Shaken to his core, Black Mountain sensed his surroundings again. This time, he finally saw it clearly.
Barely perceptible wisps of energy were seeping from the surrounding void and slowly merging into the projection.
That energy felt exactly like the world itself.
"Is that... world force?" Black Mountain's pupils contracted.
He remembered what Lynn had said earlier.
"I once dreamed of what the world will looked like, and then I manifested it."
At the time, he had thought Lynn was talking nonsense. Now, he was starting to believe him.
A wizard who could project the world will and whose projection could absorb world force to restore itself could not possibly be just One-Ring.
Had some Stigma-level old monster taken over Lynn's body, only for Black Mountain to disrupt his plans?
Or... had this man sealed away his own power and only now begun to release it?
"You little bastard, you're stalling!" Black Mountain roared.
He stopped holding back, unleashing the full power of his Shadow Avatar.
More than a dozen tentacles doubled in length and coiled toward the projection from every direction.
At the same time, Black Mountain charged. His black-armored body hurtled toward Lynn, intent on killing him while the projection was pinned down.
But the projection was faster.
Its gray-white eye of light suddenly widened, and a beam as thick as an arm swept out.
Where the beam passed, the tentacles snapped apart like scorched ropes.
The beam stopped Black Mountain's charge too. He raised an arm to block it, but it burned through his gauntlet and sent searing pain through his soul.
The projection gathered its power once more.
It raised its right arm. A gray-white sphere of light formed in its palm, and the power churning inside made Black Mountain go cold all over.
It was