Chapter 106 — The Sovereign of Bones

The staff struck the earth.

BOOM!

Blue light erupted across the Bone Domain.

The entire wasteland changed.

The ruins illuminated.

The thousands of skeletal remains scattered across the ground began glowing.

Ancient formations awakened beneath the soil.

Kael's System flashed repeatedly.

[Necromantic Domain activated.]

[Soul Furnace awakened.]

[Undead Army reinforcement: Maximum.]

[Enemy: Bone Sovereign.]

[Level: 87]

[Grade: Legendary]

Kael tightened his grip around the Darven Origin Blade.

Level 87.

His own level was only 50.

The difference was enormous.

But Kael had fought enemies with greater levels before.

Levels were not everything.

They never had been.

What mattered was what the enemy could actually do.

And this time—

he was facing a mage.

A mage with an army.

A mage who had controlled an entire domain for thousands of years.

Kael took one breath.

Then another.

“Status.”

The System responded.

Kael Darven

Level: 50

Rank: D-Rank — Adept Peak

Strength: 53

Agility: 55

Vitality: 51

Intelligence: 48

Mana: 11

Bloodline Progress: 15%

Metal Control: Mastery III

Darven Forge: Active

Darven Armament: 3/3

Administrator Authority: Active

Beast Path Compatibility: 14%

Legendary Immortality Remaining: 32:46:51

Kael looked at the Bone Sovereign.

His mana was still recovering from the Verdant battle.

His armor was damaged.

The V-01X had suffered heavy strain.

The GL-02 had almost no ammunition.

The Origin Blade was his most reliable weapon.

The Bone Sovereign noticed his condition.

“You are exhausted.”

Kael smiled.

“Still enough.”

The Sovereign's blue flames flickered.

“You misunderstand.”

Its staff rose.

“I wasn't referring to your body.”

Kael's expression changed.

The entire army moved.

The First Spell

Thousands of skeletons advanced.

Kael didn't attack them.

His eyes remained fixed on the Bone Sovereign.

The Sovereign raised its left hand.

Blue symbols appeared in the air.

One.

Then five.

Then dozens.

Kael immediately recognized the pattern.

Spell formation.

He had studied magic for years.

But this was far beyond the simple techniques in his books.

The runes were layered.

One spell inside another.

The Sovereign wasn't casting one spell.

It was constructing several simultaneously.

Kael's eyes sharpened.

Too many.

He fired the V-01X.

Configuration II — Mana Disruption.

The projectile flew toward the Sovereign.

A blue barrier appeared.

BOOM!

The shot disappeared.

Kael's expression changed.

[Spell detected.]

[Soul Barrier.]

The Bone Sovereign calmly lowered its hand.

The spell formations completed.

The sky filled with blue light.

Kael immediately moved.

A storm of magical projectiles descended.

BOOM!

The ground erupted around him.

Kael sprinted.

Left.

Right.

Forward.

One blast struck behind him.

Another cut off his path.

The Sovereign wasn't targeting him directly.

It was controlling his movement.

Kael realized it instantly.

It's herding me.

He jumped onto a ruined stone wall.

The next spell struck the ground below.

Kael jumped again.

Another spell followed.

The Sovereign predicted the landing point.

Kael's pupils contracted.

He twisted in midair.

The V-01X fired downward.

The recoil altered his trajectory.

He landed on another structure.

The Sovereign's eyes followed him.

“You adapt quickly.”

Kael raised his blade.

“You cast slowly.”

The Sovereign smiled.

“Do I?”

The rune formation above Kael changed.

Kael froze.

The spell he had been avoiding suddenly disappeared.

For a moment—

nothing happened.

Then the shadow beneath Kael moved.

Kael's eyes widened.

The spell wasn't above me.

It had been beneath him.

A blue pillar erupted.

Kael was thrown upward.

The next spell was already waiting.

He crossed the Origin Blade in front of himself.

BOOM!

The impact sent him flying.

His armor cracked further.

[Vanguard Armor Integrity: 6%]

Kael landed.

He immediately removed the remaining damaged armor plates.

They fell to the ground.

His body felt lighter.

The Bone Sovereign watched.

“You discarded your defense.”

“It was barely defending me.”

Kael raised the V-01X.

“Now I can move.”

