Chapter 64: Grand Breakthrough: Knee, Empress
Faint bone-crackling sounds erupted from Empress Diana as she lowered her head in shame. ’I need to activate the self-destruction sequence to wipe everyone out!’
Thick veins appeared on her face while she eyed the floating Aegis.
Levi’s clothes rustled softly. Sitting back, he drummed his fingers on his ankle. "Don’t try what you’re thinking, else..."
He squinted at the Empress’s eyes, then smiled. "Else you will be the one to get wiped out for good."
Hot gasps escaped from the Empress. She blinked at the floor and glared angrily toward Levi. "Let’s see!"
A sudden internal tremor shook her frame when she closed her fingers and clenched her fist. She looked back to the floating Aegis, about to stretch her arm toward it, but Levi clicked his tongue.
"You’re stubborn like your daughter, Empress."
A sharp, skin-slapping crack echoed through the space as Levi slammed his left arm around the Empress’s neck and squeezed it slightly.
Empress Diana’s stretched arm trembled, her face beginning to redden from lack of air. Muffled, gouging noises came from her choked throat during her struggle to set herself free.
Levi’s features relaxed into a calm, effortless gaze while he stared down at the struggling Empress under his grip. "Oops! Let me help you stand."
Heel-clicking and screeching sounds filled the inner sanctum as the Empress dragged her boots desperately against the floor.
Dark glows seeped out during the moments the Empress’s body began to weaken. "You wanted to burn this city to get rid of me, Empress Diana?"
Levi blinked when he felt her throat tighten under his hold, and he loosened his grip slightly from her neck. ’Maximize Control Upturn.’
Strands of Empress Diana’s and Levi’s hair swirled upward while chilled air flashed between them.
Levi’s heart pounded loudly in his chest, matching the heavy thumping inside the Empress’s own chest.
The translucent panel reeled before Levi’s eyes when he saw the Empress’s eyes closing.
[Expending 100 System Points.]
[Empress Diana’s Absolute Control has been upturned to Total Dependency.]
[Sovereign Submission Protocol Activated.]
[Empress Diana, the thirty noble mages, and the injured mage are temporarily under your control.]
A wide smile tore across Levi’s face as he drew his hand back. ’Temporarily doesn’t mean they can do something against me.’
The hems of his cloak swept across the floor while he straightened himself. ’Now is the time I do my worst.’
Starlike leaves drifted past him. He turned, scanning the forcefully kneeling noble high-tier women of the central city.
A dull thud echoed from behind him as Empress Diana slammed her palms on the floor with a heavy bow. ’What is happening to me?’
Her fingernails screeched against the floor stone during her failed attempt to lift herself. Her mind snapped when the final barrier of her deity dissolved into total, unconditional worship.
Strands of her silver hair danced across her face while she focused entirely on Levi’s boots. ’What has he done to me?’
Chills ran down her spine when an alien energy rattled through her bones. A wild groan gashed out of Empress Diana, her hands unwillingly wrapping themselves around Levi’s legs. "I am..."
She clenched her teeth to stop herself from speaking but exploded into an unannounced scream. "I am yours... your servant, my king."
Debris dripped down from the walls of the sanctum as Empress Diana’s voice vibrated through it.
Sharp, muffled gasps lanced through the kneeling nobles. They watched with worried expressions as the Empress kowtowed to a male for the first time.
The tips of Empress Diana’s silver gown swept across the floor during her slow crawl forward. "Don’t burn the city... please, use me."
Tears dripped out of her welled eyes while she wrapped both hands on Levi’s left leg. "Break me and make me yours."
Levi observed the saddened, dissatisfied, and worried faces of the noble high-tier women, then sighed. ’Well.’
His eyebrows hardened. Turning his attention to the crumpling Isabella, he saw her laying on the ground with anger dressing her like a robe of defeat. ’Her time will come in just a few days.’
The blue panel shimmered before Levi’s eyes when he exhaled warmly and smiled at Maya.
[Aether Absorption Active.]
[Extracting the four Ancestral Master Cores.]
[Current Aether: 700... 850... 1000/1000!]
[Grand Breakthrough Achieved!]
[Host Rank: High-Tier Master.]
[Sovereign Lord Power Unlocked: 70%]
Levi lifted his gaze to the pointed ceiling of the sanctum, then closed his eyes. ’I can feel it.’
The moment his vision blackened, a massive shockwave of pure gold and crimson energy exploded from his body.
Thick veins rattled on his wrists while the shockwave shattered all the white marble pillars of the sanctum one after another.
The floating Aegis trembled harshly against the heated air, sending sharp, fiery lights out of its stone body.
Enormous energy meant to erase cities erupted out of the Aegis and channeled straight to Levi’s direction.
Just as it reached Levi, the endless, hot energy dulled and got absorbed by Levi’s Sovereign System.
Colorful lights appeared on his arms while he stretched them sideways. ’This is more than I expected.’
He gritted his teeth when the new, doubled energy broadcasted through every corner of his muscles.
Empress Diana collapsed face-flat on the floor as a blinding light shimmered around Levi. ’Am I turning into one of the Gods?’
Sharp glows dashed out of Levi’s widened eyes while he glanced at his own self with a confused gaze.
The moment the doubled energy reached the tips of his fingers, a pillar of light surged out from the center of his head.
Dust swirled up around Levi. The light wobbled at his top for a moment before piercing straight through the tower’s roof.
Shards of glass and stones rained down on everyone in the inner sanctum as energy from Levi shattered the roof and rocketed into the clouds like a beam of light.
Wordless screams escaped the noble high-tier women. They scrambled to unstable ground, looking up at the hole in the ceiling.
A loud crackling sound erupted from the golden dome when the light slammed against it.
Sparks and thick crack lines scattered on the dome while the force of the beam of light increased. A loud blasting sound erupted from the dome as it blasted, sending sharp shards flying across every corner of the central city.
Dark clouds slowly crept across the sky, followed by harsh rain. Outside, Agnes and her daughter watched the shifting sky and shook their heads slowly.
The fiery locks in Agnes’s hair clicked against each other when she cupped her face in her palms. ’We are doomed.’
