Chapter 88: Chapter 88: Vacuum Combat

Runar woke at three in the morning, station time.

The room was dark. Outside the window, the station’s endless activity continued—ships moving, lights glowing, the frontier that never slept.

Celestia was already awake, sitting on her bed with her eyes closed. Meditating, or just preparing mentally.

“Ready?” Runar asked.

“Yes.”

They left the hotel quietly. The corridors were less crowded at this hour, but not empty. Cultivators who operated on different schedules, night shift workers, people who preferred darkness for their business.

Nobody paid attention to two students walking through the station.

The industrial sector was quieter. Fewer people, dimmer lighting. The hum of machinery provided constant background noise.

Storage Bay Three’s hallway was empty except for the two criminals still hidden in their corner. The rune arrays concealing them flickered faintly—good quality work, but nothing that could hide from Runar’s senses.

Runar and Celestia walked directly toward the corner. No pretense this time.

The criminals noticed immediately. The rune arrays dissolved as they stepped out of concealment. Both Peak Supernova realm, both armed and alert.

The one with the spear—tall, scarred face, maybe forty years old in appearance—narrowed his eyes. “You two again. You’ve been wandering around this sector too much.”

“We’re here for the Federation technology you stole,” Runar said calmly.

The second criminal—shorter, stockier, sword strapped to his back—laughed. It was a harsh sound, full of genuine amusement. “Federation technology? Listen kid, we risked our lives stealing that from a deep research facility. Fought through three layers of security, killed two guards, barely escaped with our cultivation intact.”

“And you think we’re just going to hand it over because two Satellite Orbit students asked nicely?” the spear-wielder added. His spiritual pressure flared slightly, testing them.

“We’re asking politely first,” Runar said. “Return the stolen technology. Leave peacefully. Nobody gets hurt.”

Both criminals stared at him for a moment. Then they burst out laughing.

“This is the funniest thing I’ve heard all week,” the sword-user said, wiping his eyes. “Satellite Orbit brats trying to collect from Peak Supernova criminals. Do you have any idea how insane that sounds?”

“We penetrated a Federation science base,” the spear-user added, his tone turning cold. “We’ve killed people stronger than you. And you think you can just walk up and demand we hand over our prize?”

The sword-user drew his weapon. The blade gleamed under the dim lighting, rune arrays carved into the metal glowing faintly. “I almost feel bad about this. You’re just kids who don’t know any better.”

“Last chance,” Runar said. “Return the technology peacefully.”

“Or what?” the spear-user challenged. “You’ll fight us? Two Satellite Orbit students against two Peak Supernova criminals who’ve been doing this for decades?”

Runar sighed.

Then he snapped his fingers.

Space folded.

Not simple teleportation. Runar activated six Laws simultaneously—Space, Void, Dimension, Warp, Displacement, Gravity—all fused into perfect harmony. The technique created a dimensional tear that bypassed conventional resistance, pulling targets regardless of their cultivation level or defensive formations.

The criminals’ eyes widened in shock. They tried to resist immediately, Peak Supernova qi erupting from their bodies. Rule-level power activated—the spear-user’s Space Rules manifesting at roughly 8% mastery, the sword-user’s Metal Rules at about 12%. Defensive barriers formed around them, operating on principles beyond simple Law manipulation.

Didn’t matter.

The six-Law fusion operated on principles they couldn’t comprehend. Perfect Law fusion, when executed flawlessly, could counter imperfect Rule manipulation. The criminals’ Rules were partially mastered, incomplete, full of gaps. Runar’s technique flowed through those gaps like water through cracks.

Space twisted around them in impossible geometries. Void erased their Rule-based barriers the moment they formed. Dimension shifted their physical position across multiple planes simultaneously. Warp bent reality’s fabric into configurations that made resistance meaningless. Displacement moved them forcefully through coordinates that shouldn’t exist. Gravity anchored the entire technique, making escape impossible.

“What—what kind of technique—” the spear-user managed to say before his voice cut off.

Reality folded.

All four of them—Runar, Celestia, and both criminals—vanished from the hallway.

They reappeared in deep space.

Vacuum. No air, no sound, no reference points except distant stars scattered across the infinite darkness. The Black Market Hub Station floated ten thousand kilometers away, too far for casual observation, just a bright point of light among countless others.

The criminals’ expressions shifted from shock to horror to rage in rapid succession.

The spear-user switched to spiritual sense communication immediately. How did you—this is impossible! Satellite Orbit cultivators can’t force-teleport Peak Supernova opponents!

