Chapter 52: The Spiral of Death, Section 7

The deadly energy, as if it could be created out of nothing, was drawn from the void by Blood Eye and Baroka together, then merged into this terrifying energy vortex. In just an instant, the diameter of the spiral exceeded 100 meters. Soon after, the spiral, carrying terrifying fluctuations, plunged straight toward the castle!!
There was no sound…
Yet, Blood Eye and Baroka in the distant starry sky felt as though they had been pushed backward by some force, shooting away violently. Along their trajectory of retreat, ripples formed due to their continued control over the energy—so beautiful and transparent.
But the scene below was far less beautiful. After the energy spiral struck the castle, there was a brief pause. Just as Blood Eye and Baroka were utterly confused, an even more intense light sphere suddenly erupted, covering the entire castle. Under the force of the powerful energy, the castle’s outer walls quickly collapsed. In just a moment, the massive castle shrank by half. Then, something even more terrifying happened. At the center of the light sphere formed by the Spiral of Death, a bean-sized black dot appeared.
“What, what is that? Blood Eye, am I going blind?” Baroka shouted in disbelief from the distant stars, his voice trembling. Beside him, Blood Eye was clearly in distress too; if anyone could see his expression beneath his mask, they would see that he was drenched in sweat.
“No, it’s not blindness. I saw it too.”
“What on earth is it? Could it be…?” Baroka’s voice sounded like a ghostly wail, but it was clear he was shaken to the core. If—just if—he wasn’t mistaken, could that black dot be…
“A proto-black hole!!” Blood Eye and Baroka shouted in unison.
“Run!!”
There was no need for urging now. The two never imagined that the Primordial Power Armor would prove so terrifying on its first use. The energy spiral was one thing, but how could it even create a black hole? Though it was only a proto-black hole, barely dozens of centimeters in diameter and likely to dissipate soon under the energy surge, it was still a black hole. Its powerful gravitational pull wouldn’t diminish just because of its small size.
Duke Taro’s castle was completely ruined.

The two figures instantly turned into two straight lines, shooting toward the deeper starry sky. Amidst the tension, Baroka still remembered to look back. Right behind the two of them, the Grand Duke of Taro’s castle had already begun to collapse. Countless pieces, large and small, were torn apart by terrifying energy currents before being absorbed by that tiny black hole. In just a moment, that place reverted to nothingness—how could there still be any trace of a castle?

Seeing this, Baroka’s face turned deathly pale. He quickly turned his head away, never daring to look again. When he spoke again, his voice was trembling.

“Bloodpupil, if we had gotten closer earlier, would we have…?”

“Shut up!” Bloodpupil snapped coldly, her voice also filled with tension. “Damn it, Baroka, stop guessing randomly! You know even guesses can be terrifying sometimes!”

“But…” Baroka tried to argue.

“No buts. I definitely won’t take any more risks. Until I understand this terrifying Primal Power Armor, don’t expect me to make such reckless attacks again!” Bloodpupil replied firmly, her face beneath the mask turning ashen.

To be honest, although this attack was part of the plan, it wasn’t designed this way. The so-called Death Spiral was just an impulsive idea. When Baroka noticed that the Primal Power Armor had a dual-attack system, he strongly suggested that Bloodpupil give it a try, and she agreed without much thought. But who would have imagined the terrifying consequences? If the two hadn’t reacted quickly, they might have really been sucked in.

Of course, Bloodpupil believed that such a terrifying weapon like the Primal Power Armor must have complete self-protection mechanisms to ensure the operator wasn’t affected by its own attacks. But that required sufficient understanding. Since she had only just obtained this armor, she couldn’t claim to know much about it.

Thinking about the possible consequences of her recklessness, Bloodpupil felt a chill of fear. Damn it, this thing truly couldn’t be compared to previous mechs. She couldn’t listen to Baroka’s urging any longer. Just one attack had caused such a huge mess and nearly sucked her in. If Blackhair and Monkey found out, they wouldn’t know how to mock her.

Of course, Bloodpupil didn’t realize that Blackhair at that moment didn’t have the energy to pay attention to her at all.

The memories of the Grand Duke of Taro were simply too difficult to process.

