Level-Up Apocalypse: Surviving With The Assimilation System

Chapter 172: Interlude: Transcendence of Humanity, Part Two

Sucking in the foreign oxygen of the hazy world, he waved his hand, causing black-and-purple sparks to scatter and connect through the soil, tearing through it before raising his arms. As the hand came down, he protested it with his own two arms, electrifying each of his souls to empower himself to the brink–

"Ngh!--"

The weight that he resisted chimed through his entire being, exuding a pressure that felt as though his body may explode at any moment. Compared to the hand of the Apocalypse, he was no more than a single cell to it–perhaps not even that significant in size.

Beneath the force, the soil was crushed, caving in as Sirius was forced nearly to his knees, gasping for air as veins pressed against his body.

Against such incomprehensible size and weight, Sirius' body felt like collapsing every moment; his bones cracked and his flesh tore, though mending itself as quickly as it was damaged. Constantly, his ascendant body rebuilt itself stronger, adapting to the calamitous force–

[Level: 455] [...Level: 462] [...Level: 494] [...Level: 502]

Little by little, inch by inch, he pushed up, lifting the world-crushing palm with every ounce of strength that surged within him.

"Raaaaargh–!"

Pushing his very vigor from his throat as it tore and stitched itself back together, the ground around him was cleaved by the lightning that expanded from his position. All at once, with rising bolts, he repelled the colossal hand, sending the Apocalypse reeling back.

The moment that the palm was pushed away, Sirius didn't waste a moment ascending from the foreign planet, piercing into the cosmos with haste.

Amidst the gaze of stars, he confronted the Apocalyptic construct as it morphed into its infinitely smaller form to match him. Yet, Sirius approached faster as his heart thumped in his chest a million times a second. Your next read awaits at m v|l-e'-NovelBin.net

Every beat of his heart produced the electricity that flowed through him, empowering his cells, charging his soul–

["Million-Fold Impact"]

In that fraction of a moment, so small that not even a grain of sand could make up for it, before his fist made contact with the faceless Apocalypse, he entered a state of hyperspeed. The action of swinging his fist, casting bolts of lightning, kicking–all of it was repeated hundred, thousands, and even a million times in that fractured moment.

Space contorted around the two figures amidst the infinitesimal amount of time that almost seemed frozen, bringing a flash of bright light that filled the dark cosmos for the impact.

All at once, the countless strikes manifested—-TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTR.

Every hit flashed through the Beyond, etching scars of lightning into the void, scattering light to distant worlds. The illogical consecutive strikes brought forth a first result–CRACK.

The beige chest of the Apocalypse developed cracks as it was blown back by the immeasurable fist.

["It can be done. As meager as that God up there may believe us to be, it's possible–we can overcome it."]

He chased after the construct of Armageddon, dashing through a gaseous planet. Into a sea of pink clouds, he flew with static around his body, chasing the trails of the Apocalypse. It smelled sweet like candy, though that was of no consequence to Sirius as he was confronted by the faceless being.

Rays of light soared towards him, bringing him to spin around as he sped up, closing the distance as a blade of electricity extended from his hand. As he got within reach of the Apocalypse, he swept the elemental weapon.

It reached countless miles, cleaving through the pink mass of the gaseous planet along with the right arm of the entity.

'I can do this…I can win–' Sirius thought.

Reaching that pivotal strike upon the construct of destruction, all of that rising hope was crushed in an instant as his instincts flared. The entirety of the colorful gasses that made up the colossal planet were sucked into a small singularity before–

A rift opened in the cosmos between himself and the Apocalypse; a hole darker than black, siphoning even light. It consumed the entirety of his vision, devouring the planet and the nearby terrestrial bodies in an instant.

No different for himself, his body was being pulled towards its singularity.

The event horizon; what he found himself being dragged into was a black hole, tugging him with cosmic force. It was no more than a few meters from himself, pulling with such strength that as he resisted, it felt as though his skin was being peeled from his bones.

As much as he tried, it seemed only the harder he fought it, the stronger the pull became. Closer and closer it reeled him in before–complete darkness arrived.

