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Chapter 395: 395
Gurnak grimaced, understanding the same necessity. Summoning his remaining strength, he reversed gravity, propelling both himself and Vorenza into the upper atmosphere. Their new battleground stretched across the vast expanse of stars.
Vorenza clung to a thread anchored to nothingness, her body flashing with ethereal light as the wounds across her form slowly healed. Before her, Gurnak floated, his aura blazing brighter than ever.
"You’re strong, Vorenza, but this ends now," he declared.
Raising his hand, he conjured a massive singularity—a black hole so dense it distorted light and time itself. Though not a true singularity, it operated under the logic of one, its pull intensifying with each passing second. Vorenza screamed as the force dragged her closer to oblivion. Yet, as the event horizon loomed ever nearer, a chilling chuckle echoed across the void.
The singularity’s pull faltered, then shuddered. Gurnak’s eyes widened as shimmering strands of web, thinner than starlight, began to encase the black hole—not physically, but conceptually. She was ensnaring the very essence of spacetime that defined his creation, weaving a metaphysical cage around it. The singularity, its immense power contained, shrank rapidly, dissipating into harmless cosmic dust.
Vorenza’s form, flickering like a dying ember, reconstituted before him. A cruel smile spread across her face.
"You thought to trap me in nothingness? Fool. Nothingness is my domain."
Vorenza, a demon who had ascended to the prestigious sixth stage of a uniqu power, a practitioner of what she calls "concept-weaving." Before embarking on her current path, she followed the more traditional route of a mage, relying on spells and incantations built upon the innate magical knowledge of her demon race. Her journey was marked by dedication to the arcane arts and a deep curiosity about the limits of magical theory.
It was during her advancement to the fifth stage that Vorenza experienced a profound revelation. While experimenting with complex spellwork, she began to see the limitations of traditional casting compared to the potential of her race’s innate gifts. Demons of her lineage were born with a peculiar and often underappreciated talent: the ability to produce enchanted webs. These webs, usually used for physical ensnarement or protection, intrigued Vorenza. She saw a deeper potential in them—an ability to entangle more than just physical objects.
Abandoning conventional spells was not an easy choice. The structured path of spellcasting was familiar and reliable, and breaking away from it to pioneer her web magic required years of experimentation and failure. Despite the challenges, Vorenza persisted, honing her craft until she could use her webs as conduits for magic.
By the time she perfected her art, Vorenza had transformed her webs into a medium for ensnaring concepts—abstract ideas and forces of reality. This ability, though not infinite in duration, allowed her to temporarily bind a concept within her enchanted webs, manipulating it to her advantage.
Vorenza’s magic didn’t just stop at manipulation. The very act of weaving magic into her webs allowed her to bypass the rigid structures of traditional spellcasting. She could achieve effects that would normally require extensive rituals with a flick of her wrist and a strand of her enchanted silk.
While her abilities were formidable, they were not without limits. Vorenza could not ensnare concepts indefinitely. The larger or more complex the concept, the shorter the duration she could hold it. Additionally, the process of weaving and maintaining such webs required immense concentration and magical energy. Over Reliance on this power could leave her vulnerable, especially in prolonged battles.
Furthermore, Vorenza had to balance her creativity with the constraints of the natural laws. Attempting to ensnare concepts too vast or abstract—like time or death—risked severe backlash, as these forces resisted being bound even for a moment.
Gurnak grimaced. His brute force approach had failed. He shifted his stance, realizing he needed a different tactic. Rather than summoning more energy, he focused on observation. He studied the subtle, rhythmic pulses of the web-like patterns surrounding her, noting how they resonated with the very fabric of reality.
Vorenza, sensing his change in demeanor, tilted her head mockingly. "Intrigued, are you? It’s far too late for observation, Gurnak."
She extended her hand, and shimmering strands of web shot toward him—not to bind him physically, but to ensnare his perception. As the threads brushed against his senses, Gurnak felt a strange disorientation. The stars swirled, his balance wavered, and for a fleeting moment, he perceived himself as a minuscule, insignificant speck adrift in an endless void.
