This marked Drake's very first attempt at unsealing the gates to the Intermediate Space. Under ordinary circumstances, he wouldn't have possessed much confidence in pulling it off.
Right now, however, he was bolstered by the vast energetic reserves of the Demon Warder!
If he couldn't force open the Intermediate Space under these ideal conditions, doing so with his own unaided strength in this lifetime was practically a pipe dream.
HUMMM—!
As Drake mobilized his spatial authority with every shred of willpower he could muster, a gargantuan black hole spanning dozens of meters tore open directly behind the tendrils of dark vapor leaking from Im.
"Is that... the dimensional portal?" Drake's own eyes widened in disbelief at the maw of the vortex.
With an entrance of such colossal proportions, even the Demon Warder itself could easily be sucked inside.
The threshold of the Primary Space had spanned barely two or three meters across, yet this aperture looked to be a staggering eighty meters wide!
Such a massive disparity reignited a surge of fierce hope in Drake's chest. So long as he could cast Im into its depths, she could forget about ever setting foot in the outside world again.
"Perfect!" Drake was instantly reinvigorated. Even if he couldn't extinguish her life, trapping her for all eternity yielded the exact same result!
"Im! This time, it really is over!"
The instant the words left his lips, Drake materialized directly before Im, flashing her a broad, taunting grin.
If his objective was merely shoving her through the portal, he possessed absolute confidence in getting it done.
"What?!" Reconstituting into her humanoid form, Im's eyes dilated in shock as she crossed her arms before her chest in a defensive guard.
Yet after bracing herself, the anticipated frontal assault never arrived. Instead, an irresistible, gargantuan gravitational pull erupted violently from right behind her!
"This is—"
What the hell?! Drake screamed inwardly as a stampede of curses rampaged through his mind, utterly flabbergasted.
The titanic suction surging from the black hole proved far too overwhelming even for him to contest—and in the blink of an eye, both he and Im were dragged violently into the vortex together!
The scenery inverted in a disorienting flash. Drake and Im materialized within a completely new realm.
Verdant mountains rolled into the distance, pristine rivers meandered through valleys, and the crisp, clean air felt purer than anything found in the mortal world.
Yet in Drake's perception, an indescribable, unsettling oddity lingered over the entire landscape.
"So this is the Intermediate Space... But why does something feel deeply unnatural about this place...?"
This could genuinely be described as an independent pocket dimension rather than a simple spatial pocket.
The Primary Space he had navigated previously was merely an empty expanse—calling it a true world was impossible.
Its defining characteristic had been an unbroken expanse of monotonous, unchanging scenery.
Here, however, every mountain, river, and valley possessed distinct features, resembling a genuine world—yet it still felt as though something vital was missing.
[It lacks living souls,] the System chimed in at that moment.
[A true world is not so crude. It is a harmonious whole composed of the countless living beings dwelling within it. This place is merely a rough embryonic prototype—it remains an artificial pocket dimension, not a living universe.]
Only then did Drake scrutinize the details around him. The surrounding flora and fauna were enveloped in faint, ethereal halonets.
They weren't living organisms of flesh and blood.
They were merely simulated constructs forged from pure ambient energy.
"I see..." Drake nodded in quiet realization, before his eyes suddenly snapped wide. "Wait, where did that monster go?!"
He cursed his own carelessness; the moment he had crossed into this strange dimension, he had been so captivated by the scenery that he had completely forgotten he was locked in mortal combat with Im!
[Relax. It is impossible for her to escape from here,] the System stated with unwavering certainty.
"That's a relief, then." Drake exhaled a long, heavy breath. With this, the nightmare had truly reached its conclusion.
The world of pirates had ushered in a new era—an immutable, historical fact.
And now, the final curtain had officially fallen upon the Old Era.
Drinking in the scenic panorama with leisurely satisfaction, Drake casually found an outcrop of rock and sat down.
The vantage point he had picked was backed by towering peaks and faced a winding river whose crystal-clear waters revealed every pebble below.