The singularity welcomed him in as a complete absence of senses consumed him. It wasn't painful, though he felt the astronomical, immeasurable pressure crushing him from all sides.

'I…lost? Twice in one day…that stings,' he tiredly thought, finding his consciousness somehow still floating in that lifeless abyss.

There was surely nothing left of him, not even a scrap one could call "Sirius." That cruel, cruel void at the black hole's heart, where nothing in the universe could survive; it was a miserable end.

Yet-

Yet—---

Yet—------

In that infinitely heavy darkness, he found himself not yet fading.

["I get it now. This phenomena…it's something beyond even what God created. The transcendence of mortal souls…their unison, brought together…It's something different from the realm of divinity. I can't describe it–something…serene? Even floating here in this abyss, I feel fine–I understand everything will work out."]

Amidst the realization from the man, his body began to reconstruct itself even against the unending riptide of the singularity.

[Level: 550] [...Level: 602] [...Level: 810] [...Level: 905]

["Enlightenment is not reaching godhood. Embracing humanity…that's all it is."]

In the depths of the black hole, his physical form was replenished as he floated in there, no longer feeling its inexplicable pressure against his flesh. It felt like nothing more than the weight of a calm sea against his skin.

Like nothing more than a pool of water, he swam his way through the singularity before exiting its once inescapable entrance.

"Hah—"

Sirius reemerged into the cosmos, no longer even feeling the pull of the black hole as he left its bounds. Once more, it felt as though he'd been reborn–yet this time, it was different. Staring at the vast cosmos as nebulae drifted with the aspect of creation, asteroids floated, and bright stars exuded their shades, he felt a serenity.

Staring at his hands, something about it felt unbelievable. Amidst his own thoughts, the Apocalypse swarmed him with attacks, thrashing the force of stars against his body. All of it simply bounced off the impervious skin of Sirius as he floated there, thinking.

["It's almost funny. Right now, I can do anything. I have the power to save everything–yet, there is nothing left to be saved anymore. Only after it was all lost, could this transcendence occur…It was the only way humanity could come together."]

Even with so much power, it left him with a hollow feeling. Such abundant strength, yet he could not recreate what was lost; lives were not something he could weave back into reality. At its core, what he was best suited to do was one thing–destroy.

Accepting that, he breathed out as a massive force collided with his body, though the planet used as a projectile only shattered into vibrant bits of pink-and-green sediment.

As he turned around, he found his sight consumed by multiple stars rapidly approaching his position. The gargantuan spheres–one of bright azure heat and the other of an emerald shine, completely blocked his vision, though he didn't feel any fear.

["Wielding such power…it's empty. It makes all of this grand, vast beyond feel like nothing more than a playground."]

With a swipe of his hand, a wave of snow-white lightning was sent forward, tearing through the cerulean star as though it were nothing more than paper. As the first star was ripped to shreds, the verdant one crashed against him.

Sirius pushed his hand against the emerald mass, feeling the emerald heat that bubbled and boiled, lashing out against him, though it felt like nothing more than a summer day. The momentum of the colossal construct was halted as he pressed his hand forward, punching straight through it.

He flew through the depths of the burning star, passing into the emerald sea of raging fire with blinding swiftness. As he emerged from the other side, the one-armed Apocalypse was found behind it, bringing him to gather the greatest quantity of electricity he'd ever conjured to his fist.

The sparks danced through the void of the cosmos, swirling and condensing around Sirius' hand as he faced the Apocalypse in that moment.

'I don't even know if you have a mind of your own, or any sentience at all. It doesn't matter, though–it's as simple as getting back at what took everything from us,' Sirius resolved, clenching his fist.

Bringing his hand before the faceless entity, a sublime torrent of energy exuded from his palm. It released with such violence, burning marks into the universe itself.

["Lichtenberg Order"]

Through the Apocalypse, the snow-white bolts curved around, transmitting through each atom of its being. From the inside and out, the being was torn apart at a molecular level—amidst the flash of light, nothing was left of it.