"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!"
Darkside was flown a few miles back, having broken several ribs, coughing with difficulty.
'Just what did this bastard do... Arghhh!.' He seethed in frustration, bracing himself while preparing to counterattack... but Pearl was just so overwhelming with her divine techniques, and so overbearing in both speed and power.
Though her means were ruthless, she didn't display enough power to kill him.
After all, from her deductions, Darkside was Tsunami's dissociated consciousness that underwent materialisation, a rare phenomenon under the heavens, which initially surprised her when Tsunami explained his circumstances and devised a plan.
But as a remnant of the old world, she had witnessed many surprises over the passage of time. This, though shocking, could barely qualify as one of her top twenty.
Hence, according to their plan, she displayed just enough power to put Darkside in a completely passive position, while weakening his mental strength.
Usually, Darkside wouldn't have resorted to using his Dark Moon arts, which always triggered a strange phenomenon on the moons, but all his strongest techniques originated from them.
Even back in the dungeon, when he acted to save their lives (Tsunami's and his), he didn't resort to using the Dark Moon arts, since most of the thugs were first-step favourites, with only one thug being at the second step.
And the shadow guard who escaped after being injured was merely a peak second-step favourite like him.
Nothing life-threatening to mighty existence like himself, who was almost invincible in the same realm.
But going against a third-step favourite beast, which was always several times stronger than comparable humans, he had no option but to give it his all.
He displayed his strongest defences and tried to execute several dark techniques, but he was no idiot to harbour aspirations of winning, for he stood no chance against a third step.
He just wanted to create a small window of chaos and escape... but alas, all his efforts turned to nought.
This was the gap between the third step and the second step, even though one had just been temporarily promoted to the initial realm, while the other was a peak practitioner at the former realm... the difference was like heaven and earth.
...
The current battlefield was a ticking time bomb, and Pearl had to achieve their objective before it was too late.
On the one hand, the third-step Cyclone was not yet dead — merely restrained, and certain to return with even greater vengeance.
Meanwhile, in less than a minute, four wielders of powerful sixth-step auras, along with two at the fifth step, would arrive at their location. If she failed to let Tsunami's original consciousness take control of the tainted creature's materialised form, he would surely be killed, and so would she, because of her association with him.
This part of their plan was crucial because Tsunami's original form was powerless, and this unique, tainted state, under Tsunami's control, could potentially allow him to activate his [eyes of truth] by channelling life force instead of essence.
Adding Pearl's strength to the mix, they could have a chance of escape.
...
In the domain battlefield, even after all the buffing, Pearl still wasn't able to kill the third-step cyclone; the best outcome she could bring was to be on a somewhat equal footing with the third-step cyclone.
Pearl was heavily wounded, but the third step cyclone was even worse.
The cyclone had lost both its legs and was blinded in one eye, but that was primarily because of its enormous size, which was nearly impossible for Pearl to miss whenever she attacked.
Pearl was very calculating and ruthless with all her attacks; the cyclone had to choose between losing those limbs or risking losing its life instead.
Although the cyclone was stronger, mainly because the Spirit's mansion sealed Pearl's cultivation growth— Pearl was battle-hardened by the experience of the ruthless cultivation world for over 700,000 spirit years.
After being temporarily promoted to the third step, Pearl had a faint grasp of her future domain—the Starlight Mirror Dimension, an alternate mirror realm filled with terrifying levels of lightning.
Given her current level of space comprehension, this was just a small portion of the domain's full potential.
Each of her attacks carried the force of a strike one minor realm above her cultivation level, while her enemies' attack power was reduced by a third.
She was everywhere yet nowhere.
The cyclone would attack Pearl's projection, only for it to shatter and receive a blow from another projection.
It had to block all blows, from all mirror projections which, at first glance, seemed infinite, with all the dancing lightning bolts.
Pearl danced with thunder, while the cyclone danced with the wind.
It could have been worse if Pearl had been just a bit stronger, or the cyclone hadn't reached its peak stage yet, but there are no ifs in the cultivation world.
That spoke volumes about the gap between the lower steps and a Great Step of Upheaval and Reconstruction.
It's no wonder that across the multiverse, only beings that have crossed the great chasm and become third-step Favourites were considered genuine powerhouses.
Logically speaking, it's difficult for a first-step favourite to defeat a second-step favourite... but it's not impossible or that rare.
The different types of supernatural powers across the multiverse are in the billions, adding factors like bloodlines, physiques, artefacts, comprehension talents, and battle strategies... If a cultivation genius could wield and perfectly execute any of their advantages, a stronger opponent could fall.
But that only mattered when a great chasm didn't separate the gap in essence, quantity, and quality.
It's not surprising that Pearl didn't opt to attack the larger cyclone when it was dazed, simply because even if she had an entire minute window of freely attacking the cyclone without it offering any resistance, all her strongest attacks wouldn't have left even a dent on the third-step cyclone.
But as a descendant of a fallen God King, Pearl had an advantage few in the multiverse could fathom.
An ancient divine bloodline of 99% purity.
By shattering her cores, she was not only redirecting the influx of essence to her meridians but also sacrificing the ancient divine bloodline of her God King ancestors.
As pinnacle existences in the multiverse, their bloodline served as a temporary catalyst, altering the quality and quantity of her essence while challenging the might and rules of heaven.
...
40 secs ... 35 secs
Once Darkside was weakened enough, Pearl envisioned a seal that landed on his brow, sending a shock through his soul.
When the shock traversed Darkside's body, the chains which held Tsunami's consciousness shattered, freeing him from his bondage.
Darkside watched in horror as the same chains turned on him, latching onto his consciousness and dragging him down.
"..."
BOOM!
"Arghh! How did you...you piece of shi-"
Tsunami severed his connection to Darkside's consciousness and quickly observed the life force inside their shared soul.
30 seconds... 28 seconds...
Pearl stared at the dazed creature, ready to act if Tsunami failed to gain control.
But when the tainted creature looked up, she held back as she saw two rotating pupils and the red glow turning golden.
He nodded at Pearl's direction before shifting his gaze to the almost shattered Starlight mirror Dimension.
"It's time to end this."