After a long, tense silence, General Vincent Kim suddenly lifted his hand, his fingers slicing the air like a blade of command. His voice rang out with the weight of inevitability.
"Bring the gate down!"
At once, the mages surged forward. Their robes, woven in every hue of the Scorpion Empire's arcane order, rippled as they moved in unison. They raised their staves and hands, channeling energies that shimmered like liquid fire. Bolts of flame, spears of ice, and arcs of crackling lightning lashed against the massive gate of Region Two.
The air quaked with each impact, the earth itself rumbling beneath the fury of their spellwork. Yet, the gate stood unmoved.
Unlike the colosseum gate, which had fallen with ease under similar onslaught, this one bore the protection of ancient orbs—spherical relics carved with runes so complex they seemed to hum with sentience. Each orb pulsed as if alive, deflecting every strike with disdainful ease, scattering magical blasts like rain bouncing off stone.
The more the mages attacked, the more the gate seemed to mock their efforts. It stood tall, unyielding, like a proud monarch enduring the futile stings of insects.
General Vincent Kim's eyes narrowed. With a grunt, he dismounted from his black warhorse. The ground seemed to tremble as his boots struck the earth. He reached behind and unsheathed his colossal broadsword, its grey steel glimmering faintly with venomous energy.
He rolled his shoulders, flexing corded muscles honed through decades of slaughter, and fixed his gaze on the gate. His stare was sharp enough to cut through stone. Then, with a sudden, explosive movement, he charged forward.
Power erupted from him in a violent wave. His cultivation surged, rattling the very air. Though the Scorpion Empire's cultivation path differed from the Nazare Blade Empire, scholars often compared his current standing to the fourth level of the Beyond Mortal Realm.
For clarity, the known realms of cultivation within the Nazare Blade Empire were:
1. Foetal Power Realm (Levels 1–10) – The awakening of inner essence.
2. Ocean Opening Realm (Levels 1–10) – Tapping into vast inner seas of power.
3. Ocean Flooding Realm (Levels 1–10) – Overflowing strength that surges outward.
4. Beyond Mortal Realm (Levels 1–10) – Ascending beyond human limits.
5. Indestructible Realm (Levels 1–10) – A realm of myth, scarcely attainable in lesser empires.
Reaching the Indestructible Realm in smaller nations such as the Nazare Blade or Scorpion Empires was almost unheard of. Yet, in the grander empires of the higher realms, there were those who not only reached it but shattered its limits to ascend even higher.
By comparison, Josh Aratat and his followers cultivated along an entirely different path—an ancient kingly system of ranks, forged for warriors bred to command armies. Though different, their stages corresponded in strength to the empire's cultivation levels.
Josh's path progressed as follows:
Lieutenant → Major I → First Sergeant → Corporal → Brigadier → Brigadier General → Second Lieutenant → Major II → Lieutenant Colonel → Captain → Major General → Colonel → Lieutenant → General → King.
Beyond the King level, legends whispered of even loftier ranks, though few in the world had ever glimpsed them.
And yet, at this moment, it was Vincent Kim who strode forth, his aura surging like a tidal wave threatening to sweep everything aside. His strike would decide whether the gate of Region Two would crumble… or whether it would hold against the wrath of a warlord who had shattered countless battlefields.
General Vincent Kim surged forward, grey broadsword in hand. The weapon was a monstrosity, forged with an unnatural weight that only a monster of his caliber could wield. With a guttural roar, he brought it down upon the gate.
The mages scattered from his path instinctively, as though making way for a wild beast that had broken free of its chains.
The first strike landed. The impact rattled the colossal gate, reverberating through the enchanted metal and stone. The defensive orbs that pulsed around it flickered violently, their once-vibrant glow sputtering into sickly, unstable hues. Their trembling resonance spoke of deterioration, as if the enchantments woven into the barrier had been torn at the seams.
But Vincent Kim did not relent. He pulled back, shoulders rolling like a predator gathering for a second leap. His veins bulged, and the ground itself seemed to recoil beneath his steps.
Then he charged again. Faster. Harder.
The second strike tore through the air with a banshee's howl, the broad blade crashing into the gate with such cataclysmic force that the earth itself quaked. The shockwave rippled outward, tossing dust into the air and making even the veteran soldiers nearest the walls stagger backward, their legs trembling as if they stood at the edge of an earthquake.
The gate screamed under the pressure, a metallic wail echoing across the battlefield. The glowing orbs dimmed further, flaring and stuttering like dying stars.
And still, Vincent Kim raised his sword again.
His chest rose and fell like a bellows, his eyes burning with a fury that could set mountains ablaze. He rushed for the third time, and in that moment, even the gate seemed to shudder in dread—as if it knew its end had come.
He roared, a thunderous cry like a lion on the hunt, about to pin down a helpless gazelle. With terrifying grace for a man of his bulk, he surged upward, body rising sharply into the air like some monstrous hovercraft breaking free from the ground. His blade glinted with a deathly promise as he descended.
The third strike landed.
The grey broadsword crashed into the gate with a sound that split the sky. Stone, steel, and sorcery screamed together as the colossal doors were blasted apart, torn from their hinges and hurled backward as though they were nothing but parchment. The protective orbs cracked with a deafening crackle, shattering into fragments of dying light that rained down like broken stars.
Dust billowed upward, a violent rush of sand and ash surging into the air, swallowing the battlefield in a choking haze. For long moments, nothing could be seen. The soldiers shielded their faces, coughing, waiting for the smoke of destruction to settle.
Then, silence.
When the dust finally thinned, what lay beyond the broken gate was not an army, not a wall of defenders, not even the faintest sign of resistance. It was a city… empty. Streets stretched wide and silent, houses and towers standing still like the husks of a forgotten dream. Not even the shuffle of a beggar or the cry of a child disturbed the air.
General Vincent Kim lowered his blade, his breath ragged, sweat gleaming upon his forehead. He had expended more inner strength than he intended, drawing deep into his reserves of energy. But the gate was down. That alone was enough to shake the hearts of all who followed him.
The soldiers stared at him in awe. In their eyes, he no longer stood as just another warlord or commander. No—he was the embodiment of the emperor's will, a living juggernaut. He was the Supreme General, a title given only to him by the emperor, a station so exalted that he stood second only to the throne itself.
Whispers rippled through the ranks, though none dared speak aloud.
"Remind me never to mess with this guy…"
A grim chuckle ran through a few, but quickly died as their boots carried them forward.
Slowly, cautiously, the army marched into Region Two, their footsteps echoing against the silence of the hollow city.