The core of the Sun, that consciousness enveloped in a sea of plasma at hundreds of millions of degrees, was violently awakened by the shockwave from the distant battlefield, carrying the universe's most fundamental conflict frequency.
Mark's consciousness, like a drowning man suddenly breaking the surface after sinking into an endless abyss, was instantly overwhelmed by an boundless torrent of information!
"Ugh ah—!"
It wasn't physical pain, but a forced infusion into his soul of the wailing and chaos from the entire universe.
The filthy, chaotic roars of the Great Old Ones, the cold, orderly lament of the Titan Bulwark, the desperate screams of countless beings in the fires of war, the mournful overloads of the Alliance fleet's engines, Gorgon's unwilling roar…
Billions of sounds, billions of images, like a shattered kaleidoscope, furiously assaulted his newly revived senses.
Chaos!
Destruction!
End!
These fragments of information pierced his soul like cold steel needles.
He saw the terrifying, star-shrouding bodies of the Great Old Ones, the shocking cracks on the Titan Bulwark, the Unyielding struggling in a storm of rule fragments, Eve fighting bathed in blood, Rudy's damaged armor, and the deep weariness in Allen's eyes.
Anxiety!
It swept through every strand of his newly revived consciousness like molten lava!
There was no time!
The Titan Bulwark could collapse at any moment!
Once the Old Japanese Body broke free, the entire universe would be doomed!
The Alliance… they were like Mantis trying to stop a chariot !
They needed… power, power that could truly intervene in that divine war!
Without any hesitation!
He didn't even have time to perceive the specific changes in his body after his slumber, nor did he care that his special uniform had long since turned to ash in the terrifying environment of the Sun's core.
An instinct from the deepest part of his being drove him.
Get out! Go to the battlefield!
"Boom—!!!!"
The core of the Sun, its fusion equilibrium maintained for billions of years, was forcibly shattered by a sudden burst of power that transcended physical laws!
An indescribable golden-red pillar of light, not formed by energy, but a path created by pure power distorting space, instantly pierced through the Sun's radiation zone, convection zone, photosphere, chromosphere, and finally tore through the corona!
The Sun, the star that nurtured life on Earth, its surface rippled violently like a lake into which a giant stone had been thrown!
Huge solar prominences were forcibly torn off and ejected!
An unprecedented solar storm instantly formed, and a violent stream of particles swept across the entire inner Solar System.
All satellites in Earth's orbit instantly failed, global communications ceased, and the sky was painted eerie colors by the aurora!
And at the center of this world-destroying solar storm, a figure, like the light of dawn tearing through darkness, shot out at an unimaginable speed!
Mark's speed was already approaching the speed of light!
His body flew through the vacuum, the starlight along his path stretched into long lines, and the cosmic background radiation whistled in his ears like a sharp lament.
His senses, like an invisible giant net, instantly covered a vast starfield.
The situation on the battlefield was clearer, and even more desperate, than the information transmitted by the soul fragments!
Within the core battlefield.
The cracks on the Titan Bulwark spread like a spiderweb, and its dark golden light flickered like a candle in the wind; each impact from the chaotic energy of the Old Japanese Body made it violently sway, and its light grew dimmer.
The rule-based counter-force accumulated within the Bulwark seemed to have been exhausted in the previous exchange of blows, lacking follow-up power.
The Great Old Ones' massive chaotic core writhed, exuding an even more frenzied and greedy aura.
It seemed to have sensed the Bulwark's limit and was about to deliver its final blow!
Taviel's avatar, like a maggot clinging to bone, glided near the Bulwark's cracks, constantly tearing open new dimensional rifts, accelerating the collapse of the rules.
The Unyielding was like a dilapidated ship on the verge of breaking apart in a raging storm, with several terrifying new tears on its hull, its main engine spewing thick smoke, barely maintaining its position with auxiliary engines.
It was still firing, intercepting giant energy bodies approaching the cracks, but its firepower was much sparser.
An escaped rule fragment grazed near the bridge, leaving a shocking scorch mark.