The Sovereign's flames brightened.

“Then move.”

The Army Moves

The Bone Sovereign struck the ground with its staff.

Every skeleton in the nearby region moved.

Bone Knights rushed forward.

Bone Archers climbed the ruins.

Bone Mages formed lines behind them.

Kael immediately understood the formation.

Frontline.

Ranged support.

Spellcasters.

The Sovereign was fighting like a commander.

Kael sprinted toward the left flank.

The skeletons adjusted.

He changed direction.

They adjusted again.

Kael frowned.

The army wasn't being controlled individually.

There was a command network.

Probably the same formation he had seen earlier.

Kael looked at the remaining nodes.

Two were already inverted.

Three remained.

But the Sovereign had now appeared.

That meant the formation was no longer his only target.

The Sovereign was the true command center.

Kael had to choose.

Attack the army—

or attack the commander.

He chose the commander.

Kael rushed forward.

Bone Knights intercepted him.

The first swung a massive sword.

Kael blocked.

CLANG!

The force pushed him backward.

The second attacked immediately.

Kael ducked.

The blade passed above him.

Kael kicked the Knight's knee.

The creature lost balance.

Kael spun.

The Origin Blade struck.

The skeleton shattered.

A third attacked from behind.

Kael didn't turn.

Metal Control activated.

A broken metal plate from the ruins flew into the skeleton.

CLANG!

Its attack was diverted.

Kael twisted.

The Origin Blade flashed.

The third fell.

Kael kept moving.

More appeared.

Five.

Ten.

Twenty.

He stopped fighting each one individually.

Instead, he used Metal Control to move pieces of metal around the battlefield.

A broken sword flew.

Then a shield.

Then a rusted spear.

He didn't need the weapons to kill.

He needed them to disrupt.

Metal fragments struck skeleton weapons.

Shields blocked arrows.

Broken armor became temporary barriers.

Kael turned the ruins themselves into his defense.

The Sovereign watched.

“You use metal efficiently.”

Kael glanced upward.

“You noticed.”

“Yes.”

The Sovereign's staff moved.

A giant blue hand formed in the air.

Kael's eyes widened.

The hand slammed toward him.

He jumped.

The ground exploded.

Kael landed among the skeletons.

Then—

A blue spear formed behind him.

His instincts screamed.

He turned.

Too late.

The spear struck.

Kael died.

Five seconds later—

Kael reformed.

The battlefield remained unchanged.

The Bone Sovereign was already looking toward him.

Interesting.

It hadn't been surprised.

Kael slowly stood.

“So you can see where I return.”

“Yes.”

Kael's eyes sharpened.

“That makes things harder.”

The Sovereign raised its staff.

“Your immortality is not invincibility.”

Kael smiled.

“I know.”

He picked up the Origin Blade.

“That's why I don't plan to depend on it.”

The Sovereign's expression remained calm.

“Then what will you depend on?”

Kael looked across the battlefield.

The answer appeared.

“Your mistakes.”

The Mage's Weakness

Kael didn't attack.

He moved sideways.

The Bone Sovereign watched.

Kael moved again.

Still nothing.

Then he took three steps forward.

Still nothing.

Kael stopped.

The Sovereign finally spoke.

“You are wasting time.”

Kael smiled.

“No.”

He pointed at the ruins.

“You're standing inside a formation.”

“Yes.”

“And your spells are being amplified by it.”

“Yes.”

“But every time you cast a large spell…”

Kael raised one finger.

“One of the formation nodes activates.”

The Sovereign's blue flames flickered.

Kael's eyes sharpened.

“I don't think those nodes are only for the army.”

Silence.

Kael continued.

“They're also stabilizing your magic.”

The Sovereign remained still.

Kael smiled.

“I found your weakness.”

“You have found a possibility.”

Kael's expression hardened.

“Then I'll test it.”

He raised the V-01X.

Configuration III — Spatial Anchor.

He fired at one of the remaining formation nodes.

The anchor locked onto the structure.

Kael fired again.

Then again.

The node began destabilizing.

The Sovereign's expression changed.

It raised its staff.

A massive spell appeared.

Kael didn't dodge.

He fired the V-01X at the node again.

The formation flickered.

The spell above the Sovereign's head flickered too.

