Luke began to sweat cold. That couldn’t possibly be a good thing... If his body gets corrupted, he will become a dangerous existence to the universe. In the first place, the miasma wasn’t supposed to exist, and if he leaves that dimension while emanating that, he will only cause an even worse situation...

"Physical bodies aren’t supposed to exist here either," the monster said. "Thanks to that book, you were able to keep your physical form here, but usually, you would take so much damage instantly that you would explode down to an atomic level. Your body was healed so many times that it now is basically dark energy itself."

Luke didn’t doubt that such a thing was possible. After all, he could make mana clones, and they could work for him and even train skills as long as he gave them. Beings made of pure energy were possible... Luke was facing one of them right now. Still, for Luke to transform into something like that or even a hybrid. That wasn’t the only problem... Luke had fought until now because he wanted to have a future after all this. However, he was losing that future, or he would lose it, even if he won...

Luke wasn’t selfless enough to fight for the sake of the universe out of goodwill, he was fighting for his friends and family, sure, but he also was fighting to survive and live a normal life again. Without that... where could he muster the will to fight. He was that kind of guy... who could only do his best when there was something up for him.

"All living beings need reasons to fight, but they can’t do it when in the end, their lives will end," The monster said. "You fought and killed until now because you wanted to live, are you going to keep fighting even though you will end up becoming what you fought against? Will you keep fighting even though your sole reward will be you staying here without being able to do anything for all eternity? If you are such an contradictory being, then I will kill you in the next attack. Of all those who challenge me, you disgust me the most."

Luke couldn’t say a word against that... he knew that he didn’t have much of a choice. He had to win. Otherwise, his friends and family will be doomed. However, could he win with those thoughts in mind when he fears what is about to come next? While the monster was preparing its next attack to decimate Luke once and for all, he wondered what he should do. He didn’t lose the will to fight, but what would come next truly terrified him... an eternity alone in a place where living beings weren’t supposed to exist. The book probably had an expiration date, and once that expires... his body will be crushed by that dimension forever.

Still, at the last moment, Luke let out a sigh. It wasn’t his style to sacrifice himself for others, but that was something he had to do. He had to reach the end of his journey after all the things he had to endure. Besides, at least once in his life, he had to act without feeling so pathetic.

"Look on the bright side, I will have a lot of time to think of a way to deal with the miasma once I solve that problem once and for all, I will be too old to wish to live even longer," Luke muttered while showing a small smile. "Sorry, thing. In the end, I can’t let things end like this. Even if it is hypocrisy considering my usual behavior, I will save the universe for my own personal gain."

"We will see if you will be able to do it," the monster said while it was controlling a massive mass of dark energy that made many fissures appear in that dimension just by existing. "You will be the first to witness the attack that I will use to destroy the whole universe... you should feel proud of that."

"Give your best shot," Luke said and then raised his sword.

Luke’s worries had disappeared completely, despite the final boss being in front of him and the fact that he was going to face a spell that was supposed to wipe him out from existence. Everything Luke thought that was just one other task he had to do for his job. After dealing with that, he will deal with miasma, and that will probably be a pretty boring task, so he had to enjoy the last excitement of his life.

The monster looked at Luke and saw the resolution in his eyes, he hadn’t lost his mind, and he wasn’t planning on dying, so he truly was planning to end things there... That truly enraged the monster. To the point that he even added almost all the energy in his body, even though that would put him to sleep for a while. Still, he was fine with that. He just couldn’t bear to look any more second to that foolish creature in front of him. The creature believed that the nature of all living beings was determined at birth. The creature itself believed that it was a tool to cleanse the universe, a tool of destruction... while the other people in the universe were beings of destruction. The creature saw many times since it was like a guardian of that place. It saw the memories of those who created the miasma. They were all greedy and foolish beings who caused nothing but destruction and despair. The creature didn’t like or dislike it, but it respected them for sticking with their nature to the very end...