But Gurnak was no stranger to mental assaults. Closing his eyes, he anchored himself within his own consciousness. He visualized an unyielding core, a fixed point of clarity amid the chaos. The disorientation lessened, but mere resistance wouldn’t suffice. He needed to counter her assault.
Though he couldn’t directly combat her metaphysical weaving with raw gravity, he could disrupt its effectiveness. Gurnak began manipulating the gravitational fields around them with surgical precision. Rather than destructive force, he introduced subtle fluctuations and localized distortions, destabilizing the fabric of reality itself.
Vorenza’s eyes narrowed as she sensed the shift. Her webs, designed to latch onto stable concepts, began to waver. The shifting gravitational fields created a state of constant flux, making it nearly impossible for her to anchor her threads to the metaphysical structures she sought to control. It was like trying to tie knots in a rope that constantly unraveled. 𝓷ℴ𝓋𝓅𝓊𝒷.𝒸𝓸𝓶
She retaliated, directing strands of web toward Gurnak to bind him to a fixed point in spacetime. But Gurnak anticipated this, creating localized gravity wells—small, intense points of attraction that diverted the webs from their trajectory. He wasn’t destroying the threads, merely redirecting them, ensuring they missed their mark.
As Vorenza expended more energy readjusting her weaving, frustration flickered across her face. She realized Gurnak wasn’t trying to overpower her webs but was instead creating an environment where they were fundamentally ineffective. Her greatest strength was becoming a liability.
In a desperate bid, she shifted tactics, attempting to weave a web to ensnare the very concept of gravity itself. It was an intricate and ambitious move, requiring immense concentration. But as she focused on this monumental task, Gurnak seized the opportunity.
He didn’t interfere with her attempt to trap gravity. Instead, he amplified the gravitational fluctuations he had already introduced. The subtle distortions escalated into a chaotic storm of gravitational waves, a cascade effect that rippled through the void.
Vorenza’s control faltered, and for the first time, doubt flickered in her eyes. Gurnak smirked. This battle was far from over.
This sudden surge of gravitational instability completely disrupted Vorenza’s delicate weaving. The strands of her web, meant to ensnare gravity, were now being tossed about by the very force they were trying to control. The concept of gravity, bombarded by Gurnak’s manipulations, became too volatile for her webs to hold. The attempt to ensnare gravity backfired spectacularly, creating a feedback loop that further destabilized her other webs.
Vorenza cried out as her carefully constructed webs began to unravel. She was not defeated, but she was severely hampered. Gurnak, by using his mastery of gravity not to directly counter her webs but to create an environment hostile to them, had gained a significant advantage. He had shown that even a specialized metaphysical weaver could be outmaneuvered by a master of a fundamental force of the universe, not by brute force, but by clever manipulation of the battlefield itself.
Vorenza cried out as her carefully constructed webs began to unravel. She was not defeated, but she was severely hampered. Gurnak, by using his mastery of gravity not to directly counter her webs but to create an environment hostile to them, had gained a significant advantage. He had shown that even a specialized metaphysical weaver could be outmaneuvered by a master of a fundamental force of the universe, not by brute force, but by clever manipulation of the battlefield itself.
Seeing Vorenza falter, Gurnak pressed his advantage. He continued to manipulate the gravitational field with increasing complexity, creating swirling vortexes that further disrupted her concentration. Vorenza, forced into a defensive posture, wove smaller, localized webs, creating shields of solidified energy.
Gurnak then created the gravitational pulse, a shockwave of gravitational force that shattered Vorenza’s shields and disrupted her connection to the metaphysical realm. However, this time, instead of launching her away, the pulse served a different purpose. It was a distraction, a way to create a momentary opening.
As Vorenza reeled from the impact, Gurnak, knowing he was nearing his limit, prepared his final attack. He gathered the remaining gravitational energy around himself, compressing it into a dense sphere. This wasn’t a singularity, but a highly compressed mass of gravitational energy, a miniature gravity bomb. He intended to detonate it at close range, a desperate, all-or-nothing attack.
But Vorenza, despite being weakened and disoriented, was thinking of ways to counter this . Even as the gravitational pulse hit her, she had begun to weave a new web, a web not of defense or control, but of manipulation. This web, far simpler than her previous constructs, targeted a single, crucial concept: momentum.