Kael's eyes widened.

Confirmed.

The formation wasn't simply supplying power.

It was regulating the Sovereign's casting.

Kael immediately charged.

The Sovereign struck the ground.

A wall of blue fire appeared.

Kael jumped.

He landed on the wall itself.

Metal Control pulled a broken spear from below.

Kael used it as a step.

He launched himself upward.

The Origin Blade came down.

CLANG!

The Sovereign blocked with its staff.

Kael's arms shook.

The Sovereign's strength was higher than expected.

The staff pushed him back.

Kael landed.

The Sovereign attacked.

A blue blade formed.

Kael blocked.

Another appeared.

Kael moved.

A third.

Kael ducked.

The Sovereign wasn't only a spellcaster.

It could fight directly.

Its staff techniques were precise.

Ancient.

Efficient.

Kael realized—

This was probably the most dangerous opponent he had faced so far.

Not because it had the highest raw power.

Because it had too many ways to use it.

Staff Against Blade

Kael rushed forward.

The Sovereign met him.

CLANG!

Blade against staff.

Kael attacked high.

The Sovereign parried.

Kael attacked low.

The staff blocked.

Kael rotated.

Metal Control moved the blade during the motion.

The Origin Blade changed direction.

The Sovereign barely avoided it.

A strand of its robe was cut.

Kael's eyes narrowed.

It doesn't know the full range of the Origin Blade.

He attacked again.

The Sovereign adjusted.

Kael changed angle.

The staff caught the blade.

The Sovereign pushed.

Kael used the force to retreat.

Then attacked again.

Their exchange became faster.

The Sovereign's staff moved in circles.

Kael's blade followed.

Blue energy clashed with metallic resonance.

CLANG!

BOOM!

CLANG!

Kael stepped inside the staff's range.

The Sovereign struck with its elbow.

Kael twisted.

The attack missed.

Kael's blade came upward.

The Sovereign blocked.

Then—

a spell appeared between them.

Kael's eyes widened.

There was no casting delay.

The Sovereign had prepared the spell before the close-combat exchange.

The spell detonated.

Kael died.

Five seconds later.

Kael reformed.

He looked at the Sovereign.

“You prepare spells in advance.”

“Yes.”

“You can maintain them without casting.”

“Yes.”

Kael nodded.

“That explains the first battle.”

The Sovereign's staff lowered.

“You learn from death.”

“I learn from everything.”

“Then learn this.”

The Sovereign pointed the staff at the sky.

“Your immortality has made you careless.”

Kael frowned.

A massive formation began appearing overhead.

Not one spell.

Hundreds.

Kael's expression changed.

The entire sky was becoming blue.

He immediately ran.

The Sovereign smiled.

“This time, where will you die?”

The Sky Burial

The spell descended.

Thousands of blue pillars fell from the sky.

Kael ran.

The first struck behind him.

Second.

Third.

Fourth.

The entire battlefield became a maze of falling magic.

Kael activated Spatial Anchor.

One location became safe.

He moved toward it.

A pillar destroyed the anchor.

Kael's eyes widened.

The Sovereign had predicted it.

Kael changed direction.

A second formation appeared.

Another spell.

Kael jumped.

The air itself became dangerous.

A magical spear appeared.

He deflected it.

Another.

He moved.

Another.

He blocked.

One struck his shoulder.

He staggered.

Another struck the ground beside him.

He flew backward.

Kael landed.

The sky was still falling.

The army moved below it without hesitation.

The Sovereign's control was perfect.

Kael suddenly understood.

It's not attacking me.

It's attacking the battlefield.

There was nowhere safe.

Not unless he created one.

Kael looked at the ancient metal scattered across the ground.

His eyes sharpened.

Metal Control activated.

Every piece of metal in a wide radius began moving.

Broken swords.

Armor.

Shields.

Chain fragments.

Metal pillars.

The pieces rose into the air.

Kael didn't form a weapon.

He formed a shell.

Metal folded.

Overlapped.

Locked.

A temporary dome formed around him.

The magical pillars hit it.

BOOM!

The dome shook.

Another.

BOOM!

Another.

The metal began breaking.

Kael added more.

The Sovereign watched.

“You build defenses now.”

Kael gritted his teeth.

“I'm learning.”

