The Glorious Evolution

”Celestial... if you have a Resignation Token, please use it.”

Burden Collector’s deep voice reached Levi as the twenty-meter giant lowered his head toward him.

”I am not fond of unnecessary killing.”

Levi cracked his shoulders, still enjoying the unfamiliar absence of pain and exhaustion... unfortunately, the giant seemed to have mistaken his relaxed posture for an intention to give up.

”I appreciate it... but no.”

Levi corrected it, his cosmic voice echoing throughout the arena.

”Very well.”

Burden Collector plunged his fingers into his stomach and pulled out dozens of thick masses of sponge-like flesh... then he hurled them in his direction!

Whoosh!

Levi activated his Sun Jets and flew sideways. Yet, a powerful pull dragged him back toward the flying masses.

It felt as if he’d been thrown between stars, each one trying to tear him apart from another direction!

Without hesitation, Levi covered himself in a Void Isolation layer, weakening their influence enough to escape their grasp.

Boom! Boom!

As the giant sponge-like masses struck the arena, their weight drove them a couple of meters underground... yet their gravitational pull remained active, dragging in nearby rubble and turning each landing spot into another trap for Levi to avoid, a constant pain in the ass.

Yet, Burden Collector wasn’t done... he kept sinking his hands inside and hurling the same masses at Levi, who kept swerving between them... even when his Void Isolation didn’t completely negate the gravitational pulls, Levi still avoided the waves like someone who had a direct view of them!

In a sense, this was correct, as Levi’s Harmonic Spine painted those gravitational fluctuations as rippling bands that curved toward each sponge-like mass... the stronger the pull, the thicker those bands appeared in his sensory world!

Whenever the masses moved, their patterns shifted and overlapped, revealing where the opposing pulls would clash and where their influence remained weakest... to Levi, the seemingly chaotic bombardment was filled with narrow, constantly changing gaps, allowing him to adjust his Sun Jets before the stronger currents could drag him off course!

In the eyes of the viewers, he appeared like he was making unnecessary moves... but to Burden Collector? He couldn’t help but frown.

’He can see them?’

The answer came in an instant as Levi twisted his body and released a concentrated burst from his feet, flying between two masses... the viewers and Rifters expected him to get pulled or have his void layer shredded; instead, Levi’s speed increased!

’He timed the gravitational waves at the perfect moment when both masses were still ahead of him, and their pulls peaked together...’

Burden Collector narrowed his eyes as he followed Levi’s accelerating figure.

’By keeping an equal distance from them, he allowed their sideways pulls to cancel each other while the forward pulls combined, dragging him straight toward the gap... then, he used his jets to cross between them as the pulses weakened, before they could pull him backward.’

His attention shifted to the dark layers covering Levi’s body.

’And his void isolation absorbed enough of the remaining strain to keep him intact... he’s actually using my attacks to accelerate... to figure all this out so fast...’ Burden Collector knitted his brows. ’What a fearsome battle IQ.’

Unbeknownst to him, lifting those burdens off Levi had cleared his mind like no other drug... Levi’s brain was working at full capacity to defeat him!

Sure, he had gotten stronger through Levi’s burdens... but the trade-off was fighting him in his clearest, most clinical state!

The moment Levi emerged from the field of gravity masses, he pressed the Starpiercer against his shoulder and fired three bullets.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Three Singularity Bullets flew toward the giant’s chest, aimed directly at the core Levi had located through its powerful fluctuations.

Yet, Burden Collector neither dodged nor bothered to shift his core again. He watched as the first bullet buried itself in his flesh and imploded, cutting out a small spherical chunk from his chest... yet the rest of his flesh quickly expanded into the cavity, filling it as if nothing had happened.

The second and third bullets produced similar results, barely reaching deeper before their power was exhausted.

Destroying his core remained a distant dream.

”Celestial’s attacks aren’t reaching the core!” Gamble shouted. ”And Burden Collector is filling the arena with gravitational traps nonstop! How long can Celestial keep avoiding them?”

