"Didn’t expect it’d be some outsider who snatched the damn Scepter of the Fey Sovereign from those cursed Fairies! But it’s over now. Hand it over, and I might let you live. Otherwise..." A raspy voice echoed through the sky. In the figure’s hand, a jet-black scepter suddenly appeared, radiating a power that rivaled the Scepter of the Fey Sovereign—but its aura was completely opposite. Dark. Twisted. "Oh yeah? Why don’t you come and take it?" Ethan shot back, not a trace of fear on his face. He took a deep breath— —and unleashed his power like a tidal wave crashing across the battlefield. The figure didn’t hesitate. A surge of violent, chaotic energy exploded from him in response, slamming into Ethan’s power head-on. At the same time, his eyes flared red, madness creeping into his voice. "So, you’ve reached Tier 16... SSS-rank? Impressive. But do you really think that puts you on my level? Do you think you can stand against me—Kardoketh, the Dark Fey Sovereign himself?" "Don’t kid yourself. Give up now!" Kardoketh—the Dark Fey Sovereign. In this world, he was a Sovereign-class being too. His power was on par with the original Fey Sovereign. In other words, he was also Tier 16, SSS-rank. But for years, he’d been suppressed by the previous Fey Sovereign. Even before that Sovereign’s death, Kardoketh had been severely wounded in a brutal clash between the two—both sides nearly destroyed. That’s when that Skyfiend woman struck, ambushing him while he was down and finishing him off. But now... he was back. And with the Fey Sovereign who once kept him in check now gone, there was no one left in this world stronger than him. No one—except maybe Ethan. Because Ethan wasn’t weak anymore either. "Then come on. Let’s see what you’ve got." Ethan didn’t waste time with more talk. He moved. He was Tier 16, SSS-rank too. And now, he held not just the Scepter of the Fey Sovereign, but also the Blade of the Fey—two artifacts powerful enough to shake the very foundations of this world’s Primordial Force. Why the hell would he be afraid? He wasn’t. Not even a little. Without hesitation, Ethan struck first. The moment Ethan so much as twitched a finger, the very fabric of the world responded. Power surged toward him like a tidal wave, converging in his palm and forming a massive sphere of raw energy. Without hesitation, he hurled it straight at the Dark Fey Sovereign—Kardoketh. "You’re courting death!" Kardoketh’s face darkened, his voice a low growl. Fury ignited in his eyes. In the blink of an eye, the two clashed again and again, their blows too fast to count. The sky around them fractured like shattered glass, and the ground below was torn to pieces. The energy pouring off them was wild, unrelenting—pure destruction. ᴛʜɪs ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ɪs ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ʙʏ novel_fіre.net And yet, even as the battle raged on, neither could gain the upper hand. Blow for blow, they were evenly matched. A deadlock. Above them, the sky continued to split open, the rifts spreading wider with every collision. Shockwaves of chaotic energy blasted outward like a flood, tearing through the land. Each impact was strong enough to flatten an entire forest. "We can’t let this continue... or the entire Feywild will be destroyed!" Feylora’s head snapped up, her eyes sharp with resolve. As a trueborn Fairy, her innate gift was to absorb and assimilate energy—and right now, the battlefield was saturated with the most volatile, unstable energy imaginable. If left unchecked, it would tear the world apart. Her body blurred into a streak of emerald light as she shot into the sky. She spread her arms wide, and behind her, the mark of a Sovereign flared to life. She began drawing in the chaotic energy around her, absorbing it into her body with reckless intensity. The destructive force that had been ravaging the land was now being pulled into her like a black hole. Ethan’s eyes widened, his heart clenching. He could feel it—those energy waves were even more unstable and violent than what the Skyfiend woman had unleashed before. No normal being could survive that kind of power. "Feylora!" he shouted, voice tight with panic. "You’re gonna kill yourself!" But Feylora didn’t stop. Veins bulged on her forehead, her wings trembling violently as she fought to contain the storm inside her. Her body flickered with clashing lights—on one side, the pure green glow of her Fairy heritage; on the other, a savage black-gold energy that looked like it could rip her apart at any second. Ethan’s fists clenched. He knew this was reckless. Feylora was pushing herself too far. Absorbing that much chaotic energy without preparation could easily backfire—her body might explode from the inside out. Faster than anyone could react. His form blurred, and in an instant, he locked onto Feylora. He tore through space itself, teleporting directly to her side—and grabbed her by the shoulder. RUMMMMMMBLE! RUMMMMMMBLE! A strange, low hum echoed through the sky as Kardoketh unleashed his full power, trying to obliterate her on the spot. But then—something went wrong. His power... slipped out of his control. It started pouring into Feylora. "What... what the hell is this?!" Kardoketh’s pupils shrank. He froze. Everyone else did too. No one could believe what they were seeing. Kardoketh—the Dark Fey Sovereign, one of the most powerful beings in the world—was being drained. She wasn’t just resisting him—she was absorbing his power. Devouring it. And yet... it was happening, right in front of their eyes. Kardoketh’s expression twisted into something he hadn’t felt in a long, long time— You have to understand—Kardoketh’s power wasn’t just some high-level magic or brute force. It was Primordial Force—the raw, foundational energy of this world itself. According to ancient legend, this power originally belonged solely to the one true Fey Sovereign. But during the chaos of the ancient wars, that power was torn in two. One half remained with the original Fey Sovereign... and the other was stolen by Kardoketh, giving birth to the Dark Fey Sovereign. Their powers were equal. Balanced. And for thousands of years, they’d been locked in a dead-even struggle, neither able to overpower the other or steal the other’s half of the Primordial Force. Now that same power—his half of the world’s core essence—was being ripped away by someone else. Of course he was terrified. Of course he was panicking. Because if this kept going... It wouldn’t just be a loss. It would be annihilation. "Who the hell are you?!" Kardoketh roared, his voice cracking with desperation. "How are you even surviving this power?!" His face twisted, pale and furious, eyes wide with disbelief and fear. Because if Feylora really managed to drain him completely... He’d lose everything. His Sovereign status. His power. His very identity. That thought alone sent him into a frenzy. In a flash, he detonated a surge of power unlike anything he’d ever unleashed before. A terrifying wave of raw, chaotic energy exploded from his body, shaking the sky and tearing through space itself. He was trying to break free. To sever the connection. To escape. But the moment that power erupted— Like a black hole wrapped in emerald light, she pulled it in—devouring the very force he’d just unleashed to save himself. And just like that... His last hope vanished into her.