The dome shook again.

BOOM!

A piece shattered.

Kael replaced it.

Another broke.

He replaced it.

The System flashed.

[Metal Control: Defensive application detected.]

[Technique development possible.]

Kael's eyes narrowed.

A new thought appeared.

Instead of one solid shield—

Use movement.

The metal dome began rotating.

Magical attacks struck and were redirected.

Not blocked.

Deflected.

Kael smiled.

The rotating metal field began surviving longer.

The Sovereign's spell bombardment continued.

Kael's metal shell spun.

The attacks slid away.

Some hit the ground.

Some hit the skeletons.

Some collided with each other.

The formation above began losing efficiency.

Kael looked through a gap.

Three formation nodes remained.

And one of them was exposed.

He had an opening.

Kael dismantled the dome.

He launched himself forward.

The Sovereign immediately noticed.

The staff rose.

Kael knew the attack.

Instead of dodging—

he charged directly through the first spell.

It struck.

Kael died.

But his attack had already been released.

Five seconds later—

He reformed at the node.

The Origin Blade was already extended.

Kael struck.

CRACK!

The third formation node shattered.

[Necromantic Formation Stability: 32% → 11%]

The entire army staggered.

Kael looked toward the Sovereign.

For the first time—

the Bone Sovereign's expression changed.

“You understand the exchange.”

Kael smiled.

“I only need one successful attack.”

The Sovereign's staff slammed into the ground.

The remaining formation nodes went dark.

Kael froze.

“What?”

The Sovereign looked toward the sky.

The blue flames surrounding the Bone Domain began moving toward it.

“All these years…”

The Sovereign's voice became quieter.

“I have protected the prison.”

Kael's expression hardened.

“And now?”

“Now…”

The Bone Sovereign raised its staff.

“…I will see whether you can protect it.”

The Soul Furnace

The battlefield went silent.

Every skeleton stopped.

The Bone Sovereign turned its staff toward the center of the Bone Domain.

The ground opened.

A massive structure rose.

A gigantic black furnace.

Blue fire burned inside it.

Chains surrounded its exterior.

The System immediately responded.

[Soul Furnace detected.]

[Grade: Legendary]

[State: Awakened]

[Function: Soul Energy Conversion]

[Army Reinforcement: Active]

[Spell Amplification: Active]

Kael stared.

“So that's the real source.”

The Sovereign nodded.

“The formation was only the surface.”

Kael looked at the furnace.

“And if I destroy it?”

“You will weaken me.”

“By how much?”

The Sovereign's flames brightened.

“Enough.”

Kael immediately raised his weapon.

The V-01X fired.

The shot struck the Soul Furnace.

A barrier appeared.

BOOM!

The barrier held.

Kael's eyes narrowed.

The Sovereign stepped forward.

“Now you understand.”

The Soul Furnace wasn't simply a power source.

It was the core of the entire Bone Domain.

The army.

The spells.

The formation.

The Sovereign's power.

Everything led back to it.

Kael smiled.

“Then that's my target.”

The Sovereign raised its staff.

“And I will defend it.”

The entire remaining army surged forward.

Kael raised the Origin Blade.

“Good.”

He charged.

The battlefield erupted.

The Second Death

Kael cut through the first Bone Knight.

Another replaced it.

He moved.

Two Bone Mages cast simultaneously.

Kael fired.

One spell collapsed.

The second struck the ground.

Kael jumped.

A Bone Archer fired.

He deflected the arrow.

A Bone Knight struck.

Kael blocked.

CLANG!

Another attacked from behind.

Metal Control pulled a shield into his path.

The attack was blocked.

Kael moved forward.

Ten meters.

Twenty.

Thirty.

The Soul Furnace grew closer.

Then—

The Bone Sovereign appeared in front of him.

Staff against blade.

BOOM!

Kael's feet left the ground.

He landed.

The Sovereign attacked again.

Kael blocked.

The Sovereign cast a spell simultaneously.

Kael died.

Five seconds.

Reformation.

The Sovereign immediately attacked.

Kael moved.

This time, he didn't fight.

He studied.

Staff.

Spell.

Step.

Turn.

Cast.

Strike.

A pattern.

The Sovereign always cast with its left hand before the larger spells.

Every time.

Kael smiled.