Allen's voice on the public communication channel was hoarse, almost lost.
"…B-7 sector lost! Repeat, B-7 sector lost!"
"All units retract to C sector, evade… evade the newly appearing rule turbulence, the energy body cluster has broken through the defense line!"
Eve's voice was breathless and resolute.
"Rudy! Three o'clock! That aggregate is going to hit the medical ship! Stop it!"
This was followed by the sound of energy cutting through flesh and Rudy's heavy roar.
The White Lion's roar was full of exhaustion and fury; it had just torn apart a giant aggregate that was lunging at the Unyielding's engine nozzle, but it too was thrown back by the impact of the explosion, its blood trailing a long path in the void.
Immortal's figure was almost at its limit of weakness; he was trying to mend a rapidly expanding rift leading to an unknown, terrifying dimension.
"Quick… I can't hold on… This rift… connects to… deeper… chaos…"
Despair! A dead end!
Mark's heart was squeezed by a cold hand.
Every second of delay meant more lives lost, meant the universe sliding into the abyss of destruction!
His brain operated at an unprecedented speed, analyzing every detail of the battlefield, every energy flow, every state of existence.
His half-month of slumber in the Sun's core, his body resonating with the stellar might, seemed not only to have reshaped his physique but also to have pushed his mind to a certain… non-human height.
Those complex spatial parameters, energy flows, and the enemy and friendly dispositions became clearer than ever in his eyes.
A plan, an extremely bold, even insane plan, instantly formed in his mind!
Just as Allen's warning ended, Eve and Rudy were surrounded, the White Lion was thrown back by the shockwave, and Immortal was about to run out of strength, at that very moment.
An indescribable figure, as if all the brilliance of the entire universe was condensed within him, appeared without warning in the absolute center of the battlefield, as if teleporting!
No warning, no spatial fluctuations, just appearing out of thin air!
He floated in the void, shirtless, with only an afterglow of energy, like flowing lava, remaining on his body.
His physique was breathtakingly tall, muscles bulging and taut, as if the most perfect ancient Greek statue had been given life.
Every inch of his form contained explosive power, and his height had soared to nearly 1.9 meters, only slightly shorter than the Viltrumite Trigg, yet he exuded a completely different, scorching and majestic aura, like a star!
His skin glowed with a faint golden light, his black hair danced wildly in an invisible force field, and his eyes, like two burning miniature suns, blazed with molten-gold light; wherever his gaze fell, the chaotic rule turbulence seemed to solidify!
Silence!
The entire battlefield, whether it was the furiously charging Great Old Ones' spawn, the blood-soaked Alliance soldiers, or even the two cosmic-level forces fiercely colliding at the core, all experienced an extremely brief moment of stagnation!
In the depths of their souls, everyone who witnessed this scene instinctively felt an irresistible awe and shock!
As if they had seen a… deity walking among mortals!
"Who… who is that?!"
On a dying Alliance frigate, a young radar officer shrieked, his voice filled with disbelief.
"He… he flew out of the Sun! I saw it! The source of the solar storm!"
Near Earth's orbit, a surviving observation ship captured the last fragmented image of Mark's departure.
"Ma… Mark?!"
Eve looked through her damaged mask at the figure, both familiar and utterly strange, her heart almost stopping.
The immense sense of power suffocated her.
"My God… he…"
Rudy's mouth hung open, forgetting even the enemy in front of him.
Allen stared intently at the figure in the holographic projection, his lips trembling, unable to speak.
Was this… still the Mark he knew?
On the Unyielding's bridge, Trigg's pupils suddenly contracted to pinpricks. He looked at the figure suspended in the center of the battlefield, exuding a power that made even him feel a pang of dread, and an unprecedented complex emotion instantly surged in his heart.
Was it shock? Was it disbelief?
But more than that, it was a deeply stung pride and… unwillingness!
He had paid the price of a severed arm, the lives of countless soldiers, to reach this point, to gain the allegiance of others, to barely gain a foothold on the edge of this divine war!
