The first meteor was turned into dust, but the others weren’t so easy to destroy since they were basically masses of mana. Luke had all of his mana drained, even the mana pool of the liches that he had used Mana Link had been spent completely. Still... even that wasn’t enough. So, Luke felt their mana coming to help as well... Rina, Shalia, Amanda, and Nambra’s mana came. He hoped that they wouldn’t wake up now due to that, but Luke couldn’t say if things would be that convenient. If possible, he wants them to wake up when he succeeds, but if he fails in the end... perhaps it will be for the better if they don’t.

"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Aivern shouted again after destroying three other of the meteors.

Luke watched the top of the tower collapsing while he also watched Aivern struggling. For the better or for, the worse, the meteors could only hit Aivern one at a time, so he had the chance to fight back. Still, it was clear that he was reaching his limits. Despite that, Luke wouldn’t drop his guard and began to prepare his own final attack.

Just as he had predicted, while the tower was collapsing, he found Aivern still standing even after all those attacks. He should be pretty pissed since one of his attacks was sent back at him even stronger than before... In any case, his body was completely shattered even though he was standing. Aivern’s suffering didn’t end there. Before he could have any chance to recover, Luke approached while using Stinger. Despite his current situation, Aivern still managed to move both arms and stop the attack, but not before he could be pushed back for several kilometers. The attack made the wounds that he already had an increase in size even more.

"There are only a few things more satisfying than this..." Luke said. "Come on, use your Foresight and see what will happen in the future."

Aivern clicked his tongue in annoyance... It wasn’t time for that, but he couldn’t help but fall for Luke’s taunts in the end. For the first time since he obtained the power of Foresight, Aivern saw the future ahead, only for a few seconds, but then nothing. Only darkness awaited for him in the next ten seconds. In the other Resets, he even had the power to see the future on the next Resets, and yet now...

Aivern clenched his teeth and began to pull away from the sword, trying to fight against destiny once more. However, he failed. He was out of mana, and Luke had enough time to gather some and then boost his parameters. He pushed his sword once more, and then it hit the enemy’s heart. Aivern agony started, but only started... Luke transported them to his dimension, and then Aivern saw numerous mana clones around holding replicas of Luke’s sword. They stabbed Aivern with the swords in order to steal all the mana that he could obtain.

"I can’t have you die yet... I will use your power as well to solve all this mess," Luke said and then summoned another sword.

Hypnos Rage (Mythological)

A special sword that can’t cause any damage, but those wounded by it will be put to a deep slumber. The more mana the target has, the more they can fight this effect.

Durability: 100/100

Luke sighed in relief when he saw all of the will to fight leaving Aivern’s body. The effect of the sword worked, and the final part of his plan also proceeded well. Now was the time to use the Essence Sword, and he could bet that Aivern would resist for quite a while. Still, Luke wondered if the next battle was actually something that he could win just by gaining some extra status points.

Luke wondered if he should use Memory Manipulation to see what Aivern faced before every Reset. After coming this far, it was unlikely that Luke would lose spirit no matter what he saw, but still... He decided not to do so in order for him not to think too much about what he thinks will happen and then get surprised by something else.

Essence Sword (Mythological)

A powerful sword able to steal the parameters and skills of the targets.

Strength + 5.000, Speed + 5.000, Endurance + 5.000, Resistance + 5.000,

Durability: 1000/1000

Luke put that sword on Aivern’s chest and then waited for his power to be absorbed. In the end, it is better to be than Sorry considering that the situation will determine the fate of the universe, and this is the only chance that Luke will have.

"Come to think of it, the voice said that if I lose, I would become part of the problem... Aivern lost many times and he didn’t turn to the other side, he just gave up," Luke thought.

That was a bit confusing, but Luke decided to leave it aside. Some things are better left alone, and Luke was sure that was one of them. Regardless, Luke waited and waited for the Absorption process to end, but Aivern was so much more powerful that there were no signs of ending, even though he made Luke’s parameters increase by three times... The difference in power between them was that big, and he still lost. That only confirmed the obvious, strength wasn’t everything...

