Chapter 185: Sealing the Void

"Frail, pathetic southerners," the Commander rumbled, his voice sounding like two grinding tectonic plates. He locked his glowing crimson eyes directly onto Leon. "Your tiny barricade falls now."

Leon cracked his thick knuckles, stepping down the marble stairs to meet the new threat. The portal was spewing its heaviest hitters, and the final clash for the capital was about to reach its bloody climax.

The towering Vaelorian Commander stepped fully into the throne room, his heavy obsidian boots cracking the glacial ice Beatrice had carefully laid across the marble floor.

The oppressive weight of his Tier Two Grandmaster aura crashed down upon the strike team. It felt like standing at the bottom of the ocean. The lesser soldiers rapidly backed away, forming a wide, terrifying arena near the base of the dais, fully expecting their commander to slaughter the defenders in a matter of seconds.

Leon stood at the edge of the stairs, holding his dark blunt weapon loosely at his side. He analyzed the massive brute with cold, calculated precision. The Commander was heavily armored, wielding a spiked maul that likely possessed localized explosive properties given the crackling red lightning crawling across the metal.

"Valeriana, how much longer?" Leon asked, his deep voice refusing to betray a single ounce of anxiety.

"Two minutes," the spy shouted from the back of the dais, her delicate hands moving frantically over the glowing runes. "I am currently reversing the polarity of the blood magic. Just keep that monster away from the throne."

"Two minutes is an eternity in combat," Seraphina muttered, stepping up to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Leon. Her crimson aura flared aggressively, trying to push back the suffocating dark mana radiating from the massive invader. "We hit him together. High and low."

"No," Leon commanded smoothly, resting a firm hand on her armored shoulder. "His armor is forged from pure Vaelorian obsidian. It absorbs elemental magic. Your fire will just bounce off him. I need you to guard the flanks. Keep the regular grunts from interrupting me."

Seraphina opened her mouth to argue, her fierce warlord pride flaring, but she saw the intense, unyielding certainty in his midnight eyes. She nodded slowly, stepping back to secure the perimeter with Isolde and Nyx.

The Vaelorian Commander let out a guttural, mocking laugh.

"You send away your only Grandmaster to face me alone?" the Commander rumbled, hefting his colossal spiked maul. "You are either incredibly arrogant or profoundly stupid, southerner."

"I just prefer my workspace uncluttered," Leon replied, a dark, terrifying smile spreading across his striking face.

The Commander did not waste time with further dialogue. He charged forward, moving with astonishing speed for a creature of his massive size. He swung the colossal maul in a devastating overhead arc, aiming to crush Leon into a bloody paste against the marble stairs.

Leon did not attempt to block the strike. Catching a weapon of that mass, swung by a Tier Two Grandmaster, would shatter every bone in his arms.

He activated his spatial footwork, blurring to the right a fraction of a second before the maul connected.

The spiked weapon slammed into the stone stairs, generating a massive concussive explosion of red lightning. The heavy marble violently shattered, raining jagged shrapnel across the throne room.

Leon utilized the distraction, stepping smoothly into the Commander’s guard. He channeled a massive surge of kinetic power into his left fist, delivering a brutal, rising uppercut directly to the brute’s jaw.

The impact sounded like a hammer striking an anvil.

The Commander’s head snapped backward, but the thick obsidian helmet absorbed the majority of the blunt force. The massive warrior grunted, instantly recovering. He released his grip on the maul with one hand, delivering a sweeping backhand that caught Leon squarely in the chest.

Leon was launched backward, his boots skidding across the icy floor to prevent himself from tumbling. His ribs throbbed with a renewed, agonizing ache. The physical density of the Vaelorian general was astronomical. Standard kinetic strikes were not going to bring him down.

A floating interface materialized in the chaotic air, projecting a soft pink glow over Beatrice’s pristine maid uniform.

[System Prompt: The Ice Queen’s Assistance]

[The freezing maid feels outclassed by the Tier Two monster. A true warlord uses the unique talents of his faction to orchestrate brilliant tactical victories.]

[Objective: Look at Beatrice. Flash a confident wink, and loudly demand she freeze the moisture inside the Commander’s armor joints. Remind her she is the most terrifying ice mage in the city.]

[Reward: +20 Agility, 600 Shameless Points.]

