Overlord's Ambition was an ability that relied entirely on the user's own willpower.
Legend claimed that only those born with the bearing of a king could awaken it.
Once released, an invisible pressure spread outward, crushing the spirit and forcing even the most vicious opponents to tremble.
Caesar descended from the sky like a true monarch returning to his domain. The power of Overlord's Ambition rolled across the sea in silent waves.
Beneath the surface, large groups of snake-like Deadpool creatures lost consciousness under the pressure, their bodies floating up like lifeless fish.
Leviathan, however, was clearly beyond Caesar's intimidation.
Its song-like cry suddenly rose in pitch as it burst from the sea, sending waves dozens of meters high crashing outward. Its massive, bone-lined jaws opened wide, blotting out the moonlight as it lunged forward, intending to devour everyone in one strike.
Caesar was the first in its path.
The colossal wave and the gaping maw descended together. This single attack, like a natural disaster, was enough to wipe out half the people present.
At that moment, Chu Zihang moved.
Standing among the crowd, he raised one hand. A blade appeared in his grasp, drawn from thin air. He stepped forward against the oncoming wave, his sword angled toward the sky, and began chanting a long, solemn incantation.
"The words that quietly reveal corruption…"
This was the activation chant for Kido Number Ninety, Black Coffin, from the Shinigami system.
But someone acted faster.
"We're going to die! We're going to die! Ice Release, One-Horned White Whale!"
Lu Mingfei formed hand seals frantically, reacting on instinct as Chakra exploded from his body.
A massive ice narwhal surged out of the sea, its size rivaling Leviathan's. It collided head-on with the Dragon in a thunderous impact, like continents crashing together.
The shockwave tore the waves apart. Water exploded into countless droplets that fell like a torrential storm.
Everyone paused mid-motion, either fleeing or preparing to attack, and stared at Lu Mingfei.
Even Chu Zihang glanced back.
For a brief moment, the one everyone had dismissed became the center of the battlefield.
Then Chu Zihang vanished in a flash.
He kicked Caesar away from the collapsing wave, sending him clear of danger. In the same motion, he drew his blade back, settling into the stance of a sword draw.
This was no ordinary slash.
"All things in the universe," Chu Zihang intoned calmly, "turn to ash."
From the tip of his blade to the hilt, fire ignited in absolute silence. It was pure, merciless flame, as if it existed solely to destroy.
"Flowing Blade-like Fire."
Chu Zihang caught up to Leviathan as it fell back toward the sea, still locked with the ice narwhal. His blade flashed.
A line of fire tore through more than a hundred meters of space, splitting the night sky and igniting the darkness itself.
Leviathan released a piercing, agonized cry.
A thin red line appeared across its abdomen, then erupted into overwhelming flames that engulfed its entire body. Even as it plunged back into the ocean, the fire did not go out. The seawater itself boiled and evaporated around it.
Chu Zihang hovered in the air, looking down at the destruction below.
This technique was called Torch.
After unlocking Flowing Blade-like Fire from the system's gift package, he had gained immense spiritual pressure along with this ability. Using it for the first time, even he found the result startling.
Below, one of the figures standing on the water stared in disbelief.
"Wait, wait, wait. Is there some kind of mistake?" Xia Mi muttered. "That's a Dragon King. That's my sister. She's been burned half to death like this?"
A chill ran down her spine.
Then she paused.
Why was she scared?
She was not a Dragon King anymore. She was a Nine-Tails Jinchuriki.
Within her sealed space, Nine-Tailed Fenrir spoke. "Sister, which Dragon King is that?"
Xia Mi rolled her eyes. "You really remember nothing, do you? That's the King of Ocean and Water. The King of the Sea, defeated by fire before she could even cast a spell. Truly…"
She fell silent for a long moment before finally finishing the thought.
"Terrifying."
The sea surface grew eerily quiet. Aside from the wind and waves, only Leviathan's fading cries remained.
Everyone stared at the flames burning beneath the water.
Steam obscured their vision, but it could not hide the greed in their eyes.
They all knew what lay below.
A Dragon King.
If its Dragon Bone Cross were sold to the system, the price would be unimaginably high, measured in untold amounts of Dollars.
Eyes shifted back and forth between Lu Mingfei, Chu Zihang, and Caesar.
These three were the greatest obstacles.
Without an external enemy, humans quickly became each other's rivals.
Lu Mingfei felt his scalp prickle under the weight of so many gazes. He wrapped his arms around himself instinctively. "Why does it suddenly feel so cold? Little Heavenly Maiden, do you still want your clothes? Maybe lend them to me for a bit?"
"Are you insane?" Su Xiaoqiang snapped. "I'm wearing a thin dress, and it's soaked. What do you expect me to wear if I give it to you?"
Lu Mingfei immediately backed down, shrinking his neck and saying nothing more.
As he lowered his head, his rotating Sharingan and Rinnegan picked up something strange beneath the surface.
The ocean, darkened by blood, appeared pitch black under the moonlight. Yet in his vision, the currents were spiraling, accelerating into a massive vortex.
"Wait," Lu Mingfei shouted. "There's something happening underwater."
Everyone followed his gaze.
Most could only sense the formation of a powerful whirlpool.
Only those with deeper knowledge, Xia Mi and her companion, along with the Little Tang brothers, understood what it meant.
"A Nibelungen has opened," Xia Mi murmured. "Leviathan's blood and bones were the keys."
A Nibelungen was a hidden space overlapping reality, something only high-ranking Dragonkind could construct.
Combined with the system's mission description, it was easy to guess that this domain belonged either to Odin or to the Black King.
A deep unease settled in Xia Mi's chest. After a thousand years, she might soon face that figure again, whether father or brother.
The ocean currents suddenly accelerated.
It was as if something deep below was violently pulling everything downward.
A massive vortex formed. The center hollowed out, swallowing seawater and icebergs alike.
The burning Leviathan was dragged into the depths, vanishing completely.
"No!" someone shouted. "The Dragon Bone Cross! Something down there is taking it!"
Greed overwhelmed caution.
Those who had been retreating turned back without hesitation, diving into the vortex and following the spiraling current downward.
When Lu Mingfei opened his eyes again, the chaos was gone.
Above him stretched a cyan sky. Below lay a calm, endless sea.
At the center stood a solitary island.
Strange light fell from the sky, illuminating towering ancient trees and a forest unlike anything in the modern world. Surrounding it was a structure resembling an ancient Roman arena, encircling the island.
Along its circular walls were stone chambers, each holding square objects.
From afar, they looked like coffins, or gravestones.
Leviathan was nowhere to be seen.
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