BOOM!!!!!
With another clash between the two, both of them finally came to a stop.
Despite fighting relentlessly for more than half an hour, neither of them showed the slightest sign of exhaustion. Their breathing remained steady, their auras were as powerful as ever, and not a trace of fatigue could be seen on either of their faces.
"Thanks for the lessons," Ash said with a faint smile. "I learned a lot from you."
The moment those words reached Gareth’s ears, his expression twisted with undisguised fury.
"So you think you were the only one holding back?" Gareth said coldly. "I wanted to see what tricks you were hiding, but all you’ve done is annoy me with those blatant lies. Learning from me this fast? Save that nonsense for someone else. Do you really think a few words are enough to shake my resolve?"
Ash blinked in surprise before an awkward expression appeared on his face.
Dude... I’m just that good. If you don’t want to believe me, that’s your problem..
Ignoring Ash completely, Gareth slowly closed his eyes before taking a deep breath, and the moment he exhaled, the aura surrounding his body underwent a complete transformation as an immeasurably vast pressure erupted from him, sweeping across the entire Domain and causing even its fabric to tremble beneath his presence.
Ash’s expression immediately became serious.
World Energy...
He recognized it instantly.
Unlike mana, World Energy was the power of one’s Inner World, something only God Rank cultivators possessed after their Energy Core and Domain fused together upon reaching that realm, giving birth to a World within their body.
Although the Domain could still be manifested independently, a God Rank cultivator could also draw upon the power of their Inner World to strengthen it, causing its might to rise to an entirely different level.
However, that was a feat reserved for Late God Rank cultivators.
The God Rank itself was divided into four stages: Early God, Mid God, Late God, and Peak God.
Gareth was only at the Early God Stage, meaning he could wield World Energy but couldn’t yet use it to reinforce his Domain. Otherwise, the battle would have ended before it had truly begun.
That was also the reason Ash had chosen Gareth as his opponent.
Among all God Rank cultivators, an Early God was the strongest enemy he could currently challenge without making the fight completely one-sided.
Seeing that Gareth had finally stopped holding back, Ash also gave up all pretense as boundless energy began flooding every corner of his body, his heartbeat gradually accelerating while the circulation of both blood and energy reached an absurd level, causing his entire presence to undergo a subtle yet unmistakable transformation.
Tiny glyphs and ancient runic symbols slowly emerged around him, revolving around his figure like countless stars circling their own center.
At the same time a violet-gold flame quietly ignited upon his glabella, burning without heat yet radiating an indescribable sense of mystery.
Ash had never been wasting time while running his shop.
To everyone else, he had merely been engraving runes onto clothes.
Only Ash himself knew that every engraving was another experiment, another observation, another lesson in Rune Craft as he continuously tested different rune combinations, slowly understanding how they complemented, rejected, amplified, or suppressed one another.
It was a slow process.
One that demanded countless repetitions.
After all...
Those countless combinations were the very foundation of his magic.
****
At the same time, on an unknown planet, Ash’s real body slowly opened its eyes.
Throughout the entire battle, he had been observing every exchange through his clone’s senses. Although part of him wanted to fight Gareth personally, he ultimately chose not to interfere, leaving everything to the clone instead.
Any experience gained by the clone was naturally synchronized with his real body in real time, making every lesson, every realization, and every improvement his own.
Looks like it’s about time... otherwise this fight will drag on for too long.
It wasn’t that Ash disliked prolonged battles.
The problem was that nearly 50 minutes had already passed since Gareth’s squad had disappeared, and every hour they were required to report back to headquarters. If no report arrived, a search team would inevitably be dispatched.
Ash had already confirmed that protocol long ago.
More importantly...
There was no chance he was letting Gareth leave alive after witnessing so many of his abilities.
Without another thought, Ash activated one more ability while his clone quietly prepared for the next exchange.
**
[Dread Monarch — Throne of Dread]
• Throne of Dread — A throne embodying the user’s dominion manifests beneath the user. While seated upon it, all abilities of the user are enhanced twofold.
**
The moment the ability was invoked, a majestic throne began to materialize behind Ash.
Countless runic symbols began appearing out of nowhere, one after another, quietly filling the surrounding space as tiny sparks drifted through the air, their numbers increasing with every passing moment until they resembled a river of light revolving behind Ash.
Ash slowly rose to his feet, his eyes calmly observing everything before him with unmistakable fascination.
Even this was the first time he had witnessed the complete manifestation of the ability.
A magnificent throne gradually emerged from the void, forged from an unknown violet-black metal that seemed to contain an endless night sky within its surface.
Ancient golden runes naturally flowed across every edge of the throne while countless crimson lightning veins pulsed beneath them like living blood vessels.
The instant it fully manifested, an indescribable pressure quietly spread throughout the surrounding space.
Ash slowly walked toward it, his fingers lightly brushing across the armrest before taking his seat without the slightest hesitation.
The moment Ash sat upon the throne, a pillar of violet-gold light erupted from behind it, piercing through the heavens before gradually fading into the endless distance.
Silence returned to the surroundings.
Ash slowly rested his chin upon one hand, his mesmerizing eyes quietly watching the battle unfolding through his clone’s senses as though he were merely a spectator witnessing someone else’s fight.
His lips slowly curved upward.
"It’s time."
***
At that very same moment, inside the Domain, Ash’s clone had also finished drawing out the last of his strength.
His snow-white hair danced wildly behind him as boundless waves of energy continuously surged from his body, his Primordial Aura no longer restrained in the slightest while countless runic symbols slowly drifted around him like stars orbiting their sovereign, each one faintly glowing as they quietly revolved around his figure.
