A Few Seconds Earlier — Inside the Monochro World
Robin released a long, heavy breath—one that had the weight of deep contemplation and quiet resolve.
He knew, with absolute clarity, that everything he had done up to this point hadn't cost him anything he would truly mourn.
Maybe he had burned through the life force he had deliberately ignited before the operation began.
Maybe he had exhausted what little remained of his solid energy foundational.
But none of that mattered now.
What cos next…
That's what would decide everything.
That's what would determine whether this gamble was brilliance—or suicide.
"…Replace," he murmured, almost like a prayer.
AAAAHHHHHNNNNN—
In the very next breath, Robin found himself suspended above the boundless expanse of the Western Sea.
The salty wind slapped against his face, but it brought no comfort.
His left hand was now empty again, released from the weight it had held only monts ago…
But his right hand—
His right hand was still bound.
Still stuck, gripping sothing that refused to let go.
"What the…?!"
His expression twisted—an unnatural mix of relief and terror.
Relief, because his insane plan had actually worked.
The torn piece of distorted space had been successfully been replaced and transferred to this remote location, just as he had intended.
The Imperial Capital was safe—for now.
But the terror…
The terror ca from the horrifying realization that he had been dragged into that distorted space along with it.
"Stay calm… this was always a possibility," he reminded himself, forcing composure into his thoughts as he clutched his chest with his free hand.
When Robin first devised this desperate strategy, he had accounted for this exact outco.
He knew that getting so close to an attack as refined and overwhelmingly destructive as the Nature Annihilation Sphere, especially within such a violently unstable spatial zone, might have consequences.
In fact, having only his arm trapped might be considered a miraculous blessing.
He furrowed his brows, sweat dripping down his temple despite the chilled air around him.
There was no ti to waste.
He quickly raised his left hand, fingers forming a blade stance.
He still had three possible choices, but only one realistic window to act.
The first, and arguably the safest, was to sever his own right arm at the shoulder—
Detach himself from the sphere before the Monochro World dissipated and returned ti to its natural flow.
So long as he acted fast, he could escape and preserve the success of the operation.
SWOOSH—
With a deep, sharp breath, Robin brought down his left hand with all the focus and force he could gather, aiming to cut clean through his own shoulder.
His mind narrowed into a razor's edge, every ounce of his being focused on that one perfect strike.
But just before his hand made contact—
FOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMM—
A massive pulse of chaotic energy rippled out from the Nature Annihilation Sphere, like a scream from the fabric of reality itself.
HUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUMMMM—
"Oh no—NO!!" Robin shouted in horror.
In that very mont, the world snapped back.
Color returned.
Ti resud.
Motion exploded back into reality.
And Robin—now fully bound by gravity again—was thrown into a freefall, spiraling toward the ocean below…
Right beside the Nature Annihilation Sphere.
"If I'd had just one more second…! Just ONE—AAARRRGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH—!!!"
The gray, spiked sphere—
The sa one that had nearly brought the entire Imperial Capital to its knees while it was still in the sky,
The sa one that had made the entire planet Jura tremble as it approached from the upper atmosphere—
Was now hovering less than a ter away from him.
SHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH—
The ocean below him began to sizzle violently, thick clouds of gray steam rising as the sphere's destructive aura began to incinerate the very surface of the sea.
The waters themselves seed to recoil, parting forcefully as if the sea was trying to run from its own death.
A chasm opened where the sphere hovered—
Revealing the seafloor in the distance, as if even the depths of the world wanted no part in this apocalypse.
SSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHH—
The protective life-force cloak Robin had wrapped around himself back in the city vaporized instantly, disintegrated into dust and ash within a single heartbeat.
Underneath it, his golden cloak was now beginning to corrode.
But it wasn't gone yet.
It was holding.
It was buying him ti.
Ti to move. Ti to escape. Ti to survive.
"RRRGGHHH!!"
Gritting his teeth, body wracked with pain and mind nearly blank from the pressure, Robin summoned every last shred of willpower.
With his left arm, he slashed fiercely at the space beside him—
Hoping to tear open the dinsional veil, to create a rift he could use as an ergency exit.
He didn't know where it would lead.
He didn't care.
He just needed to get away.
*......*
"What?!" Robin let out a sharp cry, his voice full of panic and disbelief, as he watched the space around him remain completely unaffected. No ripple. No distortion. Not even the faintest reaction to his command.
He gritted his teeth and tried again.
Then again.
A third ti—still nothing.
Absolutely no response. It was as if the laws of the universe had turned their back on him.
With a hand trembling from pain and dwindling strength, Robin pressed it firmly against his chest, desperate to feel even a flicker of power within. Back in the city he burned everything with no limits to used as a feul for the Space-Ti Exchange move.
And now... he had left precisely 1% of his life force within his Life Artery!!
Evergreen.
She had predicted this mont.
She had anticipated that he would reach the edge, and before his death could co, she had shut off that final stream of energy—locking away his last hope of staying alive after this madness.
Robin's breath grew shallow. A dreadful thought surged in his mind. He needed confirmation.
His consciousness dove into the energy gathering center.
And what he found there was nothing short of heartbreaking.
