Chapter 166: What’s Mine

Adam’s smirk widened as he watched Derek advance, the Solarian commander’s axe blazing with crimson aura. “So you’re leading royal knights now? Impressive promotion.” He tilted his head, feigning curiosity. “But I don’t see your dungeon party with you. Did they not make it?”

Derek’s jaw tightened, the axe in his hands pulsing with angry light. “A monster’s mouth is just as rotten as the rest of its species, isn’t it?”

He moved.

Speed enhancement skill—Adam recognized it immediately. Derek blurred forward, his axe already mid-swing, the blade trailing crimson energy. Adam’s scaled forearm shot up, Monarch’s Aegis flaring as metal met scale.

CLANG—BOOM!

The impact was heavier than Adam anticipated. His feet slid back, carving furrows in the frozen ground. Derek pressed the advantage, his axe suddenly heavier—not physically larger, but the force behind each blow multiplied. Skill-enhanced weight manipulation.

Adam’s eyes narrowed. ’He’s stronger than before. Trained specifically to fight me.’

Derek’s axe came down again, and Adam caught it on his crossed forearms. The force drove him to one knee, cracks spider-webbing through the ice beneath him.

’Time to change tactics.’

Adam’s jaws opened, and Draconic Roar exploded from his throat.

The sound wasn’t just noise—it was concussive force, sovereign will given voice. The shockwave slammed into Derek at point-blank range, lifting him off his feet and hurling him backward. He crashed into a boulder, the stone cracking from the impact.

Adam straightened, already raising his hand. Prismatic light gathered in his palm, swirling into a concentrated sphere.

“Let’s test this out.”

[Prismatic Beam].

The lance of rainbow-colored light shot from his hand, faster than sound, faster than thought. It struck the ground where Derek had been standing a heartbeat before—and kept going. The beam carved a trench through the frozen earth, through the boulder behind it, through another boulder beyond that. When it finally dissipated, a smoldering crater marked its path, the edges still glowing with residual heat.

Derek rolled to his feet, his eyes wide as he took in the destruction. His armor was scorched, his face pale beneath the grime.

Adam examined his hand, frowning slightly. “Hmm. Good damage, but the mana cost is high. Can’t spam this.”

Derek didn’t give him time to analyze. The commander surged forward again, his axe blazing brighter than before, the blade itself seeming to grow as more aura poured into it.

“You’ve been muttering to yourself this whole fight,” Derek snarled, closing the distance. “What the hell are you saying, monster?!”

Adam’s scaled arm snapped up again, catching the enhanced axe on his Aegis-covered forearm. This time, the force was immense—his feet slid back, his arm throbbing from the impact. But his expression remained calm, almost bored.

“None of your business.”

Derek’s eyes blazed. His axe grew—the blade expanding, the haft thickening, the entire weapon now massive and wreathed in crimson fury. He raised it high, both hands gripping the haft, every muscle in his body coiled for a single, devastating strike.

“Then die anyway!”

The axe descended, a comet of crimson destruction aimed at Adam’s skull.

Adam twisted. The blade passed inches from his face, the sheer force of its passage tearing a gash in the air that left his skin stinging. He flowed around the strike, his body moving with serpentine grace, and drove his palm into Derek’s exposed side.

[Abyssal Pierce].

Void energy, concentrated and hungry, slammed into Derek’s ribs. Adam expected penetration—expected the destabilizing void to eat through armor and flesh alike.

It didn’t.

Derek’s aura flared, crimson light absorbing the impact, dispersing the void energy across his reinforced body. He grunted, absorbing the blow, then spun his axe in a devastating horizontal arc.

Adam ducked under it, his eyes narrowing. ’His defenses are stronger than I thought. That aura—it’s not just offensive. He’s layered himself against magic and special attacks.’

Derek pressed forward, his axe a blur of lethal momentum. Adam gave ground, testing, probing. Every strike was met with that same reinforced aura. Every void-touched attack dissipated against crimson light.

’Time to try something else.’

Adam stopped retreating. His body aligned—shoulder lowered, spine straight, every ounce of strength and momentum focused into a single point. The same technique that had shattered cores and caved in chests.

[Monarch’s Pierce].

He became a blur of focused destruction, his fist driving into the center of Derek’s guard. The impact was thunderous—a concussive BOOM that sent shockwaves rippling through the battlefield.

Derek’s eyes widened. His feet left the ground, his body flying backward ten, fifteen, twenty feet before he caught himself, boots digging trenches in the frozen earth. Blood trickled from his lip where the force had rattled his teeth.

But he was still standing.

Derek straightened slowly, wiping the blood from his mouth with the back of his hand. His eyes, when they met Adam’s, held something new—not fear, but a cold, predatory satisfaction.

“Enough playing,” Derek growled.

