The Silverleaf Divine King tore through the air. His blood-burn technique left a trail of crimson mist in his wake. His face was twisted in a mask of agonizing fury. His silver longsword hummed with enough concentrated divine energy to split a mountain in two.

Arthur Sterling stood near the edge of the balcony with his Ebonheart Sword resting casually by his side. He didn’t brace himself. He didn’t shift into a defensive stance. He let the system do the heavy lifting.

[Ding!]

[Target ’Silverleaf Divine King’ is utilizing Secret Art: ’Crescent Moon Severance’.]

[Analyzing technique... Flaws detected in footwork and mana distribution.]

[10,000x ROI Multiplier Activated! Host has gained perfect mastery of ’Crescent Moon Severance’.]

Arthur’s brain was instantly flooded with centuries of the Silverleaf family’s closely guarded martial secrets. He understood the blade’s trajectory, the exact angle of the wrist, and the precise breath required to execute the strike.

But more importantly, he understood how inefficient the King’s version was.

"Die anomaly!" the King roared. He swung his silver sword in a beautiful glowing crescent arc aimed directly at Arthur’s neck.

Arthur didn’t block. He stepped forward and seamlessly mirrored the King’s exact movement. He swung his pitch-black Ebonheart Sword in the exact same ’Crescent Moon Severance’ arc, but augmented it with his Divine Lord strength and the horrifying heat of the Primordial Flame.

"CLANG!"

The two blades collided. The sheer kinetic shockwave shattered the balcony beneath Arthur’s boots and sent cracks running up the spire.

The Divine King’s eyes bulged in absolute shock. "That... that is my family’s sacred art! How do you know it?!"

"Well, maybe because your family’s IP is open-source, and your execution is trash," Arthur sneered. "You’re bleeding mana from your elbow. Your grip is too tight. Let me show you how it’s actually done."

Arthur twisted his wrist and exploited a microscopic flaw in the King’s guard that the system had highlighted. He brutally parried the silver blade and sent the King’s arm flying wide open.

Before the King could recover, Arthur brought the pommel of his sword smashing into the man’s armored face.

"CRACK!"

The King spun wildly in the air with blood spraying from his broken nose. He quickly stabilized himself, and his blood-burn aura flared even brighter.

"I will not be humiliated by a mortal!" he screamed, preparing to launch another aerial assault.

"I’m bored of flying," Arthur said coldly. "System. Ground him."

[Ding!]

[Initiating ’Absolute Negation Zone’. Rule applied: Nullify Flight.]

A pulse of pitch-black energy expanded from Arthur’s core. The moment it washed over the Divine King, the glowing wings of mana supporting him instantly short-circuited.

"What?!" the King gasped. His stomach dropped as gravity reasserted its dominance.

He plummeted like a stone and crashed heavily into the ruined courtyard below.

Arthur stepped off the shattered balcony. He dropped effortlessly and landed with a heavy thud just feet away from the groaning King.

The battle shifted into a brutal grounded melee. The King scrambled to his feet and swung wildly, completely stripped of his aerial advantage.

Arthur took him apart piece by piece. He parried every strike with lazy precision. He broke the King’s spirit by perfectly matching his moves and pointing out every single flaw.

"Your footwork is sloppy," Arthur mocked. He side-stepped a massive thrust and drove his knee into the King’s ribs. "You rely on your armor to take hits because you don’t know how to dodge. You’re a pampered aristocrat swinging a heavy stick."

Up on a pile of rubble nearby, Sylvia Thorne had paused her slaughter to watch.

Her icy blue eyes were wide with awe.

She watched Arthur perfectly adapt her own ’Absolute Zero’ magic. He channeled it through his free hand to coat the King’s boots in hyper-dense ice, rooting him to the floor. Arthur didn’t just know her magic. He understood it intimately.

"Fuck you!" the King spat. He desperately raised his silver sword for one final two-handed strike aimed at Arthur’s head.

"Time to liquidate," Arthur whispered.

Arthur swung the Ebonheart Sword upward. The pitch-black blade wreathed in the reality-defying Primordial Flame slammed into the King’s descending divine sword.

"SHATTER!"

The indestructible silver artifact exploded into a million useless shards. The King froze and stared at his empty hilt in disbelief.

Arthur didn’t stop. He reversed his grip and drove the Ebonheart Sword directly through the center of the Divine King’s chestplate.

"Squelch."

The pitch-black blade protruded from the King’s back. The Primordial Flame instantly surged into the wound, violently burning the King’s soul and rapidly draining his life force.

The King dropped to his knees and coughed up a massive mouthful of golden blood.

The fight was over. The commander of the Apex fleet was dead.

[Ding!]

[Target ’Silverleaf Divine King’ eliminated.]

[Item Acquired: Silverleaf Royal Signet.]

Arthur ripped his sword out and flicked the blood onto the ruined marble. He looked down at the dying God.

To Arthur’s surprise, the King didn’t beg. A bloody jagged laugh bubbled up from his ruined chest.

"You think... you think you’ve won?" the King wheezed. He stared up at Arthur with a mixture of hatred and pity. "You absorbed the Patriarch’s core. You hold the Wrath-Fire. You are a beacon in the dark anomaly."

Arthur’s eyes narrowed. "Get to the point."

"The Heavenly Sovereigns..." the King coughed and a violent shudder wracked his frame. "The true rulers of the Apex Realm... they have already locked onto your soul. You cannot hide from them. They are coming."

The King collapsed forward and his eyes went glassy and dead.

The moment his heart stopped, the sky above the pocket dimension violently shifted. The dark clouds parted and a sudden unnatural rain began to fall. It wasn’t water. It was glowing liquid gold.

"Mana Weeping," Sylvia whispered. She stepped up beside Arthur, her face pale as the golden drops sizzled against the ruined marble. "The death of a Divine King causes the environment to mourn. The entire realm knows he’s dead."

Arthur looked up at the weeping sky and his jaw tightened. Before he could speak, his system interface violently hijacked his vision. The calm blue text instantly shifted to a glaring flashing crimson.

[CRITICAL WARNING!]

[Maximum-Level Threat Detected.]

[Entities: ’The Heavenly Sovereigns’ have breached the sector’s conceptual boundary.]

Arthur didn’t flinch. He gripped the hilt of his Ebonheart Sword and his eyes reflected the bloody red warning screens. The middle-management was dead. The Board of Directors had finally arrived.