Solgrave's facial muscles stretched to form a bizarre grin, as if he had forgotten how to smile, and before Zack could be diverted by the unearthly creature pretending to be human, a storm of fists lit up his barrier in a blinding light of defiance; a barrage of a hundred thousand punches in the blink of an eye, covering every inch of the shield twice over.
Each strike was absolute. Each blow carried the sponsor's full might. The sky fractured, splintering like glass, revealing a void of raw chaos. Buildings disintegrated, entire streets vanished beneath the weight of Solgrave's wrath. People?—The very fabric of reality had shredded. Gone. Obliterated before they could scream.
Only two other entities remained: Azrith and Virith. Two entities on par with their monstrous sponsor, standing calm, unmoved, and watching the destruction unfold as if it were a passing drizzle.
Zack couldn't breathe. The sheer power warped existence itself, pressing against his skin like an unseen titan. And yet, his shield held. Unyielding.
Solgrave exhaled, stepping back, his fists relaxed. The storm of blows ceased, and with a smile that almost felt human, he seemed to convey that this wasn't even a warm-up, as if this didn't even count as a test.
Zack's voice was caught in his throat, horror and disbelief clawing at his mind.
Before Zack could protest. Before he could even register what had just happened! SNAP! Solgrave clicked his fingers, yawning. Time rewound. Reality stitched itself back together. The sky mended. Streets reformed. The people who had just died reappeared, walking, laughing—unaware they had ever perished over a fight that wasn't theirs. Everything returned to its perfect, undisturbed state, as if nothing had ever happened. Except... Zack knew. He remembered. And Solgrave...?
Solgrave smiled down at him. "Not bad, kid," he said. "Not bad at all..."
"Pretty low praise," commented Virith. "Does it have a bigger flaw?"
"Every super artifact does," Solgrave shrugged. "For his parents to make such an artifact is impressive, but in a couple of seconds, I can probably make out a list of weaknesses. Every power has more than one."
"Couple," Azrith eyed Solgrave, suspicious of his claim.
"Probably," Virith chuckled, sure of Solgrave's bluff.
"Just admit those two 'low-level' souls outclass you already," they said in unison, giggling to themselves. "No wonder even the mighty Soul King doesn't smite these mortals into oblivion. Potential beyond the soul indeed." They gave a fangy smile to Zack, making him reconsider the phrase 'death by kiss.'
And boy, would he die ten times over if he... Zack slapped himself mentally. "Get a grip, man!"
"My bad!" The sisters retracted the tiny aura they leaked. "We got excited there for a moment. We usually don't take sacrifices."
Zack decided to keep slapping himself mentally while talking to these three.
After slapping himself for a while, Zack asked the most important question of them all. "What is Varnyx?"
"Varnyx?" Solgrave said, confused. "The old saying that implies one world echoes into the other, distorting truth based on choices made in the visible realm?"
"Don't ask me!" Zack took a defensive stance. "You are the ones using unimaginable powers."
"Oh...!" Solgrave realized. "That's what you people started calling it recently."
Zack was a bit terrified, yet he asked. "Re...cently as in...?"
"A few centuries back." Solgrave waved it off as if it were yesterday. "Who calls 'Power' what is inconsequential. Do you want it or not?"
"Do not pressurize me." Zack stepped back, hands raised. "Shouldn't you at least tell me the drawbacks of said unknown power?"
"If you don't get greedy and tap into what you can't handle, there are none." Solgrave shrugged nonchalantly. "Go beyond, and stuff goes boom-boom. Power is power. There is nothing else behind, forward, or hiding in the shadows. It's one's stupid emotions and such that come in the way, messing up the careful balance."
"Let's assume I am a hormonal teenager, and prone to tantrums of various orders." Zack regretfully admitted. "What about people like me?"
"Same thing, kid." Solgrave frowned. "Everyone has control over themselves. To not have is impossible. You folk—weak imbeciles—just like to play 'blame thee,' rather than understand and control the output." With a wave of his hand, Solgrave created a miniature black hole in his hands. "Use the emotions instead." He tossed the black hole, activating it and pulling everyone closer. "Anger in a ball." He pointed to the black hole, then swished it away. "Gone because of bliss."
"That -- only...!" Zack stutters. "Rises more questions," he completed, panting.
"Come here." Solgrave extended his palm for Zack to hold. "It's faster to show than to explain."
Zack's hand hovered over Solgrave's outstretched palm. 'A simple touch. That is all,' he convinced himself, yet anticipation gripped his chest like a vice. His heart refused to beat, his lungs forgetting to expand—take in life.
It might have been a day, a month, or a year before Zack accepted Solgrave's hand. Time was an inconsequential concept for a soul user, after all; distance, duration, or decay have alternate measures to cancel out the adverse effects.
Solgrave's fingers curled around Zack's hand in a tight grip. Pain shot through Zack's palm, sharp and searing, as if his soul itself had been branded from the simple handshake.
The universe unraveled before Zack's eyes; every atom, every wavelength, every force, every hidden law sang within his veins.
He was everything, and everything was a part of him. He could feel stars breathing, entire galaxies pulsing with life, and time unraveled in his mind; no longer a straight line, but a sea of endless possibility.
He could pull threads of reality, weave them anew, or shape existence with a mere thought. He could start a new universe within the existing universe. A snap of his fingers, and it would blossom into being, stretching infinity within infinity—Or—he could end it all. A single thought, a mere push of his will, and this universe would cease to exist. Everything would crumble into nothingness, and he would stand as the last witness of creation's final breath.
Power without limits, only his imagination left to define the edges of his ability. Yet... somewhere beneath the overwhelming surge of godhood, a quiet voice still whispered in the dark corners of his soul: Was this the limit?
NO!
This was but a touch of Infinity—a wisp of what was possible. A simple wish for the entity he had become.
———<>||<>——— End of Chapter Nine. ———<>||<>———