Panic swallowed the edge of Constantia's field.
Zael stood at the very front, his breath caught in his throat as his eyes fixed on the massive black dome covering the center of the field. Its surface shone like dark glass, but something moved across it—black currents of electricity crawling like serpents, twisting, pulsing, vanishing, then appearing again in another place.
Behind him, Albert, Ivan, Stella, and dozens of Constantia's people had gathered, yet none of them dared to step closer. Their faces were pale as they stared at the dome. Some still held the tools they had been using before the explosion reached their ears. One carried a bucket. Another gripped a hammer. A few had come with empty hands, drawn by fear and confusion before they even had time to think.
"The leader is inside there," an old villager whispered.
"Not only him," Stella answered, her voice trembling. "Arad is inside. Hana too."
"Then what are we supposed to do?"
No one answered immediately.
Zael clenched his jaw. His hands tightened at his sides until his knuckles turned white. From beyond the dome, the sound of impacts could still be heard faintly. Sometimes the ground beneath their feet trembled, as if something huge was fighting on the other side of that black wall.
Ivan swallowed hard. "We can't just stand here."
"I know," Zael replied quietly.
Albert turned toward him. "Zael, don't do anything reckless. If that thing is really a magic barrier, we don't know what will happen if you touch it."
"If we don't try, we also won't know what's happening to them inside." Zael glanced at Albert, his eyes sharp. "Lord Fragha is in there."
Stella stepped forward half a pace. "Zael, wait. The surface is unstable. Look at those black currents. That is not just a wall."
Behind them, the voices of the villagers began to break apart.
"Lord Fragha is still alive, right?"
"Arad can hold that monster back, can't he?"
"Hana is strong too. They must be able to get out."
"Then why hasn't the dome disappeared?"
The last question silenced everyone.
Zael drew in a deep breath. A thin swirl of wind began to gather around his body, lifting dust from beneath his feet. The hesitation in his eyes disappeared.
"Move aside," he said.
Albert immediately reached for him. "Zael—"
"I'll only try once."
Zael lowered his body. In the next instant, his foot struck the ground.
Bam!
His body shot forward like an arrow. Several villagers stumbled back from the sudden burst of speed. The air behind him split, leaving a long trail of dust across the field.
Zael raised his shoulder and gathered all his strength to break through the dome.
Then he slammed into its surface.
A black explosion flashed.
Thick currents of electricity surged from the wall of the Silent Domain and struck Zael's body with brutal force. His eyes widened. In a fraction of a second, all the momentum he had built up was crushed completely.
His body was thrown backward.
"Zael!" Stella screamed.
Zael hit the ground and rolled several times before stopping near Albert's feet. Thin smoke rose from his clothes. He tried to push himself up, but his arms shook violently beneath him.
Albert dropped to one knee beside him. "You idiot! You said you were only going to try, not let yourself get roasted!"
Zael gritted his teeth. "I… almost broke through."
"No," Stella said, her face pale. "You didn't even make a crack."
Her words fell like stones.
The color drained from the villagers' faces. Some took a slow step back. A woman covered her mouth, while a young man beside her stared at the dome with empty eyes.
"If even Zael can't do it…"
"Then who can?"
"Are we just going to watch them die inside?"
"Don't say that!" Ivan snapped, though his own voice shook. "They are not dead."
Zael forced himself to stand. His knees almost gave out beneath him, but his gaze remained locked on the dome with stubborn intensity.
"I'll try again."
Albert grabbed him by the collar. "No. One more time, and you might not get back up."
"If I don't try—"
"If you die out here, that helps no one!"
Zael fell silent.
Inside the Silent Domain, the situation was no better.
Fragha knelt on the ground with one hand braced against the dirt to keep himself from collapsing completely. His breathing was heavy, short, and uneven. Cold sweat soaked his forehead. Every time he forced Emperor's Command to keep working, a dull, knife-like pain pressed through his bones from the inside.
His body was beginning to break down.
It was not because of one large wound. His entire body was simply being drained without pause. His muscles had been tense for too long. His vision blurred at the edges, then cleared, then blurred again. His heart pounded so hard that he could feel it beating in his ears.
A little longer, he thought, though even he no longer knew what "a little" was supposed to mean.
In front of him, Arad still stood, but the large man's body was covered in bruises and cuts. His breathing had grown rough. Both of his feet were planted into the ground as if that alone was keeping him from falling.
Hana stood not far from him. The mana around her body was nearly extinguished. Her face was pale and her lips were dry, but her hands were still raised, ready to release one last spell if the situation demanded it.
"Fragha," Hana said weakly, "you can't keep doing this."
Fragha let out a small laugh, but the sound was more like a broken breath. "I'm not exactly… enjoying it either."
Arad glanced at him from the side. "Can you still think clearly?"
"Clearly enough to know we are not allowed to die yet."
Arad did not answer. He simply turned his eyes back to the remains of the golems shifting in front of them.
