I stepped past the threshold and into the pitch-black Throne Room.
The moment my entire body cleared the threshold, the entryway sealed shut behind me. A heavy, suffocating silence fell over the room for a fraction of a second before a line of torches, held by grotesque bone pillars, instantly ignited.
The eerie, flickering blue flames cascaded down the length of the massive chamber, revealing a highly reflective marble floor. Towering stained-glass windows lined the walls with images of war victories that cast long, colorful shadows across the expanse.
At the far end of the room, sitting perfectly still on a throne of plush red velvet, was the Lord of the Castle.
[BOSS DETECTED: THE CRIMSON LORD (A-RANK) - LV 10]
He was a towering, regal knight, sitting easily at seven feet tall. He was encased entirely in immaculate, blood-red plate armor that drank in the blue light of the torches. Resting down between his sabatons was a massive greatsword that looked heavy enough to cleave a boulder in half.
The killing intent radiating off him was absolute. It was thick, heavy, and undeniably Elite Jonin-level.
The Crimson Lord slowly rose from his throne. The visor of his helmet glowed with a fierce crimson light as his gaze locked onto me. He didn't say a word. He simply gripped the hilt of his greatsword and lifted the massive blade with one hand, pointing the tip directly at my chest in a silent challenge.
"Not much of a talker, huh?" I asked, a vicious smirk pulling at my lips as I drew the [IVORY SHORTSWORD] and pointed it right back at him. "My kind of guy."
The two of us blurred forward simultaneously.
We met in the center of the room. Our blades collided with a deafening, apocalyptic CLANG. The shockwave of the impact instantly blew out every single delicate stained glass window in the spire and spider-webbed the reinforced marble floor beneath our feet.
Sparks rained down around us as our blades ground together, but before I could even attempt to leverage my superior strength, the Knight shifted. He slid his greatsword down the edge of my blade, forcing me to shift my weight to react to the incoming edge. This gave him ample room to pivot his blade underneath mine and violently push upward, lifting me completely off the floor.
With another terrifying display of raw power, he spun me around like I was a bag of laundry and hurled me across the room.
I crashed back-first into one of the bone pillars, the stone cracking under the impact.
[-5% HP]
Wow, quite the strength you got there, I thought, rolling my shoulders. And your footing is ridiculously light for someone wearing heavy-looking plate armor. Seems like you really do live up to—
Before I could get another thought out, the Lord was already blurring toward me for a follow-up strike.
I quickly stabilized my stance and forced his incoming downward cleave in an upward trajectory with the flat of my blade. The moment his guard opened, I mentally dismissed the shortsword back to my [INVENTORY] and instantly equipped [KNIGHT KILLER] and [KASAKA'S VENOM FANG].
[SKILL ACTIVATED: SPRINT]
I lunged forward for a dual-wield [CRITICAL STRIKE] to his exposed chest, but the Lord's battle sense was flawless. He brought up his heavy armored knee as I closed the distance, sending it toward my sternum.
I was forced to abort the strike, twisting my torso to dodge the knee while attempting to counter with a vicious stab toward his midsection.
The Lord didn't even look down. He effortlessly spun his massive greatsword in his hands, bringing the flat side of the blade in front of him like a shield to block my daggers. The rotational force caused me to abruptly stop my movement and jump into the air to avoid getting clipped.
While airborne, I recalled the daggers, switched back to the [IVORY SHORTSWORD], and brought it down in a brutal, two-handed overhead strike.
But as my blade descended, the Lord simply side-stepped. Then, he reached out and grabbed my forearm, redirecting the downward strike. Without wasting a single movement, he spun me in mid-air before launching me across the Throne Room like a ragdoll.
As I was sailing through the air, I quickly formed a hand seal.
[SKILL ACTIVATED: MULTI-SHADOW CLONE JUTSU]
Ten clones materialized in mid-air alongside me. Since we had no ground to stop our momentum, we had to improvise. The clones quickly grabbed onto my arms and shoulders, absorbing my backward momentum to halt my flight. In that exact same fluid motion, I used my body as a catapult, launching them like human missiles directly at the Lord, whose weight had slightly shifted from hurling me across the room.
But the Lord recovered instantly.
He swung his greatsword in a flawless, horizontal arc, the edge alignment so perfect it didn't even whistle through the air. The blade sheared cleanly through four of my clones, dispersing them into smoke instantly.
