"You stay here," Soren said calmly. "Don't step outside the range of the space barrier."
"I'll be back."
Before anyone could respond, his figure blurred and vanished.
Even if Soren had removed the barrier entirely, no one in the city would have dared to approach anymore. The earlier chain explosion had wiped out nearly eighty percent of the mercenaries and wanderers.
Even the former champions armed with artifacts and so confident in their strength, had been caught in the inferno.
None survived.
The blast made one truth brutally clear… whether one chased profit or freedom, being alive was the only thing that mattered.
Those who survived, and those who arrived only after witnessing the burning sky, retreated immediately.
The City of Sakaar finally understood the weight of a single name…
The Great Devil.
Far in the distance, inside a half-destroyed control bunker, a squad of mercenaries stared at the surveillance feed…
"Who said my head was senile earlier?" The captain muttered, swallowing hard. "Anyone still want to argue?"
"The captain is wise!" The others shouted in unison.
If not for his earlier decision to pull back, they would have been vaporized like the rest… just another layer of ash beneath the flaming sky.
Soren, meanwhile, paid no mind to the devastation behind him.
As far as he was concerned, every consequence was one these people brought upon themselves. They had tried to profit off him, he simply responded.
Now, he had reached his real target.
With a thought, Soren shifted through space and appeared outside the largest palace in Sakaar… the Grandmaster's throne complex.
He did not teleport directly inside.
Instead, he appeared before the main gate. Dozens of the Grandmaster's personal guards spotted him instantly.
They had seen the firestorm that devoured half the city. The moment they recognized the figure walking toward them, terror hollowed their faces.
"This is the Grandmaster's palace! You can't enter!"
"You step inside and you're dead!"
Their voices rang out, but their feet refused to move. Not one dared to stand in his path.
"Noisy," Soren said coldly.
Just one word and every guard flinched as if struck. Their chants died instantly.
Soren walked forward, unimpeded.
His spiritual power had already locked onto the Grandmaster. Escape was impossible.
Inside the palace, the Grandmaster felt the pressure tightening around him like an invisible noose.
As an Elder of the Universe, his strength was considerable, but his true power lay in his immortality and cunning, not in direct combat. Against Soren, he had no illusions.
He was outmatched.
BANG.
A thunderous crash split the air as the giant golden gate collapsed inward. The ornate metal slab slammed into the marble floor, sending shockwaves through the hall.
"…" The impact rattled the Grandmaster's bones.
Soren stepped through the falling dust, his silhouette framed in the shattered doorway. He walked slowly, each footfall echoing through the cavernous throne room with a rhythmic pulse, an effect generated by his spiritual domain.
Boom… boom… boom…
To the Grandmaster, each step caused sweat to slide down his temples. His legs trembled. Soren's presence pressed against him like a mountain growing heavier with every breath.
"St–stop…" The Grandmaster managed.
Soren did not stop and he reached the base of the throne steps and lifted his gaze.
"Grandmaster." He said softly.
"Kneel."
Grandmaster's body trembled as though two mountains had been dropped onto his shoulders.
His knees felt like they were turning to stone. Soren's spiritual pressure wrapped around him threatening to capsize his mind at any moment.
"…!" His face flushed a violent red.
Even so, he forced himself to resist. A thin shimmer of energy rippled across his body as he summoned every ounce of power he possessed, trying to push back against the overwhelming presence.
Boom
Soren took another deliberate step.
He was now only a handful of steps away, yet in the Grandmaster's eyes, Soren's figure had already begun to warp.
The air around him twisted into the image of a towering demon… Mephisto's silhouette flickering like a mirage. The sight clawed at the deepest instinct to submit.
"Kneel."
The single command rolled through the throne room.
"Ahh." Grandmaster's legs buckled instantly.
With a strangled gasp, he collapsed onto both knees, palms slapping the cold floor to keep himself from falling flat on his face.
And just as suddenly as it came, the crushing mental pressure vanished. Grandmaster wheezed, nearly fainting from the abrupt release.
It took him several seconds before his vision cleared and when it did, the monstrous phantom was gone. Only Soren stood before him now.
Grandmaster was still kneeling.
Humiliation burned through him like acid, it churned somewhere deep inside, but it had nowhere to go.
Soren hadn't even raised a hand, yet he had nearly broken him with mental power alone.
What resistance did he have left?
What strength could he possibly use against this?
Now he truly understood why the Collector had warned him repeatedly… never provoke Soren. Not as an Elder of the Universe.
Not even as a bystander.
And certainly not as an enemy.
Soren looked down at him with no triumph and not even cruelty… only an effortless authority that made the situation feel inevitable.
"Do you know why you're still alive?" He asked mildly.
"…" Grandmaster swallowed.
"Because I promised the Collector I wouldn't kill you." Soren continued.
"He asked me to spare your life."
The humiliation struck harder than the spiritual pressure. Grandmaster felt the weight of it hammer into his chest until he could barely breathe.
He wanted to stand and he wanted to shout.
He wanted to tear the moment apart.
But the truth settled like chains around him… He had no power here.
Only mercy… borrowed mercy that kept him breathing.