sea full of holes.
Yet, I don't feel any significant shift take place upon impact.
There is no system notification, or even rushing memories that flow into my mind.
Even the Demon's cold eyes don't seem to go away. I can still feel his gaze peering down at us like we're still lesser lifeforms.
As I allow a fiery red gel-like aura to flow out of me, attempting to sense why this is the result, a resounding deep voice echoes in my mind again.
"That was a body and useless burnt-out immortal core that I would have had to part with anyway... I cannot be held back by such meaningless things!"
The purple sea around us trembles, like every remaining part of gel is speaking directly into my mind. It is like we're floating inside its soul.
Even the shattered glyphs and strands of soul ties that make up the array surrounding us, it all vibrates and creates invisible strands and pathways of gravity in the void connecting it all together.
I feel the rate of my absorption start to decrease, and even start to move in directions unconsciously, like I'm being swept away in a dangerous current.
Through the pockets of space our last attacks created, Maria and I latch onto these holes like gravitational hand grips and footsteps to fight against the force pulling everything inward.
We both thrust ourselves through space in jagged patterns, escaping from the sea we worked so hard to swim through.
Almost instantly, the entire power balance of the battle shifts again.
Both of us burst out of the outer edges of the sea, floating in the dark membrane again, but now with only the fractured soul ties to our back.
Our energy bodies are filled to the brim with dense, concentrated gel tethered together by silver threads, making our weight in the void far more noticeable.
It does not throw us around like leaves in the wind any longer. There is an essence of mutual understanding in the fabric of space, as though now it recognizes us as life that can interact with it.
The confusing sense of infinite directions no longer plagues my unenlightened mind. Now, the subtle rhythms in this abyss are quite simple, and there is no longer any way I could get lost in its vastness.
Along with this understanding, I begin to comprehend why Noctus is still able to talk, and even exert so much control over his surroundings despite the destruction of his physical form, including his merged cores.
It is because his soul and will to exist are still far greater than both of ours combined.
The pressure that has been weighing on this abyss for over a billion years cannot so easily be undone. It is like a deep dent pushed into malleable metal. It is not a simple task to just flatten it out, there are many residual cracks and bends that remember the original form. The longer it has remained, the more resilient the existence of a pressure wishes to continue the same patterns it has always followed.
These laws of nature make themselves known all around, as the heavy and sharp pressure of space tries to fill itself in with energy where we float. It has been so accustomed to a dense, raging sea here, but now there is only the absence of space left.
In the center of the sea where Noctus disappeared, all of the scattered and fluctuating gel falls inward toward it. It is like a whirlpool of demonic pressure; small thin streams of soul ties and white glyphs even spiral down into its center as fragments of the arrays around us weaken more and more.
When I stare into its center, I still feel the eyes of this Ancient Demon staring right back.
All of the flashing and flickering white glyphs that fall deep into its center begin to make an eerie sense of foreboding emerge, as I watch them begin tethering to some of the densest streams of purple gel.
They are extremely simple and incomplete connections, but I comprehend exactly what he's doing.
It is the one flaw I found in his use of this energy, the fact that he never bound it with the Demonic Legacy...
The very faint glyphs that were already floating up from the depths of my soul to attempt tethering to my own red gel now flicker with more life. They shine with white and crimson glows, making cylindrical columns of glyphs around every single silver thread that forms in my being.
Maria's Creator's Legacy Glyphs start to pulse and flash in reaction to mine. Then, the enormous pool of consciousness begins to consolidate and take the shape of its true form before our eyes.
____________________________
Author's Note:
If you're enjoying Dungeon Diver and want to follow Jay on his journey 20+ chapters ahead of schedule, check out the Patreon link in my profile bio.
There's custom chapter art for every new daily upload too!
Thanks for reading:)
____________________________