CHAPTER 190: TRYING TO USE COOLDOWN BREAKER, THE BEING THAT TOYS WITH THE TRUE PRIMORDIAL

[Cooldown Breaker]

[If a skill is currently on cooldown, you can choose to activate this ability to remove the cooldown. It will only work once per hour.]

---

Sam didn’t hesitate.

The moment the notification appeared, he activated the ability without wasting a single second.

Cooldown Breaker!

The words echoed in his mind, and instantly, a translucent panel materialized in front of him.

[Which skill do you wish to reset the cooldown of?]

Sam blinked. It was that easy?

All he had to do was think about the skill, and the cooldown would be gone?

His grin widened.

’This ability is incredible,’ he thought, excitement buzzing in his chest. ’As expected!’

The choice of which skill to reset wasn’t even difficult.

He already knew.

The obvious answer was right in front of him.

"Primordial Barri—"

He barely got the words out before agony ripped through his mind.

It wasn’t a headache.

It wasn’t even close.

It felt as though something had taken a blade and shoved it straight through his skull, splitting it apart from the inside.

His entire head screamed in pain, and the harder he tried to focus, the worse it became.

Sam gasped, clutching at his temple, but nothing helped.

His thoughts scattered like ash in the wind, and no matter how desperately he tried to form a single coherent idea, the pain overwhelmed everything.

The world tilted.

The corners of his vision bled into darkness, and at the same time, the lingering effects of the toxic aura ate away at him.

Blood spilled from his mouth in a harsh, wet cough.

His knees hit the ground.

’THIS IS—?!’ Sam’s mind screamed, but even his thoughts felt broken.

He coughed again, harder this time, blood splattering across the floor as his vision blurred into nothing but shifting shapes.

’What... the... fuck...?’

He tried to stay upright, but his body betrayed him.

Every breath burned.

Every movement felt like lifting mountains.

If he collapsed here, if he closed his eyes and let himself sink into the darkness, then the toxic aura would finish him off.

Even if his passive ability allowed him to revive, there was a terrifying possibility he would wake up only to die again instantly.

And if that happened, there was no telling if he would even get the chance to stand once more.

Sam forced his body to move, to hold on, to fight, but his strength slipped away.

The more he resisted, the more hopeless it became.

And then, as he struggled, new panels appeared in front of his fading vision.

[Is this all you can do?]

[Was this truly the tale of the last Primordial? One where he dies before even reaching the half-way point?]

[How... pathetic =)]

The words twisted in his vision like knives driven straight into his heart.

Sam’s breathing grew shallow.

His head drooped forward, his sight flickering in and out, but then... he froze.

There was something there.

In the haze of his collapsing vision, he caught a glimpse of legs.

A dark figure, towering above him, its form blurred yet terrifyingly real, flickered into existence for a heartbeat.

Sam’s body jerked.

He forced his eyes upward, but by the time he looked, the figure was gone.

Still... he felt it.

That suffocating, overwhelming presence pressed against the realm itself, strong enough to tear apart entire worlds.

[You were disappointing, Sam Walker.]

The voice wasn’t spoken aloud, but it cut straight into his soul.

"You..." Sam hissed through clenched teeth, forcing words past the blood in his throat. "You... stopped me from... using my... ability!"

The answer was immediate.

Cold. Indifferent.

[This realm was never meant to be fair with you, True Primordial.]

[If you were somehow affected by my powers even though I used less than a fraction of them, then it is on you.]

"You..." Sam’s lips trembled as his body collapsed fully to the ground.

His eyes flickered open and shut, his voice no more than a dying whisper.

"...Bastard..."

None of it made sense.

He had power.

He had fought his way through trials, endured struggles, survived battles where death seemed absolute.

Yet in front of this being, he was nothing.

Nothing but dust beneath a storm.

That old, hateful feeling clawed its way back into him.

The one he swore he would never allow himself to feel again. Powerlessness.

It wrapped around him like chains, crushing him, mocking him.

The being didn’t need effort to kill him. Didn’t need intention.

