The corridor exploded into motion.
The mont Lucien’s voice shifted and his imitation fell away, killing intent flooded the space. Weapons materialized and Astrafer bodies humd as synchronized power surged to the surface.
Lucien did not retreat.
"Equip Genesis Set," he said calmly.
Reality answered.
The Crown of Creation settled upon his brow. The Mantle of the Infinite unfurled across his shoulders. The Gloves of the Eclipse ford around his hands. The Aegis of Rebirth locked into place along his arm. The Boots of Reflection anchored beneath his feet.
In the sa breath, Lucien activated Dragon Beast Mode and summoned Morphis from his inventory.
The instant his form began to change, the Alloykins no longer hesitated.
The senior patrol leader stepped forward and expanded his domain.
The world bent.
Space within the corridor warped into a vast tallic expanse. tal constructs rose like a forged sky.
Blades ford everywhere. Thousands of them, suspended and waiting. Each one was a projection of the domain’s will.
"Kill him," the senior commanded.
The blades moved.
They manifested, collapsing distance as they struck from every angle at once.
Lucien raised his head.
The Crown of Creation pulsed.
Authority surged outward.
"Erase," Lucien said softly.
The domain scread.
The blades did not shatter or disperse. They simply ceased to exist. The idea of them was stripped away. Creation folded back on itself, leaving emptiness where overwhelming force had been monts before.
The domain faltered.
Lucien smirked. The Crown of Creation allows him to manifest or erase conceptual forms within their domain.
The Alloykins froze.
"What is he?" one of the Ascendants breathed.
Lucien’s aura flared.
"He is only Transcendent," another said as disbelief cracked his voice.
Lucien smiled.
"And not bound," he replied.
He moved.
Morphis reshaped itself into a bow in his hands, its limbs ford from draconic scales and compressed divine energy. Lucien drew the string back once.
A fla arrow ford without incantation. Its core was white hot and its edges tore at space itself.
He released.
The arrow crossed the domain in an instant and struck one of the Transcendent Alloykins between the eyes.
There was no explosion.
There was no resistance.
The Astrafer body ignited from within, synchronization turning against itself. The Transcendent vanished in a column of annihilating fire, leaving nothing behind but a translucent cube drop.
Silence lasted less than a heartbeat.
The remaining Alloykins attacked together.
Domains overlapped. tal fists crashed down. Blades and constructs tore through the air. Space collapsed inward as Astrafer refinent pushed physical law to its limit.
Lucien stepped forward.
The Boots of Reflection activated.
His form fractured into afterimages, each one stepping into a mirrored plane for a fraction of a second. Attacks passed through empty space. Blades cut reflections. Domains failed to anchor him.
Lucien reappeared behind one of the Ascendants.
Morphis beca a spear.
Lucien drove it forward.
The Astrafer body resisted as its perfect synchronization distributed the force flawlessly. The Ascendant roared and swung back.
Lucien vanished.
The blow struck nothing.
Magic followed.
A storm of refined energy surged toward Lucien, spellwork layered and reinforced by their Law.
Lucien raised his left hand.
The black glove absorbed everything.
The storm collapsed into silence, its energy swallowed without ripple or backlash.
Lucien lifted his right hand.
The white glove answered.
The absorbed spells were released in a single focused discharge, refined further by Lucien’s control. The blast tore through two Transcendent Alloykins at once, erasing their torsos.
Only four remained.
The senior patrol leader roared and forced his domain outward again, pushing power far beyond restraint. The space shook. The mountain groaned.
Lucien planted his feet.
The Mantle of the Infinite shimred.
Ranged force bent away from him. Space distorted and the attacks slipped past as if the universe itself refused to strike him cleanly.
Lucien advanced.
Every exchange was final.
He t Astrafer fists with draconic strength. He shattered reinforced limbs with Morphis reshaped into a hamr, and tore through defensive constructs as if they were mist. The Aegis of Rebirth flared once as a blade pierced his side, restoring his form before blood could even fall.
The senior Ascendant stumbled.
Fear finally reached his eyes.
"You are not Transcendent," he snarled. "You are sothing else."
