But I didn’t act on it.

Instead, I did the opposite.

I eased the pressure and created distance between us for what I was about to do next.

Caius remained on his knees for a moment, palms pressed against the ground as he drew in a heavy breath, the relief obvious now that the pressure had eased. His shoulders rose and fell unevenly, his body still recovering from what it had just endured.

Then he forced himself up.

Slowly.

"What are you doing?" he asked, his voice steadier now, though the strain hadn’t completely left it.

"One last chance," I said, and my voice carried across the space, not louder, but everywhere at once, resonating through the domain itself. "I’ll give you one last opportunity to use whatever ability you have, because you’re most certainly going to lose it moments after this."

Caius bit down on his lip, the tension clear.

"Arrogant," he said, but it didn’t come out sharp or spiteful. If anything, there was a level of acceptance behind it, like he already understood where this was heading. "I’ll play along... if that’s what you want."

He had seen it.

The gap between us.

Not just in strength, but in control, in authority, in how the space itself responded. He knew, at this point, that he couldn’t impose his will over mine the way he had before. The difference in rank alone made that impossible.

So he adjusted.

His body began to glow, white light building from within before seeping out, rising in slow streams that drifted upward and gathered above him. The energy didn’t disperse—it condensed, shaping itself with clear intent as it formed into something massive.

A sword.

Gigantic.

Constructed entirely from compressed energy, its presence alone enough to distort the surrounding space.

I couldn’t help but take it in.

It was dense.

Heavy.

And the output it carried was stronger than anything I had seen from him so far.

For a moment, I wondered why he hadn’t used it earlier in the fight.

But I understood it soon enough.

The energy contained within that blade wasn’t just immense; it was everything.

Caius had condensed nearly all of his remaining power into that single construct, pouring it into one final strike instead of spreading it across multiple exchanges. It wasn’t something he could have used earlier without compromising the rest of the fight.

This was his endgame.

I exhaled slowly, steadying myself as I prepared.

My control had changed. The way I handled my abilities now, the way they responded to intent instead of rigid activation, combined with the amplification from my domain, had pushed my limits far beyond where they had been before.

I raised my hands, spreading them apart as if shaping something between them, and the space responded immediately. Void energy gathered and curved, forming the outline of a bow, its structure stabilizing as more power flowed into it, solidifying into something I could hold.

Then I drew.

I pulled back slowly, feeding in as much energy as I could sustain, feeling it build, layer upon layer, the tension increasing as the air around me crackled under the pressure. The domain responded with it, reinforcing the construct, stabilizing the output, and allowing me to push further than I normally could.

Energy poured out of me in steady waves, enough to send faint tremors through the space itself, and despite the drain, despite the strain, there was a part of me that felt excited.

Caius’ sword continued to hum with power, the energy around it dense and concentrated, and when he saw what I was forming, a grin spread across his face.

"That’s overkill."

"I could say the same about yours," I replied, a slight edge of amusement in my tone.

"Bastard," he said, still grinning.

"Are you ready?" I asked, holding the draw, prepared to release everything I had built up.

He answered with a nod, his sword already brimming with energy, the density of it distorting the space around the blade in faint ripples.

I felt my domain react to it.

Naturally.

Instinctively.

It tried to suppress it, to break it down before it could fully manifest, but I held that back, tightening my control over the space and restricting that response.

I wanted to meet it properly.

At full power.

Caius exhaled, steadying himself, and then—without any unnecessary buildup or theatrics—he released it.

The massive blade of energy shot forward with a deafening boom, tearing through the space between us in a straight line, the force behind it compressing everything in its path.

I released mine as well.

The moment I let go, the tension snapped, and the arrow surged forward, cutting through the void with a sharp whistle that built into a sonic crack as it accelerated.

They crossed the distance almost instantly.

And then...

They collided.

TWOOOOOOM!!!!

The impact wasn’t just loud—it was overwhelming, the sound tearing through the space as the two forces met, neither giving way immediately. Energy burst outward in violent waves, splintering into streaks of color that didn’t match either attack, something entirely new forming from the clash.

It was... striking.

From where I stood, I could see it all, every shift, every fluctuation, every distortion rippling through my domain at once, the entire exchange laid out in perfect clarity.

It was almost mesmerizing.

But it couldn’t hold.

Not forever.

Although Caius’ energy blade held for a moment, resisting with everything it had, it wasn’t enough to stand against the sheer output behind mine. The void arrow pressed through it, not instantly, but steadily, forcing its way past the resistance until the structure of his attack gave out, collapsing under the strain.

The moment it broke, the arrow surged forward.

An explosion followed—contained, but violent—sending out dynamic wisps of energy that twisted and scattered before converging back along its path as it drove toward Caius.

He didn’t move.

He faced it.

And, unexpectedly, he smiled.

"It’s unfortunate," he said, his voice calm despite everything. "But I’ll admit my loss."

Then it reached him.

And he was consumed.

...

The instant it happened, the domain fractured, a sharp, splitting sound cutting through the space as everything unraveled at once, and in the next moment, I was back.

Reality snapped into place around me.

Caius stood a short distance ahead.

Or what was left of him.

From the hips upward—gone.

Not torn.

Not burned.

Gone.

The attack had been focused, precise, and even as its power had increased during the clash, it hadn’t scattered. It had held its path, delivering exactly what it carried without excess.

Damage.

Was that even the right word?

It didn’t feel like damage.

It looked like erasure.

The upper half of his body wasn’t destroyed; it was absent, as though it had never existed in the first place. The separation was so clean it didn’t even look violent.

What remained of him stood there, unmoving.

And then...

A series of notifications appeared.

DING!

[You have defeated a chosen]

[You have levelled up]

[You have levelled up]

[You have levelled up]

[You have received 1000 skill advancement points]

[You have received 1500 coins]

[You have gained his innate skill: Architect Tyranny (S)]

DING!

[You have successfully defeated a chosen with a spot in the King’s Game]

[You have booked your spot, joining the six candidates already in]

[But you have to fulfill the other condition to be fully recognized]

[Failure to do so, and your spot will be granted to another who has fulfilled the remaining conditions when the game begins]

[You have obtained 12 Manacore Garnets]

[Set them around your wall to create a defensive barrier]

[The stronger the wall, the more effective the barrier]

I let my gaze linger on the notifications for a moment, taking in each line as the weight of what had just happened settled properly, then I grinned.

"Mission accomplished."