The Godsfall Chronicles
Book 8 - Requiem Chapter 10: Dimensional Detonation

As Cloudhawk neared the black hole, he entered into a strange and warped reality.

Infinitely thin threads of light flowed through the darkness. Cloudhawk’s own body stretched, influenced by the intense gravity and making him feel like a string of noodles. The violent forces at play were enough to tear someone apart.

No ordinary living thing could withstand the gravity well that was growing here. Space – even time – was inexplicably drawn to a dark center. Anything, regardless of its strength or vitality, was doomed to destruction upon crossing the event horizon.

“This is what the flows of time and space feel like...”

Cloudhawk hovered on the edge of the horizon. Rather than rush into danger he held back, regarding the situation. Only in this extreme environment could he see as well as sense the flows of space-time. The phenomenon was a rare situation, one he could capitalize on.

His unique and peerless talent gave him dominion over the flows of space. But through it, he also had some influence over time. Most importantly, he could wield this power with his mind alone.

No relics were needed. As long as Cloudhawk understood the essence of what he was trying to control, his innate powers could be galvanized to make it happen. Of course this was a dangerous process. The orb before him might not have been a real black hole, but it still possessed a ravenous hunger to devour everything. If this had appeared on the surface of the earth instead of this pocket dimension, nothing within thousands of kilometers would be safe. The destruction would have been irreversible.

Standing on the edge of its strongest flows, Cloudhawk watched reality collapse into the orb. He was unaffected, existing in a place between dimensions. The phase stone set within his chest constantly released blooming power, creating a buffer of spatial energy around him.

In this solar system, in this galaxy, Cloudhawk was probably the only thing that could stand at the edge of a black hole and live. However, he was able to do this because of Korath’s help. The Third Seal’s special powers interfered with the laws of physics. His disruption influenced the flows of time and space in the area.

For instance, he could change the characteristics of light in a given area. His power could adjust the value of Planck’s constant, change the four fundamental forces and more. Where his sight rested became a place separate from the rest of reality. Inside, the rules bent to his whim.

Through this power, Korath’s eye could freeze intense flows of energy. He could stop an explosion mid-blast or neutralize weapons. This extended to sealing off relics as a focus for mental power.

However for as incredible as this power sounded, it was not without limits. The more energy was contained in an area, the more effort it took to alter physics. It was nothing short of extraordinary that the Elder was able to restrict the force of the Abyssal God’s black hole at all.

He wouldn’t be able to hold it for long. If Cloudhawk didn’t solve this problem soon they would all be in mortal danger. This frail, temporary dimension was not sturdy enough to survive the black hole. Unchecked, it would swallow this place and everything in it. The limit to what it could sustain was near at hand.

It didn’t take much research for Cloudhawk to conclude this needed to be handled. He raised his hands and ripples of dimensional power danced in his palms. He created a polarity to the black hole’s eternal hunger, a reversal of the flows of space.

But he had to admit that the Marshal was stronger than he was. The black hole devoured everything, a raw display of terrible power. Cloudhawk’s spatial powers alone weren’t enough to stop it.

The concept of space-time fell apart under a black hole’s intense gravity. Cloudhawk couldn’t enter into this strange domain any more than he could destroy it. The only way he knew of to combat this power was to try and confront it with something equally as strong.

As the idea was taking form, Cloudhawk’s left eye sparked with silvery light. Flows of space and time combined; expanding and rewinding. Two great powers condensed around the black hole, causing space to stabilize as its influence waned.

A temporary equilibrium, but it was enough.

The Abyssal God’s black hole was encased in a bubble of space-time, strong enough to counter it and enforce stability. The unyielding gravity that had drawn everything toward the heart of this dimension was gone.

Korath and the other demons watched in awe. How had their King done it? It wasn’t a true black hole like out in space, but after being bolstered by the life force of Sumeru’s general it was close. The force of this hand-crafted natural disaster was beyond the realm of most to combat.

Cloudhawk deftly split a hole in the weave of space. Isolated in its space-time prison, the black hole slipped into the void. This was how the Demon King saved their lives.

The demons looked at one another. Their King was powerful, inexplicable. It remained to be seen if he had power to match his predecessor, but this human was far craftier. Incredible that this man – with less than ten years of experience wielding psychic power – could perform such incredible feats.

Sumeru’s mighty general had fallen. In exchange, Cloudhawk’s pocket dimension was permanently scarred. A forth of it had been destroyed, many utterly ravaged. Much of this relic’s internal world was damaged. Those areas left standing suffered from collapsing walls and other flaws.

Before the demons recovered from their shock, several more figures appeared in the heart of the cube. Divine soldiers, captured while trying to cross the breach.

After the Abyssal God was captured, Cloudhawk plugged the opening in Greenland’s barrier with his cube. With the orb gone and the path opened, the divine soldiers charged ahead without hesitation. It was clear when they arrived in the subspace dimension that they had not imagined it would be here.

More flies in their web! Dark joy arose in the demons as the unsuspecting gods appeared. With the power of their King on full display, they did not fear these soldiers or their leaders.

Entering the strange reality, the gods were still quick to respond. The object of their ire – Cloudhawk – was nearby, so without a second thought they launched into an attack. The Demon King’s reaction was to hold out a hand and pinch his fingers. Space crushed in around one of the soldiers, immediately squeezing its invulnerable body into a bloody mass. Cloudhawk then waved his hand and the compressed space rapidly expanded like an explosion.

The first soldier blew to pieces and the aftermath killed everything around it as well. Those that survived were briefly stunned. Compressing space? That was their Marshal’s power!

This was a power even the former Demon King could not reproduce. Yet, this human wielded it as expertly as the Abyssal God. However what they did not realize was that this was completely different. The Abyssal God compressed space into black holes in order to attack. Cloudhawk did the opposite, generating more space among his foes. The power of this quick expansion sundered the body of gods as though they were made from paper.