The main avenue of Oakhaven felt like the bottom of the deep ocean.
The environmental pressure crashing down from Master Goliath was entirely unnatural. The heavy gravity forced the dust on the street to settle instantly into a perfectly flat layer. The metal frames of the abandoned cars groaned loudly as they were crushed downward.
Thorne, a proud peak Gold-tier assassin, remained pinned to his knees.
He gritted his teeth, his muscles shaking violently as he tried to push himself up.
But the Grandmaster aura was simply too heavy.
Caspian was the only thing on the street that refused to bow.
He stood perfectly straight, his dark eyes locked on the towering, scarred giant.
Caspian slowly unbuttoned the top collar of his white shirt. He let out a slow, steady breath.
"You killed my generals," Goliath growled loudly. His deep voice rattled the broken glass on the street.
"You broke my vanguard. Now, show me this legendary Sovereign power."
Caspian did not pull out a weapon. He simply reached deep into his own chest with his mind.
He grabbed hold of the ancient, restrictive energy that was keeping his broken core tied together, and he forcefully pulled it back.
He unlocked the first two seals of the Nine Dragon Lock.
The reaction was instantaneous and completely terrifying.
Two thick, molten golden lines flared brilliantly to life underneath the skin of Caspian's neck and arms. The lines pulsed with a heavy, ancient heat.
As the seals broke open, Caspian's own aura exploded outward.
It did not clash with Goliath's gravity. It completely overwrote it.
The suffocating, crushing pressure on the street instantly vanished. The air became light and perfectly clear again.
Thorne let out a massive gasp of air, finally able to stand up on his own two feet. He quickly backed away to the edge of the street, knowing he could not survive the crossfire of this fight.
Master Goliath took a half step backward. His dark eyes narrowed in pure shock.
He was a Grandmaster. He could crush buildings with his mind. But Caspian had simply erased his domain by existing.
"Ten years ago," Goliath shouted, gripping his massive steel axe with both hands.
"Ten years ago, I knelt before the mighty Shadow Command. I was the strongest fighter in my province. But you looked at me from your high throne and told me I was too brutal. You told me I lacked discipline. You threw me away like absolute trash."
Caspian cracked his knuckles. The sound popped sharply in the quiet air.
"I remember you, Goliath," Caspian said. His voice was perfectly calm, carrying no anger at all.
"You killed innocent people to win your matches. You were not a warrior. You were a butcher."
"I am a king," Goliath roared furiously.
"When you rejected me, I went into the dark. I gathered every single powerful outcast you turned away. I built the Blood Shadow from the broken pieces you left behind.
We are the true rulers of the underworld. And today, I will take your crown."
Goliath raised his massive steel axe high into the air. His Grandmaster aura flooded into the metal, making the heavy blade glow with a sickening, dark red light.
He was preparing the Earth Splitter Strike.
This was the absolute pinnacle technique of the Blood Shadow outcasts. It was a brutal, heavy-handed cleave that gathered all of the user's spiritual energy into a single downward swing, designed to shatter shields, armor, and bone in a fraction of a second.
Goliath swung the heavy axe down with the force of a falling meteor.
The dark red energy tore through the air, completely slicing the asphalt of the street in half as it rushed directly toward Caspian's head.
Caspian did not dodge. He did not freeze the air.
He stepped forward, raising his bare right hand. The golden lines under his skin flared violently.
CLANG.
The sound of the impact was completely deafening. The dark red energy of the Grandmaster strike violently exploded outward, blowing the doors off the storefronts on both sides of the street.
But when the dust cleared, Goliath's eyes bulged in absolute horror.
Caspian was holding the glowing, razor-sharp blade of the massive steel axe directly in his bare palm.
The edge of the blade had not even cut his skin. Caspian's grip was locked onto the metal like an unbreakable vice.
"You built an army of angry children, Goliath," Caspian said softly.
"But you are still just a loud dog barking at a mountain."
Caspian squeezed his right hand.
The massive steel axe, forged from the strongest metals in the underworld, groaned loudly. A spiderweb of cracks spread up the blade.
With a sharp twist of his wrist, Caspian completely shattered the axe into a dozen flying pieces of broken metal.
Before Goliath could even process the destruction of his legendary weapon, Caspian moved.
He stepped directly inside Goliath's massive guard. Caspian pulled his left hand back. The golden energy wrapped tightly around his fist, creating a dense, terrifying pressure.
He executed the Dragon's Fang Palm. It was a very old and secret skill that only the true Sovereign was allowed to learn.
Caspian drove his open palm directly into the dead center of Goliath's scarred chest.
The impact did not create a loud explosion. Instead, a sickening, deep crunch echoed through the giant's body.
The sheer concentrated force of the Sovereign strike pierced straight through Goliath's thick muscles and struck his Grandmaster core.
Goliath was lifted entirely off his feet. The massive, eight-foot-tall giant flew backward through the air like a discarded rag doll.
He crashed violently through the brick wall of an abandoned bank, completely collapsing the front half of the building on top of himself.
