Outside the Bronze Gate, it had been a long time since Locke had watched a battle so seriously.
The Destruction Tide kept surging out from within the gate.
Some of it was blocked by the illusory image of the Bronze Gate.
Some pierced through the projection, turning into tiny dark-gold motes of light that drifted down around the Experimental Base.
Locke raised his hand and caught one mote of light.
The instant that mote landed in his palm, it seemed to come alive, trying to burrow deep into his Origin of Destruction.
It was not an attack. It was more like drawing close.
Or rather, acknowledging a master?!
Locke closed his palm slightly, and that dark-gold mote of light was annihilated at once.
Of course, he could feel the summons from that Destruction Time-Space behind the Bronze Gate.
And as Saine and the others fought ever more fiercely inside the gate, that summons became increasingly clear.
If at first it had only been a blurred echo within a distant ocean tide, then now, that echo had drawn so near it seemed to whisper right beside Locke's ear.
It was not the voice of some conscious living being. It was more like the instinct of that entire Destruction Time-Space.
The throne hung empty.
Destruction returned to its place!
Perhaps this was the true meaning that had been coming from behind the Bronze Gate all along.
Before Locke's eyes, an extremely blurry scene even appeared for a brief moment.
It was a black throne.
The throne was not complete, as if some power had burned straight through its center.
It stood above a boundless dark-gold ocean.
There were no living beings in the ocean, only the Destruction Crystal Tide constantly churning.
Around the throne, countless shadows that had long since lost their