Dammit all, the cooked duck flew right out of my mouth!
Drake was practically foaming at the mouth with curses. The only reason they had pinpointed Im's exact location earlier was because she had arrogant enough to step out into the open herself.
If she truly slipped away now and resolved to burrow into hiding, then no matter how heaven-defying his powers were, hunting her down across the vast world would be an exercise in utter futility.
[Not good! There's an island dead ahead! If she makes landfall, we're in catastrophic trouble!] the System's eyes snapped wide as it shrieked in alarm.
Drake's brow knit into a tight furrow. He was painfully aware of the stakes and didn't waste a breath, pouring every ounce of energy into the pursuit.
Throughout this relentless chase, he had truly come to appreciate just how outrageously difficult Im was to deal with. She certainly lived up to her reputation as a monster from eight centuries ago; beyond her terrifying combat prowess, every facet of her constitution was monstrously tough.
Her sheer capacity to endure physical and psychological punishment left Drake genuinely astonished. After fighting at this ungodly intensity for so long, even a mule from a commune would have dropped dead from exhaustion.
Yet Im was still burning every remaining spark of her essence to flee at full throttle.
If he were in her shoes, the moment he slipped past this pursuit, he would undoubtedly resolve to lay low and recover in the shadows for a long time.
He wouldn't dare show his face to stir up trouble until he had fully regained his strength.
Putting himself in her position, the probability of Im adopting this exact strategy was terrifyingly high.
If she escaped today, the future fallout would be endless!
"That monster is definitely banking on that exact play!" Drake gnashed his teeth.
With a deafening sonic boom, the Demon Warder tore across the airspace, pulling directly above Im's flight path.
"Did you really think you could slip away that easily?!" Drake roared, driving an iron fist straight down like a falling meteor.
KABOOM!
The ocean caved in violently, the surrounding waters cascading toward the excavated epicenter before rebounding into cataclysmic tidal surges that battered the firmament.
"AHAHAHA... Let us call it a draw for today! We shall settle the score next time!"
A chilling voice drifted from the airspace nearing the island.
Drake's expression darkened into a tempest of cold fury. At this rate, he was truly powerless to stop her.
With her bizarre repertoire of abilities and sovereign combat strength, if she chose to strike from the shadows against the fragile New World Government in the future, the blow to the stability of the entire world would be catastrophic.
Yet in this fleeting moment, an agonizing wave of helplessness washed over him.
She was simply too slippery!
As the distance closed, the general outline of the island became visible on the horizon. For reasons Drake couldn't quite put his finger on, the terrain stirred a strange, inexplicable sense of familiarity within him.
Yet for the life of him, he couldn't recall where he had seen it before.
"System, if I pour everything into binding her right now, will it hold?" Drake asked, rapidly evaluating Im's current physiological state.
Though he hadn't been able to extinguish her soul, his relentless onslaught had been far from useless.
Throughout this marathon battle, stripped of a physical host, Im had suffered catastrophic trauma every single time Drake's spatial strikes landed on her core essence.
By now, she was grievously wounded, with barely a tenth of her peak combat strength remaining.
Under these depleted conditions, deploying spatial authority to entomb her had finally become a viable tactic.
[Let me calculate... Under her current parameters, it might actually work!] the System nodded with heavy conviction after a brief pause.
The assessment reignited a spark of fierce hope.
If he couldn't kill her, he would lock her away for eternity!
Overturn the heavens with a raised hand; crush the earth with a lowered palm!
"Spatial Cage!"
A cage forged entirely of concentrated spatial energy materialized around Im in the fraction of a microsecond, encasing her from every angle before violently constricting.
Im was locked dead center within the shimmering dimensional bars.
Drake clasped his hands tightly together, channeling every ounce of his willpower into the construct. What was being tested now was no longer his raw offensive output.
It was his granular, microscopic control over the flow of spatial energy.
Only a meticulously woven circulation of spatial currents could construct an unbreakable, flawless dimensional cage.
Immense power was an elevation of sheer quantity; micro-controlling that energy with razor-thin precision was a qualitative leap.
Now that the quantity of his power had reached its absolute apex, he had to elevate the quality of his control to unleash his true potential.
"System! Isn't there a way to instantly upgrade my proficiency in energy manipulation?!" Drake held his breath, not daring to speak too loudly.
