"Where is this place?" Boa asked.
She had watched what happened to Mary Geoise standing right next to Adam. He had made her invisible so the ones he left alive don't identify her.
But now, the fiery landscape before her was a first of its kind. Humungous grey mountains reached the pitch-black sky. The ground itself seemed like molten lava that fired out pillars of flame, making her question if she should move or not.
After Mary Geoise sunk into the sea Adam said he wanted to show her something. And then they arrived here.
"This is Hell." He said. "I promised that they would suffer, much more than they had put others through. This place will make that happen."
From the tallest mountain, Boa could see the celestial dragons on the land below. They rolled around in pain, being burned and crying themselves. They pulled out their hair in agony as the chilly air cracked their skin, giving them a slow and painful death. Before it started all over again, trapping them in an endless cycle of pain.
"They will continue to receive pain in newer forms so that the sensation doesn't dull. I have implemented the methods they used to torture their slaves, like branding and whipping too. So, they'll understand what they have been doing." Adam didn't have much time to create his place, and the mana he could use was limited too. That is why he went with a simpler version that administered as much pain as possible to the people in question.
'The ones left alive will serve their purpose soon.' Since he had envisioned the plan to completion, no one would be able to derail it now.
"You didn't have to show this to me, I would've believed it as long as you said it was done." Boa didn't want to ruin her pleasant mood by looking at Celestial Dragons.
"I could've, but It is necessary for you to confirm it." This was both for the proper completion of the contract, and to give Boa proper closure.
"…I do feel lighter after seeing this, but I don't want to see them again." She stood next to him, overlooking the hell that she once suffered through. "Let's go back."
"Sure." Adam took her back to the location the door appeared.
Her bathroom…
"Well… contact me at your discretion." Handing her the card, Adam left Amazon Lily as quickly as he had arrived.
He intended to give her the time she needed. And other things needed his attention now.
Now, he was back at the edge of the universe.
"Finally, back from your little romantic trip through hell?" The administrator snarked, his hands moving busily on the terminal. "Thanks to your display, that timeline is on the verge of collapsing."
"On the verge. It hasn't collapsed yet. I'll connect my reserves to the terminal, you can use the mana without worries." Adam said.
"You sure are ballsy. You know that I can simply empty your reserves without restraint if you do that." The administrator smirked.
"You are free to try." Adam said, not a hint of nervousness in him.
"...You sure are confident." The Administrator laughed and got to work.
The amount of mana needed to repair the timeline was beyond normal amount that any being can hold, mostly because it was considered a waste and left the person vulnerable afterward. It wasn't just a spell—it was stitching together the very fabric of reality itself including everyone in it. Every thread of the damaged timeline seemed to devour mana as the mana had to cover the entire timeline. A bottomless pit that hungered for more with every pulse of energy released, a work on the universal scale.
The administrator monitored Adam's reserves going down. However, the recovery seemed faster. By the time 1% of the mana was consumed, it was already replenished. It was baffling no matter how many times he saw it.
"How is this happening? You should've used 25% of your mana, but why are you recovering so fast?" The Administrator looked at the calm Adam with a frown.
"Ever heard about communicating vessels?" Adam asked.
"You use that method?" Perplexed, the Administrator blinked.
The method Adam used to speed up his recovery was a science experiment he did in school. The one with two bottles connected with a straw. When water is taken from one bottle, the water from the other bottle will travel through the straw to equalize the level between them.
Adam used that method for his mana tank. Just that he did it on a monstrously larger scale.
"People who were born with an abundance of mana wouldn't understand its appeal, but this is what brought me to this point."
Starting as a human his mana reserves were nothing compared to dragons and gods, but through experimentation and failures, he developed this method to fight with them on equal footing even when he was a human. This was the crazed man who did whatever he could to reach Godhood.
"Right now, the size of my secondary mana tank rivals a universe. So go on, try to empty it." Adam challenged.
"Man… You are seriously the most unimpressively impressive man I've met." The Administrator grumbled.
"You are turning to snide remarks when you can't do anything, huh? Didn't expect that of you." Adam shrugged it off.
The administrator continued in silence after that. Adam observed from nearby seeing him restructure the world he had come from. Although he didn't need to use heavy-handed method, he had to do it in this case. It was an effort of breaking out of his ways, to start on his real journey.
Change requires such action, that was why he did it.
"I regret saying that stuff to you last time. You really aren't scared of me, but what would've happened if your actions were punished." Administrator muttered as the repairs came to an end. "Who knew that my words would come back to bite me in the ass."
"It's not like you can actively predict what happens for beings who reach our stage. I gave you the mana as a thanks for that in a way. If I wanted to, I could've stopped it when you repaired Robin's world. The extra you took to stabilize your universe after that fight is something I overlooked on purpose." Adam said.
"Thanks for that. It would've run my reserves low, leaving the world vulnerable. But still, I don't think I can be friends with you anymore. What you did violated my principle." The administrator folded his arms and leaned against the terminal. "Today or later, I will get back at you."
"Well… do as you wish, with the consequences in mind." Adam shook his head before summoning the door to his shop. "Then, until next time."