The rhythmic beating of his heart echoed throughout the Domain, every beat becoming heavier than the last as blood and mana raced through his body at an ever-increasing speed, causing the surrounding space to ripple beneath the pressure he unconsciously released.
His glowing eyes never once left Gareth as he muttered.
"Assemble."
The countless runes and glyphs surrounding his body immediately responded to his voice, yet instead of rushing forward all at once, they gradually dispersed throughout the Domain, one after another taking their assigned positions until Gareth found himself unknowingly standing at the very center of an invisible formation.
None of those symbols could be seen.
Only Ash was capable of perceiving the countless runes silently suspended throughout the empty Domain.
"Gather."
The entire Domain quietly answered his command.
At first, only faint streams of energy drifted toward the scattered runes, but within moments those streams multiplied into rivers before finally becoming an overwhelming tide as energy poured in from every direction, continuously feeding the invisible formation.
Naturally, Gareth noticed the abnormal flow.
His eyes briefly swept across the surrounding space before returning to Ash.
He chose not to interfere.
To him, ordinary energy was harmless when he was using the World Energy.
"Integrate."
The endless streams of energy gradually began changing.
The energy gathered within each rune gradually began changing its nature as countless streams separated from one another, each transforming into a different elemental affinity under Ash’s precise control.
"Fusion."
The countless streams that had remained separate until now slowly began weaving together, perfectly merging without the slightest instability despite originating from completely different elemental affinities.
"Condense."
The flowing energy abruptly became still.
Then...
It began collapsing inward.
One after another, perfectly smooth white spheres silently materialized around Gareth, each one radiating almost no aura despite containing an absurd amount of compressed energy within.
The moment the first sphere fully stabilized...
A chill suddenly crawled up Gareth’s spine.
His instincts exploded with warning.
What is that bastard doing...?
For the first time since the battle began...
He abandoned his own pace.
Without waiting another moment, Gareth attacked.
Seventy-four percent is enough...
It’s more than enough to erase that thing from existence.
The World within Gareth violently trembled as an endless torrent of World Energy erupted from it, rushing through every meridian and every vein before continuously pouring into his greatsword until the entire blade became wrapped in a brilliant silver-gold radiance.
The surrounding Domain began to violently distort as the sheer pressure alone repeatedly tore open its fabric before it desperately regenerated again and again.
The silver-gold radiance continued growing brighter as countless arcs of lightning intertwined around the blade.
Compressing upon one another until even Gareth’s surroundings began collapsing inward under the overwhelming concentration of power, making it seem as though an entire world had been condensed into the edge of his sword.
Ash quietly watched the approaching attack without moving.
Let’s see whether the power of a World... can surpass the power of the Runes.
At the very next moment, an endless torrent of pitch-black Runic Energy belonging to the Rune of Death erupted from his body.
Continuously pouring into Eclipse as silent black flames gradually ignited along the blade, their appearance causing the surrounding space to instinctively distort while an indescribable aura of death spread throughout the Domain.
His aura exploded.
It was an eruption so violent that Gareth instinctively flinched for the briefest fraction of a second, an emotion he hadn’t experienced for centuries suddenly surfacing within him before his expression immediately hardened once again.
Ash’s body, however, remained perfectly stable.
His veins endured the terrifying flow of Runic Energy.
His muscles didn’t rupture.
His bones didn’t crack.
Everything held together, his body had finally become worthy of wielding such overwhelming power.
A faint smile slowly appeared upon Ash’s face as he calmly raised Eclipse before him, allowing the silent black flames to completely envelop the blade while his gaze remained fixed upon Gareth from beginning to end.
The next instant...
Gareth attacked.
The accumulated World Energy instantly erupted into a colossal silver-gold crescent arc that cleaved through the Domain itself, leaving behind a wound stretching endlessly across the void as it advanced toward Ash with enough destructive power to tear apart an entire world.
Ash moved at the same moment.
Eclipse traced a simple horizontal arc through the air as the silent black flames suddenly surged outward, colliding head-on with Gareth’s attack.
-BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The instant the two attacks met, the entire Domain violently shook as silver-gold light and pitch-black flames swallowed everything within sight, the terrifying shockwave forcing both Ash and Gareth backward at the same time while the surrounding fabric of the Domain continuously shattered and regenerated under the overwhelming collision.
The invisible runes scattered throughout the Domain remained completely unmoved amidst the chaos, silently maintaining their assigned positions as though the devastating shockwaves simply passed through them.
Ash immediately felt an unbearable force crashing through Eclipse before surging directly into his body, the impact violently shaking every muscle and every bone as countless cracks spread throughout both of his arms before rapidly extending into his shoulders and chest, forcing blood to spill from the corner of his lips as he was hurled backward through the endless void.
Gareth wasn’t much better.
Although the terrifying World Energy protected most of his body from the collision, the remaining force still forced him backward against his own will, disrupting his stance for the briefest fraction of a second.
That single moment...was all Ash had been waiting for.
His calm voice echoed throughout the Domain.
"White Star Prison."
The countless invisible runes surrounding Gareth instantly awakened as every white sphere simultaneously erupted with blinding brilliance before connecting with one another through countless streams of light, forming a gigantic White Star that completely enclosed Gareth from every direction, leaving him with not even the smallest path of escape.
Before Gareth could recover his balance, the White Star came alive.
Thousands of brilliant white beams erupted simultaneously from every sphere, crossing through the prison from every conceivable angle with flawless precision until Gareth’s figure was completely swallowed by an endless storm of light.
His body being pierced again and again before he could even raise his sword, each beam leaving behind another bloody hole as the relentless barrage erased every possibility of survival.
In the end, even a God Rank being could do nothing but fall.
****