At the exact moment the giant ball of Thorns reached its zenith, just as it was about to plummet, Gaius made his move.

The ground beneath him cracked with a BOOM, and he shot into the sky like a cannonball.

He even left a visible white shockwave in his wake.

In midair, he finally gripped the hilt of the Giant Sword on his back, which he had yet to fully draw.

SHING!

The ring of a sword being drawn echoed between heaven and earth.

The Giant Sword was drawn. There was no brilliant flash of light, only a simple, unadorned weightiness.

The blade, as wide as a door plank, was covered in archaic patterns, as if it bore the weight of the very earth.

"Break."

A single word escaped Gaius’s lips.

He gripped the sword with both hands. His body twisted impossibly in midair, bringing the Giant Sword down in a gray bolt of lightning that viciously cleaved toward the plummeting ball of Thorns!

The first strike!

BOOM!

The thorny surface of the giant ball was cleaved open, creating a massive gash as countless fragments of Thorns scattered in all directions.

The second strike!

Gaius moved so fast in the air that he was but a blur. His second strike followed instantly, landing precisely on the same spot and widening the gash!

The third strike!

The fourth strike!

The fifth strike!

Flashes from his blade merged into a single sheet of light, a torrential storm that enveloped the entire ball of Thorns.

CRACK... CRACK... RUMBLE!

In midair, the Fortress of Thorns—the culmination of all Graves’s effort and hope—was hacked apart layer by layer by Gaius’s pure, brutal Sword Skills until it finally disintegrated completely!

Graves was revealed amidst the shower of thorny fragments, his body bathed in blood, his eyes vacant.

He had just suffered a terrifying blow from the underwater Giant Beast, and now his Domain’s defenses had been shattered by Gaius. He was incapable of any meaningful resistance.

What greeted him was the very same Giant Sword Gaius had used to shatter his defenses.

The blade tore through the air with unstoppable momentum, landing heavily on his right shoulder.

SQUELCH!

Blood sprayed through the air.

Before the Giant Sword, Graves’s Magic Armor was as fragile as paper.

The blade easily sliced through the Armor, shattered his collarbone, and embedded itself deep within his body.

"Urgh!"

A piercing scream finally escaped his lips, only to be instantly choked back by the sheer force of the impact.

THUD!

The two of them plummeted from the sky, crashing heavily to the ground and kicking up a cloud of dust and sand.

When the dust settled.

Gaius was on one knee. His Giant Sword was stabbed diagonally into the ground, its blade pinning Graves’s shoulder and nailing him firmly to the earth.

Graves’s blood soaked the sand beneath him. The madness and resolve had vanished from his eyes.

"Five Domains... five..."

His gaze was vacant.

It wasn’t that Graves was incapable of fighting back; he had simply lost the will to.

The wind howled.

Raylo descended from the sky, riding Baofeng, the Storm Griffin King. The downdraft from its Iron Feathers blew the dust and the stench of blood far into the distance.

Baofeng landed steadily, its massive talons sinking deep into the sandy soil.

Raylo dismounted.

His gaze swept past everyone and settled on the Black Water River, which had just been churning with massive waves but was now calm.

Raylo walked to the river’s edge and gave a small wave to the flowing waters of the Black Water River.

This gesture left everyone present slightly stunned.

Herast raised an eyebrow, his gaze darting between Raylo and the river with great interest.

Even Gaius’s perpetually stone-carved face showed a flicker of emotion.

He could clearly sense that deep within the river, the ancient, heart-pounding aura had not dissipated. It lingered like a dormant Giant Beast, coiled and waiting.

Just after Raylo waved, gentle ripples began to spread slowly across the calm surface of the river.

There was no sound, no great wave—only these silent ripples, like a quiet acknowledgment.

"Count Raylo."

Gaius spoke up.

"The one in the river... is it a friend of yours?"

Raylo straightened up, turned his head, and replied calmly.

"An ally of the Black Stone Territory."

An ally.

That one word made both Gaius and Herast’s expressions shift slightly.

’A terrifying being that could swat a Domain Level Powerhouse out of the water with a single blow is an ally of this young Count?’

Sun circled and landed, his immense body exuding a powerful pressure.

He landed not far from Raylo, his golden eyes turning to the pinned Graves as he let out a low growl.

Only then did a few soldiers from the Personal Guard cautiously approach, using special Magic Ropes to bind Graves.

On a patch of sand not far away lay Sela, the Four-winged Angel.

The Holy Light around her had long since faded. Two of her four wings had been severed, and the remaining ones were dull and lifeless. A massive claw mark was gouged deep into her chest; only her shallow breaths proved she was still alive.

Gaius walked over and glanced down at her.

Sela seemed to sense his presence, her eyelids fluttering weakly.

Gaius’s face remained impassive.

He didn’t even glance back at Graves, but everyone knew for whose benefit his next action was.

He raised his Giant Sword.

"No..."

Graves seemed to sense what was coming and let out a hoarse cry.

SQUELCH.

Without a shred of hesitation, the heavy blade plunged cleanly into Sela’s heart.

The Four-winged Angel’s body shuddered violently, and the last wisp of her life faded away.

Gaius pulled out his sword and casually wiped the blood from it on Sela’s clothes. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

Only after doing all this did he turn to cast a cold glance at Graves, whose eyes were wide with anguish.

"Now, your companion is no longer suffering."

With that, he ignored Graves.

"Herast, we’re leaving."

Gaius looked at his companion.

"This is urgent. We must return to Thunder Dragon City at once and report to the Duke."

Herast nodded, his expression turning serious as well.

To dispatch two Domain Level Powerhouses to assassinate an Imperial Count with a fiefdom—and the Duke’s own second son, no less—was an extremely heinous act.

Gaius walked up to Raylo.

He handed Raylo a Spatial Bag he had taken from Graves, along with the set of Black Armor and the Thrusting Sword that had been stripped from him.

"These are your spoils of war."

Raylo accepted them without pretense.

He knew this was more than just the spoils of war; it was a sign of acknowledgment from the Legion Commander of the Thunder Dragon Legion.

In this battle, Gaius, Herast, and their Thunder Dragon mounts accounted for three Tier Five Domain Level combatants.

On his own side, the Golden Dragon Sun counted as one, and his "ally" in the Black Water River was another. Both had contributed significantly.

Although Gaius had been the one to take down both opponents with his unparalleled strength, it couldn’t be said that the other Domain Level Powerhouses involved in the battle hadn’t pulled their weight.

"Count Raylo."

Gaius said finally, "Regarding this assassination, once we return to Thunder Dragon City, the Duke will get to the bottom of it. The Duchy will give you a proper accounting."

Raylo gave a slight nod.

"I’ll be waiting to hear from you."

Without another word, Gaius and Herast hauled up Graves, took Sela’s corpse, and mounted their steeds.

The Thunder Dragons let out a low roar, and with a flap of their wings, they kicked up a gale crackling with lightning and quickly vanished over the horizon.

The ferry crossing finally fell silent.

Only Raylo, his men, and the devastation around them remained.

Raylo gazed into the distance and let out a long sigh.

He weighed the Spatial Bag in his hand, a slight smile playing on his lips.

’Whatever the future holds, at least for now, my gains have been substantial.’

’The entire fortune of a Domain Level Powerhouse is enough to elevate the Black Stone Territory’s power to a whole new level.’

’The crisis has been averted, for now.’

But he knew this was far from over.

’How to use this incident to pin down Eliot... that’s what I need to focus on next.’