What does 端に触れただけだというのに mean?

Question

あいつの力は端に触れただけだというのに容赦なく心臓を磨り潰されるような.

I'm trying to translate this sentence but I don't quite understand what 端に触れた would mean.

端 means end; tip; point; edge; margin and 触れる means to touch; to feel; experience; so given the meanings I understood at first that the speaker says "Even if I felt his power just from an end, it's like my heart is being crushed mercilessly."

The reason why I thought it like that is because the speaker is far away from this powerful being (あいつ) and I assumed that the powerful guy gives off energy even from a distance, the speaker feeling it and affecting him. That's why I was thinking that 端に would mean that the speaker says that "even from my end, where I am now, even from here I can feel his tremendous power".

That's how I thought about it. What do you think?

Answer 1

～に触れる simply means "to touch ～". See: What is the difference between に触れる and を触れる?

Therefore:

• 力は端に触れた: The power (came and) touched the edge/extremity/point (of something)
• 力の端に触れた: [I/Someone] touched the edge of the power

Your sentence means the power came closer and touched something. What this 端 actually refers to depends on the context. It may be 体の端, 指の端, 鎧の端 or whatever mentioned in the previous context.