There was only a single solid foundation left.
The first level, basic, insignificant, sothing even a child of five years could cultivate within weeks.
The rest was gone.
Now, no matter how he looked at it, the conclusion was clear:
He had nothing left.
Not enough power to activate even a minor spatial law, much less the Major One.
Not enough to fly, not enough to escape, not even enough to survive the fall to the ocean's surface—assuming he even made it that far.
"AAAAARGHHHH!!"
A guttural scream tore from his throat as the golden robe that once protected him now began to crumble, disintegrating into ash with increasing speed.
The intense pressure from the nature-annihilating attack was too much.
If not for the Fourth-Stage Body Strengthening Divine Tattoo etched deep into his bones and flesh, his body would've already been smashed to pulp—a grueso ss of blood and shattered bone.
From the mont he completed the exchange up until now, only a few seconds had passed in real ti.
But for Robin, it felt like he had endured an eternity—every second stretching like a lifeti of agony and survival.
Now, there was no other path.
No tricks.
No backup plans.
Only the third option remained.
"AAARRRGHHHHH!!"
Robin scread again, louder this ti, putting the last remnants of his soul into that cry.
His eyes, blood-red and stinging with pain, opened wide—
Gazing at his own failing body.
His once-radiant golden robe had almost completely vanished from his arms and legs.
And then—
Hoooo~
In that mont, he saw it.
"...!!!"
The golden robe fully disappeared from all four limbs.
And then… it began.
His limbs—his arms and legs—started to crumble.
His skin disintegrated. His muscles peeled away into nothing. His bones turned to ash.
All four limbs began vanishing at an alarming rate.
In re fractions of a second, his hands were gone to the elbows, his legs to the knees.
And yet—
The pain he felt… was different.
It wasn't the bone-grinding, soul-tearing pain that made him want to scream until his lungs collapsed.
It was… oddly warm.
Like slowly sinking into a calm bath of heated water—as if the agony of annihilation had beco a soft whisper.
Whooooosh—
Still falling, still tumbling through the air, Robin's bleeding, exhausted eyes began to close.
His body was numb.
His will… fading.
But then—
"NO!!!"
He roared with what little voice remained in his broken throat.
"EVERGREEN!!"
From deep within his Soul Domain, her voice ca back, soft yet swift:
(There's no need to worry!)
And then—
The Green Sun inside him erupted into action.
A downpour of healing energy surged out of it, raining down over his disintegrating body like a thousand rays of light.
Shiiiiiiiiiiii~
Regeneration. Renewal. Restoration.
It had finally awakened—
The Gift of Greenland.
Piece by piece, every limb that vanished was reborn, rebuilt in a flash before his eyes.
His flesh reford.
His bones took shape.
And over them, the golden robe began to reweave itself once more.
Robin's heart pounded—harder than it had in years.
But even amidst this miracle, he noticed sothing terrifying:
The speed of restoration was slower than the speed of annihilation.
For every two parts of his body that vanished, only one could be instantly rebuilt.
But even so—
It was enough to buy him ti.
The golden cloak's reappearance granted him precious seconds.
This…
This was the true power of the Greenland Gift:
Instantaneous physical regeneration.
It didn't restore energy.
It didn't refill life force.
It only protected his body.
A power similar to Python's Gift, but with one key difference—
Instead of liquefying into jelly, he kept his form.
As long as his body remained alive, it could be rebuilt no matter how often it was torn apart.
However—just like Pythor—there were four sacred zones he absolutely had to protect:
His Soul Domain, his energy gathering center, his Heart, and his Life Artery.
If any of those were lost—he would never be able to recover.
Robin rembered when he was first told of this Gift.
He had despised it.
Why?
Because it was a gift ant for suffering.
It didn't protect him from harm—it only rebuilt his body after he felt the pain.
Every wound. Every tear. Every dismbernt.
He would feel it all.
Then the Gift would heal him, only to let him feel it again.
It wasn't a blessing.
It was a cruel cycle of resurrection.
But now…
Now, he finally saw its true value.
"I must... get away... from here!!"
He gasped, his voice hoarse and wet with blood.
Streams of red poured from his mouth, his eyes, even his ears.
The Greenland Gift couldn't hold forever.
Within re seconds, the creeping annihilation would reach his energy gathering center, his navel.
That would an the end.
Shiiiiiii~
"Huh?"
Sothing changed.
Robin sensed it.
A shift in the air—an approaching climax.
He turned his gaze downward, where the shadows grew heavier and the ocean bed grew closer.
He and the gray spiked sphere had nearly reached the bottom of the sea.
They were re ters away from a full-force impact with the ocean floor.
And when that happened…
An explosion of unspeakable energy would be unleashed.
Three seconds.
That's all he had.
"…This is it," Robin whispered to himself.
That collision would break the descent, end the free fall.
And in that mont of impact—
He would either find a way to escape…
Or be obliterated completely.
Robin spat out another mouthful of blood.
He didn't waste another thought.
He made his choice instantly.
He called back all the remaining strength of the golden cloak, pulling it from his arms, legs, torso—and focused it entirely around his four vital points.
Then…
He shut his eyes.
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