In fact, this was also one of Ya Zi’s abilities—as the pinnacle of energy mechs, Ya Zi was far stronger than ordinary Primal Power Armor. Its operation relied on a completely different system from Primal Power Armor, one known as the Subtle Mode.

The subtle realm—the microscopic world of energy. Reaching this level allows one to manipulate almost all forms of energy. Not only the surrounding environment but even living beings and oneself fall within the scope of such subtle manipulation. Memories are also a form of energy; it’s just that few people realize this.

That’s why Black Hair simply seized all of the Grand Duke of Tarot’s memories. But then again, memories are a field rarely explored by most people, and their complexity exceeds what ordinary calculations can handle. So although it’s possible to forcibly take these memories, processing them isn’t so simple. Beyond requiring astronomical amounts of computation, the mental strain on the operator is astonishingly high.

Magical mechs also demand immense mental pressure. By comparison, absorbing the memories of an ordinary human would require at least fifteen times that level of mental strain. In other words, for Black Hair to consume the Grand Duke of Tarot’s entire memory bank is equivalent to operating fifteen magical mechs simultaneously! This is simply an impossible myth!!

Ordinary humans need auxiliary equipment just to operate one magical mech. Operating fifteen times as many would only be possible for a god. Thus, Black Hair now faces the greatest challenge ever. The overwhelming mental pressure sweeps through his nerves like an earthquake or tsunami, yet nothing is visible on the surface. If he can’t hold on, he might instantly become a complete idiot!

The medical room of the virtual puppet was in complete chaos. Several medics rushed around frantically. Ever since Monkey brought Black Hair back, these medics had become the focus of the entire ship. Everyone was under the gaze of countless eyes. Sweat streamed down their backs. They had no doubt that if anything happened to Black Hair, they would likely be torn to pieces by the enraged Blood Wolf warriors.

Damn it, what’s going on here? Even though these medics had received systematic training, such mental pressure was beyond their ability to influence. Otherwise, the power limitations of magical mechs wouldn’t be such a major constraint on humans. So despite being drenched in cold sweat, they could do nothing but watch Black Hair’s pained expression on the bed.

And Monkey, standing nearby, was also consumed by deep self-reproach.

Of course, he had no idea what Kuroha was facing. He only thought that since he had accompanied Kuroha into the castle, it was his responsibility to ensure her safety. But now that Kuroha was in such a state, he didn’t even understand what had happened. As a warrior, it felt as though someone had slapped him hard in the face—burning painfully.

However, the situation soon eased. As everyone was in chaos, not knowing what to do, Kuroha on the bed finally let out her first groan since returning, then slowly opened her eyes.

“Head, are you okay!?” The monkey, who had been waiting by her side, was overjoyed and rushed over to speak.

“Oh…” Kuroha shook her head in pain, waving her hand to ask for silence. Everyone around immediately stepped back, and soon only Kuroha and the monkey remained in the room.

The monkey’s expression was also one of confusion. To him, although Kuroha had woken up, she didn’t seem fully conscious. Her expression was as if… she were sleepwalking.

“Head? Please don’t scare me. What’s really going on?” Quietly, the monkey sat down beside Kuroha and asked carefully again.

This time, Kuroha answered.

First, she let out a pained groan before slowly standing up. After moving around a bit, her complexion improved significantly, and her gaze gradually became clearer. Seeing the monkey’s anxious expression, she suddenly smiled.

“I’m sorry for worrying you, Monkey.”

“Haha, I’m glad you’re awake! Head, tell me quickly—what exactly happened? Why did you suddenly become so weak? I thought Tarou that old man had tricked you.”

“Oh, of course not. He can’t trick me. In fact, I knew everything that happened the whole time. Including you ordering Bloodpupil and Baroka to act. But I just couldn’t speak. The pressure I endured just now was too great.” Kuroha replied slowly, with a somewhat strange expression.

“Pressure?” The monkey was stunned. Isn’t that a term only used for magic mechs?

“Enough.” Seeing the monkey’s confused look, Kuroha waved her hand, signaling him not to press further.

“This kind of thing is inevitable. It’s just that I was too naive and rash in trying it.” Kuroha gave a bitter smile, but quickly became serious again.

“But it was all worth it. I finally learned the secret of Grand Duke Tarou.”

“What!?” The monkey was stunned, then overjoyed. “Really!?”