It could erase him with the same ease as flicking a speck of dirt from its shoulder.

And worse... Sam realized he wasn’t even an enemy.

He wasn’t even prey. He was a toy.

[Don’t blame yourself too much.]

[You never stood a chance to begin with. We were just having fun =)]

The mocking tone in the message stabbed at him like barbed wire.

[Oh well, I hope you can keep entertaining us as much as you did until now. One more disappointment and... I might have to call the whole thing off.]

This wasn’t a threat. It was indifference.

The being had the freedom to kill him any time it wished, but chose not to.

Because his suffering was entertaining.

Because his struggle was amusing.

[You’ll have to survive this situation first, which I highly doubt you will. See you later.]

[We are REALLY enjoying seeing you struggle, much more than you can even imagine.]

[So I hope you don’t blame us in the future for doing stuff like this... it’s just so... entertaining =)]

Sam’s teeth ground together.

Blood dripped from his mouth as his body convulsed, but his eyes lifted—if only for a second.

And then he saw it.

The shadow loomed into clarity.

A figure over ten meters tall, a monstrous silhouette wreathed in endless darkness.

Two crimson eyes glowed down at him, sharp and merciless, and between them stretched a grin that split its face with mocking delight.

"=)"

The smile.

The same smile the primordial clone had gave, except now twisted into something even more sinister.

The aura pouring from this being dwarfed everything Sam had ever felt, a thousand times heavier than anything that had come before.

Every bone in his body screamed at him to give up.

Every instinct told him he was nothing.

But Sam’s spirit ignited.

"I... WON’T... FALL!" he roared in his mind.

The hatred that burst out of him in that moment was unlike anything he had ever known.

Pure, unrelenting hatred.

[Seeing something that toys with you freely... fills you with HATRED and DETERMINATION!]

Ding! Ding! Ding!

[Hatred Bar: 0% → 100%]

Sam’s vision blurred completely now, his body collapsing under the toxic aura.

But he saw it.

The bar that had jumped instantly to its maximum, filling his vision with red.

He didn’t have the strength to think about what it meant.

Didn’t have time to ask questions.

Because death claimed him.

The last thing he felt was the weight of the being’s gaze, amused.

Ding!

[You have died.]

Sam’s eyes opened.

He stood once again in the dark void.

His expression was cold, unreadable, but inside, a storm raged.

His ability [I Always Come Back] had saved him once more.

But even as relief touched the edge of his mind, dread sank deeper.

If he revived now, wouldn’t he just die again?

Would the toxic aura still consume him instantly?

Would the beings hovering above simply intervene again and strip away his options?

His chest tightened.

This wasn’t a second chance. This was a corner.

He turned slowly, and thousands of eyes glared at him from the darkness.

They had always been there. Always watching.

But this time... this time he could feel their coldness. The disappointment.

Their gazes were sharper, less forgiving than ever before.

Sam swallowed hard.

He didn’t know why their looks felt so much heavier now, but he forced himself to ignore it.

Ding!

[Don’t give up yet, Sam Walker... no, True Primordial.]

[You have to stay... DETERMINED.]

[For us, and for yourself. Get rid of all those in your way, no matter what they are.]

Sam froze.

A third panel? This had never happened before.

Usually, the cycle ended with the message about determination.

But this time... something different stirred in the void.

His expression hardened.

He nodded once, firmly.

Ding!

["I Always Come Back" has activated.]

[Do not join us so soon, True Primordial. Do what we couldn’t achieve. You are the best among all of us.]

The words echoed in his heart, heavy but encouraging.

Sam clenched his fists.

He wanted to stay here, to gather his thoughts, to linger where time couldn’t touch him.

But he couldn’t. The void wouldn’t allow it.

And even if he did remain, only a single second would pass in the real world no matter how long he stayed.

His body grew heavy. His mind wavered.

Dizziness overwhelmed him, and at last he collapsed in the void’s embrace.

When he woke again, he knew what waited.

It was this... or death without meaning.

He refused to let it end that way. No matter what.

He would fight back.