His aura exploded.

The crimson light that surrounded him intensified, thickened, became almost solid. His muscles bulged beneath his armor, veins standing out against his skin as raw power flooded his system. His eyes burned with murderous intent—not rage, but something colder. The focused, absolute will to kill.

Adam’s instincts screamed. A weapon pointed directly at him.

Across the battlefield, Elise’s voice rang out over the chaos, desperate and commanding.

“Solarian soldiers! Listen to me! I am Princess Elise of Melium! If you harm me, your kingdom will face the consequences! Stand down!”

A soldier—a scarred veteran with a sergeant’s badge—spat on the ground. “Pretty words, your highness. But who’s going to tell them? There won’t be any witnesses.” He grinned, ugly and cold. “We’ll say you died in a monster attack. Happens all the time in these parts. Tragic accident.”

Another soldier laughed. “Besides, we know all about the trouble in Melium. Your own family wants you dead. Who’s going to come looking?”

Elise’s face went pale. Her hands trembled, the binding sigils flickering.

Seraphina stepped protectively in front of her, sword raised. “Your Highness, don’t listen to them. They’re trying to break your resolve.”

The sergeant’s men moved to flank them. “You’re outnumbered, knight. Stand aside, and maybe we’ll let you live.”

Elise’s hands began to glow—crimson light, defiant and bright. “Sera, it’s no use trying to negotiate. They’ve already decided.” Her voice steadied, the princess giving way to the survivor. “I’ve spent my whole life being hunted. I know how this ends.”

Seraphina’s aura blazed silver-gold. “Then we make them bleed for every step.”

They surged forward, knight and princess fighting back-to-back against the closing ring of soldiers.

An explosion rocked the battlefield.

Ignis erupted from a cluster of soldiers like a volcanic eruption, bodies flying in all directions. Her flames burned white-hot, her draconic features fully manifest—scales, slitted eyes, the unmistakable presence of something ancient and terrible.

“BURN! BURN! BURN!” she howled, laughter mixing with the screams of her victims.

Westin, the mage, had extricated himself from the wreckage of his broken staff. His hand closed around a pendant hanging from his neck—a small crystal that pulsed with inner light.

[Artifact Activated: Archmage’s Focus]

[Spell Precision: +200%]

[Mana Regeneration: +100%]

[Duration: 5 minutes]

Westin’s eyes snapped open, blazing with renewed power. “You want to play with fire? Let me show you real fire.”

His hands wove complex patterns, and the air itself ignited in concentrated, surgical lances of flame that sought Ignis with terrifying accuracy.

Ignis dodged, twisted, her instincts screaming—but these weren’t wild attacks. They were aimed. Precision magic that tracked her movements, that anticipated her evasions.

“Finally,” Westin murmured, a thin smile crossing his features. “A worthy opponent.”

And somewhere in the shadows, Ellen’s bow remained trained on Adam’s back, waiting for a single, perfect moment.

Ellen’s eyes narrowed, her focus absolute. The chaos of the battlefield faded to background noise—the clash of steel, the roar of flames, the screams of dying men. Only one target mattered.

’That monster is their leader,’ she thought, her fingers steady on the bowstring. ’If I kill him, the others will lose morale. They’ll break. With this arrow, I’ll pierce through those scales of his.’

She drew, the bow creaking with tension. Months of waiting. Months of training, honing her skills specifically for this moment. The scar on her neck throbbed with phantom pain—a constant reminder of fangs and venom in the dark.

’This is for everything you took from me.’

The arrow released.

It flew true—a black streak of death aimed at the back of Adam’s skull. Ellen watched it arc through the chaos, her heart pounding with vicious satisfaction. Nothing could stop it now. Nothing—

Thwip.

The arrow stopped.

Mid-flight, inches from its target, it simply… halted. Hanging in the air as if caught by invisible hands. Ellen’s eyes went wide.

“Ah…”

White threads, delicate and beautiful, had wrapped around the shaft. They gleamed in the morning light like spun moonlight, holding the arrow suspended as if it were a museum piece rather than a killing stroke.

Ellen’s blood ran cold.

From behind her, a voice drifted—soft, melodic, utterly terrifying.

“How cruel of you to forget me.” Lilith stepped into view, her crimson eyes fixed on Ellen with an expression that held no warmth whatsoever. “Is my presence truly so thin that I simply slipped your mind?”

Ellen spun, her hand already reaching for another arrow. Too slow. She knew it even as she moved.

Lilith’s head tilted slightly, a small, almost sad smile curving her lips. “You aimed at Adam.” Her voice dropped, the melody replaced by something far more dangerous. “You aimed at what’s mine.”

The threads holding Ellen’s arrow suddenly flexed. The shaft snapped in two with a sharp crack, the pieces falling uselessly to the ground.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep