The pressure hit instantly, and it was a force that defied the traditional laws of world. It wasn't merely the physical weight of the deep ocean plasma pressing against his body, nor was it the simple gravitational tether of a high-level binding formation.
It was something deeper, a fundamental rejection of his existence by the very fabric of the world.
The formation using Barrier From Great Severance to defiled his existence. Making the world unfriendly to him despite one of inhibits.
All his Cores reacted first, pulsing with a frantic, rhythmic tried to stabilize the turbulent of his Existence. Then his mind began to reel, the complex calculations of his combat intuition hitting a wall of static. Finally, his spirit felt the chill. It was as if the universe itself had decided he no longer belonged in these coordinates of space and time.
Everything about him was suddenly, violently restricted. All his energy from fission of core sluggishly churned like cooling lava. His physical strength, which could once level mountain ranges with a casual swing, felt dampened, as if he were moving through a thick, invisible gelatin. His soul that multiple times powerful then his body, start to become feeble like normal soul.
In this cage, forged from the very essence of Something unknown. He attempted to take a single step forward, a movement that should have been instantaneous. Instead, the space itself resisted him. The air grew dense, warping around his frame, pushing back against his chest with the force of a thousand hurricanes. The water beneath his boots didn't ripple; it groaned, hardening into something more durable than diamond. That resistance alone was enough to confirm his darkest suspicions. This wasn't a product of the World Language, nor was it a feat of any known Mythical Profession Granted by the Wheel.
"Not from this world," he said, his voice echoing with a strange, metallic distortion.
The traitor laughed, a sound that was now amplified by the shimmering gold of the formation below. The blood on his face seemed to glow with a reflected, alien light. The traitor gradually become stronger here.
"Finally figured it out?" the traitor mocked, his posture straightening as he regained his strength with unnatural speed. "If the mighty God of Fate once attempt it and can make Huma flourish. So does I AM!"
His gaze sharpened, cutting through the haze of the shimmering trap. He looked past the traitor, past the glowing script, and into the very heart of the ocean floor where the rift had opened. He saw the way the energy didn't just flow; it twisted, spiraling in a way that defied the world space.
"The Cosmic Being," he whispered, "You made a contract!!"
"Of course," the traitor replied, his eyes flashing with a terrifying, hollow ambition. "Sovereignty is a heavy burden for the weak. I chose efficacy over pride. I chose to win."
As if in response to the traitor's admission, the sea darkened.
The azure light of his own power was swallowed by a deep, oily purple that bled out from the formation's center. Something moved beneath the crust of the ocean floor, something so massive that the continental plates themselves seemed to shiver in its presence. At the very center of the formation, a conduit had been established, a bridge stretching across the light-years to the cold reaches of outer space.
There lies not a creature in the biological sense. There was no flesh to wound, no heart to pierce.
It was a presence. Vast. Silent. Watching.
Even he felt it. It wasn't fear, he had long ago burned that emotion out of his nerve. It was pure, unadulterated weight. It was the pressure of an infinite higher being pressing down to lesser lifeform.
"You don't understand what you've invited," he said, his voice dropping to a low, dangerous rumble. "You think you're a partner? To them, you're just the door-stopper. Once the house is empty, they'll crush you along with the floorboards. Are you not learn what happened to deity's back then?"
"I understand power," the traitor hissed, his face contorting with a mix of zealotry and desperation.
The traitor raised his hand, and for the first time, the ocean didn't just move, it responded with a consciousness of its own. No. Not the ocean acting anymore. It was something lurking behind the veil of the water, something that from outer space light years away that move giving the traitor more and more power.
The Traitor didn't stand idly by. He attacked, and it was immediately clear that this clash would be very different. The traitor was faster now, inhumanly so even amongst the standard of other 'Seduloused'; No, even amongst 'Blessed'. He didn't travel through space; he seemed to delete the distance between points. His attacks didn't just hit; they bent space slightly upon impact, like reality was struggling to keep up with the void-tainted momentum.
He as the strongest have similar power, the power that reach limit of the world. But that before restrictions place upon him.
A barrage of punches and kicks rained down.
He blocked. He countered. He stepped through each strike with the calculated mind, his movements a blur of defensive perfection, his battle IQ is still way superior. Nevertheless this is time, he didn't dominate everything like he used to. He was being pushed back. Each time his forearms met the traitor's shins, he felt the restriction on his strength tighten. His power was being restricted so much that even his basic motor functions felt like lifting a mountain.
"So this is your answer?" he said, his breath coming in controlled, steady cycles. "Borrowed strength? A beggar's victory?"
The traitor's smile widened, becoming a jagged scar of triumph. "Power is power. Does the drowning man care if the rope is made of silk or hemp?"
Another strike, a dual-palm thrust caught him in the center of his guard, that strike even injured his soul.
He slid back across the water for a hundred meters, his boots steaming as they fought for friction. Below him, the formation flared brighter, pulling him more harder then before, it's a blessing in disguise cause the strike will push other beings to the other side of the world; if that is strong enough to still intact. The cage tightened, the violet light weaving through the azure of his aura.
He exhaled slowly, a long, thin plume of white mist. "Then I'll just go higher."
He didn't reach for a spin. He didn't try to turn the Wheel of Advancement. Contrarily, the artifacts that granted him power, the relics that grant humanity power started to lose its influence. All his Cores, his mythical profession, everything he gained form the wheel start to dissolve.
His body trembled once, a violent shiver that shook the foundations of the sea. Then, he stabilized.
His presence expanded. It didn't just grow; it shed its shell. Even as all the Boons from the Wheels of Advancement dissolved , he still had all his power. That's because all the dissolve power sublime, turn into his own true path.
After a long time in world history, the realm once again bore witness to the birth of a transcendence.
"Impossible!?" The traitor staggered back, genuine shock finally cracking his smug mask. "You breakthrough? Here? Without the Wheel?"
Then the sea split wider, unable to contain the density of his new state. The violet pressure cracked. He stepped forward again. Faster now. Sharper. Stronger.
If before the Traitor is all ready reach the limit of the world. His power goes even beyond that! Beyond the limit!
He drove his fist straight into the traitor's chest, this simple strike bypassed not just so called distance, it's even bypass time. Before even the punch being thrown, the Traitor is already being hit!
The impact shattered the surrounding water into a fine, glittering mist. The traitor flew back, crashed against the rising wall of the ocean, and recovered. Yet, he was still smiling. Still standing.
Not enough.
He frowned slightly. That strike should have ended the life of any being in this world. The traitor raised his hand again, and this time, the presence behind the sea moved closer. Closer. Watching him. Judging him.
"You feel it now?" the traitor said. "You're not fighting me. You're fighting the Cosmic Horror."
The sea closed again, tighter than before, the walls turning into a solid, obsidian sphere of crushing intent. He looked up. For the first time, his expression changed. Slightly.
"…I see. This Formation is some kind of Door, No it's more like a hole"
Then he stepped forward. One more time.
"I'll break it."