Chapter 73: First Attack

Cassian’s form changed.

​A colossal astral projection materialized behind him, an azure skeletal knight towering over the battlefield, its massive frame rivaling mountains while cerulean soul fire burned within its hollow sockets.

​The phantom knight raised its greatsword and slammed the blade against its shield.

​CLANG!

​The deafening sound echoed throughout the entire dominion, followed by an ancient, haunting shriek, the battle cry of an undead entity that had conquered battlefields long before kingdoms ever existed.

​The astral projection dissolved, its colossal body collapsing into streams of azure light before pouring directly into Cassian.

​His eyes ignited with cerulean radiance, and ancient, forgotten runes burned beneath both eyes.

​The violent mana surrounding him stabilized, no longer wild or chaotic, but refined, focused, and lethal.

​Cassian crouched low. The simple movement caused the earth beneath his boots to shatter, sending cracks spreading outward for hundreds of meters.

​The muscles in his legs coiled tightly, and the shadow circles hummed.

​BOOM!

​The ground exploded.

​Cassian launched himself skyward, the resulting shockwave flattening everything in the immediate vicinity.

​His dirty-blond hair whipped wildly behind him as he ascended directly toward the descending celestial body.

​His fist drew back, mana surging from his Lord’s Seed.

​The three Shadow Rings rotated violently, their violet hue shifting rapidly: dark violet, light violet, azure, and finally... cyan, the color of condensed destruction.

​The three circles released from his forearm, positioning themselves in front of his clenched right fist like rotating layers of divine reinforcement.

​The falling moon met the rising Lord.

​BOOOOOOM!!!

​The collision shook the heavens as the sky fractured with countless shockwaves.

​Sound vanished for a microsecond before returning all at once in a deafening roar as the Shadow Rings drilled cleanly through the construct.

Cassian punched straight through the center.

The miniature celestial body exploding into countless raining fragments behind him.

​Far above, Morghanna witnessed the sight and smiled, not with fear, but with pure, unadulterated excitement.

​Her body descended like a crimson comet as her massive axe tore through the atmosphere, flying back into her waiting grip.

​The moment her fingers locked onto the haft, she swung.

​Cassian swung back.

​AXE AND FIST COLLIDED.

​BOOOOOOM!!!

​The cloud layer vanished instantly. The sky shook as the resulting mana eruption altered the weather itself, screaming winds swept the valley while lightning danced across the emerald sky.

​Morghanna stared into Cassian’s eyes.

​A Shadow Ring wrapped tightly around his fist, the immense force empowering his strike... yet he had stopped her axe head-on.

​The feral grin on her face widened. "Entertain me, Cassian Voss!"

​Cassian grinned back, then vanished.

​[Absence]

​His figure disappeared completely from reality, yet Morghanna didn’t panic. Her breakthrough to the [Grand Circuit Realm] had elevated her control over mass to terrifying levels, allowing her to feel every atmospheric fluctuation, every grain of dust, and every displacement of air.

​The instant the space beside her shifted, she reacted.

​CLANG!

​Her axe swung violently to her right, spattering violet sparks across the sky as Cassian reappeared, the Shadow Ring covering his forearm intercepting the blow.

​"That trick won’t work again," she sneered.

​Cassian smirked. "I wasn’t counting on it."

​[Burst]

​​The skill slowed time to a crawl, while [Soul Gaze] mapped her intentions, the flow of her mana, and the trajectory of any follow up attack before it could occurr.

​Morghanna had increased the surrounding gravitational mass to absurd levels, enough to crush ordinary beings into paste, yet Cassian moved unhindered.

​He accelerated fluidly around her axe. Morghanna moved to intercept, but Cassian shifted, a pitch-perfect feint, appearing on her opposite flank.

​His fist shot forward.

​BOOM!

​The blow connected squarely, launching Morghanna downward.

​The earth exploded beneath her impact, forming a massive crater in the courtyard stone, yet she immediately shot back into the sky, laughing aloud.

​Cassian stood balanced mid-air atop two Shadow Rings, while the third rested around his wrist. The drapes of his black armor fluttered against the violent winds.

​Below him, Morghanna ascended, her smile intact and her eyes burning brighter than ever.

​Cassian raised his hand calmly. "Your turn is over."

​Mana gathered rapidly as the Shadow Ring around his wrist began rotating faster and faster, absorbing energy endlessly.

