Valen glared at Arthur, his daggers hovering and spinning in the air like dark stars caught in their own gravitational pull, connected to him through the unyielding power of Dagger Unity. Yet for all their deadly grace, they failed to penetrate Arthur's Domain.
'What in the name of the abyss is this?' Valen thought, his mind racing as he watched his Unity falter against the radiant barrier before him.
Unity was supposed to be superior to Domain. It was an immutable law, as intrinsic to the nature of power as gravity was to the cosmos. By extension, his Dagger Unity, bolstered by his Shadow Armour—infused with the restless souls of the undead army he commanded—should have carved through Arthur's Domain like a knife through parchment.
But it couldn't.
The most it managed was to push against the radiant walls, causing ripples that barely marred the golden expanse. Destroy it? No. That was beyond its reach.
'There is something else,' Valen realized, his sharp eyes narrowing as he studied Arthur. His opponent stood at the heart of the radiance, his posture casual, a faint smile playing on his lips. It was a smile that carried the weight of certainty, the kind that made Valen's blood boil.
Divine Emperor's Throne.
The title suited him. Arthur stood bathed in golden light, rays of astral energy cascading around him as though the heavens themselves had chosen him as their herald. He truly looked the part of a divine emperor.
"I don't mind telling you what I did," Arthur said suddenly, his voice calm, yet carrying a resonance that made the air itself seem to tremble.
Valen's instincts flared. He turned sharply, his dagger lashing out with a strike wreathed in dark astral energy.
Clang!
The dagger struck true, but to no avail. It met the unyielding surface of Arthur's golden armour, which shimmered faintly under the blow. Arthur hadn't even raised a hand to defend himself; his arms remained clasped behind his back, his expression serene.
'What?' Valen thought, his shock quickly giving way to frustration.
Arthur shook his head as though disappointed. "This is an exclusive ability, one that only I can achieve," he said. "The reason my Domain surpasses even other True Domains is simple: complete harmony. All three of my Gifts are in perfect synchrony. You, with only one Gift, could never replicate this, even if you formed your own True Domain."
He stepped closer, his presence overwhelming. "I am simply superior."
The words were a declaration, not of arrogance but of undeniable fact. And in the next moment, Valen's world turned to chaos.
Invisible sword slashes rained down from all directions. They came in waves, relentless and unyielding. Valen moved with desperate precision, his daggers spinning and slicing through the air as he deflected the strikes. His Shadow Armour absorbed the weaker blows, but the pressure mounted with every passing second.
Arthur, untouched and unfazed, raised a hand. Space itself seemed to ripple around him as Nyxthar appeared in his grasp. The blade—an artifact of unmatched brilliance—gleamed like a shard of divine will made manifest.
"In this Domain, I am the strongest," Arthur whispered. The words were soft, but they carried the weight of inevitability.
From across the battlefield, Arthur swung Nyxthar. The motion was elegant, almost leisurely, yet it carried the force of a celestial decree.
Valen raised his daggers, channeling all his dark astral energy into them. He braced himself, prepared to block the strike. But the moment the blade's energy reached him, he understood the futility of his actions.
It was impossible.
The slash connected.
Valen's Shadow Armour, once impenetrable, shattered like glass. The force of the strike carved through his Unity, severing the very essence of the power he had mastered.
He staggered back, blood dripping from a deep gash across his side. The pain was secondary; what truly struck him was the realization—Arthur had surpassed him. Not just in strength, but in a way that redefined the very rules of their world.
In that moment, as Valen clutched his wound, he knew. Arthur's strike had achieved the impossible. He had cut through Unity itself, a feat that should have been beyond his reach.
'This injury… it's not healing!' Valen thought, his breath coming in short bursts as his fingers brushed the edge of the wound. For the first time in years, panic crept into his voice. His Shadow Armour reformed, but Valen now knew: it wouldn't matter. The gap between them was impossibly high.
Arthur, despite only being at peak Immortal-rank, had touched the realm of demigods. His strength was monstrous, a perfect storm of power and mastery.
Three Gifts. A Grade 6 Art. Nyxthar. Mastery over mana and astral energy. A True Domain. Harmony between his Gifts. And Luna.
All these elements combined to create an opponent who could force even someone like Valen onto the backfoot.
'Even if I summoned my Bone Dragon… would it have made a difference?' Valen wondered grimly. Closing his eyes, he unsummoned the spectral beast. The battlefield trembled as he resummoned it within Arthur's Domain, its skeletal wings unfurling in defiance of the golden radiance.
But he didn't stop there.
Valen gritted his teeth, drawing on reserves of power that chipped away at his own strength. He summoned more. His Arch Lich, his Dullahan, his Zombie King—and his Bone Dragon. Four of his strongest summons now stood with him, their spectral forms flickering in the radiant glow.
Arthur raised a brow, his expression unreadable. "Interesting," he murmured, as if observing a curious insect rather than a desperate foe.
"I may be foolish," Valen said, his voice steady despite the strain of maintaining so many summons. "But I will not risk it. I cannot risk my family's future to someone like you, Arthur Nightingale."
Arthur's eyes softened, though his stance remained firm. "I understand your will," he said with quiet conviction. "And I reject it. Thus, I shall defeat you, Valen."
__________________________________________________________________________________
Outside Arthur's Domain, Luna hovered close, her violet hair rippling as though caught in an unseen current. Her eyes, twin orbs of focused intensity, never wavered from the golden radiance before her. She could feel the hum of power emanating from the Domain, a distinct pulse that resonated in the fabric of space-time itself.
She could not enter. The Divine Emperor's Throne was a self-contained reality, a fortress of will and astral energy. For Luna to breach it, she would have to unmaterialize and rematerialize—a process that would drain Arthur's mana reserves drastically. Such an act was unthinkable while he faced Valen.
'Finish quickly, Arthur,' Luna thought, her gaze steady. Her concern wasn't for Arthur's victory—she knew his strength—but for the storm brewing outside his Domain.
Below her, Camila Ashbluff stood, her dark robes billowing around her. The aura of a mid Immortal-rank dark mage crackled in the air like a thundercloud. Camila's presence was oppressive, a palpable reminder of why she had once been the most feared dark mage in the Western Continent.
And yet, Luna stared her down with the calm confidence of a queen facing an unruly subject.
"Step aside," Camila commanded, her voice sharp as a dagger. "You cannot hold me back forever, qilin."
Luna's lips curved into a faint smile, though her eyes remained cold. "Forever is unnecessary. Long enough will suffice."
Camila's glare deepened, her magic swirling around her like a living shadow. But before she could act, another voice broke the tension.
"Mother," Jin Ashbluff said, stepping between them. His usually lighthearted demeanor was gone, replaced by an expression of grim determination. "Don't fight."
Camila turned to her son, her expression a mix of surprise and frustration. "What are you saying, Jin? Your father—"
"Father plans to kill Rin," Jin interrupted, his voice steady but edged with emotion. "And you know it."
Camila's jaw tightened, but she didn't deny his words.
Jin took a step closer, his voice lowering but gaining weight. "Arthur wants to save her. You know Rin doesn't deserve this. Whatever Father has told you, whatever he's planning, it's wrong. You taught me to stand against injustice, even when it's family. Was that just words, Mother?"
Camila's hands clenched at her sides, her dark magic flickering like a flame caught in a storm. She looked between Jin and the radiant Domain, indecision shadowing her face.
Above, Luna observed the exchange with a silent intensity. She could feel the ripples of power converging on their location, a tide of strength drawn by Arthur's ascension. The powerful were coming. Camila Ashbluff was only the first.