CHAPTER 156: BREAKING THE CROWN

The mind sea surged with chaotic black waves as the Shadow Knight lunged forward. Its obsidian mace cleaved through the ethereal air with a deafening screech that shook the foundational architecture of the inner domain. Ten thousand human souls worth of residual, furious pride empowered the construct, driving its strike directly toward Caius's chest to shatter his sovereign command once and for all.

Caius showed no doubt. He showed no fear in the face of his own hyper-compressed creation.

"You are my creation," Caius's voice echoed through the vast mind sea like thunder rolling over an open ocean.

"Submit!"

The mace detonated against the space Caius had occupied a microsecond prior, cratering the dark basalt floor into a spiderweb of fine fissures. Activating Shadow Steps, Caius's physical form dissolved completely into the surrounding darkness, reforming seamlessly behind the nine-foot giant. Draining power through the Loomheart Method, he guided dense streams of mana through his internal pathways, accelerating his reaction speed and muscle output to their absolute limits.

He drew his dual short-blades, unleashing Sereth’s Dual-Blade Art combined with the continuous, lethal flow of Black River. His swords blurred into a silver-black vortex, landing forty precise strikes against the construct’s armored joints. Sparks of compressed dark energy exploded off the heavy plate, but the Shadow Knight swung its massive tower shield around in a heavy backhand sweep, the kinetic feedback tossing Caius back across the temple floor.

The construct slammed its shield into the ground, its crimson visor flaring as dark shadow-tendrils raced across the stone table, attempting to interfere with and seize control of the Crown Core's central arrays.

"Impudent construct!" Caius growled, wiping a trace of ethereal backlash from his lip.

He activated the Eye of the Loom. In an instant, world-color vanished into a stark monochrome of spiritual frequencies. Through Far Sight, Caius pinpointed the rebellious soul core humming within the knight's chest. Through Inner Sight, he tracked the violently surging pathways of dark mana preparing its next strike. Finally, through Fate Sight, he perceived the exact trajectory of the giant's upcoming mace sweep before the arm even twitched.

Combining Far Sight, Inner Sight, and the absolute authority of his Crown Core, Caius executed complete Spell Prediction.

As the knight swung its mace in a sweeping horizontal arc, Caius triggered Void-Tether Snap. Five invisible obsidian threads anchored to coordinates behind the construct collapsed the distance instantly, pulling Caius through space with terrifying momentum. He bypassed the crushing mace entirely, reappearing directly beneath the giant's guard.

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“Arachne Thread Art: Spatial Lock!”

Manifesting physical black mana threads reinforced by his Crown Core, Caius anchored them directly into the spatial coordinates surrounding the Shadow Knight's limbs. The threads tightened instantly, interfering with the construct's spatial cohesion and freezing its massive arms mid-swing.

The Shadow Knight roared, its pure soul essence surging to snap the spatial threads through sheer physical brutality. For the first time since unlocking his inner domain, Caius was pushed to his absolute physical and mental limit. Sweat beaded on his forehead in the physical world as the construct's sheer physical weight began tearing through his spatial bindings.

"Defy me," Caius whispered, his violet eyes flaring like dying stars, "and I will unmake your spirit until nothing remains but a hollow trophy for my hall!"

Caius unleashed an absolute, terrifying technique, the Black Obsidian Sphere, which was the newly evolved, upgraded manifestation of his Black Domain. It was only the second time in his life he had ever summoned this skill. In a heartbeat, an impenetrable, pitch-black orb expanded across the temple courtyard, trapping the Shadow Knight within an isolated realm of absolute darkness where no light, sound, or foreign mana could escape.

Inside the black obsidian sphere, Caius channeled his Black Core through the Calamity Forge, igniting a roaring inferno of true Black Flame. The unholy fire consumed the interior of the sphere, targeting the lingering, rebellious instincts, impurities, and stubborn human will embedded within the ten thousand combined souls.

Then came the final, surgical execution. Caius extracted a refined thread of his own sovereign will directly from his consciousness. Using the supreme authority of the Crown Core floating above his head, he surgically implanted this essence directly into the construct's core, permanently binding its fundamental structure to his mind.

The Shadow Knight thrashed within the dark inferno, its crimson visor flickering wildly as the Black Flame systematically stripped away its arrogance. The fire burned away its residual defiance until only absolute, unadulterated essence remained.

Finally, the black obsidian sphere collapsed into nothingness.

The heavy black flames receded, revealing the nine-foot entity kneeling upon the stone courtyard floor. Its obsidian armor was now sleek, seamless, and pulsing with a quiet, loyal violet light. Beneath the dark visor of its spired black helm lay a complete void, a faceless, terrifying knight born of pure dark essence and sovereign will, devoid of any mortal flaw or human identity.

Caius stood over his creation, his chest heaving as he stabilized his internal mana pathways through the Loomheart Method. The fourth spiral slot on the stone table glowed with a permanent, stable crimson-gold light, its energy feeding seamlessly into the Court Circle.

The faceless Shadow Knight bowed its helmeted head to the basalt stone, placing its massive war mace and shield at Caius's feet in total, unquestioning submission. Caius looked down at his finest creation, a cold, victorious smirk returning to his face.