From the pit they had been thrown into by the Goblin King's beating, Archer forced himself upright first. Blood dripped from his split lip, but his golden eyes burned with unyielding focus. He raised his sword — the blade still intact despite everything — and let Air Sovereign ignite along the edge once more. A single, sweeping slash sent invisible wind pressure exploding outward in a crescent wave, strong enough to force the Goblin King to leap back several meters, boots gouging furrows in the stone floor.
Adrian followed immediately, climbing out of the crater with slow, deliberate movements. His black handwraps still shimmered faintly from the lingering residue of Event Horizon. Archer ripped away the last shattered remnants of his armor — the breastplate had already been torn apart by the Goblin King's earlier blows. Now he stood in torn underlayers, exposed, bruised, but unbowed.
The Goblin King landed lightly on the edge of the pit, peering down at them. He didn't speak. He simply watched — no longer grinning, no longer bored. Archer and Adrian stood side by side. No words passed between them. They didn't need any. The Goblin King cracked his neck once more — the sound echoing like breaking branches.
Both Adrian and Archer looked like absolute madmen — clothes shredded, faces streaked with drying blood, eyes burning with that unhinged clarity that only comes when you've stared straight into death and told it not today. The cavern air felt thick, electric, every breath tasting of iron and ozone.
Adrian fixed his gaze on the Goblin King.
"Now you die. Your fate has been sealed."
The Goblin King tilted his head, yellow eyes glinting.
"Since my mana is suppressed, I should be basically invisible to you. But no — you always knew exactly where I was. I started thinking: why? Then it clicked. When you attacked us earlier, your presence just… vanished. But that wasn't the case when we first entered the cave. You weren't here — until you saw us. Then you unleashed that bloodlust on purpose."
Adrian rushed forward. The Goblin King swung — claws screaming toward Adrian's torso in a blur of green muscle and malice. Adrian moved faster. He vanished from the Goblin King's line of sight. The monster's head whipped left and right, struggling to track him. Then Adrian reappeared — right behind the Goblin King.
At that exact instant, Archer's mind reached a razor-edged epiphany. His spell evolved. He began reciting — voice rising, steady, final, every word carrying the weight of judgment.
"Air no longer matters.
Distance no longer matters.
Angle no longer matters.
I stand as Sovereign.
This ground is my court.
This battlefield is my gallows.
All before me have been judged.
By authority, not force —
by will, not wind —
Sovereign Blade.
Execute."
Adrian spoke directly to the Goblin King, calm and close.
"You can mask your intent… but too bad. I can do that now."
Archer walked forward from the far side of the cave, leaving his blade planted upright in the stone floor. Adrian tried to drive his fist straight through the Goblin King's skull. The monster jumped back. It decided to go for Archer — the one with no visible weapon, head bowed, walking slowly. The Goblin King lunged, claws extended to rip Archer open. Archer simply stopped. Then he turned his head — slowly — to look at the Goblin King. The monster froze mid-motion, claws inches from Archer's throat. In that same heartbeat, seven cuts ripped across the Goblin King's armor. The plates parted like wet paper, revealing a long, old scar across its chest — a sword line that started at the right shoulder and ran downward.
Adrian and Archer stared. The Goblin King remembered. Five years ago. A young man with black hair covering his eyes. That was all the Goblin King could recall of the face. But he never forgot the fear he felt that day. The Goblin King — still a normal goblin — lunging at the man as he walked away after decimating the entire horde. Before it knew it, the cut was already on its chest. The man never even turned around. He moved so fast the swing didn't register — just the line of blood blooming across green skin while he kept walking.
Back in the present, the Goblin King staggered back one step, claw pressed to the old scar. Adrian tried to push himself forward one last time, but his body betrayed him. That final burst of speed had taken everything. His legs buckled and he collapsed hard to his knees, palms slapping against the stone floor. A wet cough ripped from his throat, bright arterial blood sprayed across the rock in front of him. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, tasting copper, and lifted his head just enough to meet Archer's eyes. In that moment Adrian understood something cold and certain: Archer was on a completely different level now. The Goblin King noticed the shift too. Before Adrian could even draw another breath, Archer was already there — standing directly in front of the monster in a flash of golden light. Archer raised his head. Mana surged violently around him like a living storm. He cast a fire spell — pure, searing white flame erupted from his palm and roared forward, nearly engulfing the Goblin King's entire body in an instant. The Goblin King flashed away at the last possible second, the flames scorching the stone where he had stood and leaving a glowing red scar across the cavern floor. He reappeared several meters back, smirking.
"So now that you've got a little bit of power, you think you can beat me?"
Archer didn't answer with words. He simply laughed — hard, loud, unhinged.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
Archer spread his mana throughout the entire cave in a single pulse. The air itself trembled. Shadows bent. Every torch flame snapped sideways as though a wind had torn through the underground.
"This battlefield," Archer declared, voice ringing with absolute authority, "is my gallows."
Back on the ground, Adrian lay face-down, cheek pressed to cold stone, blood pooling under his chin. He couldn't move yet. But he could think. The Goblin King doesn't know Archer is a swordsman. The mere fact that he discarded his blade means something changed. That tells me… I'm no longer needed. Archer can finish this.
Archer was already in front of the Goblin King, staring him down. With a flick of his finger upward, small spikes erupted from the ground, piercing the Goblin King's feet. As the monster focused on that, Archer flicked his fingers left and right. Two more spikes came from the stone, piercing its knees. The Goblin King fell onto his knees.
"On your knees. You're in the true presence of sovereignty."
The Goblin King groaned, trying to rise and swipe at Archer with claws. Mana infused the cave, and Archer's blade formed instantly, slicing off the Goblin King's arm. He turned, skewering both knees again.
"On your knees. You're in the presence of true sovereignty."
The Goblin King glared defiantly.
"Don't you have any last words?"
Is Archer looked the goblin king in its eyes he said.
"Oh — so no last words. At least don't you want to know who's killing you? My name is Archer Ziva. Remember that name."
The Goblin King spat out through gritted teeth: "Although you beat me, you are nowhere near my power."
Archer looked uninterested.
"My words are wasted on you."
Instantly, he decapitated the Goblin King. Its head rolled across the floor. Archer was already walking toward Adrian. He collapsed beside him.
Adrian turned to him.
"On your knees. That's what you chose to say… in the presence of true sovereignty."
As Archer lady smiled faintly while saying.
"Oh… you heard that?"
As Adrien lay facing up he turned his eyes towards Archer and asked.
"What happened in that instant? Did your power grow?"
Archer said.
"No. That wasn't the case. I already know how to use elements. I couldn't break my habit of being a swordsman. And the problem was I didn't know how to infuse mana into a large area. That was my first time."