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Dark energy rippled around her body.
The black-haired woman floated in midair, silent and still.
She glanced at the burn on her right hand—it was already healing fast. Her mind spun as she calculated her next move.
Close combat clearly wouldn't work.
That left only one option: attack from a distance.
Realizing how unfathomably strong Max was, she decided to use her trump card—the Dimensional Blade of the Collapsing Moon.
Her demonic energy surged, concentrating in her hand.
She steadied her breathing, focusing completely.
With a special technique, she began to force the surface layer of space to split open, slipping into deeper dimensions, rapidly switching between them.
By exploiting the misalignment of space itself, she could unravel the structure of her target.
To maintain the technique, she needed to shift between layers hundreds of times per second.
Only then could she unleash the full power of the Dimensional Blade.
"Hmm?"
Just as she was about to strike, Max—seated upon his golden throne—sensed something.
A faint smile curved his lips.
"Seal."
That single word echoed through the air.
In an instant, the very space around the woman grew infinitely dense—her ultimate attack crushed before it could even take form.
"What…?!"
Her eyes widened in disbelief.
The thin spatial layer she'd worked so hard to tear apart had suddenly turned solid—utterly immovable.
She realized too late that she'd stepped into the wrong domain.
Inside the King's Realm, Max had absolute authority over space itself.
Unless someone of equal or greater power—a god of space, or a true spatial spirit—intervened, no one could wrest control from him.
Her so-called space-based technique? It was nothing here. With a thought, Max could simply nullify it.
"Azure General."
After neutralizing her attack, Max's eyes flashed with a blue glow as he murmured softly.
The Sword of Damocles, symbol of the Azure King, shone brightly—then vanished.
In its place appeared a towering figure clad in azure heavy armor, face hidden, a massive sword in hand.
The warrior stood nearly three meters tall, radiating an oppressive aura.
A long blue cape billowed behind him without wind, marked with intricate patterns and the emblem of the Azure Sword.
His weapon—about a meter and a half long—resembled the Sword of Damocles, though its design was thicker and clearly made for war.
This was no illusion.
A manifestation of the Supreme Kingship—a power known as the King's Warrior.
The Supreme Kingship held four divine abilities:
The King's Domain – a sovereign territory of absolute control.
The King's Warrior – a royal guardian army.
The King's Wrath – divine retribution descending from the heavens.
The King's Covenant – a bond that marks chosen vassals.
Through The King's Warrior, Max could summon seven armies—each led by one of seven generals.
Every army held 9,999 soldiers plus their general—exactly 10,000 warriors per legion.
These soldiers were born of royal power itself. As long as energy remained, they could be revived endlessly.
They had no will of their own—but their combat instincts were perfect.
And Max could connect his mind to any of them, controlling them as easily as if he were playing a fighting game.
Now, summoning only the Azure General, Max leaned back on his throne, lips curved in a faint smile, and extended a sliver of his consciousness forward.
The general's form flared with blue light.
He raised his sword high, then brought it crashing down toward the black-haired woman.
The blade blazed with azure flames—the very essence of the Azure King's power.
"Not good!"
The woman's heart clenched as danger flooded her senses.
She couldn't block this.
Her demonic power boiled within her, bursting outward in a surge of blood-red light. At the very last second, she vanished—barely dodging the attack.
The sword cleaved empty air.
Even so, a translucent arc of blue energy ripped across the ground, splitting the grassy plain with an ear-splitting crack.
The shockwave stretched all the way to the horizon—before the world shimmered and quietly restored itself.
Seeing that, the woman's pupils contracted.
She didn't realize that strike hadn't even contained a ten-thousandth of the general's true strength.
The Azure General pressed on, moving like a streak of blue lightning.
He swung his massive sword sideways—its broad blade like a giant paddle.
A sharp crack rang out.
The woman's body was struck clean out of the air, crashing into the ground with a heavy boom.
Blood misted the air.
"Cough… cough…"
Her face turned pale as she spat blood, body trembling uncontrollably.
Almost all the bones in her body had shattered, and her internal organs were in ruins.
If she weren't a vampire—blessed with unnatural vitality—she'd already be dead.
Even so, Max had clearly held back.
Otherwise, that single strike would've reduced her to dust.
"For the last time—who are you, and what are you doing in my home?"
Max's eyes narrowed slightly. From his elevated seat, he looked down at the woman sprawled dozens of meters away.
If she hadn't seemed connected to Akashiya Moka, he would've killed her already.
"Ka… h…lua .. "
The woman forced the words out through clenched teeth, her body trembling as her demonic energy worked to heal her wounds.
"Kahlua Shuzen…" Max muttered, frowning slightly. The name sounded familiar, but he couldn't quite place it.
Then he dismissed the thought and asked directly, "And what's your relationship with Akashiya Moka?"
"Moka!"
At that name, her eyes snapped wide open in shock.
"You know Moka?" she asked, staring straight at him.
"I'm the one asking questions," Max replied coolly.
Kahlua Shuzen's expression shifted. Realizing her situation, she hesitated before answering honestly:
"I'm her sister."
"Sister…"
Max's eyes narrowed. A vague memory resurfaced in his mind—finally clicking into place.
Kahlua Shuzen—the eldest sister of Akashiya Moka. A total sis-con, if he remembered right.
But still…
Max studied her for a moment before asking, "So, you came to my house to take Moka away?"
"To take Moka…?"
Kahlua Shuzen froze, the question catching her off guard.
Then, as if something dawned on her, her eyes widened.
No wonder she'd sensed a familiar aura upstairs earlier—that had been Moka.
So the "target" she was after was Moka all along!
Realizing that, Max's gaze softened slightly.
"Alright," he said calmly, "why don't you tell me your real goal?"
He already had a rough guess.
Kahlua Shuzen's eyes flickered.
When her wounds had mostly healed, she slowly stood, facing Max, and said in a low voice:
"Someone came to me before—a man named Fujisaki Miyabi. He made me an offer… asked me to find someone for him."
"....."