And this kid… what right did this kid have?!
Why, upon its appearance, did it possess a might comparable to that of the universe's sovereign?!
He gripped the fist of his mechanical prosthetic arm, his knuckles grinding with an ear-splitting metallic screech from the force, and dark red blood seeped from his bitten lip.
Mark ignored everyone's gaze.
His molten-gold eyes instantly swept across the entire battlefield, like the most precise scanner, taking in all information.
His voice rang out, not through a communicator, but directly thundering in the consciousness of every intelligent being within the battlefield's range!
It was calm, yet contained an unquestionable, absolute authority, like a divine oracle.
"All units, listen up!"
"Immediately cease offensive support for the core Bulwark! All firepower, focus on clearing the derivatives and rifts in your own areas! Avoid unnecessary losses!"
He instantly judged that the Alliance's firepower was a drop in the bucket for the core battle, and would instead disperse precious defensive power.
"Trigg, Unyielding, retreat to coordinates Alpha-7! Establish a defensive node, provide shield support for the perimeter forces! Your mission is to stabilize the front line!"
He directly stated Trigg's position and mission, his tone a command, not a discussion.
"That beast!"
His gaze turned towards the blood-soaked White Lion.
"Your objective is to tear apart every rift that opens! Prevent it from further destroying the spatial structure!"
He precisely pointed out where the White Lion could be most effective.
"Sesser, Immortal! Hold on! Stabilize your current rift! Reinforcements are on the way!"
He sensed that both of them were at their limits.
"Allen, Eve, Rudy! Contract your defensive perimeter, hold your ground and await reinforcements, focus your attacks on the energy body's core nodes!"
The commands were clear, decisive, and unquestionable!
They instantly provided direction to the chaotic and despairing battlefield!
Even more shocking was that as he issued his commands, an invisible and vast pressure, like a sea of stars, erupted outwards from him!
This pressure was not an attack, but a new order!
The raging spatial turbulence near him instantly calmed!
Disordered fragments of time were forcibly straightened!
Deadly storms of rule fragments, when approaching within a certain range of him, were like hitting an invisible dam, either annihilating or deflecting!
Those frantically pouncing Great Old Ones' derivatives, whether energy bodies or aggregates, instantly became sluggish and distorted upon entering the range of this pressure, as if trapped in an invisible quagmire.
Then, with a casual wave of Mark's hand, almost imperceptible to the naked eye, the force of his punch or finger pressure exploded them in mid-air like swatting flies!
There was no energy leakage, only shockwaves formed by pure force compressing space!
Each strike cleared a large area!
Efficiency! Overwhelming power!
Like a god cleaning dust!
All Alliance soldiers, including Trigg, felt a tremor originating from their life instincts!
This was not skill, not tactics; this was an absolute level of power, an overwhelming force!
The enemies they fought desperately against, paying a heavy price just to barely resist, were like paper in front of him!
Mark's arrival and intervention were like throwing ice into a boiling oil pot, instantly triggering a reaction from cosmic-level existences!
The Great Old Ones' massive chaotic core suddenly paused!
An unprecedented wave of will, carrying a strong sense of threat and greed, swept out!
The pure, scorching, star-like power on Mark's body was diametrically opposed to its foul, chaotic essence, even subtly carrying a restraining attribute!
In its perception, this suddenly appearing existence, its status... actually seemed to touch upon its and Titan's level!
This was no longer an ant, but a variable capable of threatening its plan to devour Titan!
The chaotic core churned violently, and a stream of chaotic energy, thicker and fouler than before, temporarily deviated from the Titan Bulwark, and, carrying an annihilating malice, blasted towards Mark's direction!
For the first time, the Great Old Ones directed its primary attack target at an existence on the Alliance battlefield!
Within the micro-universe bubble Bulwark, that cold and dead will also fluctuated violently!
Mark's aura... they recognized it!
That was the fundamental source that once stole and triggered the disaster!
Deep-seated hatred was instantly ignited, and the Bulwark's light even carried a hint of hostile sharpness directed at Mark!