The betting screens flickered as viewers hurriedly changed their selections.

-Put mine on the giant!-

-Now you switch? Look at the odds!-

-Better than losing everything!-

Arthur’s expression darkened as he read these messages from a live stream window he had on the side... but he kept his attention on Levi, who had just slipped between two masses trying to drag him in opposite directions.

’Come on, big bro... make them eat their words.’

He prayed silently while Levi fired one last, much more potent bullet into Burden Collector’s chest; unfortunately, it only confirmed that the previous results hadn’t been a fluke.

’His flesh has toughened to the point where I doubt anything below Tier 6 will reach his core.’

It wasn’t that Levi couldn’t produce such attacks... oh, you’d better believe he could.

However, the energy consumption was high enough that it would leave him in a miserable position for the rest of the game.

Still, continuing like this wasn’t much better... between his jets, barriers, and wasted shots, Burden Collector was steadily draining him without suffering any meaningful damage.

’I guess I have to use it... so much for keeping it for later.’

Levi took a deep breath and dismissed Starpiercer... Seeing this, the giant paused briefly before throwing another gravitational mass in his direction.

This time... Levi ignored it.

’Void Ultimate: The Endless Fall.’

RIIIIIP!

As the words resounded in his mind, a sudden black fissure tore through the space in front of him... it stretched vertically until the chasm stood taller than a house!

Then, amethyst light spread along its edges while the space around them folded inside, exposing an illusory depth that should never have fit inside such a narrow opening.

Countless glowing amethyst rings descended through the abyss, one below another until their number locked at six.

But was it really their end or just the chasm’s depth? No one could tell for sure, as this was the first time everyone had laid eyes on such a dreadful ability.

BOOM!

The incoming sponge struck the arena in front of the chasm, dragging rubble across its opening... yet neither the chasm nor Levi was disturbed by its gravitational pull.

Gamble stopped speaking while the viewers who had been busy changing their bets slowly froze... their eyes fixed on Levi, who had covered himself in a complete layer of Void Isolation while stepping inside the chasm.

He went in? This thought echoed across everyone’s mind, Rifters included.

They watched as Levi’s figure disappeared past the first amethyst ring, the second, and then the third.

For a moment, silence took over... then, a dark foot stepped out on the opposite side, causing Akira Sol’s face to twist in utter hatred and disgust, as if she had seen the worst thing in the universe.

In reality... it was just the years of conditioning to abhor the entity before her, as Levi’s entire form had become a creature of perfect darkness.

Its surface swallowed every trace of light that touched it, while a shadowy hood covered his head, revealing only a crimson star and a burning golden sun within its opening.

The Void star had already merged with the surrounding darkness, becoming impossible to distinguish.

Even the edges of his body drifted slightly, as if his shape remained human only because he wanted it to.

This wasn’t the Void form or close to it, as Levi’s body had no configuration of deep amethyst stars swimming amidst his form.

But when he channeled the Void Isolation Technique through his second Void Seed’s ultimate: The Endless Fall... a lesser version of the Void form was fabricated!

All thanks to The Endless Fall ultimate, which was born under the Void Aspect... its effect allowed Levi to send his Void Law-related abilities and techniques into deeper layers of the Void, compressing them into denser, more powerful forms.

The first depth granted at least threefold potency, while further depths increased both power and energy cost, but at the same time... upgraded the abilities/techniques’ effects!

As a standalone ultimate, it wasn’t as overbearing as Corona Tempest... however, its utility was beyond efficient.

Levi had been saving it as one of his ace cards... but no more. Burden Collector was affected only by his Void Law Aspects.

It was time to show the universe that his worse half was kept hidden for a reason.

Levi lifted one hand, transforming his Starpiercer Rifle into the Requiem of Hope and Despair... but as the violin and bow emerged, they were instantly engulfed in darkness, making everyone understand.

There would be no Hope involved in what was about to happen next...