The third Sovereign fully emerged from the portal, its crystalline body gleaming with malevolent violet light.
The battlefield had become a hellscape. Three Ancient-level beings stood against one man, yet Kai looked like he was enjoying himself.
The crystal Sovereign's white void-eyes locked onto Kai. Its voice rang coldly in everyone's mind:
"Your growth is an anomaly. We will correct it."
All three Sovereigns attacked at once.
The Shadow Behemoth charged with earth-shaking fury, its remaining tentacles whipping forward like living siege weapons. The rune Sovereign launched dozens of glowing violet missiles. The crystal Sovereign raised both hands and unleashed a wide freezing beam that turned the air into razor-sharp ice shards.
Kai's eyes burned with dark excitement.
Void Domain Lv.3 — Maximum Output!
The purple-black domain exploded outward to its current limit, swallowing the entire battlefield. Inside it, Kai's power spiked dramatically.
He vanished.
Shadow Step Chain!
Kai blinked across the battlefield like a ghost of darkness. He appeared first in front of the Shadow Behemoth, Void Claw slashing across its face and tearing out one of its glowing red eyes. Black ichor exploded outward.
Before the beast could roar, he Shadow Stepped again, landing on the rune Sovereign's floating runes and draining them as he moved. The crystal Sovereign's freezing beam swept toward him.
Kai dropped low, slid beneath the beam, then launched himself upward. His claws sank into the crystal Sovereign's chest.
Void Drain — Full Power!
Dark tendrils erupted violently, sinking deep into the creature's core. The Sovereign let out a distorted scream as cracks spread rapidly across its crystalline body.
[Ding! Void Energy +1,340]
[Level up! Level 52.]
[New Skill Unlocked: Void Pulse Lv.1]
The surge was overwhelming. Kai felt the void inside him push harder than ever before.
More… Take more. They are nothing but food now. Break their bodies. Break their wills. Everything belongs to me.
Kai didn't stop.
He drove his claws deeper, twisting them viciously. The crystal Sovereign's featureless face began to fracture. Its white void-eyes flickered wildly as its ancient essence was violently sucked out.
The Sovereign tried to fight back, firing desperate freezing beams at point-blank range, but Kai held on, refusing to let go. His muscles bulged, veins glowing with dark energy as he drained faster and faster.
Cracks spread across the Sovereign's entire body like a breaking mirror. Violet light leaked out from the fractures, swirling into Kai's form.
The creature's voice echoed one last time, now filled with fear and disbelief:
"Impossible… You are… devouring… us…"
Kai leaned closer, his voice low and cold, almost intimate:
"Yes. And I'm only getting started."
With a final, savage pull, he tore the Sovereign's core completely out of its chest.
The crystal Sovereign let out one last, ear-piercing scream — a sound like a thousand glass bells shattering at once. Its massive body froze mid-motion, then exploded into millions of violet-black crystal shards that rained down across the battlefield like deadly snow.
A massive torrent of ancient, pure void energy rushed into Kai's body.
[Ding! Ancient Crystal Sovereign fully devoured!]
[Major reward received.]
[Void Influence has significantly increased.]
Kai stood in the center of the falling crystals, breathing heavily, his entire body glowing with dark purple energy. For a moment, his expression became almost completely emotionless — cold, hungry, and terrifyingly calm.
Elena watched the scene with wide, glassy eyes, her body trembling uncontrollably.
She felt sick with shame.
How could she feel this way while a monster was being torn apart right in front of her? Yet every time Kai grew stronger, a deep, humiliating heat bloomed between her legs. Her nipples were painfully tight against the torn blouse, and she could feel herself getting wetter with every surge of his power. The worst part was the sharp sting of jealousy she felt when Kai had protected Sophia moments ago. She hated herself for it. She hated that her body was aching for the same man who was becoming something monstrous. Tears of frustration pricked her eyes as she pressed her thighs together desperately, trying — and failing — to ignore the slick heat soaking her panties.
Sophia stood beside her, breathing through gritted teeth, her knuckles white on the rifle.
She was furious.
Furious at the Sovereigns for existing. Furious at the situation. But most of all, furious at herself. She was supposed to be strong. A survivor. A fighter. Yet here she was, her body betraying her in the worst possible way. Every time Kai drained another piece of the Sovereign, a hot, insistent pulse throbbed low in her belly. Her breasts felt heavy and sensitive, her skin too tight. She wanted to scream at her own weakness. She wanted to deny the way her core clenched with unwanted need whenever Kai's aura thickened. "I'm not like this," she thought bitterly. "I refuse to be just another woman who melts for him." But her body didn't care about her pride. It only responded to the raw power radiating from the man in front of her.
Kai slowly turned toward the remaining two Sovereigns, the falling crystal shards still glittering around him like a dark coronation.
His voice came out low, almost a whisper, yet it carried across the entire battlefield:
"You two are next."
The two remaining Sovereigns roared in fury and attacked with everything they had left, but their movements now carried a hint of desperation.
Kai raised one hand, and the newly unlocked skill activated.
Void Pulse!
A ring of dark energy exploded outward from him, slamming into both Sovereigns and momentarily stunning them.
Kai didn't waste the opening.
He charged forward, claws flashing, ready to end the battle.
The battlefield trembled as the final confrontation intensified.