Natsume finally understood.
Waiting with hope was far more agonizing than waiting for death in despair.
It was like waiting for final exam results to be announced.
Far more agonizing than taking a failing grade home.
At least with the latter, you knew you were doomed.
But the former meant repeatedly teetering between life and death; perhaps that was what a state of chaos was?
Just a few short minutes had felt like several years.
Every minute and second was agony.
Pure torment.
Natsume even began to wonder whether Sophon had been fooling him.
Perhaps there had never been any miracle at all.
Or maybe she was uncertain herself, which was why she had spoken so vaguely.
Was she afraid of embarrassing herself if her calculations were wrong?
Did she want him to die confused?
And besides.
Even more infuriating was King Jiaye outside the barrier.
He stood there alone, squinting at Natsume with the look of someone guarding a corpse.
Just waiting for him to croak so he could loot his body.
Absolutely revolting!
Still.
Looking at it from another angle.
It also proved just how important Natsume was, and how great a threat he posed.
For an Otsutsuki King who had "returned from the dead" to care so much about him—he was truly one of a kind across the entire starfield.
Time passed bit by bit.
Natsume could clearly feel his soul gradually weakening, crumbling further and further.
Yet the "realm light sphere" high in the sky continued its steady output without weakening in the slightest.
With tens of millions of Otsutsuki souls serving as power banks, Natsume suspected it could keep firing until the end of time.
Unfortunately, he could not hold on for that long.
By his estimate.
At least ten minutes had passed since