Chương 118: Chapter 117: The Abyss Awakens, and a Spatial Trap

The central section of Tartarus Central Station's black-stone platform collapsed. A bottomless black chasm tore open directly beneath the rail line, swallowing the central track bed and surrounding earth into the void. A violent gravitational vortex twisted around the chasm while the outer platform sections held under their existing barriers. From the depths of the black chasm, a colossal shadow arm, over a hundred meters long, rose up.

Its surface was slick with dark purple slime, covered in tens of thousands of silver, pupilless eyes darting in every direction. At the center of its palm sat a colossal circular mouth, lined with thousands of rows of rotating serrated teeth, continuously generating a terrifying arcane suction force that devoured every particle of light and mana in the air. Ting! Ting! A dim black Unified System V2. 0 notification burst into view before Lucian.

[ABNORMAL SPATIAL ENTITY WARNING: ENTITY OF THE ABYSS (RANK SS — WORLD-CLASS)] Nature: Degraded mana residue from the World Tower's Core. Combat Power Reading: scan saturation — reliable numerical evaluation unavailable. Observed trait: its intake structure absorbs directed mana and energy attacks. WHOOSH! Astra leapt down from the roof of the carriage, swinging the Sun-Slaying Dragon Sword and unleashing a brilliant wave of holy force that tore through space.

But the moment the light touched the monster's mouth, it was sucked straight in, like a strand of noodle, with no explosion, no resistance at all. Carmilla swung her hand, launching thousands of Tartarus hellfire bolts, but the flames snuffed out the moment they got close, absorbed by the suction force. The monster let out a strangled, mechanical shriek, its massive hand reaching up to grab the two-million-gold armored locomotive, trying to drag it down into the black chasm.

Lucian stood at the edge of the cracked station platform, narrowing his eyes, activating Read the Fine Print Lv. 1. He studied the creature's aerodynamic flow and throat structure for three seconds, then spoke. The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

"This thing doesn't think... it's just an industrial vacuum cleaner with a jammed mana-intake valve!" He spun around to face Evelyn, standing on Cargo Car 2.

"Evelyn! Open the storage on Car 4! Bring out all five hundred crates of super-spicy arcane hot sauce and thirty bags of chemical leavening powder, now!" Evelyn, machine gun still in hand, froze, staring wide-eyed.

"You're actually going to season it?!"

"Hurry up!" Click. Eleanor stepped up beside Lucian, driving her holy sword into the stone floor and widening the barrier around the station. Looking down into the churning black chasm, she spoke through clenched teeth.

"Do not do anything stupid. I refuse to explain to Lady Valeria and Lord Regulus that you got eaten because of unpaid hot sauce." Lucian glanced at her, his voice sharp.

"Nobody's dying! Those five hundred crates of hot sauce haven't been paid for by the Demon Realm yet — I'm not letting anyone die on my watch!" Ting! [OPERATION LOGGED: CARGO CHUTE RELEASE!] Method: open Car 4's dumping chutes and let the target inhale the shipment itself. WHOOSH! The monster's own suction seized the first ruptured crates and dragged the thick red sauce, broken wood, and leavening powder into its mouth in a spiraling torrent. BOOM! FIZZZZZZZ!

Five hundred crates of hot sauce, made from three thousand volcanic peppers and mixed with expanding leavening powder, foamed inside the Abyssal Entity's intake. A thick, blistering, red cloud of spice erupted from every one of the monster's tens of thousands of eyes and every crack in its arm. COUGH! COUGH! GAAACK! The Rank SS monster suddenly began convulsing violently. Its massive mouth spasmed, hacking out bursts of red flame and dark purple tears over and over.

The viscous, foaming particulate clogged and destabilized the mana intake that had been swallowing attacks. The monster clutched its throat, writhing in the black chasm, its whole body wreathed in acrid smoke, forcing tens of thousands of silver eyes to squeeze shut from the burning. Spectators and soldiers from both realms watched the monster writhe and choke in the pit. Some dropped to their knees; others simply stared at the empty hot-sauce crates in complete disbelief.

"Holy Firepower!"

"He's used holy poison to burn the evil out from within!"

"A miracle exorcism unlike any other, performed by our Savior!" Amid the thick, spicy red smoke, Read the Fine Print caught a fist-sized amber crystal deep in the monster's gaping throat — the Supreme Time Crystal, its anchoring cord stabilizing the Entity's remaining structure. If that core stayed in place, the jammed intake could eventually clear and reform. Lucian drew his silver dagger from his hip and activated Silent Blink.

The ten-year-old's silhouette shot into the middle of the monster's spice-choked mouth during the short extraction window.

"That Time Crystal treasure... is mine!"