Before the towering hand descended, the earth began to sink and crack.
As though struck by a terrifying force, it took on the outline of a faint handprint.
The figure standing within it trembled all over, his feet sinking deep into the ground.
His white hair and clothes were pressed tightly against his body, utterly motionless.
It was as though an invisible force was crushing him mercilessly.
Crack, crack, crack...
Every bone in his body creaked, and even his flesh began to split.
Threads of blood instantly stained his clothes red, leaving him looking like a man made of blood.
Above all, that strange force of attraction and repulsion left him unable to move. He could not even retreat and flee.
That power was too uncanny, too vast and mighty.
It seemed to have sealed off the space around him outright.
It even seemed to affect time. Everything before his eyes appeared to slow severalfold.
Yet the white-robed girl, her hair streaming, suffered no loss of speed. In the blink of an eye, she was already above him.
The enormous palm imprint pressed down so hard that even the void seemed to burst.
"No!"
The man under attack screamed, his expression changing drastically as he coughed up mouthful after mouthful of blood.
His desire to survive drove him to react faster than ever before.
Hum!
Divine light shone around him, and a brilliant beam flew out from the crown of his head.
It was a shield-shaped treasure. It swelled in the wind, boundless divine power spreading from it.
With life and death hanging in the balance, he had already driven the treasure's might to its limit.
Like a canopy of divine light, it enveloped him, shielding his body.
But just then, the enormous palm descended with overwhelming power.
Rumble!
A