He terrified himself with the thought that a single lapse in focus might cause the construct to destabilize, allowing Im to slip through the seams.
Inside the enclosure, Im was violently hurling her essence against the perimeter walls, each concussive impact setting off earth-shaking shockwaves.
Drake paid the detonations no heed, pouring his singular focus into reinforcing the structural integrity of the cage.
He could perceive with crystal clarity the violent fluctuations running through the barrier with every strike. Had he not been actively stabilizing the circulation of spatial energy at every microsecond, Im would have broken out long ago.
He possessed raw power that vastly outstripped Im's, yet in terms of practical application, he barely understood how to wield it with true mastery.
He was like a martial artist blessed with boundless internal energy, yet lacking genuine combat finesse and deep operational experience.
This had always been Drake's glaring Achilles' heel.
[Such attributes can naturally be enhanced. In truth, your current level of control is already quite commendable—at least you aren't an absolute novice who understands nothing,] the System noted.
[It's simply that your finesse falls dreadfully short of the monstrous power you currently wield.] The System added, [Fact of the matter is, once this ultimate storyline quest is concluded, all your core attributes will undergo a comprehensive, foundational upgrade.]
[Fine control over energy will naturally be included in that reward package.]
Drake—whose eyes had lit up with breathless anticipation at the opening words—nearly threw his hands up in pure rage.
You useless piece of scrap! Do you really think I need you to state the obvious?!
By the time that happens, I won't even need this level of godlike power anymore! We're talking about the present!
Settling the immediate crisis before his eyes took precedence over everything else.
Once Im was thoroughly extinguished and the world stabilized, who else on these seas would ever prove as nightmarishly difficult to deal with as her?
BANG!
Right at that heartbeat, the spatial cage shuddered violently.
Defying all logic, it began rocketing straight toward the island!
Having failed to breach the walls from within, Im had simply chosen to propel the entire dimensional enclosure forward, carrying it along with her momentum!
At this stage, securing a living hostage was her singular, overriding priority!
She was certain that the moment she held an innocent life in her grasp, Drake wouldn't dare lift a finger against her.
"Not good!" Drake thrust out a massive hand, attempting to drag the fleeing cage back into his grasp. Yet just as his spatial grip was about to close around it, an alarming anomaly ripped through his physiology.
A deafening buzz roared through his skull, and in the next breath, the Demon Warder plunged out of the sky, tumbling straight into the ocean swells below.
SPLASH!
The massive vessel hit the water, throwing up towering walls of foamy white spray.
"Huh?" Feeling the spatial cage confining her abruptly dissolve into thin air, Im let out an initial gasp of startled disbelief before instantly seizing the opening, hurtling toward the shores of the island like a streak of dark lightning.
Submerged beneath the waves, Drake was completely flabbergasted, his mind reeling in utter disorientation.
Right then, a familiar mechanical prompt chimed beside his ear—the automated diagnostic of the Demon Warder:
[Neural synchronization threshold has reached absolute maximum operational duration. The Demon Warder is initiating automatic reversion to its default vessel state.]
"Hey! System, what the hell is this?!" Drake screamed in sheer panic.
[Well... the Unity of Man and Vessel does have an operational time limit. Did I... not mention that to you earlier?าง] the System muttered with visible hesitation.
Dark lines instantly covered Drake's forehead. This was hardly an ordinary patrol—he was locked in a life-and-death struggle staking the fate of the entire world!
Having Im slip through his fingers time and time again had thoroughly eroded any lingering confidence Drake had left in settling this cleanly.
This was sheer, psychological torture.
Every single time he stood on the precipice of concluding the nightmare once and for all, she managed to wriggle free at the final second!
Just how many times had this happened already?!
ARGHHH!!
[Now, now... don't be so discouraged. Who knows, maybe there are other countermeasures we haven't thought of yet...] the System offered a hurried, clumsy consolation. Yet by the end of the sentence, its own voice withered into a hollow whisper of uncertainty.
Claiming there were other methods was easy, but even the System itself couldn't conjure a single viable solution at this juncture.
"It's over... Im has definitely made landfall on that island by now... Wait a minute, what island did you say that was again?"
[The Goa Kingdom.]
"Right..." Drake murmured, deep in thought, before his eyes snapped wide as saucers. "WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?!"