​The construct wasn’t merely a weapon; it was a vessel, a perfectly solidified manifestation of his authority forged from condensed shadow, capable of containing absurd quantities of mana without collapsing.

Any skill channeled through it became exponentially more devastating, like firing a cannon through another cannon.

​The quantity of mana gathering within the ring reached critical density, warping the surrounding air.

​Morghanna rushed toward him, her grin widening further as the full mass of the shattered asteroid fragments answered her gravitational call.

Countless rocks accelerated behind her, adding momentum, force, and absolute destruction to her advance.

​She looked like a goddess leading a celestial catastrophe. "Give me everything you have, Cassian Voss!"

​Her axe rose, ready to split the heavens.

​Cassian smiled. "Don’t worry."

​The Shadow Ring hummed as the gathered mana reached completion. Space distorted around the construct, pulling ambient light into the vortex.

​"I will."

​His hand descended, releasing the attack.

​"[Aura Slash]"

Time seemed to stop for Morghanna.

​The world around her faded into insignificance as the cyan slash descended.

The attack no longer resembled a blade of energy; it resembled a tear in reality itself, a colossal wound carved into space that threatened to swallow everything in its path.

​And the mana... the mana pouring from the attack was like an endless ocean crashing down from the heavens.

​Yet Morghanna didn’t retreat, didn’t dodge, and didn’t hesitate.

​Instead, she laughed.

​The excitement burning within her soul erupted further, her grip tightening around her axe.

All one hundred and eight mana circuits throughout her body ignited simultaneously as mana surged through them, concentrating every ounce of her power into a single point.

​Her [Grand Circuit Realm] powers activated. Mass gathered, compressed, and condensed until the density of her strike increased exponentially.

​The axe in her hands became impossibly heavy, not to herself, but to reality itself.

​Then, she swung.

​BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

​The collision shook the entire dominion as the cyan slash met the ascending axe. The sheer force immediately drove Morghanna backward, her boots digging trenches through the air itself under the monstrous pressure.

​It was far greater than the first attack, yet she refused to yield.

​The muscles in her arms bulged, veins surfaced beneath her skin, and blood began trickling from her palms as tiny tears formed throughout her hands from the sheer force she was exerting.

​The slash continued descending. Morghanna continued pushing.

​Then—

​BOOM!

​She was slammed violently into the earth as a massive crater formed beneath her feet. Yet even then, she refused to kneel.

​Her mana erupted wildly, every circuit burning, every muscle screaming, as the excitement within her soul transformed into pure, unadulterated determination.

​Then, Morghanna roared, a thunderous roar that shook the battlefield, carrying every single drop of her strength.

​And with one final, desperate push—

​CRACK!

​The slash shattered.

​The cyan energy exploded outward in a massive tidal wave, spreading across the dominion.

Mountains trembled and dead forests bent as the fleeing undead and retreating Orcs alike felt the violent shockwave pass over them kilometers away.

​At the center of the devastation, Morghanna stood, breathing heavily.

​Cuts covered her body and blood dripped from her mangled hands, yet her feral smile remained intact.

​If anything, it had grown wider.

​She raised her head and stared up toward the sky, toward Cassian, the man responsible for it all.

​"Is that all you’ve got?!" Her voice echoed across the ruined settlement.

​Cassian looked down at her, then smiled with approval.

​"Be honored."

​Morghanna blinked.

​Cassian’s smile widened slightly. "You survived the first attack."

​"..."

​The smile on Morghanna’s face froze.

​First attack?

​For the first time since her breakthrough into the Sixth Realm... a cold prickle of dread surfaced in her chest.

​Far above in the heavens, mana gathered once more.

​The Shadow Ring rotated wildly as the surrounding atmosphere distorted, and that exact same terrifying cyan glow reappeared.

​The exact same attack. The exact same overwhelming power.

​Another [Aura Slash].

​Morghanna stared up at it, then looked at Cassian, then back at the descending blade of light.

​A prominent vein twitched on her forehead. "I think this might be a bit too much excitement."

​Yet despite her words... her grin remained. The excitement in her crimson eyes burned brighter than ever as her mana erupted once more.

​She raised her axe, plant-stepping into the crater, and charged straight toward the descending slash.

​Because at this point... retreat had never even crossed her mind.