I waited until I observed them pull away from the tower.
Only then did I move.
I rose higher above the core layer, the ruined battlefield spread beneath me like a shattered map. The second layer still burned in places. Abominations were dying in clusters, crushed by demon forces that no longer felt fear. The tower stood at the center of it all, wounded but still intact, its surface crawling with cracked runes and leaking deathmist like black smoke from open wounds.
I lifted my hand.
This tower had anchored the rift. It had blinded the system. It had fed the Eternal’s invasion and turned an entire zone into a slaughterhouse.
That was enough.
Essence surged from my Core. Every law I commanded answered at once. Fire. Water. Wind. Earth. Lightning. Space. Polarity. Resonance.
Above the tower, the void distorted.
A shape began to form.
At first it was only an outline, vast and faint, like a shadow pressed against reality itself. Then it solidified. Fingers the size of mountains unfolded one by one. A palm broader than the tower’s entire base took shape, layered with shifting elements that flowed across its surface like living currents.
The Hand of Convergence.
It did not glow blindingly. It did not roar.
It simply existed.
And the moment it finished forming, the tower reacted.
Runes flared across its surface in panic. Sealing constructs activated all at once, overlapping, stacking, screaming as they tried to brace against what was coming. Deathmist surged upward in thick waves, forming shields, spikes, walls of compressed darkness.
I brought my hand down.
The giant palm descended slowly at first, carrying absolute weight. Space screamed. The void bent inward. The pressure alone crushed everything around the tower flat, pulverizing abominations and phantoms that were too slow to flee.
Then it hit.
BOOM!!
There was annihilation.
The tower collapsed inward under the impact, its base shattering instantly. The sealing arrays folded like paper. Deathmist detonated outward in violent rings, only to be crushed again by the descending palm. Stone, law, matter, and essence were ground into nothing.
When the Hand finally stopped, there was no tower left.
Only a vast crater remained, its edges glowing faintly as the last fragments of the structure disintegrated into dust.
Silence rolled across the battlefield.
For a brief moment, even the war seemed to pause.
Then the system spoke.
Notifications surged through my vision, one after another, clear and cold.
Rift identified: Grade 4
Anchor destroyed: Eclipse Anchor
System access restored
Initiating interference protocol
Target location: Rift convergence zone
Commencing rift closure
The void trembled.
Above the rift, enormous runic circles formed one by one, each larger than the last. One locked into place above. One below. Two more stabilized on either side, forming a cross-like formation that surrounded the rift completely. Each circle burned with pure system authority, layered with spatial equations so dense they distorted vision itself.
From them, massive spatial fluctuations poured outward.
The rift reacted instantly.
Its blinding glow flickered, then shrank. The edges began to pull inward, space folding back on itself as the system forced separation. The screaming pressure that had poured from the rift finally began to weaken.
Thirty percent closed.
Forty.
Fifty.
That was when something pushed back.
From the far side of the rift, black matter surged forward like a tidal wave. Not abominations. Not phantoms.
Something else.
Condensed deathmist, so dense it looked solid, poured out and slammed into the runic circles from both above and below. The system arrays shuddered violently. Cracks formed along their edges. The rift stopped shrinking and began to pulse again, resisting closure.
The void darkened.
For a moment, it felt as if something on the other side was watching.
Then the system responded.
Two more runic circles formed instantly, snapping into place at diagonal angles. Their glow was sharper, harsher, layered with aggressive spatial authority. The moment they stabilized, the pressure multiplied.
The black matter screamed as it was compressed, crushed, and peeled apart layer by layer. Deathmist evaporated under pure spatial correction.
The rift convulsed once.
Then it began to collapse in earnest.
Sixty percent.
Seventy.
Eighty.
The light dimmed, shrinking rapidly now, the massive tear in reality folding inward until it became a blinding line. The runic circles pulsed one final time, and the rift snapped shut with a soundless implosion that sent a shockwave rippling through all three layers.
The void stabilized.
Stars reappeared.
The oppressive pressure vanished.
The multicolor glow was gone, returning the void to its original texture.
For the first time since the invasion began, the battlefield felt empty.
Below me, the core layer was in ruins. The second layer burned with scattered fires. The third layer was cracked and broken. Demon forces slowly came to a halt, many of them staring upward in disbelief, their war instincts still screaming for enemies that were no longer there.
System notifications faded one by one.
Rift closed
Invasion repelled
Zone secured
System authority restored
I exhaled slowly.
The war here was over.
Not the larger one. Not the one stretching across the universe. But this battlefield, this rift, this nightmare had been ended.
I lowered my hand as the last traces of system energy faded into the void and flashed forward, arriving at the exact point where the rift had existed moments ago. The space there was unstable, still humming with residual authority and broken laws that had not yet settled.
I did not waste time.
I reached inward and willed the Abyss Core to respond.
Violet light spilled from beneath me as a slow, spiraling vortex took shape, rotating in complete silence. It did not pull violently. It simply claimed. Fragments of law scattered across the void trembled, then began drifting toward the center of the vortex as if drawn by inevitability.
Sealing laws came first, still sharp and resistant, their structure half-broken but potent. Spatial fragments followed, warped and splintered from repeated forced closures. Threads of elemental law—fire, lightning, frost, wind—were pulled in next, stripped from the aftermath of collapsed constructs and shattered domains. There were others as well, unfamiliar patterns that carried alien intent, laws I did not yet recognize but could feel pressing faintly against my Psynapse.
I closed my eyes and let the process continue, guiding the flow with steady control.
The vortex fed the Abyss Core slowly, deliberately. There was no rush. Each fragment was broken down, refined, and absorbed layer by layer. I could feel my Dawn Core adjusting, expanding its internal structure to accommodate what it was taking in.
The void around me grew quieter with every passing moment.