# Chapter 356: Destruction of the Pocket Dimension
"The power of time..."
Watching the bronze sand swirling around Lu Yuan, the Flesh King murmured slowly.
"As I suspected — you're different from other Children of the Cosmos. If I leave you unchecked, you'll become an obstacle once you mature."
Lu Yuan's eyes narrowed.
*Other Children of the Cosmos?*
*This thing has been to other universes?*
But thinking it over, since the Cosmic Boundary sealed chaos outside their universe, perhaps other universes truly did exist within that chaos. And the Aberrant Beast Mother Nest drifted through chaos — encountering other universes wasn't hard to imagine.
If that were true, those other universes had likely been devoured by the Aberrant Beasts.
A cold gleam surfaced in Lu Yuan's eyes. The Mother Nest had set its sights on their universe with the very same intention.
Spirit Power surged around him as a black greatsword materialized in his hand — a divine-artifact greatsword he'd exchanged Merits for after reaching the War God rank.
Its name: Abyssal Sanction.
He'd also redeemed a complete set of divine-artifact battle armor. Even at his current level, this equipment provided a significant boost.
His body vanished and reappeared instantly behind the Flesh King. The greatsword, blazing with the force of cosmic annihilation and Radiant Fire, surged with terrifying Spirit Power as it cleaved toward the creature's neck.
But the Flesh King's body didn't move. Only its neck twisted a full hundred and eighty degrees to face Lu Yuan directly, deep green eyes blazing with terrible light.
Lu Yuan's blood boiled instantly, his body shuddering as though it might rupture. But his power had grown too vastly — he frowned and brute-forced the anomaly into submission.
That cost him only an instant, but a piercing shriek of torn air filled the void. The Flesh King had already turned — when, Lu Yuan couldn't say. Its arm writhed and deformed into a spike wreathed in horrifying green radiance, thrusting straight at his skull.
Void-space rippled around Lu Yuan as he vanished, reappearing several thousand meters behind the Flesh King.
The spike met empty air. Its green radiance condensed into a beam that tore through the pocket dimension, ripping a gash in the interdimensional space — cosmic vacuum visible beyond the tear. The beam lanced outward, piercing a planet hundreds of light-years away. The planet detonated, and the green beam vanished into the void.
The instant Lu Yuan materialized, a flash of ashen light flickered through his eyes.
An ashen scythe swept over the Flesh King's head.
For one heartbeat, the creature went rigid.
Lu Yuan's eyes narrowed. The greatsword lashed out, its terrible blade-light carrying cosmic force and Radiant Fire as it slashed toward the Flesh King.
As the strike closed in, the Flesh King recovered. Green light churned in its eyes, and a thick layer of green luminescence coated its body. Blade-light met the green barrier.
**BOOM!!**
A deafening explosion erupted. The Flesh King's body was sent hurtling backward in a streak of light, space fracturing in its wake, revealing yet more gashes into the cosmic vacuum.
Lu Yuan vanished instantly, materializing behind the tumbling creature.
Just as he prepared to press the attack, the Flesh King twisted its head a full hundred and eighty degrees and flashed him a savage grin.
Ice shot down Lu Yuan's spine. The Flesh King's left hand had vanished — when, he had no idea.
Every hair on his body stood on end. The Wheel of Fate screamed of imminent danger. Without hesitation, he teleported away.
The instant he vanished, a flesh spike erupted from the void exactly where he'd been standing.
Having missed, the spike drifted back to the Flesh King's severed stump, writhing and reforming into an arm. The creature's expression turned frigid. "I didn't expect you to dodge that."
Lu Yuan frowned.
*This thing can detach its own limbs?*
*And moreover...*
He glanced at where his earlier strike had landed on the Flesh King. Only a faint wound remained, traces of Radiant Fire lingering on its surface — but that holy energy was dissipating rapidly, and the wound had already closed.
*Monstrous defense. Monstrous regeneration.*
A weight settled in Lu Yuan's chest as his eyes narrowed.
The Flesh King charged again. As it closed in, the deep green light in its eyes pulsed once more.
Lu Yuan's flesh began to mutate uncontrollably, but he was ready this time, immediately suppressing it with the power of time.
Simultaneously, he surged forward to meet the Flesh King head-on.
The creature's arm morphed into a razor-edged blade and slashed at him. A fierce glint flashed in Lu Yuan's eyes as he brought the greatsword up to meet it.
Blade met blade.
**BOOM!!!**
Green and golden light flared. At the point of impact, what appeared to be a pitch-black hole began to form. Then the unstable shockwave erupted outward, spreading at terrifying speed.
The Blood of Machinery members watching from afar went pale with horror.
