Chapter 73: Dominion!
Rumble!
The House Hurst estate shook as though an earthquake had taken hold of it.
Every impact sent another tremor through the ground, followed by shrieking metal and the sound of air being torn apart.
Even beyond the thick perimeter walls, the soldiers of Antares Command could feel the pressure rolling out from within.
This was the aftermath of high rank Awakened Warriors fighting at full force.
Even a stray thread of protective force escaping the battlefield could shred an ordinary person into pieces.
"What the F*ck!."
Alar swallowed and drew his neck in slightly.
His eyes stayed fixed on what remained of the entrance, worry plain across his face.
Kaia glanced toward the two figures standing some distance away.
"Neither of them has moved."
"That means the situation is still under control."
Alar and Jazz followed her gaze.
Manester and Kyo stood against the wind, both looking perfectly calm.
Only then did some of the tension leave Alar’s shoulders.
What none of them knew was that the two men on top of the armored vehicle were far from calm.
"Tch."
Kyo had long since spat out the toothpick.
His red pupils narrowed, lit by the strange vision granted through his ocular art.
In his sight, one force burned scarlet.
Vast.
Violent.
But impure, its foundation loose and unstable.
Facing it was another presence.
Much smaller, yet condensed to an almost terrifying degree. A domineering force so pure that no matter how savagely the blood energy crashed against it, it remained rooted in place.
Not an inch of retreat.
Kyo drew in a slow breath.
Joren had already shown monstrous Talent during the last Beast Tide.
That was not what unsettled him.
It was the fact that every time Joren appeared again, he had somehow stepped beyond every expectation.
This time was no different.
"What did that brat eat growing up?"
"Peak Rank Three, fighting a Rank Five head on?"
"And he is pushing him back?"
Kyo had seen more geniuses than he could count.
Some could fight above their rank.
A Rank Three defeating a Rank Four was rare, but it happened.
Crossing two full ranks was something else entirely.
Especially when the gap included the threshold of giving protective force physical form.
Manester stood with his hands behind his back.
He looked composed, but the faint tremor in his beard gave him away.
"I have never seen it either."
He shook his head, though the corner of his mouth kept rising.
"But I know one thing."
"The future of Norcrest belongs to him."
"His own future, however, lies far beyond Norcrest."
Kyo curled his lip.
What a showoff.
Then the estate erupted again.
Boom!
A colder, more sinister aura burst from deep within House Hurst.
The clear night sky darkened in an instant.
Above the estate, the air seemed drenched in thick blood. Phantom bats wheeled through the haze, shrieking so sharply that the sound crawled beneath the skin.
Manester’s calm vanished.
"That is..."
"Bloodfiend?"
"So one really came."
This was nothing like Orson, who had forced his way upward through artificial means.
This was a true Fiend expert.
Condensed power.
Pure killing intent.
And the blood field spreading across the estate made even distant observers feel their own blood stirring inside their veins.
Manester could no longer stand still.
"Two against one."
"We are going in."
Protective force burst from his body as he prepared to move.
This had gone far enough.
Joren fighting above his rank against a counterfeit like Orson was one thing.
Now an experienced Bloodfiend of the same level had appeared.
Even Manester himself would not walk away untouched from such a battle.
Joren was still only Rank Three.
Before he could move, a powerful hand clamped down on his shoulder.
"Do not."
Kyo’s voice came low and heavy.
His eyes never left the estate.
"I know the Bloodfiend race."
"Their vitality is absurd. Some even call them immortal. They specialize in curses, corrosion, and draining life."
"But they have weaknesses too."
"Their true bodies are fragile, and they fear powers that are pure and overwhelming."
"Joren has lightning."
"It is a natural counter to that vampire."
"Counter my ass!"
Manester threw off Kyo’s hand.
"This is not about elemental advantage."
"This is suppression through realm!"
"Look carefully!"
Kyo’s shout stopped him.
He pointed toward the rolling sea of blood.
Manester focused his sight.
Within that oppressive field, Joren’s presence had weakened.
His black armor had been torn apart.
Yet something else was rising from him.
Faint.
Thin.
But impossibly sharp.
Manester’s pupils contracted.
"That is..."
"Dominion?"
"He has touched the threshold of Dominion?"
The greatest reason Rank Five experts could overwhelm those below them was Dominion.
It fused the strength of the body, mind, and spirit with the power of the world, creating a vast field unique to the wielder.
Before Dominion, numbers meant little.
And yet it was also the barrier that stopped countless Awakened Warriors for life.
Some reached peak Rank Four and remained there for decades, unable to take even half a step further.
Joren...
Kyo ran his tongue across his teeth, eyes burning.
"That brat is using two Rank Five fighters as whetstones."
"He is forcing himself forward."
"Only at the edge of true death, where one step back means falling into the abyss, can someone squeeze out everything buried inside them."
He turned toward Manester.
"If we enter now, we can save him."
"We will also interrupt him."
Manester said nothing.
As a veteran expert, he understood the value of sudden enlightenment better than anyone.
It was the kind of opportunity every Awakened Warrior dreamed of.
"You are not afraid he will push too far?"
The words came through clenched teeth.
"I am."
Kyo looked back toward the battlefield, a wild grin spreading across his face.
"But if he wants to suppress the Fiends and Voidbeasts waiting for their chance..."
"He cannot do it without madness."
"Manester, you put the blade in his hand."
"Now trust him."