He reversed his grip to execute the remaining three in his immediate radius, but one of the clones threw its hands together to form a seal.
"Bringer of Darkness Jutsu!"
The Lord stopped moving for a brief instant. The three clones he was targeting unloaded a massive volley of chakra-enhanced shuriken and kunai. And the other two clones inhaled deeply, unleashing a devastating combination attack.
"Wind Style: Wind Scythe Jutsu!"
"Fire Style: Dragon Flame Bombs!"
The wind supercharged the fire, creating a roaring, swirling vortex of flames that surged toward the blinded Knight, meant to completely cook him inside his heavy armor.
But as the projectiles and the roaring firestorm closed in on him, an oppressive, pulsating crimson aura erupted from the Lord's body.
Every single kunai, shuriken, and even the roaring flames of the jutsu abruptly stopped dead in mid-air, frozen just inches away from his armor as if they had hit an invisible wall.
My eyes widened in sheer disbelief. What the hell?!
While I scrambled to deduce how he was freezing pure chakra in mid-air, the Lord simply flicked his wrist.
A small, jagged dagger shot out from his wrist with the speed of a bullet, striking the clone maintaining the Genjutsu right between the eyes.
The clone popped, and the illusion around him faded.
Without missing a beat, the Lord plunged his massive greatsword directly into the marble floor and violently swung upward. The force of the swing ripped a massive chunk of stone into the air. With another flex of his crimson aura, the heavy debris launched forward like cannonballs, tearing through the frozen fire jutsu and instantly obliterating the rest of my clones.
If he has a similar power scheme to Igris, then he's definitely using telekinesis! I finally recognized, frantically weaving through the incredibly fast, accurately thrown chunks of marble flying at my head.
I gathered chakra into my hands, preparing a jutsu to blast the remaining debris out of the air.
But the Lord didn't give me any time to do anything.
He blurred right through the flying debris, appearing directly in front of me. Before I could even raise my arms, his armored fist slammed squarely into my face.
[-10% HP]
The punch lifted me off my feet, and the Lord unleashed a brutal, perfectly chained air combo.
A crushing hook to my ribs, a devastating backhand to the side of my face, and a flawless, ascending uppercut that launched me higher toward the vaulted ceiling.
[-23% HP]
Damn, he's on my ass, I thought, soaring in the air. If I don't defend against that he'll just wear me down.
As the Lord ascended into the air and brought his fist back for another combo, I surged chakra into my back.
[SKILL ACTIVATED: ADAMANTINE SEALING CHAINS (INDESTRUCTIBLE DURABILITY)]
Thick, purple-black chains erupted from my spine, rapidly weaving into a dense shield of metal right across my chest, flaring to life just as the Lord's armored fist collided with me.
The chains creaked slightly, but completely absorbed the damage.
Using the solid metal of my own chains as leverage, I anchored myself in mid-air, twisted my hips, and delivered a devastating, chakra-enhanced right hook directly to the visor of his helmet.
The metal crunched, and the Crimson Lord was finally launched backward, skidding across the cracked marble floor.
The Lord raised his hand, using his telekinesis to recall his sword. The massive blade flew into his grip, and he plunged the steel deep into the marble floor to stop his backward momentum.
I hit the ground, rolling into a low crouch to re-acclimate myself.
That's gonna be a bitch of a hurdle to deal with, I thought, eyeing the way he had recovered so effortlessly.
Suddenly, the ambient pressure in the room shifted dramatically. The Lord straightened up, and a dense, suffocating crimson aura erupted from his plate armor, washing over the entire Throne Room. The bone pillars vibrated, and the dark stone walls seemed to physically warp under the sheer weight of his intent.
[WARNING: THE CRIMSON LORD HAS UNLEASHED 'DOMAIN OF THE BLOOD MOON'.]
[DEBUFF APPLIED: MOVEMENT SPEED REDUCED BY 30%]
[DEBUFF APPLIED: CONTINUOUS STAMINA DRAIN (1% / SEC)]
A heavy, invisible weight slammed onto my shoulders. My feet felt like they were glued to the floor, and a phantom fatigue began to creep into my muscles.
