Chapter 89
At his side, the sword that had been sheathed at his left hip from the beginning remained in place, resting inside a scabbard he never intended to open more than seven percent.
The sword was not merely a weapon, but an extension of the principle he had adhered to since the darkest period of his life.
He lifted it not with a dramatic gesture, but with the caution of a painter who understood that one small stroke could alter the direction of an entire masterpiece.
When he closed the sword again until it was fully sheathed, the space around him seemed to tighten gently, as if understanding that he was choosing a path far subtler than an eruption of power.
With his eyes closed, he regulated his breathing, then slowly sank into the current of energy that had long waited to be summoned.
In the silence, the sword technique he had taught only to himself began to rise, forming the silhouette of harmony between intention and strength.
As his right hand gripped the sword still entirely sealed within its scabbard, a thin vibration crept through the structure of a space not yet fully recovered from the pressure of the Highest Angels.
Theo had no intention of drawing the blade more than eight percent, for he understood that the greatest power of this technique did not lie in the slash, but in the calm that framed the Intent before the sword even shifted.
Within that grip rested a discipline forged from thousands of possible failures he once allowed to haunt him.
The light dripping from the dimension above them flickered once, then dimmed as if holding its breath, and in that moment Theo became a fixed point at the center of a cosmic vortex.
Not a challenger to Aldraya, nor a shadow of the Administrators, but something standing in its own trajectory, marking a path never recorded in any scroll.
'At first I wanted to use the One Point, Nine Acupuncture Completed Technique again.
One slash that would grow into billions, time reversed, and the RWIA exploding mercilessly.
But it feels stale.
Boring.
And far too easy for me to steal the stage Aldraya is building with her thirteen Angel Authorities.'
Fhhh!
'If I wanted, I could drown all attention with nothing but a deeper breath.
But now is not the time. So I'll try something else.
The technique Gate Opened, Suffering Unleashed.'
Within the depth of a space that had drifted from its own timeline, Theo allowed his mind to revisit an old technique Eshura once developed during his long solitude.
The One Point, Nine Acupuncture Completed Technique resurfaced as the first idea in his mind, a move that used a single slash that split itself into over one billion ninety-one million strikes within a single pull of Intent.
In that technique, time did not merely slow—it folded, dragged backward by the Resolve, Will, Intent, and Ambition he had forged through a dark journey that carved scars into both his body and soul.
But precisely because of the technique's intensity, a subtle weariness crept within him, as if the move had been used too often and lost the artistic beauty that once made it perfect.
The cosmic silence bore witness as he restrained once more the power that had once shaken the timeline.
Within the flow of consciousness, he gazed upon the grand stage Aldraya had inscribed with the presence of the thirteen Highest Angel Authorities.
Their light intertwined, forming a divine circle that drowned out any other ambition seeking to shine in front of the Administrators who now stood cornered, though not yet defeated.
Theo understood that if he wished, he could seize the attention of the cosmos in an instant with his old technique, seizing the center of the stage and placing himself alongside Aldraya's resolve.
But it was precisely this option that annoyed him, for the stage Aldraya had established was too magnificent for him to touch without disturbing the harmony now unfolding.
His reluctance was not weakness, but maturity—the kind that separates the desire to be acknowledged from the ability to restrain oneself when power no longer needs to be proven.
He chose not to blur the shading of destiny already drawn by a hand far more ancient.
At that point Theo turned away from his older technique and set his heart upon something far deeper than slashes or temporal manipulation.
He intended to summon the Gate Opened, Suffering Unleashed Technique, an art that had nothing to do with speed or number of strikes, but with the sequence of bitter experiences shaping a person's life path.
This technique was not merely a move, but a door opening toward the darkest memories Eshura had buried, where suffering became a weapon requiring neither metal nor light.
When the technique rose, a subtle pressure seeped into the structure of space—not as a threat, but as a reminder that suffering truly understood could subdue any force without leaving a physical scar.
'Gate Opened, Suffering Unleashed.
A green slash often underestimated by fighters because its color resembles a rotten swamp, though it is the foundation of the most brutal suffering multiplier.
A single sweep can multiply the damage of any technique, even that of an opponent, if executed at the proper moment.'
Fussssh!
'Every scratch, wound, or lingering vibration of energy transforms into an immeasurable surge of power.
And precisely because its effects are not limited to the user alone, this technique is far too valuable to ignore.'
Hoooossah!
'Eshura Birtash would be considered a fool if he failed to use it in every lifetime he lived within the world of Flo Viva Mythology.'
The greenish glow emerging from the technique seeped from the depth of Theo's intent, dripping like swamp fluid stirred by an ancient wind.
In the old descriptions of Flo Viva Mythology, that color was considered both disgraceful and terrifying—a shade of green that carried whispers of the swamp creatures dwelling beneath nameless mud.
When the technique surfaced within his awareness, the surrounding space twitched, as if repulsed yet forced to yield.
A single slash was enough to mark the presence of something beyond the aesthetic boundaries of normal power, for that repulsive green was not merely energy, but the residue of suffering once sublimated into pure strength.
Theo infused that trajectory into his grip, keeping a distance between will and power so as not to damage the space still trembling from the presence of the Highest Angels.
If that slash were used together with the first, second, or subsequent attacks, the Gate Opened, Suffering Unleashed Technique would multiply the impact of every swing.
When combined with the Ten Lines, Fifteen Sufferings Technique, every slash produced would carry an effect far greater than a mere scratch on the world's surface.
Its vibration could pierce the crust of the earth, shaking the world's hidden insides beneath layers of ancient stone.
This technique once became a legend among Flo Viva Mythology players, for only a few were capable of controlling the synchronization of momentum between two vastly different sources of power.
In Theo's hands, that synchronization was not only possible but seemed to be fragments of his past aligning in perfect accord.
The technique's renown stemmed not only from its power in swordsmanship but from its nature to expand, fold, and enlarge the abilities of anyone inside its momentum's reach.
Both foe and ally could receive this amplification so long as Theo maintained the precise timeline between intention and movement.
This made the technique both a blessing and a disaster, depending on whom its effects touched.
To be continued…