He waited.

The Sovereign raised its left hand.

Kael moved before the spell appeared.

The attack missed.

Kael entered its range.

Origin Blade.

CLANG!

The Sovereign blocked.

Kael rotated.

Metal Control changed the blade's angle.

The Sovereign blocked again.

Kael stepped sideways.

The V-01X fired.

BOOM!

Mana Disruption struck the staff.

The Sovereign's spell collapsed.

Kael's eyes sharpened.

The staff is amplifying the spells.

He attacked the staff.

The Origin Blade struck.

CRACK!

A small fracture appeared.

The Sovereign's flames flickered.

It stepped backward.

Kael didn't pursue blindly.

He retreated instead.

The Sovereign's eyes narrowed.

“You noticed.”

“The staff isn't just a weapon.”

Kael looked at it.

“It's part of your spell system.”

“Yes.”

“Then I don't need to defeat you.”

Kael raised the V-01X.

“I need to break your staff.”

The Sovereign's expression became cold.

“Try.”

The battle changed instantly.

Kael stopped attacking the Bone Sovereign's body.

Every movement targeted the staff.

A strike.

A feint.

A Metal Control pull.

A precision shot.

The Sovereign adapted.

It protected the weapon carefully.

But every defense revealed another pattern.

Kael studied.

Then died.

Reformed.

Studied.

Died.

Reformed.

Again.

The Sovereign began changing its style.

It stopped using the staff in predictable motions.

It used spells without the staff.

Kael adapted.

The Sovereign summoned a barrier.

Kael redirected it.

The Sovereign summoned bone spears.

Kael built a rotating metal shield.

The Sovereign changed the ground.

Kael jumped onto ruins.

The Sovereign destroyed the ruins.

Kael used Metal Control to reconstruct a path.

Every exchange taught him something.

And slowly—

the distance between them began shrinking.

Not in power.

In understanding.

Kael could not overpower a Level 87 Legendary Beast.

But he could understand how it fought.

That was enough to survive.

For now.

The Bone Sovereign suddenly raised its staff.

Its blue flames intensified.

Kael's eyes sharpened.

Something was different.

The Sovereign's expression became almost solemn.

“Kael Darven.”

Kael stopped.

“Yes?”

“There is something you should know before this battle continues.”

“What?”

The Sovereign pointed toward the black tower.

“The central prison is weakening because you defeated the other two.”

Kael's expression changed.

“I know.”

“No.”

The Sovereign shook its head.

“You don't.”

Its staff touched the ground.

A pulse of blue energy spread through the Bone Domain.

Kael's System flashed.

[Central Containment Integrity: 69% → 61%]

Kael's eyes widened.

The Sovereign continued.

“When a Beast is defeated…”

“The corresponding lock begins transferring its remaining burden.”

Kael stared.

“Where?”

The Sovereign looked toward itself.

“Into the final lock.”

Kael's expression hardened.

“You.”

“Yes.”

The Sovereign raised its staff.

“That is why I cannot be defeated yet.”

Kael's grip tightened.

“And if I defeat you?”

The Sovereign looked directly into his eyes.

“All three burdens will transfer.”

A pause.

“And the central prison will lose its final stabilizer.”

Kael's blood ran cold.

The Sovereign's voice became quiet.

“Defeat me…”

“…and the thing beneath the tower will finally have a chance to wake.”

Kael stared at the black tower.

The central prison.

The thing his ancestors had protected.

The entity that had already spoken to him.

The entity that had noticed his existence.

The Sovereign raised its staff.

“So now you understand.”

Kael slowly lifted the Origin Blade.

“I do.”

“And?”

Kael's eyes hardened.

“And I'm still going to defeat you.”

The Bone Sovereign smiled.

“Good.”

The blue fire around it erupted.

[Legendary Beast — Bone Sovereign]

[True Combat Phase Beginning.]

Kael's timer continued.

[Legendary Immortality Remaining: 30:18:42]

The Soul Furnace opened wider.

Thousands of blue flames rose into the sky.

The Bone Sovereign pointed its staff toward Kael.

“Then let us begin the battle that your predecessors feared.”

Kael lowered his stance.

The Origin Blade hummed.

The next spell formed.

And the Bone Domain disappeared beneath a sea of blue fire.