That's fucking ridiculous, I thought, shaking my head as a grin appeared on my face. You can't be that technically sound and still have tricks up your sleeves! You're out here fighting like you're me!
To counteract the speed penalty and force a reaction, I lashed out with my [ADAMANTINE SEALING CHAINS]. I shot the chains forward like striking vipers, aiming to bind his limbs and restrict the wide arc of his giant sword.
However, the Lord didn't panic. He swung his sword at an angle, deflecting the lead chain with a shower of sparks, and flicked his free wrist to launch another hidden dagger straight at my face.
I spun on my heel and in one fluid motion, I equipped [KNIGHT KILLER], and flicked my wrist at him, utilizing [DAGGER THROW] to launch my dagger straight back at his helmet to intercept his vision.
The Lord tilted his head to let the dagger graze past his visor, and coiled his legs to launch himself forward at my location.
Gotcha, I smirked.
[SKILL ACTIVATED: SHADOW THUNDER GOD]
In a flash of pitch-black lightning, I vanished from my original spot, materializing directly beside the soaring [KNIGHT KILLER] right in his flank. I caught the hilt of the dagger in my left hand while my right hand surged with spiraling, yellow energy.
[SKILL ACTIVATED: RASENGAN (MAXIMUM OUTPUT)]
I aimed the jutsu directly at the Lord's exposed helmet. But I quickly found out that the closer I was to the Lord the more effective the active debuff was. As my speed dragged even more, my execution was just a fraction of a second slower than usual. The Lord detected the shift, turning his torso just enough for the [RASENGAN] to miss his head and slam violently into his chest plate.
BOOM!
The grinding, rotational force of the jutsu caved in his heavy breastplate, but as the force pushed him back, the Lord drew another small, jagged dagger with his free hand and executed a blindingly fast diagonal slice right across my chest.
[-32% HP]
I gritted my teeth at the attack. How many goddamn daggers does this bastard have?!
A dark red aura suddenly pulsed around my body as my health crossed a dangerous threshold.
[CRITICAL HEALTH WARNING: HP DROPPED BELOW 30%]
[SKILL ACTIVATED: TENACITY]
[INCOMING DAMAGE REDUCED BY 50%]
The massive impact of the [RASENGAN] sent the Lord skidding across the throne room floor, his sabatons carving deep, smoking trenches into the stone before he hit the base of his velvet throne.
He slowly pushed himself up. His blood-red breastplate was shattered and warped, exposing the pulsing crimson core beneath his armor. The red glow behind his visor flickered erratically.
He gripped the hilt of his greatsword with both hands, raising the heavy steel above his head in a traditional sword fighting stance.
I pulled out my [IVORY SHORTSWORD] once more. I knew my movement speed was shot and my stamina was burning away, but my focus narrowed down to a single pinpoint. I coated the entire shortsword in a dense, shimmering layer of high-density chakra, pushing past the pain in my chest.
"Let's finish this," I said, adopting a stance of my own and surging forward with everything I had.
The Lord followed suit.
We collided in a flurry of sparks. The Lord swung his greatsword in a brutal horizontal arc. I dropped into a slide, feeling the wind pressure sweep over my head, and swung my shortsword upward at his exposed midsection. But his edge alignment was perfect—he seamlessly dropped the heavy crossguard of his weapon to catch my blade, grinding the steel together in a blinding shower of sparks.
I twisted my wrist, trying to redirect his blade, but he used his superior reach to unleash a flurry of heavy diagonal cleaves. I was forced on the defensive, deflecting the massive weapon by millimeters. The shockwave of each deflection rattled my bones. He stepped into my guard and shoved his heavy steel pauldron directly into my chest, breaking my stance before bringing the greatsword around in a blinding reverse slash.
I narrowly twisted away, but the razor-sharp tip grazed my shoulder, slicing through my compression shirt.
[-6% HP]
The stinging cut barely registered as my active [TENACITY] kept the glancing damage completely manageable.
Then, the Lord found his opening.
Capitalizing on my sluggish reaction speed, he feinted a low sweep, forcing my guard down, before pivoting fluidly to bring his greatsword down in a devastating, vertical execution strike aimed straight at my head.
There was no time to dodge, and no time to use [SHADOW THUNDER GOD] for a quick exit.
In that fraction of a millisecond, something clicked inside my mind. My shortsword's blade suddenly glowed with a blinding golden light.
[NEW SKILL UNLOCKED: RIPOSTE]
I thrust the shortsword upward at the exact micro-second the giant greatsword made contact.
CLANG!
An invisible shockwave exploded outward. The immense, crushing force of the Lord's two-handed strike was completely nullified. The Lord's arms recoiled back from the rejection of the parry, leaving his shattered chest plate wide open.
My body moved automatically on the counter-attack. A golden arc of light trailed behind my blade as I drove the [IVORY SHORTSWORD] straight through his caved-in chest armor, the point erupting out through the back of his cape.
CRACK!
[CRITICAL HIT!]
[THE LORD OF THE CASTLE HAS BEEN DEFEATED!]
The Crimson Lord froze. The red light behind his visor flickered one last time before extinguishing completely. His massive greatsword slipped from his hands, clattering harmlessly onto the marble.
A symphony of system alerts washed over my vision in a flood of golden light.
[LEVEL UP!]
[LEVEL UP!]
[LEVEL UP!]
[LEVEL UP!]
[NEW LEVEL: 230]
[FULL RECOVERY ACTIVATED]
I slowly pulled the [IVORY SHORTSWORD] free.
The Crimson Lord's heavy armor collapsed onto the cracked marble floor, his physical form already beginning to dissolve into a dark, wispy smoke.
I let out a long, shuddering breath, dismissing my blade as the euphoric rush of the level-ups washed over me, completely erasing the phantom fatigue of the domain and closing up the slash on my chest.
That was… easily the most technical fight I've had, so far, I thought, rubbing my neck. He didn't just have stats to back up his power; he had actual mastery over his blade. I need to get on that level.
Before I could even finish the thought, the System practically exploded with the rest of my rewards.
[SKILL DETAILS: RIPOSTE]:
Type: Active
Classification: Sword-Only Skill.
Effect: Grants the Player a 0.5-second 'Invulnerability Frame'. If the Player parries a lethal strike from an opponent at the precise time, then the Player inflicts a 1.5-second 'Stun' on the target, and all incoming damage and debuffs are nullified. Subsequently, the Player will instantly counter with a thrust that deals 200% Critical Strike Damage.
Cost: 50 CP per activation.
Cooldown: 3 Minutes.
Oh my fucking god! I thought, my eyes nearly bugging out. I just got one of Fiora's—from League of Legends—abilities. And 200% crit damage is in-fucking-sane.
I slapped my hands in joy. Man, let's see what else I got.
[REWARDS ACQUIRED]:
Item: Blood-Moon Armor Plating (S-Rank):
Effect: Passively reduces all incoming physical damage by 25%.
Unique Passive - Crimson Aegis: When HP falls below 30%, the armor absorbs ambient chakra to form a blood-shield that reflects 15% of melee damage back to the attacker.
Skill: Ruler's Hand (Active Skill):
Effect: Grants the Player telekinetic control to move and manipulate objects or enemies without physically touching them.
Cost: No chakra cost.
Note: Ability will scale in strength and precision based on usage.
[CASTLE CLEAR BONUS: 5X GATE KEYS (RANKS: B, A, S)]
[CASTLE CLEAR BONUS: 1,000,000 Ryo]
[BONUS RYO EARNED: (24% HP x 50 Ryo) x 5.5 Rank Bonus = +6,600 Ryo] + [25,000 Mini-Boss/Boss Takedowns] = +31,600 Ryo]
[RYO BALANCE: 54,647,775 → 55,679,375 RYO]
[TITLE ACHIEVED: SHADOW KING'S DOMAIN]
[NEW TITLE UNLOCKED: CONQUEROR OF THE CASTLE]:
Effect: All base stats are increased by +15% when fighting within a Castle-Type Dungeon or inside a claimed Domain.
I couldn't help but laugh out loud. The rewards were staggering. [RULER'S HAND] alone was something I was going to abuse as much as my [SHADOW EXCHANGE]—having no chakra cost meant I could incorporate it into my everyday lifestyle, as well as my combat flow just like the Lord had done.
And I gained five new [GATE KEYS], including my very first S-Rank, I thought, thinking back to the quota I still needed to complete for a standard S-Rank dungeon Key. By the way, how's that looking now?
[QUOTA: 1 S-RANKED GATE KEY]:
Total Monsters Killed: 43,892 / 10,000 (Requirement Exceeded)
Total Boss Monsters Killed: 48 / 50
Only two bosses left, I noted, my grin widening. I can definitely knock those out and claim that key before the Finals start. But, I ain't attempting no S-Rank Gates until I get to the level that can beat a Kage with ease.
The sealed-off Throne Room entryway suddenly unsealed.
I turned to see the sea of my yellow-black [SHADOW ARMY] pouring into the room. With the Lord of the Castle defeated, all remaining enemies in the keep had instantly dissolved. Beru, Rango, the Giant Red Tiger, the Armored Polar Bear, and the Ice Warrior Captain led the charge.
As they approached the throne, the entire army dropped to one knee in perfect, silent unison, bowing their heads in absolute reverence.
I smiled, looking back down at the dissipating remains of the Crimson Lord. The dark smoke rising from his armor was thick and heavy.
[SHADOW EXTRACTION AVAILABLE.]
I stepped forward, reaching my hand out toward the fallen knight. The air in the Throne Room seemed to freeze.
"ARISE."
A violentyellow-black aura erupted from the marble floor. It latched onto the dissolving crimson chakra, twisting and pulling it back into the physical realm. The chakra solidified, reforming the towering, seven-foot-tall plate armor, a heavy tattered cape, and the massive greatsword.
But the dominant crimson red was gone. In its place was a terrifying, pitch-black knight with a single crimson plume at the top of his helmet, radiating a suffocating, golden-yellow aura.
Hmm, it's similar to how my Giant Red Tiger isn't actually fully red; it just has red streaks and turns red when it uses its flames, I mused.
The knight took a step forward, the sheer weight of his presence making the marble crack beneath his sabatons, before he dropped to one knee and bowed his head before me.
[SHADOW EXTRACTED: THE RED KNIGHT]
[GRADE: ELITE KNIGHT]
[NEW NAME AVAILABLE FOR INPUT]
I looked down at the towering, silent warrior. He possessed the exact same majestic, terrifying loyalty as the boss I had just fought.
"Igris," I said, a grin stretching across my face. "Your name is Igris."
[SHADOW SAVED: IGRIS]
He's already an Elite Knight, right up there with Beru and Rango, I noted, feeling the massive surge of power radiating through our link. I need to get him and Beru some high-level kills so I can promote them both to the General Grade as quickly as possible.
A quick check of the system showed my Giant Red Tiger and my Lead Ice Warrior had both maxed out their current levels—both level 10s—and were ready for the promotion to the Knight Grade. But I decided to hold off. My Armored Polar Bear was only a few kills away from hitting the threshold, and I wanted to promote the three of them together.
"Alright," I breathed out, sliding my hands into my pockets. "We're done here. It's time to get back on track before the month ends."
Suddenly, the entire castle shuddered violently.
[NOTICE: THE 'CASTLE OF THE RED KNIGHT' HAS BEEN SUCCESSFULLY CONQUERED.]
[THE DOMAIN HAS BEEN ADDED TO THE PLAYER'S INVENTORY.]
The Throne Room, the spires, the bone pillars—everything began to blur and dissolve into golden particles of light.
"TO ME," I commanded.
Igris rose fluidly, stepping seamlessly into my shadow along with Beru, Rango, and the hundreds of other Soldiers.
The dimensional space collapsed completely, spitting me out back into the cool, humid air of the Forest of Death.
I looked up at the sky. The sun was completely gone, replaced by a blanket of stars and a pale crescent moon. The crickets were chirping loudly.
System, how long did that take to complete? I asked internally.
[TIME ELAPSED: 15 HOURS]
Fifteen hours? Not too shabby, I thought, stretching my arms. Now I've got about two weeks to get the last two trials done.
I opened my inventory and looked through my gear to prepare to teleport back to the catacombs, when I saw the glowing miniature castle icon recently added to the main tab.
A massive grin spread across my face. I've got to see the ins and outs of this first, I mused, tapping the icon and being given a miniature holographic model of the castle I just completed. I should probably go somewhere far away to test this out, just in case it draws too much attention.
I activated my [WAYPOINT ANCHOR ORB] locked onto Uzushio's mainland and initiated the transit. Let's see what my new fortress is looking like.