That technique—six Laws fused perfectly— the sword-user’s mental voice carried disbelief. Who the hell are you?!

Runar didn’t respond. He moved.

His body blurred. Light and gravity manipulation propelled him forward faster than the criminals could track. One moment stationary, the next appearing directly in front of the sword-user.

His fist was already in motion.

The criminal’s battle instincts kicked in. Decades of combat experience screaming warnings. He raised his sword, activating his Metal Rules to their maximum—12% Rule mastery flooding the blade with power that transcended Law-level techniques.

Runar’s fist connected with the flat of the blade.

The sword shattered.

Not from overwhelming force alone, but from perfect qi application. Runar’s punch carried minimal qi expenditure—maybe one ten-thousandth of what a normal cultivator would use for similar impact. But every particle of that qi was directed with absolute precision, striking the molecular bonds of the metal at exactly the frequency needed to resonate them into catastrophic failure.

The blade exploded. Metal fragments burst outward, the rune arrays overloading in cascading failures.

The criminal’s eyes went wide with terror. That qi control—impossible—

He tried to retreat, burning qi to activate a high-grade movement technique.

Runar caught his shoulder mid-flight. Stopped the movement cold. His other hand came up in a palm strike aimed at the criminal’s heart.

The criminal’s body reacted instinctively. Peak Supernova physiology kicked into overdrive—qi flooded his chest, hardening skin and bone to supernatural density, Rule-enhanced durability making his body harder than most metals.

The palm strike landed.

Runar’s hand punched through the enhanced defenses like they were paper. His fingers, coated in perfectly controlled qi that operated on Primordial technique principles, penetrated flesh and bone. Reached the criminal’s heart and crushed it.

The criminal gasped. Blood erupted from his mouth.

But he didn’t die.

Peak Supernova cultivators didn’t die from simple organ destruction. His qi surged immediately, flooding the damaged tissue. The crushed heart began regenerating at visible speed—muscle fibers regrowing, chambers reforming, valves reconstructing themselves.

You’ll have to do better than that! the criminal transmitted, his mental voice carrying desperate confidence. Supernova realm cultivators regenerate instantly! Our qi reserves are essentially endless! You can’t kill us with simple attacks!

He was right. This was why Supernova realm and above cultivators fought to kill, not incapacitate. Injuries regenerated faster than they could be inflicted. Qi reserves were so vast they might as well be infinite for combat purposes. Fighting defensively was pointless—the only way to win was complete destruction of the enemy’s body or soul.

Runar understood this perfectly.

He didn’t pull his hand out of the criminal’s chest. Instead, he activated Space Law inside the criminal’s body.

Spatial blade formed directly inside the heart chamber. Invisible, impossibly sharp, existing as pure dimensional severance.

The blade expanded.

It cut through the regenerating heart tissue, through the surrounding ribs, through the spine behind it. But more importantly, it cut through the qi channels themselves—severing the pathways that carried regenerative energy to the damaged areas.

The criminal’s eyes widened. No—

Runar’s other hand came up. Grabbed the criminal’s head. Spatial compression activated—concentrated directly on the brain and soul.

The criminal tried to resist. Rules flared desperately. Metal Rule attempted to harden his skull beyond breaking. Space Rule tried to deflect the compression.

Perfect Law fusion cut through imperfect Rule mastery.

The skull compressed. Brain matter pulped. The soul—still anchored to the body, still trying to command regeneration—got caught in the spatial collapse.

Soul damage didn’t regenerate like flesh. The criminal’s consciousness shattered.

His body went limp. The qi that had been flooding his system trying to repair damage suddenly had no controlling intelligence directing it. It dispersed harmlessly into the vacuum.

Runar released the corpse. Let it drift away into space.

The entire exchange had taken four seconds.

The spear-user watched his companion die. His face showed shock, then calculation, then grim determination.

You’re not normal students, he transmitted. Six-Law perfect fusion. Primordial technique principles. Combat instincts beyond your age. And that qi control—you’re barely using any qi at all but generating Neutron Star level destruction.

He raised his spear properly. Space Rules manifested around the weapon—8% mastery, but applied with the skill of someone who’d spent decades learning how to fight stronger opponents.

I’ll have to take you seriously.

Meanwhile, Celestia engaged the sword-user’s dying companion—no, Runar had already killed him. She was facing empty space.

The spear-user realized the situation. Both of them were focused on him now.

He attacked first. Didn’t wait for them to coordinate. His spear thrust forward with everything he had—Peak Supernova qi, 8% Space Rule mastery, techniques refined through a hundred real battles.

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