Defying Destiny, the Universe's Punishment!

Harley wanted to say more, but the words on her lips turned into a brief gasp.

She felt Link's arms trembling slightly around her. It wasn't fear; he was enduring some unimaginable pressure.

She raised her head and followed Link's gaze toward the sky.

One look was all it took to freeze the playful smile on her face.

The sky had gone mad.

Blood-red clouds churned like boiling magma, and pitch-black fissures tore through the heavens, as though the universe had opened countless furious eyes. There was no thunder, no lightning, only a pure, conceptual "will of rage" pressing in from every direction like hundreds of millions of tons of seawater.

The entire planet of Vormir groaned and trembled beneath that will.

This was the price of defying destiny.

This force was no physical attack. It acted directly on the laws of reality, precisely targeting the source of Link's "cheating"—the Infinity Gauntlet on his left hand and its dim green Stone.

"Humm... crack!"

A mournful cry that seemed to come from the depths of his soul rang out in Link's mind.

After taking the impact of that primordial will, the Time Stone on his gauntlet was in even worse shape, its energy already exhausted from forcibly reversing time. The light on its surface flickered violently a few times. Finally, with a faint cracking sound, it went out completely.

It became an utterly ordinary green stone without a trace of luster.

Link could clearly feel that subtle connection between himself and the river of time being brutally severed.

Fuck! Did the Time Stone... trigger its overheat protection?

No, this wasn't just depleted energy. This was... a backlash from the laws of reality! He wouldn't be able to use this Stone again anytime soon.

He had lost one of his most important