Power had always been far too flimsy a word.
Too often, its meaning was unclear and ambiguous, becoming a fleeting symbol.
So much so that people lost their way and forgot... what power truly was.
Unrivaled authority? Absolute control over the bigger picture? Countless followers and allies? Support that seemed to come from the entire world? Or violence capable of destroying everything? Miracles capable of creating everything?
More often, those intoxicated by so-called power believed that everything lay within their grasp. They swelled without limit, feeling omnipotent.
Little did they know that there were differences between one kind of power and another.
And sometimes, all power was meaningless before certain other powers.
Like dreams and bubbles.
Not worth mentioning.
Just like now—
When the Underworld Giant rode the tide of destruction and spread its wings once more, the layers of descending blockade split open with enormous cracks.
Unable to contain that radiance, dazzling as a blazing sun.
As though the sun had risen from the underworld.
Within the surging River Styx, waves rose once more.
The Fool was only stunned for an instant before his eyes were pierced by the rapidly expanding brilliance. The projection born from the unified consciousness was torn apart in the blink of an eye by the figure charging past.
It scattered without a trace.
Only Huai Shi looked down in confusion as that stunned face vanished into the air, filled with incomprehension.
"Ten times?"
The Machine God shrugged helplessly. "So, are you people serious?"
What answered him was fury and Brilliant Light enough to annihilate the entire hell.
The River Styx churned.
Even the power of phase shifting and deep traversal struggled to preserve itself amid such endless destruction. Yet through the gaps between flames and storms, the enormous Machine God moved like a phantom,