Leon grinned, tasting the metallic tang of blood in his mouth. He wiped his chin, locking his intense gaze onto the blonde maid standing near the edge of the dais.

Beatrice looked pale, her piercing blue eyes wide with apprehension as she watched the towering monster prepare another devastating strike.

"Beatrice," Leon yelled, his voice cutting clearly through the roar of the battle.

She flinched, snapping her attention to him.

Leon offered a slow, incredibly confident wink. "Freeze the moisture inside his armor joints. You are the most terrifying ice mage in this city. Prove it."

The unexpected, scandalous public praise completely shattered her anxiety. A brilliant, furious flush rapidly painted her cheeks. The paralyzing fear evaporated, replaced by a desperate, overwhelming need to serve her dominant master.

[Quest Complete. Stat Rewards Distributed.]

A massive surge of pure speed flooded Leon’s nervous system, sharpening his reflexes to an impossible degree.

Beatrice raised her hands, her Tier One Master core flaring with freezing, unyielding dedication. She did not target the Commander’s thick chest plate. She focused entirely on the small, overlapping gaps in the obsidian armor near his knees, elbows, and neck.

A concentrated needle of absolute zero mist shot across the room, forcefully injecting itself into the intricate joints of the massive armor.

The Vaelorian Commander roared in sudden, genuine discomfort. The freezing moisture rapidly expanded, locking the heavy metal plates together. The brute’s terrifying speed plummeted as his armor became a rigid, icy prison.

"You miserable little wench," the Commander hissed, straining against the frozen joints to lift his maul.

Leon did not give him the chance to break the ice.

He activated Kinetic Overload, sacrificing a significant portion of his remaining stamina to push his physical vessel far beyond its natural limits. He wrapped his heavy dark blade in a blinding, dense sphere of pure white kinetic energy.

He launched himself across the icy floor, utilizing the slippery surface to accelerate his momentum. He vaulted into the air, bringing his heavy weapon around in a devastating, horizontal spin.

He targeted the frozen, brittle gap in the obsidian armor right at the Commander’s neck.

The heavy blunt steel collided with the frozen joint. The sheer, catastrophic kinetic mass violently shattered the brittle ice and the hardened metal. The concussive shockwave ripped through the Commander’s cervical spine, decapitating the massive brute in a shower of dark blood and shattering obsidian.

The colossal, headless body swayed for a brief second before crashing heavily onto the ruined marble floor.

The surrounding Vaelorian soldiers froze, staring at the fallen corpse of their invincible general in pure, horrifying disbelief. The terrifying feral beast had just dismantled a Tier Two Grandmaster using nothing but raw physics and tactical precision.

"Valeriana," Leon roared, landing smoothly amidst the carnage. "Now."

"The array is reversed," the spy screamed from the back of the dais, slamming her blood-stained palms onto the glowing runes.

The massive swirling vortex of pitch-black energy violently shuddered. The dissonant hum escalated into a deafening, agonizing shriek. The spatial tear rapidly began to collapse inward upon itself, dragging the surrounding air into the void.

The Vaelorian soldiers standing nearest to the portal panicked, attempting to sprint back into the throne room, but the reversed magical gravity caught them. Dozens of heavily armored invaders were violently sucked backward into the collapsing rift.

With a final, thunderous crack that shattered the remaining stained-glass windows, the portal snapped shut.

The sudden silence in the throne room was absolute, broken only by the heavy, ragged breathing of the strike team and the crackling of lingering magical residue.

Leon stood near the severed head of the Commander, his heavy weapon resting on the floor. He rolled his broad shoulders, exhausted but profoundly victorious.

The invasion was halted. The High Priestess was a bound captive. The capital officially belonged to House Sterling.

Seraphina walked slowly down the marble steps, her crimson armor covered in gray ash and dark blood. She stopped in front of Leon, her beautiful violet eyes shining with fierce, unbreakable pride.

"The throne is empty," Seraphina murmured, looking past him toward the grotesque, lifeless remains of the Emperor. She reached out, resting her soft hand against his battered chest. "The empire is fractured, Leon. The real war is just beginning."

Leon smiled a dark, predatory grin, covering her delicate hand with his own.

"Let the rest of the continent try to take it from us," Leon promised, pulling the silver-haired warlord into a firm, dominant embrace. "We will just keep stacking the bodies higher."