My Talent's Name Is Generator Chapter 784 Thirty Seconds

Raising my eyes from the runes, I locked gazes with him straight on. "This isn't a battlefield you made," I stated calmly. "It's a filter instead. A spot where being itself gets judged and cast out unless it fits your criteria."

"Indeed," he answered without any irritation, his voice carrying a hint of pride. "Blunt destruction wastes effort. But filtering sharpens results. And you..." His stare fixed on me. "You made it past."

The other Eternal advanced, thicker deathmist swirling around him, his words edged with more bite now.

"A mortal syncing with deathmist sans any outside tether," he uttered deliberately. "Lacking a transformation nucleus. Without loaned power. Can you grasp how utterly improbable that ought to be on a statistical level?"

The Feran Transcendent's ears twitched down a bit as he fixed his gaze on me. "So you're claiming no artifact's involved? Nothing like a relic? Or some implant?"

"Correct," the Eternal stated bluntly. "He stands as the outlier."

His focus shifted back to me entirely.

"Capture awaits you," he went on. "Your form will be dissected. Your pathways charted. Your source followed back to its initial twist."

Inside the dome, North's blades gleamed with greater clarity.

Electricity slithered along Steve's back like a creature alive as he adjusted his position.

I stayed motionless.

While I kept unraveling the barrier's code, a certain design caught my attention and held it. It possessed grace. Antiquity. It predated by far anything I'd acquired through the system, even surpassing the Eternal rune systems embedded across the facility.

Now the weapon-bearing Eternal cocked his head, examining me with deeper interest, as intrigue replaced aggression.

"He feels oddly recognizable," he murmured thoughtfully. "How his core flows. How deathmist reacts to him."

The one without arms shot a quick look aside. "Recognizable in what way?"

"The Legion of Primal Flame," the armed figure responded after a brief hesitation. "Those in it handled both core energy and deathmist seamlessly, no clash."

Silence hung noticeably then.

"Yet they were Eternals," the unarmed one pointed out, his voice laced with wariness. "This one's no Eternal."

The armed Eternal hoisted his weapon overhead, its edge vibrating softly.

"Can we be completely sure?"

Suddenly, the armed Eternal lunged into action.

In one instant, he lingered idle amid the swirling deathmist zone, and the next, his sword lined up flawlessly against my dome, its tip buzzing while nearby taint gathered in an eerie fashion.

From the blade burst a ray of deathmist, slim initially, broadening as it spanned the gap. Not chaotic or bursting. Rather, it stayed exact, packed tight, built to penetrate instead of dominate.

My response came without delay.

From my dome, deathmist rushed out, layering upon itself as I molded it into a defensive wall. The ray hit squarely, slicing into the shield and forcing it back a few meters before stalling out. The atmosphere wailed from the clash of tainted powers, black lightning bolts flying apart and gouging light furrows into the barren soil underfoot.

The ray faded away.

Through the turmoil, the armed Eternal's derisive snort rang out. He reset his pose and slashed sideways this time.

That cut unleashed a broad, paper-edge curve of deathmist, carving across the field like a scythe aimed to bisect all before it.

Direct opposition wasn't my plan.

I built up layers of protection.

First a sheet of deathmist appeared, followed by a second, then a third, positioned just apart, each calibrated to soak up force rather than defy it. The curve crashed against the initial layer, ripped it apart, battered the next, decelerated on the last, and burst in a fierce spray that hurled tremors over the terrain.

Even as the echoes lingered, the unarmed Eternal pressed ahead.

He pulled his arm rearward, deathmist and dark bolts twisting snugly over his knuckles, squeezing until the nearby air distorted.

His punch followed.

An immense fist of packed deathmist roared our way, dragging streaks of shadowy lightning that whipped out and charred the world's face in its wake.

My concentration sharpened.

Once, the dome throbbed as I drew deathmist inside, compressing it fiercely. Then I drove my fist out.

From the dome exploded a huge deathmist form, crafted as a gripped hand, heavy and firm, charging at alarming velocity. Midway through the air, the fists met.

Deafening force erupted from the crash.

A blast wave burst forth, leveling landscapes, splitting rocks, and flinging tainted rubble everywhere. The dome quaked hard, tension coursing through my pathways, yet it endured.

Once the sounds died down, awareness struck me.

Depletion wasn't happening.

Scarcely touched remained my stores of deathmist. Hours of this I could sustain, should necessity demand.

Lightning danced over Steve's frame as he eyed me, readying himself. "How come you're holding back your domain?"

With a slow breath out, I watched the Eternals, their faces turning from wonder to scheming assessment.

"You figure I wouldn't if I could?" I murmured softly. "Access is denied to me."

Steve's jaw clenched. "Some block?"

"Held down," I explained. "An element in this domain disrupts my own domain."

Genuine surprise showed at last.

The armed Eternal's form altered, crouching lower, sword tilting as his gaze intensified.

The unarmed Eternal drew up too, shedding his easy interest.

Together they advanced.

Around them both, deathmist swelled as they forged something weightier, more solid. No hasty jab or test blow here. This marked their hallmark assault.

High the armed Eternal lifted his sword, deathmist whirling up its edge as the local field warped to feed the weapon.

"Oblivion Sever," he declared.

Forming came a ray, vast and intensely packed, twisting reality as it settled.

Simultaneously, the unarmed Eternal moved up and lifted his hand, deathmist and lightning gathering till a giant hand's outline hovered over him.

"Null Judgment."

Beneath his breath, Steve cursed. "Shit."

Deeply I inhaled.

Node Two I triggered.

Reality jolted.

In a fierce rush, power inundated my frame, attributes soaring, pathways expanding amid the stress. Might, mastery, resolve—all propelled ahead together. At once, the deathmist nearby obeyed, growing denser, firmer, yielding wholly to my command.

Outward my intent I extended.

Before the dome, twin massive deathmist hands took shape, overlapped, bolstered, edges shimmering with pent-up might.

First the ray impacted.

Next the hand.

Cataclysmic rang the clash.

Brilliance, shadow, and taint smashed in a dazzling blast that ripped earth asunder, propelled tremors over the lifeless world, and crumbled far-off edifices to powder.

Trembling came to the dome, yet it stood unbroken.

Amid the bedlam, North looked my way, her tone firm. "What duration do you require?"

Locked tight my attention stayed, intent holding firm against the onslaught.

"Thirty seconds," I stated steadily.