Perched atop this high ground, looking down upon the rolling hills, a surge of romantic melancholy washed over Drake's chest, tempting him to recite a grand poetic stanza to commemorate the historic hour.
[Don't you dare open your mouth,] the System shot him a look of sheer disgust. [Do not defile the scenery with your awful drivel!]
Drake bristled in protest, about to fire back, when a deafening crash echoed from the distance. Tracing the sound, he finally spotted Im's silhouette.
"What is that idiot doing? Isn't she just ruining the environment for nothing?"
"Hey! Don't waste your breath!" Drake called out in a haughty, booming voice. "This whole place is my personal domain! Without my explicit permission, not a single soul can walk out of here! I suggest you just give up and accept your fate!"
Drake felt an exhilarating wave of triumph wash over his chest—the intoxicating rush of being the undisputed sovereign of his own realm.
In the web novels he had read in his past life, the grand protagonists always bound an independent world to their will, standing peerless beneath the heavens within their personal domains!
Though he hadn't formally gone through any mystical soul-binding ritual here, he certainly had the swagger down to a science!
Heh! Even if this pocket dimension doesn't amplify my combat power, who says I can't talk a big game to scare the life out of you?
I'll terrify you into submission!
Hmph!
"What are you glaring at?!" Drake puffed out his chest, curling his lip and squinting with an aura of arrogant, peerless detachment.
"This entire dimension belongs to me! The outside world is closed to you forever, so you might as well spend the rest of your miserable eternity rotting right here! AHAHAHAHA...!"
Drake burst into boisterous, self-satisfied laughter.
His mind was completely at ease. Wasn't this the textbook, picture-perfect finale where the novel's protagonist tied up all loose ends?
Against a spatial dimension this secure and stabilized, even if Im possessed godlike power, she would be utterly powerless to turn the tables.
Right at that moment, Im paused, turning around to fix an unblinking, prolonged stare straight at Drake.
She watched him so intently that Drake began to feel an awkward prickle of discomfort crawl across his skin. Suddenly, the corners of Im's lips split into a wide, mocking smirk.
A playful, derisive sneer spread across her delicate features, sending an inexplicable pang of cold dread straight through Drake's heart.
What... what does that look mean?
KABOOM!
In the very next second, a violent spatial tremor tore through the sky, and that colossal black hole ripped open once more directly before their eyes!
"WHAT?!" Drake's jaw dropped in absolute horror. In that exact fraction of a second, Im dissolved into a streak of black mist, plunging straight into the vortex!
"Hey! System, what the hell is this?!" Drake screamed frantically into his mindscape. Hadn't this useless ball of fur sworn that escaping this place was physically impossible?!
How on earth had that damn portal manifested again at a time like this?!
Yet the System had already scurried into the deepest, darkest corner of his consciousness, curling into an immobile lump and ignoring Drake's frantic roars entirely.
Drake: "...!!!"
This damn System was utterly useless whenever it actually mattered!
Look at the systems other transmigrators got! Every single one was the golden finger of golden fingers—if they weren't ascending to godhood in a single leap, they were cruising smoothly through life on easy street!
Yet when it came to his own, it was nothing but an endless cascade of deceptive microtransactions and bottomless traps!
The potholes he had stumbled into on this journey were longer than the road he had traveled!
"You damn, good-for-nothing System!!" Drake bellowed in raw fury. Seeing the aperture of the colossal black hole begin to collapse, he lunged forward at maximum velocity.
"You and I are not done! Just you wait!"
His frantic, throat-tearing roars echoed endlessly through the newly opened Intermediate Space...
Casting aside the humiliating, face-slapping sting of having his arrogant declaration shattered seconds after uttering it, Drake poured everything into the pursuit.
This was far too humiliating!
Moments ago, he had delivered that peerless, domineering speech, only to have his dignity trampled straight into the dirt!
He regretted opening his big mouth in the first place!
He had no one to blame but his own insufferable arrogance!
Bursting through the exit of the black hole, Drake emerged back into the physical world, only to see Im's silhouette already fading into the distant horizon.
Engaging his spatial warp, he shot across the sky in desperate pursuit!
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