Thirty Thousand Years Later...
After unremitting efforts and countless hands laboring to build the Tier 12 Dimensional Array, it was finally completed.
As the array activated, the void began to hum, its energy wrapping and molding until it encapsulated the Source of Knowledge along with the Etherium Realm.
From the outside, it appeared as if the entire dimension had vanished into the void.
Feeling the solidified void space protecting his territory, Maximus finally experienced a rare sense of peace.
Testing the array's defensive limits, he launched an attack amplified a millionfold.
The result? The barrier didn't even react.
Increasing the attack to ten millionfold, the array remained unshaken.
Finally, unleashing a strike magnified to one hundred millionfold, the void barrier trembled slightly, sending faint ripples through the surrounding void.
"Impressive,"
At a one hundred million origin explosion, his power was already comparable to that of the peak of the Absolute Realm.
The fact that the barrier withstood such an onslaught without significant reaction proved its worth of the work and effort put into it.
Observing the barrier's reaction, Maximus estimated how long it could endure under sustained assault.
"At least ten thousand years," he calculated.
Even with continuous attacks from a peak-level Absolute, breaking through the barrier would take ten thousand years.
And this was without the additional support of strands of causality.
Currently, the array functioned solely on pure origin energy.
To test its true limits, Maximus activated the array's Ultimate Mode, linking it to his system's supply of causality points.
Repeating his one-hundred-millionfold attack, he found it now caused no ripples.
"More..."
Pushing his power to two hundred millionfold, five hundred millionfold, seven hundred millionfold... until he reached one billionfold.
Even at this level, the void barrier remained unmoved.
"This is...!"
Maximus stared at the array in shock as his core of origin throbbed from the strain of such an attack.
"An invincible defense?"
When under attack, the consumption rate would even skyrocket, depending on the strength of the assault.
Attacks ranging from 1-100 millionfold were negligible, consuming only a few million to billions of strands.
However, his last strike—comparable to an Overlord's power—had cost hundreds of trillions of causality.
Just one attack had consumed the causality points of what he could save in a thousand years.
"Sigh~ As long as it can protect me,"
Suppressing the ache in his heart, Maximus shifted his focus to the array's advantages.
Its defense had virtually no limits.
As long as he had sufficient strands of causality, the Void Barrier could become even stronger than the barrier of the Aeon Plane itself.
With this assurance, Maximus felt secure.
Even if an Overlord launched an assault, he would have time to react.
Furthermore, he was not entirely helpless.
With additional Ether Devices, Maximus could potentially maintain the Ultimate Mode indefinitely.
If the Dark Disaster were to descend, the Etherium Realm would remain an untouchable paradise.
Unfortunately, the Aeon Plane was the source of his unlimited energy.
If it were destroyed, the invincible barrier he had worked would be for nothing.
"I wonder if anything will change when my physique reaches rank 13..."
[Physique: Dimensional Source (Rank 12: 1.97 quadrillion / 100 quintillion)]
At the current rate, he absorbs causality points; it would take another two epochs—or two billion years—for his physique to reach Rank 13.
Maximus no longer relied on corrupted causality points.
Instead, he mainly used the pure strands of causality the Ether Refiner refined.
Unfortunately, his body had limits.
He could only absorb 150 million causality points per day before reaching saturation.
At this pace, upgrading his physique to Tier 13 would be a long and grueling process.
As for enhancing the quality of his physique from Origin Grade to Plane Grade, it seemed his system had yet to reach the necessary capability.
Having tested the Dimensional Array's limits, Maximus felt prepared to face his enemies...