The jungle tremor had barely subsided when a glimmering storm of light appeared on the horizon, racing toward the Poison Lotus Clan village like a comet of wrath and brilliance.
My frost fire swarm surged forward, ten thousand glowing points of frost-flame firefly's merging in midair. The scattered lights twisted violently, then collapsed into a single, towering figure. I stood overlooking the battlefield, my feathers aflame with Frostfire, veins of Solar Pyre burning beneath my skin with orange light, eyes blazing with half-step sovereign intent.
A heartbeat later, silver tendrils ripped outward from my chest, converging into a flash of light that left every onlooker blinking. Where once had been a shimmer of energy now stood Felicity, in her sleek, beautiful, exo-armored form, every line of her body coiled with power and elegance, the air around her vibrating with Eon Force energy.
Lord Imperion and Freyjita froze. Imperion's brow furrowed, his hand clenching with lethal intent—but his eyes widened in disbelief.
"He—he controls a Silver-Blooded Phageal?" Freyjita breathed, her voice faltering as she stared at the other Silver Blooded Phageal.
Imperion's face darkened, jaw tightening. "So this is Lord Ash...and its true! He commands a Silver Blooded Phageal Queen just as I do!
FreyJita spoke, "I stand by your side Mi'lord." Her voice carried both calculation and a spark of unease.
The Poison Lotus Clan's sentries gasped, then cheered as the two figures landed gracefully in the village square. Elder Zhang's hands trembled as he raised them to the sky. "He's returned! He didn't abandon us!" Relief and awe rippled through the gathered cultivators, their morale surging like a wave against the lingering fear of the Blood Beast's attack.
My Frostfire flames danced along my form, pulsing in rhythm with my Eon Force, while Felicity's behemoth armor shimmered as though reflecting the very soul of the jungle. We radiated power, precision, and unyielding will. We had made an unmistakable declaration: We are here, and the Beast Vein Continent and her people were under our protection.
My eyes scanned the battlefield, sensing the qi pulse of Lord Imperion's forces. I gave Felicity a subtle nod. "Stay here and wave the flag when I tell you to. We'll remind them exactly why they should never underestimate a King."
Felicity's silver eyes glimmered with anticipation, the air vibrating as she purred softly, "Right by your side, Master. Let's show them the storm they've awakened. Felicity's silver eyes narrowed, and with a soft hum, her exo-suit curled in around her tightening, forming a subtle barrier of silver energy.
Even from afar, Lord Imperion and Freyjita could feel the force of our presence—a half-step sovereign storm, and a Silver-Blooded Phageal's wrath made manifest.
My gaze swept across the valley below, the dense jungle giving way to an open battlefield. The faint tremor of Lord Imperion's forces could already be felt, and I knew that direct confrontation demanded more than a single body.
My Frostfire swarm expanded like a living storm. Ten thousand points of frost-flame fractured and scattered, spreading through the valley. Each point carried a fraction of my consciousness, a fragment of half-step sovereign-level intent.
I began deploying copies with surgical precision. One copy leaped high into the air, fists crackling with Frostfire as it launched Hidden Dragon Palms, each strike radiating shockwaves that cratered the landscape, each shockwave throwing dozens of foot-soldiers through the air. Another copy coiled with blazing frost-flame strikes, and struck in spinning arcs, searing enemy ranks with controlled devastation.
From the center of the swarm, a third copy inhaled deeply, channeling Frostfire and exhaling a frost-flame Tempest Breath. A swirling burning azure tornado of energy erupted from my copies mouth, the twister lifted Imperial soldiers and war beasts into the air, simultaneously freezing and burning their qi. The frost-flame twister was crushing their formations and scattering them like leaves in a storm.
The valley trembled with the intensity of the assault. Soldiers shouted and faltered, shields shattered by invisible pressure, while war beasts whimpered and fled. The Poison Lotus Clan, perched on nearby ridges, could only gape in disbelief.
"They… he's… controlling thousands of copies at once?!" one sentry gasped.
"Each one attacking independently yet perfectly coordinated!" another shouted. "It's like watching a storm… a sovereign storm!"
Elder Zhang's hands clenched over his robes, his eyes glittering with awe. "This… this is King Intent! He's not just fighting—he's orchestrating the battlefield itself!"
My vital essence remained in the center of the swarm storm, watching each copy with calm precision. guiding every flicker of enemy movement, every opening was noted, and new copies were dispatched instantly to exploit it. The valley had become my orchestra, each Frostfire-infused note striking with devastating harmony, Hidden Dragon Palms, and Tempest Breath.
Above it all, Felicity's exo-armored form gleamed like a sentinel on the cliffside, her own Eon Force flowing into the Black Flag Origami in her grasp. Still waiting for her cue to get in on the action.
The Poison Lotus Clan murmured, barely daring to breathe, witnessing not just a battle—but the emergence of a King in full control of his domain.