In the dark sky of the domain, Amonn hovered with a satisfied smile hidden behind his white mask. He looked like a noble watching a cheap performance, enjoying it only because the people on stage were suffering. His black robe drifted slowly in the dead air.
"Beautiful," he murmured. "Commoner filth crawling in the dirt, a weak leader forcing himself to look noble, and loyal dogs refusing to die. It's cheap entertainment, but it's enough to kill time."
Then his smile suddenly stopped.
A dark red light glowed from beneath his robe.
Amonn lowered his gaze. A small magic communication orb floated out from the folds of the cloth, pulsing with a cold, unpleasant light.
His eyes narrowed behind the mask. "Now?"
The light trembled, and a cold voice echoed from within it.
"Amonn. Gather immediately."
Amonn's expression turned flat.
"I'm busy."
"The order has been given. All members must be present."
For a moment, the air around Amonn grew heavier. The sadistic pleasure in his posture vanished, replaced by irritation so sharp it almost seemed childish.
"Tch." He ground his teeth. "You bastards really know how to ruin the mood."
The voice from the orb remained cold. "Do not be late."
The red light went out.
Amonn clenched the communication orb, then slipped it back inside his robe. His gaze dropped toward Fragha, Arad, and Hana. Hatred filled his eyes, not because they had resisted him, but because they had not been crushed the way he wanted.
"Damn it."
He raised one hand.
The entire field shook violently.
The smaller golems still standing cracked apart at the same time. Their bodies collapsed into chunks of earth and stone. Those broken pieces rose into the air, spinning like a rough storm under Amonn's control.
Outside the dome, the villagers screamed as the tremor reached their feet.
"What now?!" Ivan shouted.
Stella stared at the black dome, her face tense. "Something changed inside."
Zael, still weak, forced himself upright again. "Open… open, damn you…"
Albert held his arm. "Zael, look!"
Inside the domain, the chunks of stone and soil began to merge. But the shape they formed was no longer an ordinary golem. A dark material like obsidian emerged from the center of the wreckage, hardened, and spread through the giant body taking form.
Massive feet planted themselves into the ground. Arms like pillars rose into the air. A body five meters tall slowly stood upright, larger, denser, and far more terrifying than all the golems before it.
Golem King.
Fragha lifted his head with difficulty. His eyes widened slightly, but his body was too weak to move quickly.
Hana nearly lost her balance. "That's… impossible…"
Arad clenched his jaw. "No. It's very possible. It's just extremely bad for us."
Amonn gave a short laugh from above.
"Consider this a farewell gift." He looked down at Fragha with disgust. "Struggle again, rat leader. Protect your filthy little nest if you're really as great as these insects believe."
Fragha tried to stand, but his knees struck the ground again. His breath broke. Emperor's Command was still pulsing inside him, but his body refused to obey his will.
Amonn opened his palm. The space behind him twisted, and a portal of darkness appeared, slowly turning like a wound in the air.
Before stepping into it, he looked once more at the field and the black dome around it.
"These rats are lucky," he said mockingly. "Next time, I'll come here again, damn it."
His words ended with a dry laugh.
Amonn disappeared into the portal. The darkness closed after his body vanished, leaving behind cold air and the feeling of a threat that had not truly ended.
A moment later, the Silent Domain began to crack.
Thin lines appeared across the surface of the black dome. Then the cracks spread quickly, branching in every direction like glass struck from within. Dim light from the outside world slipped through the gaps.
Outside, the villagers held their breath.
"The dome…" one man whispered.
"It's cracking!"
"Leader! Lord Fragha!"
Zael pushed Albert's hand away and stepped forward, though his body still swayed. "Everyone, get back! Don't rush in!"
"But they're inside!" a young villager shouted.
"That's exactly why you shouldn't make things worse!" Zael snapped, his voice hoarse. "If something comes out of there, you run. Understand?"
No one answered.
Zael turned and glared at them one by one. "Understand?!"
Several villagers finally nodded, fear still written across their faces.
Krak!
The dome shattered.
Black fragments fell from the air like pieces of dark glass, then vanished before touching the ground. The wall of the Silent Domain collapsed completely, revealing the training field once more before all the people of Constantia.
But there were no relieved cheers.
No happy cries.
Only a scene that froze everyone's chest.
Fragha knelt in the center of the field, his body trembling and close to collapse. Arad stood a few steps in front of him, wounded and breathing heavily, still trying to serve as a shield. Hana was on the other side, pale and nearly drained of mana.
And before all of them, the Golem King stood free without any barrier.
The giant obsidian body faced Constantia. Its long shadow fell across the ground, covering the faces of the villagers who had hoped the dome's collapse meant salvation.
Zael stared at the monster with widened eyes.
Albert lost his words.
Ivan gripped the makeshift weapon in his hand, even though he knew it might mean nothing.
Stella whispered in a voice barely audible, "The dome is gone… but now that monster is free too."
The Golem King raised one massive foot.
The ground trembled.
Fragha stared forward from where he knelt. His body was ruined by exhaustion, but the light in his eyes had not gone out.