MIGHT AS WELL BE OP Chapter 976: Time Splintering
Previously on MIGHT AS WELL BE OP...
The whole separate plane plunged into utter silence after everyone witnessed Lucian's sudden disappearance. No idiots lingered among them; excluding Altheria and Veronica, all those gathered grasped exactly what Aaaninja had inflicted on Lucian. Most had never beheld such a spectacle before—wiping out a person so effortlessly, so totally, like existence was mere scribbles on a slate ready to be erased without a trace.
While countless methods could mimic those outcomes, banishing someone from the timeline was a whole other beast entirely. In truth, the chasm between mere death and utter non-existence loomed vast and horrifying. Timeline erasure nailed that distinction perfectly. Lucian Darkheart's full being had been dismantled, uprooted from its core, ripped free from causality's weave as if the world itself scorned any idea of his prior life.
It rendered revival or rebirth nearly unattainable for those watching. Such notions made the onlookers narrow their eyes, breaths hitching, chests constricting, like an invisible fear gripped their very lungs. Had Lucian Darkheart just met eternal doom... the real kind, from which even myths never clawed back?
Could Klaus even revive a soul that had never been? Riven Darkheart and Vespera Darkheart's gazes turned stormy in an instant; this was their boy, their flesh and heir. Yet they held their tongues briefly. Their offspring had pulled off insane feats before, wonders that mocked reason and norms, so they clung to the slim chance he'd somehow reforge his presence, dragging himself from oblivion as he always seemed to manage.
Aaaninja let out a quiet sigh, savoring his triumph for a beat. Having unleashed that power, he faced a full day before wielding it again. That's why he'd avoided deploying it on anyone in this crowd. Though his Eyes Of Genesis bestowed godlike powers like the one he'd hurled at Lucian, certain ones still demanded lengthy cooldown periods. Otherwise, some reckless fool might overuse them nonstop until backlash or fatigue claimed their life.
Aaaninja's vibrant, clock-shaped rainbow eyes lifted skyward, prodding Klaus to proclaim his victory at last. He harbored no real concern for Lucian's current state. Klaus had urged all to clash without restraint, after all. Lucian's fate now hung solely on the overseer, and if this realm's master permitted it, then the fallout was just battle's toll.
Sensing Aaaninja's stare, Klaus parted his lips to name the victor, yet before a sound escaped, reality quaked with crushing might and power. The full separate plane shuddered violently, space warping in fury, time shards wailing like nails on stone, and the ground heaving as if some primordial force battered through being itself.
All couldn't resist raising brows in bewilderment, clueless to the cause. Riven and Vespera broke into broad grins despite themselves. In their minds, Lucian was surging back, that fragile spark of hope blooming into solid belief.
A swirling maelstrom born of Time, Space, Law, Order, Nihility, and Void shuddered into being, slashing a gash across reality's veil. Through it emerged a figure with steady, leisurely strides. He measured six feet tall, frame slim yet toned to perfection, aura subdued but crushingly potent. His eyes gleamed black, abyssal and infinite, crowned by locks of hair like a shadowy throne.
Lucian's gaze locked onto Aaaninja, a massive grin splitting his features as he regarded him. He had to concede, that move caught him off guard, yet this was Aaaninja after all. A stunt this wild fit right in his wheelhouse, and maybe he should've seen such madness coming.
'How?' Aaaninja pondered inwardly, eyes sharpening in shock. He couldn't fathom Lucian's escape from oblivion, a void beyond voids, untouchable by rules or concepts alike.
Even if Lucian possessed means to self-restore, it shouldn't have worked. Non-things couldn't wield skills or powers... but somehow, Lucian had shattered that ironclad rule, defying all known truths.
Yet Aaaninja overlooked a key detail. Lucian wielded Reality Anchor, a power that tethered him to reality proper, one he'd employed to link his presence so that whenever Aaaninja and Anthony shared a space, he'd materialize automatically.
Lucian triggered this during his clash with Anthony and Aaaninja against the Demon King’s clone. The power ran autonomously, needing no active will or mana upkeep. Just an initial mana burst to set the trigger conditions for Reality Anchor.
From then on, it operated flawlessly. Whenever criteria aligned, Reality Anchor fired without question, ignoring logic, cause-and-effect, and even total wipes.
That's how he'd reemerged.
A grin spread over Anthony's mouth as he observed Lucian from his vantage. He'd foreseen exactly this twist. His Sense Dome already offered insane insight and prediction, spotting potential paths before they solidified.
And so, the duel reignited. Lucian had clawed free from oblivion, ready to press on, as if existence had merely hit pause to let him rejoin.
Grinning broadly, Lucian drew his blade with a fluid motion as words left his lips.
His Black Sword Intent surged once more as he loosed his supreme Sword Technique. Though it faltered against Anthony, Lucian understood not all could endure a edge bearing oblivion's full crush.
Aaaninja's Eyes Of Genesis flashed as the assault barreled in at blistering pace and brutal might. No need for questions or hesitation; evasion was impossible. Death's icy grip already prickled his back, mind and spirit screaming for any counter before the blow landed.
No defense could blunt such a strike.
Fortune smiled, though—Lucian's timeline erasure had shattered his Null Field from lack of being, freeing Aaaninja's mana from all restraint or disruption now.
In a flash of will, he invoked another ability, his tone booming like a god's decree, thundering over the plane.
Instantly, vast mana exploded from his depths, surging upward as blue radiance flooded the void, the air quaking like existence teetered on the brink of shattering beneath the impending torrent.