Thorne watched from the shadows in absolute awe. The raw, terrifying power of the Shadow Commander was finally back.
But Thorne was wrong. The power came with a terrible, hidden price.
Standing in the middle of the street, Caspian suddenly froze.
The molten golden lines under his skin stopped pulsing warmly. They abruptly flashed a violent, angry red. Caspian's eyes went wide.
He grabbed his chest with both hands as a blinding, agonizing pain ripped through his entire body.
His core was mostly healed, but it was still incredibly fragile. Channeling the power of the first two seals and unleashing a massive Sovereign strike had completely overwhelmed his stabilizing meridians.
The Nine Dragon Lock was fighting back, punishing his body for using too much power too soon.
Caspian let out a choked gasp. He stumbled forward, falling heavily onto one knee.
He coughed loudly, and a thick drop of dark blood splattered onto the cracked asphalt beneath him.
In the ruins of the collapsed bank, heavy bricks were pushed aside.
Goliath crawled out of the rubble. He was in terrible condition.
His chest was completely caved in from Caspian's strike. Three of his ribs were sticking out through his pale skin.
He was bleeding heavily from his mouth, and his left eye was swollen completely shut. The Grandmaster had been severely broken by a single palm strike.
But Goliath was a survivor. He looked down the street and saw Caspian kneeling on the ground, coughing up blood.
A dark, bloody smile slowly spread across Goliath's ruined face.
"Look at this," Goliath laughed. He coughed up another mouthful of blood, but he did not stop laughing.
"The great and mighty god is bleeding on the street. You are broken, Sovereign. Your core is shattered. You used all your strength just to land one hit."
Thorne immediately stepped out of the shadows. He rushed to Caspian's side, raising his twin obsidian blades to defend his vulnerable master.
Goliath knew he was horribly injured. His Grandmaster core was cracked. If he stayed and fought Thorne right now, he would eventually bleed to death.
But he also knew the greatest secret in the world. The invincible Shadow Commander was living on borrowed time.
"I cannot kill you today, Sovereign," Goliath shouted, clutching his ruined chest. "My body is broken. But your body is dying.
The Blood Shadow will retreat. We will go back into the dark. We will ally with the people who truly hate you. And when we return, I will bring an army that will pull your entire tower down into the dirt."
Goliath reached his bloody hand into his pocket. He pulled out three Crimson Asura Pills.
He did not swallow them. He crushed them in his massive fist and threw the volatile red powder directly onto the street in front of him.
With a flare of his remaining aura, Goliath ignited the powder. A massive, blinding explosion of thick, dark red smoke erupted across the entire avenue.
The smoke carried a highly toxic, burning energy that melted the asphalt and completely blocked all vision.
"Commander," Thorne shouted. He stepped in front of Caspian, crossing his black blades to block the burning red smoke from hitting his master.
Caspian forced himself to stand up. He placed his hand on Thorne's shoulder.
"Do not chase him," Caspian ordered, his voice tight with pain. "The smoke is toxic. Protect the civilians. Let him run."
Caspian closed his eyes and forced his erratic energy to calm down. He grabbed the chaotic power spinning in his chest and brutally forced it back down into the depths of his core, locking the golden chains of the Nine Dragon Lock back into place.
The angry red lines under his skin slowly faded away, leaving his pale skin looking normal once again. But the damage was already done.
The thick red smoke slowly cleared away in the afternoon wind.
Master Goliath was completely gone. The Grandmaster had used the deadly distraction to escape the city, leaving his massive army of dead outcast killers behind on the streets of Oakhaven.
Thorne put his blades away.
He looked at Caspian with deep, open concern. Thorne had never seen his master bleed from using his own technique.
"Commander," Thorne said quietly. "Your core. The backlash is getting worse."
Caspian looked down at the drop of blood on the street. He let out a long, heavy sigh.
He wiped his mouth, his face pale and lined with true exhaustion. The invincible Sovereign suddenly looked very mortal, fully understanding the dangerous reality of his situation.
"The cost of power is very high right now, Thorne," Caspian admitted softly.
"My core is healed, but it cannot handle the raw output of the higher seals yet. I pushed the limits today to protect the city. I paid the price."
"Master Goliath escaped," Thorne said, his voice filled with frustration.
"He knows your secret. He knows you are injured. He will tell the other underworld families. He will tell the High Regent King."
"I know," Caspian replied.
He turned around and started walking slowly back toward the Valerius Tower. His steps were heavy, but his posture was still incredibly proud.
"Goliath is a coward, but he is a smart coward," Caspian continued. "He will hide in the deep mountains for months to heal his caved-in chest. He will not attack us tomorrow.
But he will build a new alliance. He will bring a much bigger war to our doorstep."
Caspian looked up at the sky. The city-wide emergency sirens were finally beginning to power down, leaving behind a heavy, ringing silence.
The invasion was over. Oakhaven had survived the day.
"We won the battle today, Thorne," Caspian said quietly, his dark eyes reflecting the fading afternoon sun.
"But the real war for survival has just begun. We need to get much stronger. And we need to do it before the outcasts return."