Chapter 525 - 485: Fingertip, Woven Thread, and Divine Attribute

Chapter 525: Chapter 485: Fingertip, Woven Thread, and Divine Attribute

Roland didn’t respond to Yemiga’s curiosity. He just furrowed his brow, staring intently at his own fingertip.

When his fingertip was just an inch away from the phantom of the silver-white "thread," and the pale gold and dark red halos were about to touch that cold line...

His finger froze.

He wasn’t bound by any tangible force, nor did he feel any pain or numbness.

It was the purest, most fundamental state of "unable to execute."

His consciousness clearly issued the command to "touch," and his nerve endings seemed to have received the signal.

But the muscles and joints of his finger, and even the faint glow enveloping it, completely solidified in that final inch of their path, as if they had become a stone statue carved as one with the surrounding space.

Even stranger, Roland could still clearly "sense" his own finger.

Its existence, its position, and even the subtle sensation on its skin from the air currents remained completely undiminished.

Only the Attribute of "movement" seemed to have been quietly "deleted" or "indefinitely delayed" by some higher-level concept.

’Something’s wrong...’

Roland’s heart sank.

’This isn’t any kind of Magic, nor is it an Energy suppression.’

’Magic would leave traces of Magic Elements, and Energy suppression would be accompanied by a clear sense of resistance.’

’The current situation is more like...’

’Spatial manipulation... It’s not a simple Energy suppression or Force Field Restraint. He didn’t apply any visible Power, but directly modified the "permissions" of this area’s spatial Attributes.’

’It’s almost like... he’s holding the "on/off switch" for space itself?’

A chill ran down Roland’s spine.

This method of control far surpassed conventional Magic or Spiritual Energy. It was more fundamental, more...

The embodiment of Authority.

It didn’t rely on a massive output of Energy, but instead directly fine-tuned the Rules.

Yemiga hadn’t even intentionally targeted him. Merely by existing here, by his will focusing ever so slightly, this pocket of space naturally complied with his "definition."

Realizing this, Roland focused all his attention on his fingertip, mobilizing the resonance from the Son of Divine Remains within him and his newly awakened Time Perception.

Relying on his still-vague affinity for "Space-Time," he tried to "read" the formless shackles around his fingertip.

There was no Magic Barrier, nor any border of Time Stasis.

But he "sensed" something else...

An extremely subtle, yet omnipresent "flow."

It was like being in the middle of a great river, calm on the surface but with profound depths. The water itself seemed still, but an irresistible undercurrent existed beneath, dictating the one and only possible direction for anything that floated.

The faint glow on his fingertip, his attempt to extend it forward—they were like a fallen leaf trying to move against this fundamental undercurrent, blocked by some intangible "trend" related to the very essence of existence.

This undercurrent wasn’t aimed at him personally, but was woven into this area—or rather, into the very foundation of Silver Radiance City’s Space-Time structure. It was some kind of...

"Predetermined program" or "priority Law."

Its existence was so natural, so deeply ingrained, that resisting it was like trying to make a falling raindrop fly back up to the clouds against gravity.

’Is this the Authority of the World Serpent... or a ’Rule’ of this looping city itself?’

Roland’s thoughts raced, and a cold sweat had already broken out on his back.

Yemiga hadn’t even made any obvious Casting gestures. By simply "existing" here and "not allowing" this to happen, the underlying Rules of this Domain seemed to spontaneously respond to his will, silently erasing Roland’s intent before it could even sprout.

This wasn’t being crushed on the level of Power, but being absolutely overridden on the level of permission.

Yemiga was like the administrator of this segment of Space-Time code. And Roland, no matter what "key" or "engraving tool" he held, could never defy the most fundamental logic as long as he was running within that "code."

He slowly raised his eyes to Yemiga, who was still standing in the same spot, his expression as calm as ever.

The glow of data streams in the other’s dark yellow, vertical pupils had long since subsided, leaving only a serene look of all-knowing insight.

To stop such a tiny movement, he had displayed this despair-inducing, fundamental control over the Rules of Space-Time.

This was the "World Serpent." Or rather, this was the tip of the iceberg of the Authority wielded by the Artificial God that Silver Radiance City had poured everything into creating, all to maintain an "eternal correctness."

’No wonder he can maintain the Space-Time loop that covers the entire city... It’s not a Barrier propped up by brute force, but a result of his very form of existence being deeply integrated with the fundamental spatial structure of Silver Radiance City.’

’He is both the "Weaver" and a part of the loom itself. Here, near his "node," his authority is near-absolute...’

The pressure was mountainous, but Roland was not entirely without options.

His newly acquired Trait, [Time Trace Weaver’s Engraving Blade], was rapidly running and adapting in the depths of his consciousness.

Though the wisp of light on his fingertip was trapped in a tiny area by the stagnant space, it hadn’t been extinguished. Instead, it was engaging in an extremely subtle friction and probing at the level of Perception against the abnormally "dense" spatial Attributes of its surroundings.

He could "feel" that Yemiga’s control over this space wasn’t monolithic.

Those silver-white "Space-Time Weaving Threads" still pulsed in his vision. They were both the blood vessels of the loop and potential cracks through which to infiltrate the system.

Yemiga’s "spatial Silence" was more like a stable state built upon the network nodes where these threads intertwined.

And the essence of the [Time Trace Weaver’s Engraving Blade] was precisely to analyze and interfere with such Space-Time structures.