Kro felt a lethal threat wash over him, ice flooding his veins. He snarled:
"Run!!"
Garton didn't hesitate. Green light swept up the Blood of Machinery's Battle Emperor and Battle Saint members as he turned and fled into the distance.
Wherever the shockwave passed, the pocket dimension shattered layer by layer, exposing the cosmic vacuum beneath.
Garton glanced back, his mouth twitching.
The pocket dimension he'd poured countless years and effort into creating — destroyed by a single clash?!
His mind rebelled against the reality, but the approaching shockwave left no room for denial.
The shockwave rampaged through the entire pocket dimension, grinding it to fragments.
The pocket dimension ceased to exist. Garton, Kro, the Blood of Machinery members, Lu Yuan, and the Flesh King — all were cast into the cosmic vacuum.
The pocket dimension had served as a buffer. Without it, the energy radiating from Lu Yuan and the Flesh King rippled outward unimpeded — even planets tens of thousands of light-years away trembled.
In a distant region, a planet-sized fortress of mechanical construction floated in the vacuum — a Mechanical Race gathering point.
With Aberrant Beasts pouring continuously through the breach into the Mechanical Kingdom, vast numbers of star systems had been corrupted, transformed into dead zones and Aberrant Beast lairs. Many Mechanical Race worlds had been ravaged, their populations decimated.
The Mechanical Race had not stood idle. Under the direction of Mados and the other Mechanical Heart leaders, their members had fanned out across the Mechanical Kingdom's star systems, consolidating scattered populations into defended settlements. Each fortress boasted formidable defensive forces — at minimum three Battle Saints — to guard against Aberrant Beast swarms.
The fortress shuddered.
In the core sector, four Mechanical Battle Saints — the settlement's highest authorities — rose to their feet simultaneously. Light flickered rapidly in their mechanical eyes. They exchanged glances, alarm written across their faces, then vanished from the room and reappeared in open space above the fortress.
They weren't alone. Mechanical Battle Emperors, Battle Sovereigns, even Battle Kings hovered in the void, all staring toward the same distant point. Every face showed the same expression: dread.
The assembled warriors spotted the Battle Saints and hurried over, anxiety etched into their features.
"My Lord Adela! What is that?! Who's fighting in that direction?!"
The Battle Saint named Adela stared toward the source of the disturbance, disbelief clear in his expression. He spoke slowly:
"The battle's energy seems incredibly far away, yet it's reaching us here — it even shook the entire settlement... This..."
He looked to the other three Battle Saints. All three shook their heads.
"This is too powerful. Even Lord Mados and the others couldn't produce shockwaves like this, could they?"
"Then who could it be? Lord Mados and the War Gods of the allied races are all at the front lines — and this isn't the front. How can something this powerful exist in the rear?!"
The remaining Battle Saint's eyes flickered. "Haven't you noticed?" he said slowly. "One of those two energy signatures feels particularly sinister. It seems like... Aberrant Beast energy."
Adela and the other two froze. The light in their mechanical eyes flickered with renewed intensity.
After a beat of silence, Adela nodded slowly, his voice turning hoarse:
"...It does seem to be Aberrant Beast energy... but that's impossible! The powerful Aberrant Beasts should all be contained at the front lines. How could one of this magnitude appear in the rear?! It can't be!"
One of the Battle Saints offered hesitantly: "...Could it be a Blood of Machinery War God?"
Even he didn't believe his own words. A Blood of Machinery War God's energy could never carry this far, let alone shake star systems at this distance.
The four exchanged uncertain looks and fell silent. If even the Battle Saints had no answers, the Battle Emperors and other Mechanical Race members were utterly stunned, terror mounting in their hearts.
Then Adela spoke.
"I'll stay behind and go take a look. The rest of you — notify Lord Mados immediately. And get the settlement into warp now. We cannot stay here. Beings at this level will have an unimaginably vast combat range. If the fighting drifts this way, we won't have time to evacuate."
The other three stared at him in shock. One spoke up urgently:
"Adela! Have you lost your mind?! Approach beings at this level?! You'd be walking to your death!"
Adela glanced at him and replied calmly: "Someone has to stay and assess the situation. If we don't confirm their location, how can our people survive under the shadow of beings like these once the fighting ends? Don't worry — I won't get close. Just observe from a distance."
He paused, then turned to the three Battle Saints.
"Tolan, Jodri, Bruce — if anything happens to me, please look after my family."
The three exchanged a look, and one gave a firm nod.
"You have our word."
Adela managed a small smile. "At least all the civilians in this sector have already been relocated. No need to waste time on search and rescue. Now go — hurry!"
With that, he shot upward and streaked toward the source of the distant energy.