For that same reason, the creature couldn’t accept Luke’s attitude, he destroyed and took many lives, and now he wants to protect and restore things for his own convenience. That wasn’t something the creature couldn’t even begin to understand...

"DISAPPEAR!" The monster shouted and then fired the massive purple sphere of dark energy.

At the last moment, Luke took a deep breath. He focused all the dark energy on his sword and covered his body as well, while he used mana only to heal himself. The moment the attack landed, Luke was completely overwhelmed and then fell to the bottom of the dimension. His body began to crumble away due to the sheer pressure of the attack, but he still kept using his sword to block the attack. The sphere also didn’t show any sign of breaking the sword, so it seemed that Luke had a chance... Or so he thought.

The sphere of energy began to spread around the area even though Luke held back the sphere’s closest part. He didn’t know what to how that happened, but instead of being smashed by a massive sphere of energy, he began to be smashed by a cube, and that was way worse.

"Not... Good," Luke muttered as he saw his fingers turning into particles of dust.

Naturally, just his guts won’t be enough for Luke to win... He needed something else. It was hard to think when one’s body is literally being crushed and destroyed by something way more powerful than a singularity, so Luke slowly was starting to be cornered.

"Hey, stupid book... Now is the time to show a trump card if you have one," Luke muttered. 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

Unfortunately, Luke didn’t get any response and just felt worse for acting like a fool. As usual, he could only rely on himself, and that was what he was going to do. After thinking for a while, he realized that he only had one last option, and that would seal everything.

"... I suppose I won’t need my lifespan since I am going to stay here forever," Luke said, and then he used Time Manipulation on his body. "It is time to pick up the pace..."

Luke used Time Manipulation to make the time in his body pass faster. Thanks to that, he managed to make his body recover faster and also made him obtained more mana and dark energy. Still, making his body experience time moving sixty times faster didn’t help him push the massive block of energy that was smashing him. He tried 3600 times more, and while he felt some difference, it was minimal...

"That fucker... Is that thing holding back and only using the same amount of power as me?" Luke asked.

Luke finally noticed that something was off... But he didn’t waste time with that. Luke decided to make the enemy regret that, and he gave the creature one heck of a surprise... He made the time pass 31 million times faster in his body. Making him lose one year of his lifespan per second and granting him the same boost in power.

Numerous fissures appeared around that dimension in response to Luke’s power. At the same time, he pushed back that massive mass of energy toward the enemy and kept charging while adding his own power.

"What?" The monster opened its eyes widely.

The creature knew that Luke might have a triumph card, but the monster didn’t expect something of that magnitude. The monster used its own power to push back the mass of energy, but it was useless. The creature itself began to be pushed down and smashed despite being at its full power. At that point in time, it couldn’t do much aside from risking everything... The monster charged head on to the mass of energy, and eventually, it exploded. An explosion that had enough energy to end the universe...

For who knows how long, the dimension trembled and cracked like it was about to collapse, but in the end, all that energy began to disperse and calm down. Luke didn’t know for how long he stayed unconscious, but he saw the last fissures connecting that dimension with the real world closing when he woke up. At the same time, he saw his body was completely fine... Most of it was already made of the purple miasma, so that was probably why he survived that massive explosion. Even if he had tons of mana and healing capability, there was only so much he could do with it when all of your cells were destroying down to an atomic level.

Regardless, despite the crazy fight, Luke was feeling fine. The miasma of that dimension was mostly being drawn to him, but he was fine... The voices in his head weren’t strong enough to bother him anymore. As for the monster... It probably lost its body, but it will return if the miasma isn’t dealt with.

Suddenly, the blue book began to glow and then left Luke’s body and headed toward the last of the fissures connecting to reality... While watching that, Luke raised his left hand as if he was trying to grab that exit before it closed, but then Luke saw that his arm had turned into the same as the enemy. He couldn’t leave...