The Blackwood Estate was a total mess. Arthur Sterling sat on his dark iron throne in the center of the ruined courtyard. He was treating the impending apocalyptic war with the Heavenly Sovereigns with the exact same level of urgency as a minor office renovation.

"The structural integrity of this floating rock is compromised," Arthur stated clearly over the howling wind. "The leylines are dead because I drained them. If we just sit here, this island is going to fall out of the sky before the week is over."

A few yards away, Lyra was sweating profusely. The rogue thief had stripped off her outer leather armor. She worked in a tight undershirt as she desperately inscribed complex violet runes into the shattered crystal floor. She was a master of stealth, but she also understood the fundamental mechanics of spatial arrays.

"I am trying Emperor!" Lyra yelled back. Her hands moved in a blur as she injected her own mana into the stone. "But repowering an entire continental-scale anti-gravity array by hand is insane! I need at least a decade and a team of Arch-Mages to map out the foundational nodes!"

"You have five minutes," Arthur replied lazily and crossed one leg over the other.

Lyra let out a panicked noise. Her fingers bled as she forced the spatial runes to connect. She was pushing her rogue skills past their absolute limits to prove her worth to the monster who had spared her life.

Arthur was not just torturing his new employee for fun. He was actively watching her.

[Ding!]

↳ Bound Target Lyra is actively utilizing High-Tier Spatial Array Formatting.

↳ 10,000x ROI Multiplier Activated!

↳ Host has acquired: God-Tier Array Comprehension.

Arthur’s brain was instantly flooded with centuries of complex mathematical array schematics. He understood the geometric flow of energy, the precise resonance needed to bind physical matter, and the exact angles required to weave a floating fortress together.

Lyra was struggling to put together a puzzle, but Arthur was instantly handed the completed blueprint.

He stood up from his throne and dusted off his dark coat.

"Move," Arthur ordered as he stepped off the dais.

Lyra scrambled back and wiped sweat from her brow. Arthur did not kneel to draw runes. He did not chant anything. He simply raised his heavy boot and stomped his heel directly onto the center of Lyra’s half-finished array.

"BOOM!"

A massive shockwave of pure and hyper-dense Order energy erupted from his boot.

Millions of perfectly formed white runes shot outward. They spider-webbed across the entire floating island in a fraction of a second.

The shattered crystal fused back together completely. The ruined palaces rebuilt themselves into sleek militaristic spires of dark metal. The dead leylines reignited and hummed with Arthur’s own boundless mana.

The entire island groaned and shifted upward as the God-tier anti-gravity array locked into place. The Blackwood Estate was gone. It was now an impenetrable mobile fortress.

"We will call it The Ebon Citadel," Arthur declared while looking at the towering black spires.

Lyra sat on the floor with her jaw unhinged. "You... you just rewrote the physical laws of a continent with a foot stomp."

"Efficiency," Arthur smirked.

He turned his attention to the large elemental core reactor at the base of the primary spire. Sylvia and Morwenna were standing in front of it with their hands pressed against the glass housing. They were attempting to feed their newly upgraded Divine-rank mana into the core to act as the battery for the Citadel.

"It is rejecting our mana Commander," Sylvia reported with her silver eyebrows knitted in frustration. "The core requires a unified frequency. My Absolute Zero and her True Abyss are violently clashing. If we push any harder, the reactor will detonate."

"Your teamwork needs improvement," Arthur said and walked up behind them.

He did not hesitate at all. Arthur stepped directly between the Arch-Mage and the Demon Empress. He placed his left hand flat against Sylvia’s stomach and pulled her flush against his side. His right hand snaked around Morwenna’s waist and pulled the demoness tightly against him.

"W-What are you doing?" Sylvia gasped. A deep flush spread across her pale cheeks at the sudden overwhelming intimacy.

"I am the bridge," Arthur murmured. His voice was a low rumble that sent shivers down both of their spines. "Your auras clash because you are fighting for dominance. You do not need to fight. You just need to submit to me."

Arthur ignited the diluted Primordial Flame in his core. He initiated a mana exchange to act as the ultimate conduit.

[System Ability]

↳ Initiating Harem-Link Mana Exchange.

↳ Fusing Absolute Zero and True Abyss via Primordial Conduit.

The heat was staggering. Arthur’s pure and authoritative mana flooded into Sylvia. It melted her icy defenses and mingled intimately with her core. At the same time, he pushed his energy into Morwenna. He soothed the violent chaotic rage of her abyssal bloodline.

He forced their opposing energies to cycle through his own body. This refined the clash into a perfect and harmonious current.

Morwenna let out a soft and breathy moan. Her head fell back against his shoulder as the intoxicating rush of shared power washed over her.

Sylvia bit her lip and her hands gripped Arthur’s forearms tightly as the deep bond linked their souls. They were not just sharing magic. They were sharing him. The trust and the sheer undeniable safety of his presence locked them together.

Arthur thrust his hands forward and blasted the unified energy directly into the reactor of the Citadel.

"VMMMMMMM!"

The reactor flared with a brilliant blinding violet light. The Ebon Citadel hummed as it fully powered up. It was operating at a capacity that dwarfed anything the Apex Council had ever seen.

Before Arthur could pull away from his flushed and panting Queens, a piercing shriek echoed from the clouds above.

"SKREEEEE!"

Drawn by the massive surge of energy and the scent of blood, a flock of rogue Apex beasts dove from the nebulae. They were Void Vultures. They were massive horrifying birds of prey with razor-sharp crystal feathers and huge wingspans.

Fifty of them plummeted toward the courtyard to rip the occupants to shreds.

Lyra drew her daggers and shouted a warning. Sylvia and Morwenna instantly snapped out of their daze. Their auras flared aggressively as they prepared to defend their Emperor.

"Wait," Arthur commanded. He did not even bother to look up.

He did not draw the Ebonheart Sword and he did not cast a spell. He just closed his eyes and centered his breathing. He let the passive weight of his Domain-Level Sword Intent bleed into the atmosphere above the Citadel.

The fifty Void Vultures hit the airspace fifty feet above Arthur’s head. 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

"SQUELCH! SQUELCH! SQUELCH!"

It was raining meat. The moment the massive beasts crossed the threshold of Arthur’s passive domain, the invisible blades of ten million perfect sword strikes simply diced them.

There was no grand explosion. The Vultures were instantly turned into a fine bloody mist that washed over the energy shields.

[System Notification]

↳ Target Void Vultures eliminated via passive aura.

↳ Divine Looter Activated. +50,000 System Points.

Arthur opened his eyes and looked entirely unfazed. He gently patted Sylvia’s hip and released Morwenna.

"Pest control is fully automated," Arthur said. He turned back to his stunned executive team. "Now let us review the corporate map. Who is next on the chopping block?"