My eyes narrowed, my vital essence was divided amid the swarm. I sent Felicity a message through our shared bond without looking away from the advancing enemy. "Felicity...now. Start waving the Black Flag."
Her silver eyes gleamed. With a flourish, she raised the Origami black flag, and the air around it rippled with the battle blessing. The moment it caught the wind, the blood frost burn effect surged outward, a wave of combined frost-fire and Silver-Blooded energy, corroding with weakness everything it touched.
Freyjita's lips curled into a curse as the black flag unfurled, the blood-frost burn blooming across the battlefield like a deathblossom. The backlash struck her like a hammer, forcing her to throw up a lattice of blood lotus-light just to keep her footing. Even so, she staggered, her heels dragging furrows in the stone as the shockwave drove her back three paces.
For an instant her composure cracked. Behind the shield, she felt the burn of something colder than poison, older than any clan technique. "If his banner alone can rattle the marrow of my core… then what of the man himself?
That whisper lodged deep, a splinter of fear she could not dislodge. And when her eyes darted across the valley, she saw the same tremor pass through their own ranks—the disciples of the Heavenly demonic wind clan stiffened, some shrinking back, all infected by the unease leaking from their matriarch's momentary falter.
The aura around Felicity no longer seemed like the support of a comrade; it loomed like a sovereign's decree. Lord Imperion's camp found themselves staring not just at Ash, but at an Iron Fang duo whose presence warped the very air, making defiance itself feel costly.
Freyjita hissed sharply, her sleek silver form flickering as the area effect blessing tore across her defenses. She raised both arms in a cross-guard, tendrils hardening into a shell of silver plates. Even so, the blood frost burn seared along her armor, sparks of crimson-blue licking at her joints. "Impossible…" she spat, her voice taut with disbelief. "That Silver-Blooded Phageal—her aura rivals my own!"
Imperion's gaze darkened further at her words. For his army, it was worse than a wound—it was a seed of dread, the sight of even Freyjita recoiling from Ash's Queen.
Burns and frozen blood splashed across Imperion's armored frame, searing into his flesh and core. He snarled, a line of steam hissing from his mouth as the blood frost burn took hold.
Lord Imperion's expression faltered as the area effect enveloped his body. Blue flames outlined in a crimson glow erupted across his form, racing along his dantian and veins, singing his armor with mystical heat and cold simultaneously. His breath hissed through clenched teeth as the area effect forced his power back, threatening to destabilize his internal vitality flow.
The battlefield stilled for a heartbeat—enemy soldiers screamed, consumed in the blood frost burn, some thrown backward by the overwhelming presence of King-level intent infused into the Black Flag. My surviving swarm copies seemed to surge with renewed coordination, feeding off the chaos.
The valley shook as a shadow fell over the battlefield. Lord Imperion had abandoned FreyJita at the commanding post above his army and joined the fray. He moved with terrifying precision, each step radiating King-level intent. With a single swing of his fist, several of my swarm copies were obliterated, shattered into motes of Frostfire energy that fizzled out harmlessly in the jungle air.
A sneer twisted Imperions features. "So this is the infamous Sovereign slayer...I've heard tales, but I did not expect such...theater."
Elder Zhang, watching from a ridge, whispered in awe, "By the heavens… he wields not just power, but control over the very battlefield itself. And that Silver-Blooded Phageal...she amplifies everything."
Imperion's eyes burned with fury as he clenched his fists, his body radiating a menacing gold and green aura. "So the Firefly King's pupil dares to challenge me with such tricks… Very well. Let's see how long you can sustain this… Lord Ash."
Lord Imperion threw out blows with a thunderous crash, his boots cracking the stone underfoot. With a single sweep of his gauntleted arm, three of my manifested copies dissolved into shreds of frost-fire smoke. His sneer was carved in iron.
"You think shadows and tricks can stall me? Child of Iron Fang, I am conquest itself."
My gaze sharpened. I invoked Soul Glow. At once, threads of malice peeled off Imperion like smoke, rushing into my surviving copies. Their eyes blazed brighter; Hidden dragon palms cracked the air like thunderclaps, blazing ember strikes coiled in molten spirals, and the tempest breath copy roared a storm that howled with new life.
From deep within his dantian swarm, I called upon one of my trump card. "Meteor… Fist."
The spiritual space shuddered then expanded outward in a shockwave. I channeled every ounce of Eon Force into the strike. Above the battlefield, the air thickened until a burning comet-shape coalesced, a knuckled fist of searing orange and blue flame. With a roar that echoed through the Poison Lotus Valley, I drove the Meteor Fist down toward Lord Imperion like a falling star.
The comet-fist roared downward, a sun wrapped in frost-fire. The jungle canopy split beneath its light, and the entire valley seemed to hold its breath. Even Lord Imperion's eyes flickered as the heavens themselves clenched into my strike. Then—impact rushed to meet him.