The third portal tore open with a deafening crack, as if the fabric of reality was being violently ripped apart.
From the swirling violet vortex emerged a being that felt fundamentally wrong.
It was nearly thirty meters tall, its body composed of shifting black crystal that constantly refracted the blood-red sky into sharp, painful violet hues. Long, razor-sharp crystalline spikes formed a crown along its shoulders and spine. Its face was perfectly smooth and featureless — no mouth, no nose, only two pure white, glowing voids where eyes should be. Those voids didn't just look at you; they seemed to drink in light, hope, and will itself. Dozens of ancient glowing runes floated lazily around its form, pulsing in perfect, hypnotic synchronization like a living heartbeat of forgotten power. Every movement it made was elegant, almost graceful, yet carried the overwhelming weight of something that had existed long before humanity.
This was no mindless monster.
This was an ancient intelligence that had come to claim what it believed was rightfully its.
Kai felt the void inside him surge with violent, almost ecstatic hunger.
Finally… something that might actually challenge me. Something worth breaking.
Elena stood close to his left, her breathing shallow and uneven. The crushing presence of three Ancient Sovereigns was terrifying, but it was Kai's thickening aura that truly tormented her. She kept her eyes lowered, cheeks burning with deep shame as unwanted heat flooded her body. Her nipples tightened painfully against the torn blouse, and no matter how hard she tried to control it, her thighs kept pressing together. The worst part was the quiet jealousy she felt when Kai protected Sophia — a feeling that only made her humiliation deeper.
Sophia, on his right, gripped her rifle so tightly her knuckles turned white. She was furious at her own body. The insidious heat building low in her belly made her skin prickle and her breasts feel heavy and sensitive. She was a survivor, a fighter — yet here she was, getting aroused in the middle of a battlefield because of the man standing beside her. The anger at her own weakness burned hotter than the desire itself.
The crystal Sovereign tilted its featureless head slightly, as if dissecting them with its gaze. Its voice echoed directly in their minds, cold and precise like shattering glass:
"Void Sovereign… you carry a fragment that does not belong to this era. Surrender it, and your death will be quick."
Kai's lips curled into a cold, dangerous smile. His eyes glowed brighter purple as the void whispered inside him:
Take them all. Their power. Their pride. Their bodies. Everything.
"Come and take it," he replied.
He moved first.
Shadow Step!
Kai vanished and reappeared high above the crystal Sovereign. Void Claw ignited on both hands as he dropped like a meteor, slashing deep into its crystalline shoulder. Violet sparks exploded outward like shattered stars. Cracks spiderwebbed across the black crystal.
The Sovereign didn't scream. It simply raised one elegant hand and unleashed a concentrated wave of freezing violet energy that froze the air itself mid-flight.
Kai twisted and Shadow Stepped away at the last moment. The blast hit the ground, turning a fifty-meter radius into fragile violet crystal that exploded violently.
The Shadow Behemoth roared and charged with raw, chaotic power, its tentacles whipping forward like black whips.
Inside his expanding Void Domain Lv.3, Kai became a storm of shadow and violence.
He chained Shadow Step rapidly, dodging tentacles while slashing with Void Claw. Black blood sprayed in fountains. He landed on one massive tentacle, ran up its length like solid ground, and leaped toward the crystal Sovereign again.
Void Drain!
Dark tendrils sank into the crystal Sovereign's chest. The creature staggered for the first time as its ancient essence was violently ripped away.
[Ding! Void Energy +920]
[Level up! Level 44.]
[All stats +32.]
The power surge hit Kai like liquid fire. His aura thickened, darker and more suffocating. The void inside him laughed darkly:
Yes… feel it. They are already breaking. Their bodies betray them. Soon their minds will follow.
Elena watched him, her breath coming in short, embarrassed gasps. Every time Kai grew stronger, a fresh wave of heat rolled through her core. She hated how wet she was becoming, how her body ached for the man who was fighting like a god in front of her.
Sophia's jaw was locked tight, but her breathing had grown ragged. She hated the flush spreading across her skin, the way her nipples strained against the torn tactical gear. She wanted to deny it, to fight it, but her body was responding to Kai's power whether she liked it or not.
The crystal Sovereign countered with deadly precision. It summoned dozens of floating violet runes that shot toward Kai like guided missiles, each one humming with freezing ancient energy.
Kai weaved through the barrage inside his domain, draining what he could touch. One rune grazed his shoulder, coating it in frost. Pain flared, but Void Regeneration fought back immediately.
He redirected and charged the rune Sovereign again.
Void Claw + Shadow Step chain!
He appeared right in front of its chest and unleashed a savage barrage of slashes. Crystalline shards flew everywhere like broken glass. The Sovereign fired a point-blank violet energy blast.
Kai crossed his arms and took the hit. The domain absorbed most of the force, but the impact still sent him crashing into a ruined building. Concrete and steel exploded around him.
He burst out of the debris moments later, covered in dust and blood, a wild, dark grin on his face.
"Not enough."
The three Sovereigns attacked in perfect, terrifying coordination.
The Behemoth smashed down with massive tentacles while the rune Sovereign fired rune missiles and the crystal Sovereign unleashed freezing beams from multiple angles.
Kai was in the eye of the storm.
He chained Shadow Step relentlessly — dodging, slashing, draining. He severed tentacles, shattered floating runes, and absorbed their power. Black blood and violet energy rained down like an apocalyptic storm.
Every successful drain made him stronger, faster, colder.
The void inside him whispered with increasing hunger:
Break them. Take everything. They exist only to feed you now.
The crystal Sovereign staggered, several runes around its body flickering unstably.
"You grow too fast…" it said, its voice now carrying genuine surprise. "This should not be possible."
Kai appeared right in front of its smooth, featureless face, grabbed its head with both hands, and activated Void Drain at maximum output.
"Then watch me break the rules."
The Sovereign let out a distorted, glass-like scream as its crystalline core began to crack and splinter.
The other two Sovereigns roared and charged desperately to save their ally.
Kai looked over his shoulder at the incoming threats, his eyes burning with dark excitement and bottomless hunger.
"Come on then," he whispered, voice cold and eager.
"All three of you."
The battlefield shook violently as the final, desperate clash began.