Luke returned to the real world and then saw the tower collapsing on itself. That crazy fight sure did a number on it, so it was only natural that such a thing would happen. Regardless, Luke didn’t have to worry too much about that because he had accomplished his mission... and the relic was finally descending toward him. Until it fell in Luke’s hands, he didn’t have the chance to see it well, but once he touched it, the glow decreased, and then Luke saw what it was...

"A book?" Luke frowned when he saw the blue book.

Luke tried to analyze the book, but he didn’t find anything. He couldn’t even open it... he tried to muster all his strength, but it didn’t help. At that point in time, he couldn’t help but wonder if the voices of the fallen were messing with him and if they were an enemy as well. He didn’t like the idea of carrying something that he didn’t know what it was for. The voices said that he would understand once he touched it, but that was clearly a lie...

Luke decided to store the book in his dimension, but not even that he could do it... The book was unable to make it pass through the portal he created. In the end, Luke said screw it to the voices and threw the book away, but like a boomerang, it returned to him... He tried to burn it with magic, but it repelled mana. He tried to cut it with his sword, but it didn’t suffer a single scratch.

"What the hell..." Luke said while frowning. "What is this fucking book? I know that you guys are around, I demand answers."

Luke didn’t hear anything from the voices. In fact, he realized that the mana of the tower was dissipating. Probably because it was too damaged... Nevertheless, Luke didn’t know what that book was for, but he decided to put it on his chest under a cloak. It might protect him from a bullet or something.

"I guess it is time..." Luke said while looking at the weird fissure that he could only feel in the space.

While flying, Luke approached the dark hole, but then he began to feel it pulling him in little by little. He was pretty far away, so the force would only become more powerful the more he approached. Luke didn’t know that magic black holes had such an effect, but he also felt his mana being drained.

"I really don’t like this..." Luke muttered.

For a second, Luke considered attacking the black hole... but that might be more dangerous than leaving it alone. He didn’t know what was on the other side, so it was impossible to say what would happen if he attacked with all his might. Regardless, eventually, the singularity began to pull Luke with even more force, and he saw himself surrounded by darkness. While his mana was being sucked, he didn’t feel his body suffering any damage, so that was his only relief.

Eventually, Luke reached a point where he couldn’t even use mana, so the force was too powerful to escape... There was no going back, so he just strengthened his spirit and prepared for whatever happened. After being sucked with massive strength like he was a small grain of sand and the ocean had a sinkhole, Luke was taken by the darkness of the black hole.

Eventually, Luke found himself standing in a weird place. He didn’t know how or when, but he ended up landing on an earth platform that was floating. Still, that wasn’t the weird thing about the place. The weird thing was the fact he couldn’t see aside from the some platforms similar to his and a sky that was above, below, and on the sides. A dark purple sky that extends infinitely in all directions. It resembled Luke’s dimension but without the mana or the feeling of control. Also...

"My powers... I can’t feel it," Luke said while opening his eyes widely due to the surprise.

Luke expected to face weird things there, but he didn’t expect that he would lose his powers. He felt some mana on the black hole, but not the power to steal anything from others aside from mana. Something was off... The most obvious explanation was that Luke was in a place with no connection to his universe; thus, the laws and the system that exists there don’t work in that dimension. Still, how could earth platforms float, then?

"I am back to being a normal guy, huh..." Luke said. "It isn’t like I didn’t imagine something like this wouldn’t happen eventually, but..."

Either way, if the system doesn’t work there, then it means that whoever or whatever he might find there couldn’t be much stronger than him. If they are stronger, then some sort of system existed, and Luke had to figure it out.

While Luke was trying to understand that place, he could tell that such a dimension was rather ominous even without his powers. That never-ending skull passed some seriously bad vibes to Luke. In any case, all of a sudden, another platform began to approach Luke’s, and then a purple shadow materialized there. Luke thought of using his sword and attacking first, but even that had disappeared completely... And he didn’t make it using Projection.

Luke frowned when the shadow took a shape similar to his... wearing a cloak and all that. He couldn’t help but scoff since he didn’t think that his mind would be tested at that point. Still, the possibility always existed, and he was prepared for everything.

"What are you smiling for?" The shadow asked, and Luke heard his own voice. "Do you have any reason to do that?"

"Boy, oh boy... is this for real?" Luke asked. "Where is the last boss, I don’t have time for this nonsense."