However, just as this hatred was about to transform into an attack, cold logic overrode emotion.
The Bulwark's state was on the verge of collapse, and the Great Old Ones were the primary, irreconcilable mortal enemy!
Although this sinner was hateful, the power he displayed, his actions of attacking the Great Old Ones' derivatives, and especially his drawing a portion of the Great Old Ones' firepower—this was undoubtedly a glimmer of hope in a desperate situation!
A cold, rational, emotionless mental fluctuation, like the most precise physical formula, instantly transmitted into Mark's consciousness, and indirectly into the perception of all high-level existences at the core of the battlefield.
"...Great Old Ones... primary threat... common goal... temporary... ceasefire... clear... Great Old Ones' corruption..."
This was Titan's choice!
For survival, for revenge, they temporarily suppressed their hatred for Mark, choosing the most logical cooperation!
The hostile sharpness on the Bulwark directed at Mark quietly receded, and all rule powers refocused on resisting the Old Japanese Body's attack.
Mark's molten-gold eyes swept over the foul torrent blasting towards him, and then he heard Titan's cold mental message.
There was no expression on his face, only absolute calm.
"Hmph."
A hum of unclear meaning sounded in his consciousness.
He, of course, sensed Titan's hatred, but now was not the time to dwell on it.
Facing the chaotic torrent capable of annihilating galaxies, Mark did not evade; he slowly raised his right hand, fingers spread, and aimed at the roaring, foul energy.
There were no fancy moves, no energy condensation.
Just the simplest action.
A clenched fist!
The instant his five fingers closed, a large section of space in front of him, along with that terrifying chaotic torrent, seemed to be fiercely squeezed by an invisible giant hand covering the galaxy!
Boom-crack—!!!!
A teeth-grinding, terrifying sound of spatial structure being forcibly compressed and crushed erupted!
That chaotic torrent, capable of destroying a galaxy, was actually crushed in mid-air tens of thousands of kilometers away from Mark!
The foul energy splattered like a burst balloon, then was rapidly purified and annihilated by the scorching force field emanating from Mark's body!
Crushing a Great Old Ones' attack with bare hands!
This scene completely shocked all existences on the battlefield!
The Alliance soldiers were dumbfounded, their minds blank.
Trigg gripped the bridge railing tightly, his mechanical prosthetic arm deeply embedded in the alloy, his eyes churning with stormy waves.
Shock, unwillingness, disbelief, and a hint of... fear he himself was unwilling to admit.
This man... had reached a height he could not aspire to!
The White Lion stopped tearing at the rift, its huge head turning towards Mark, its golden vertical pupils burning with an unprecedented flame, a mixture of awe and an even stronger fighting spirit!
This was the opponent it craved!
No, it was the existence it craved to fight alongside!
Eve and Rudy forgot to breathe, their eyes fixed only on that figure, as dazzling as a star.
Mark slowly lowered his hand, his molten-gold gaze sweeping across the battlefield, briefly silent because of him, finally settling on the Great Old Ones' massive chaotic core and the crumbling Titan Bulwark.
His voice once again resonated in everyone's consciousness, calm but carrying the power to end everything.
"Great Old Ones, your doomsday has arrived."
"Titan, fulfill your promises, Alliance... hold your ground."
"Now, it's my turn."
As his voice fell, Mark's figure instantly vanished from his original position.
Not high-speed movement, but spatial teleportation!
The next instant, he had appeared directly in front of the Great Old Ones' massive chaotic core, a tiny figure facing a terrifying existence that obscured the galaxy!
There was no prelude to battle.
Mark directly twisted his waist and threw a punch!
The movement was simple and direct, yet it contained a terrifying power capable of shaking the very foundations of stars!
The space in front of his fist was compressed and twisted by extreme force, forming a terrifying, inwardly collapsing vortex visible to the naked eye, which slammed violently into the churning, boiling chaotic flesh!
--+--
T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 2 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
patreon.com/TripleCrown07
If you guys wanna check it out.