Chapter 32: The Wind is Howling
Rumble, rumble, rumble—a continuous thunderous sound echoed from within the world's interior.
Accompanied by an unending series of roars, the immense power of the giant god from outside the world erupted once more in an instant. Two iron-forged arms tightly gripped the right hand of the Star River Giant, forcefully pulling it toward the void.
Boom! With a deafening crash, the Star River Giant, now on both knees, slammed half its body heavily against the rift. Its right hand had already entered the void, as if the entire being was about to be dragged out of the world. But at the last moment, Fatlervi gritted his teeth and unleashed his full strength. Bracing one hand on the ground, he desperately pushed his body backward.
In an instant, dense cracks appeared around the spatial rift within the world's interior. At the site where two great existences were locked in struggle, space fractured with brittle snaps. The entire Star River Hall rumbled and shook violently, as if on the verge of total collapse.
"Damn it!"
The Time Pusher let out a furious roar. How long had it been since he was this humiliated? Even when he used the power of multiple authorities to drive that sleeping serpent out of the Siberia World, he hadn't been this embarrassed! Now, Fatlervi realized that this intruder had no intention of countering his time reversal at all. Instead, he planned to pull him out of the world and into the void—a simple, brutal, yet most effective strategy!
The spatial barrier within the world's interior was now riddled with cracks. The Star Hall shook violently, seemingly on the verge of crumbling. Fatlervi, usually as calm as a machine, was rapidly thinking of a way to counter Joshua's unreasonable actions. But soon, he found himself utterly helpless. In terms of raw strength, the two were evenly matched, but the Steel Giant had four arms—an overwhelming advantage in close combat. Superpowers were useless against a giant god formed entirely from the authority of steel, and since the opponent was in the void, the world's authority was also ineffective.
It seemed Fatlervi had no way to fight back and was about to be dragged into the void. But suddenly, the Star River Giant paused. It seemed to recall something, then muttered to itself, "Fine. Since you want to pull me out so badly..."
"Then pull to your heart's content!"
The next moment, the Star River Giant ceased its resistance. But at the same time, the phantom of the Steel Serpent coiled around Fatlervi flickered sharply, as if releasing some kind of shackle.
Instantly, the sky and earth of the entire Siberia World began to tremble violently. Everything quaked, the continent shuddered, mountains collapsed in great swaths, and the solid crust undulated in waves. Deep beneath the ocean, jagged cracks appeared, swallowing countless waters and rocks into the abyss.
Meanwhile, in the void, Joshua, who had been straining to pull Fatlervi out of the world, suddenly noticed that his opponent had stopped resisting. Though puzzled, the warrior did not halt his actions. His two right hands exerted force with the intent to snap the Star River Giant's arm—but the more he pulled, the more he realized that Fatlervi, who had abandoned resistance, remained firmly within the world, refusing to be dragged out.
"Wait, Joshua, something's wrong!"
Within Joshua's own consciousness, the Steel Serpent Carlis suddenly shouted, "Stop! This is bad!"
But how could he stop now? Such a surprise attack was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Joshua knew Fatlervi was no fool—why would he give him a second chance to overturn the board? To this day, Joshua still hadn't figured out the principle behind the other's world reversal. Fighting within the Siberia World was utterly meaningless.
Yet Joshua knew that the Steel Serpent Carlis would never give reckless advice. If it said the situation was dire, then something unexpected had indeed occurred. So, Joshua temporarily ceased his pulling, but his two right hands still gripped the Star River Giant's right hand.
However, Carlis's warning seemed too late. By the time Joshua stopped and began to calmly observe the situation in the void, even someone as composed as him couldn't help but widen his eyes.
The world—was moving!
As grand ripples spread across the calm void of the Great Maelstrom's eye, the Siberia World, which had been at the very center of the Maelstrom and moving with it, began to slowly drift toward the Maelstrom's inner wall! And the direction of its movement was exactly where Joshua had been pulling Fatlervi!
"What's going on?!"
Joshua was utterly bewildered—since when did my strength become enough to drag an entire world through the void?! he thought. But this was no time for idle speculation. According to his calculations, Joshua realized with horror that if the Siberia World did not return to its original position within eight hours, given its current speed, it would crash headlong into the Void Great Maelstrom, torn into countless fragments by the terrifying temporal turbulence and the Great Magic Tide!
"Do you think this world has always been at the center of the Void Great Maelstrom by chance?"
Fatlervi's voice came slowly from the other side of the spatial rift. His tone was calm, as if nothing mattered: "It was me. If I hadn't anchored the world's coordinates, this world would have ceased to exist long ago."
But Fatlervi's next words stunned the Steel Serpent Siberia, who had been silently watching all along.
"That great serpent has always been asleep, never once considering its own survival... If I hadn't driven away that fool, fine-tuned the world, anchored the coordinates, and made the world move with the Void Great Maelstrom, it would have long been swept in, becoming part of that endless dispersing energy and debris."
The one who had stolen the world's authority spoke calmly across the spatial rift, recounting the events of that year: "When I mastered almost all superpowers, I gained the power to break through the spatial barrier and enter the void outside the world... And when I saw that infinite energy vortex, along with the countless superpower origins piercing through our world, I immediately understood why my world had become like this... But that was not the time to ponder the origins of superpowers, for I discovered that my world was gradually deviating from its orbit, flying toward that vortex of destruction."
Then, there was no need to say more.
The strongest superhuman, holder of the authority of myriad realms, had thus exhausted all his strength to drive the sleeping Steel Serpent out of its own body and seated himself upon that supreme throne. And that was why Fatlervi was now the Time Pusher.
Now, to counter Joshua's surprise attack, Fatlervi had released the world coordinates he had anchored a thousand years ago. The one who had once saved the world now used the world's authority to send it back onto that path of destruction from long ago.
This was Fatlervi's silent question and challenge to Joshua.
[Since you have decided to oppose me for the sake of billions of lives, now a world is heading toward destruction—will you continue trying to drag me out of this world, or will you enter the world and settle this with me?]
This was a question that required no thought.
Without waiting for the Steel Serpent Carlis to say, "I can't stop it," without waiting for the Steel Serpent Siberia to shake its head in shame, admitting that even if it reclaimed its throne, it would be powerless, Joshua had already made his decision and taken action the moment he understood Fatlervi's intent.
"Fine, Fatlervi. Since that's what you want."
Then I'll beat you straight into hell on your own turf.
The silent, four-armed Steel Giant released its two right hands from the Star River Giant. Then, it placed all four arms on either side of the spatial rift and, with a forceful pull, expanded it into a gap large enough for a mountain to pass through, accompanied by the crisp sound of shattering glass. The convection between the void and the world stirred up a furious energy storm.
The wind howled.
And the Giant God stepped forward without hesitation.