Lucien appeared before him.
"No," he said evenly. "I am exactly what I am."
Morphis beca a blade once more.
Lucien struck.
The senior’s Astrafer body held for a fraction of a second longer than the others. Then it failed. Synchronization fractured under overwhelming authority, and the body collapsed inward, erased by force it could not adapt to.
Three Alloykins remained.
Two Ascendants. One Transcendent.
The woman stood frozen near the corridor wall. Her Astrafer body trembled despite its flawless refinent. Her eyes were wide and unfocused.
She was no longer capable of fighting.
The two Ascendants turned at the sa ti.
They... ran.
Lucien did not pursue them like a predator.
He simply stepped forward.
Space folded.
The distance between them vanished as if it had never existed.
Lucien brought Morphis down.
The first Ascendant barely had ti to scream.
The blow struck from above, carrying weight that ignored reinforcent and authority alike.
His Astrafer body flared brilliantly as synchronization tried to compensate, distributing the force across the body.
It failed.
The Ascendant collapsed inward. His domain shattered in silence as his body caved.
The second Ascendant stumbled as he ran.
Panic broke through discipline.
He made a desperate choice.
His domain detonated.
Instead of expanding outward in controlled authority, it collapsed into itself and exploded, releasing everything it had been holding back. Space twisted violently as raw conceptual force tore through the corridor.
Lucien did not slow.
The Mantle of the Infinite responded on its own.
The night sky along its outer layer deepened. Space bent inward as if the universe itself folded around him. The explosion washed over Lucien and curved away.
When the light faded, Lucien was still standing.
Untouched.
The final Ascendant looked back.
Despair hollowed his expression.
Lucien raised Morphis again.
This ti, he did not rush.
He took one step.
Then another.
The Ascendant tried to flee deeper.
Lucien hurled the hamr.
It crossed the corridor like a falling star.
The impact erased the last Ascendant mid-stride. His body shattered.
Nothing remained but another cube drop settling softly against the stone.
Silence returned.
Then, Lucien turned.
The woman was still there.
She had not moved.
Her legs finally gave way and she collapsed against the wall, sliding down until she was crouched among the scattered debris. Her hands pressed to the stone as if it were the only thing keeping her upright.
Lucien walked toward her.
Each step echoed.
She looked up at him, shaking.
"Spare , senior," she said quickly. Her voice cracked. Her words tumbled over each other. "Please. I will do anything."
Lucien stopped a few steps away.
He studied her in silence.
Then his gaze shifted.
Divine Sense unfolded.
Her aura flared into view.
Murky.
He sighed.
Lucien looked at her again.
His voice was calm when he spoke.
"Why," he asked, "did you force the inhabitants of this world to extract resources for centuries?"
She swallowed.
"You could have traded with them," Lucien continued. "You did so in the past. You had the ans. You had the knowledge."
Her eyes darted, searching for the right answer.
"Senior," she said quickly, "I know them well. I understand how they think. They are better as slaves than traders."
The corridor went cold.
She did not stop.
"They are slow," she went on as desperation sharpened her words. "Short sighted. If we gave them freedom, they would waste it. We refined Astrafer. We gave them purpose and order. They exist because we allow it."
Lucien’s eyes lost all warmth.
In that mont, there was no hesitation left.
Morphis moved.
The hamr fell once.
There was no scream. No resistance.
The impact erased her where she knelt.
Lucien stood alone.
The corridor was empty now.
He exhaled slowly.
Lucien turned his gaze deeper into the mine.
The Alloykins were strong.
But they had chosen the wrong path for that strength.
And Lucien had just made that truth undeniable.
So beings were simply irredeemable. Not everyone could change.
That simple question of his had been enough to prove it. To them, enslavent was not cruelty. It was normalcy.
Among the Thousand Races, many walked paths steeped in evil.
If another war with the Black Mass Monsters were to erupt, Lucien could not help but wonder which side they would choose.
The future felt dark.
And for the first ti in a long while, Lucien felt unsettled.
He turned away and moved deeper into the mountain, toward the heart of the mine.
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