Jett's thoughts burned quietly as she saw this... The Eradicators target the weak first. And Ron hasn’t awakened his Heart Jenka yet. If this one strikes now… protecting him will be difficult. I won’t let what happened before repeat itself. The image of Ron’s bloodied body burned back into her mind, the helplessness of that moment would have consumed her if not for Emma’s healing magic, he might have been lost. Jett’s jaw tightened as the thought hardened into resolve.

  Dan, in contrast, remained as calm as ever, his stillness unruly, as though unmoved by the shifting air. His deep blue eyes slid toward Liz; she stood rigid, her anger veiled in control, but it lingered like frost clinging to steel. He knew she loathed the Eradicator’s persistence, it's endless attempts to manipulate everyone's existence, even when it cannot as they all already have knowledge about their existences, but still, the irritation festered.

  Perhaps I should use my Lime-state again, Dan thought silently, his gaze drifting toward Jett. She was taut with vigilance, positioned protectively beside Ron. His eyes lingered. I should use it… so this boy wouldn't get hurt because I didn't react in time again.

  Slowly, he shifted his gaze once more.

  Emma.

  She stood a little apart from the others, wrapped in her coat, her silver hair swaying slightly with the faint breath of wind. Her unique white eyes were partly closed, her expression calm, too calm for one her age. Her breaths were long, deliberate, almost as if she were drinking in the cold air, unshaken while the others stood on edge.

  Seeing this, Dan finally made his decision to use his Lime-state again and search for the Eradicator true body if it's anywhere in the fruit..

  But just as he drew a breath to speak,

  Emma’s voice cut through, calm yet unwavering.

  “A battle is about to start,” she said, her words clear against the hush of the frozen world. “So I suggest everyone be ready.”

  Her declaration lingered in the air, making the others turn to her, confused..

  What happened next was not in everyone's expectation at the moment. Just after she said that, Emma raised her right hand.

  Her fingers were relaxed at first, open like she was about to catch the falling snow, but then she shifted, pointing up to the gray heavens.

  “You’re everywhere…” she murmured, voice quiet, yet carrying something strange in the frozen air.

  Her gaze lowered, slow and intentional, her hand rotating as if tracing a path from the clouds to the ground itself. When her finger leveled at the snowy ground a short distance away, her eyes seemed to catch a faint glow, an unreadable light gleaming within their depths.

  “But now…” she continued, her tone calm.. too calm for what followed.

  Her finger stopped. She pointed sharply, her eyes locking on the spot like a predator cornering its prey.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  “You… are… here.”

  The world shattered with a deafening BOOM!!

  Snow and earth erupted in a violent spray as if reality itself had cracked under her words. Thick white smoke churned upward, swallowing the spot where she pointed. The sound echoed like thunder rolling across the endless wastes, silencing even the wind for a moment.

  Emma’s hand trembled faintly as she lowered it. Her lips parted just enough for her breath to show against the cold, but she didn’t flinch. What she had manifested was no accident.

  Omnipresence Dragger.

  It was a paradox given form, an ability that allows her to impose a paradox on anything that is in an omnipresent state.. and when used, it causes the collapse of the omnipresence state, thereby dragging out the entity, to anywhere she wants..

  This was what she had just manifested... A force that denied the impossible.

  Jett’s eyes widened slightly, as the coat draped around her shoulders fluttered from the residual impact earlier. Ron blinked, his pale gray eyes sharp but uncertain. Liz, frozen mid-step, the emerald of her eyes glinting like cut glass, stared with parted lips. Even Dan, whose blue eyes rarely wavered, shifted slightly,

  They all were surprised by the sight before them,

  It was something to be expected by beings like them, most especially those who carried the Ash of Creation.. But this? This was far more than expected. The Ash Of Creation is profound and something to be learnt slowly, through discipline and training. it also requires practice, a clear and controlled state of mind for imagining complex things so the wielder wouldn't create something that would damage them..

  To them, Emma was too young for creating something that complex without damaging herself.

  And yet, there she stood, silver hair brushing against her cheek, lips tugging into a small, uncertain smile as their stares weighed on her, and without knowing what to say, the first random thing that came to mind slipped from her mouth.

  “I’ll… name it Omnipresence Dragger, for now,” she said, her voice soft, a hint of shyness threading through her words. She shifted slightly, one hand pressing against her coat as though grounding herself. “And don’t worry… it’ll be destroyed after this fight.”

  The words had barely left her lips before a bloodlust aura emanated from the area of impact earlier..

  From within the thick white smoke, a low growl rumbled... so deep it felt as though the very existences around recoiled. It dragged across reality, vibrating everthing, like the warning of a beast roused from slumber.

  The smoke twisted violently, the pale white color bleeding into ash, then green, then dark green, like an abyssal shade that swallowed the light.

  The gray sky above seemed to respond. Clouds thickened, their pallor turning black, and from their depths streaks of green lightning began to tear across the horizon, lashing the heavens with vicious cracks. Each bolt lit the snow in an unnatural glow, painting the fruit in hues that did not belong.

  And just at that moment, like the splintering of a glass across reality,

  Existence fractured,

  And from the fracture, a silhouette slipped through, faint yet sharp, carrying with it an aura that could only be described as doom at it's wake!..

  Reality bent around it. Existence groaned beneath it.

  In the blink of an eye, its arm lashed forward.

  An existence fracturing punch was already tearing through the air, aimed directly at Emma.

  Emma's eyes widened. She hadn’t felt its bloodlust focus on her; it had been scattered... scattered deliberately to pull her attention away. She realized it too late. She was its target all along.

  The strike was only inches from her face.

  Too close.

  Too fast.

  No time to dodge.

  Every path of escape her mind tried to conjure fractured beneath the inevitability of the blow.

  But then..

  Something happened.

  Something she hadn’t expected.

  Something that unfolded right before her eyes.

  A calm hand settled on her shoulder.

  The touch was firm, grounding, yet almost casual, an anchor against the chaos tearing at reality.

  A voice followed, deep and inviolable, carrying the weight of that which makes all things futile simply by its decree...

  “Meaningless…”

  The single word resounded, cold as judgment.

  BOOOOM!!!

  The green lightning up above roared widely....

  The battle between groundless existences

  Had just begun..

  (T^T) please consider leaving a five star rating, or maybe a review. It will greatly help the story :D

  If you would love to read more chapters and support my writing, here's my shameless patreon plug:

  https://discord.gg/k9MA7ZUQGJ