The explosion split the academy grounds in half.
Stone vaporized. Barriers screamed. A column of gold-white energy tore upward like a spear aimed at the heavens, punching through layered defensive arrays as if they were paper.
Students were thrown off their feet.
Elders snapped their heads toward the source at once.
And at the epicenter of the blast—
Rein Clark stood alone.
Five monsters surrounded him.
Five World-Level entities.
And he was smiling.
The battlefield was a ruin.
Cratered ground. Collapsed structures. Defensive towers reduced to molten stumps. The air buzzed with residual pressure so thick it felt like breathing underwater.
The monsters circled him cautiously now.
They weren't stupid.
They had already learned.
One was a hulking quadruped plated in obsidian scales, its jaws dripping molten saliva.
Another hovered above the ground—a winged aberration made of warped flesh and bone, its scream distorting space.
The third was a humanoid giant with four arms, each holding a different weapon grown from its own body.
The last two lurked in motion—one phasing in and out of visibility, the other splitting into mirrored copies every time it moved.
Five different kill-patterns.
Five different disasters.
Rein rolled his neck once.
Cracked his knuckles.
"Alright," he said calmly.
"Let's get this over with."
Dominion was not an element.
It wasn't fire, wind, lightning, or ice.
Dominion was authority made manifest.
The right to command reality—
Not through force, but through law.
Rein Clark was the chosen successor of the God of Dominion, a god who ruled over sovereignty, hierarchy, and control.
Where storms overwhelmed.
Where shadows consumed.
Where frost endured.
Dominion decided.
And the world obeyed.
The winged aberration attacked first.
It vanished—
And reappeared behind Rein, talons aimed straight for his spine.
Too slow.
Rein didn't turn.
He raised one hand.
"Fall."
The word wasn't shouted.
It didn't need to be.
The air collapsed.
An invisible force slammed the creature into the ground so hard the earth buckled beneath it, wings snapping like brittle glass.
Before it could even scream—
Rein was already moving.
He appeared above it mid-fall, knee descending.
BOOM.
The monster's head caved into the ground, body twitching once before going still.
One down.
The obsidian-scaled beast charged, jaws glowing molten red.
At the same time, the four-armed giant attacked from Rein's blind side, weapons swinging in a coordinated arc meant to crush and dismember.
Rein inhaled.
His aura expanded.
Golden rings of light formed behind him—rotating slowly, endlessly.
⟬ Dominion Field ⟭
The air thickened.
Every movement within ten meters slowed.
Not stopped.
Subjugated.
Rein stepped forward.
He met the obsidian beast head-on.
Its jaws snapped—
Rein caught its upper jaw with one hand.
The impact sent shockwaves rippling outward.
The monster pushed.
Rein didn't budge.
He leaned in slightly.
"You don't have permission."
He twisted.
The beast's neck snapped with a sound like shattering stone.
At the same time, Rein pivoted, catching the giant's incoming weapon with his forearm.
The second weapon slammed into his ribs.
The third aimed for his throat.
Rein let them hit.
His body slid back half a step.
Then—
He grabbed the giant by the face.
And slammed its head into the ground repeatedly—
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Each impact shattered another section of the battlefield.
On the final slam, Rein released.
The giant didn't rise.
Three down.
The remaining monsters changed tactics.
The phasing creature vanished entirely.
The mirror-splitting beast multiplied—five copies rushing Rein from all directions.
Rein exhaled slowly.
Closed his eyes.
⟬ Dominion Sense ⟭
The world clarified.
He could feel intent.
Hierarchy.
Truth.
His eyes snapped open.
He turned—
And punched empty air.
The phasing creature screamed as Rein's fist connected mid-shift, dragging it fully into reality.
Rein followed with a knee to the chest, then a backhand that sent it skidding across the ground in broken pieces.
The mirrored beasts struck together.
Rein didn't dodge.
He spread his arms.
"Submit."
Reality buckled.
Four copies imploded instantly, crushed under invisible authority.
The final, real body collapsed to its knees, unable to move.
Rein walked up to it.
Looked down.
"You fought well."
Then he brought his heel down.
Silence followed.
The battlefield was still.
Smoke drifted lazily through the air.
Rein stood at the center of devastation, not even breathing hard.
Blood ran down his knuckles—not his.
Students watching from afar were frozen in place.
Someone whispered—
"That was so cool."
Another answered—
"That was an execution."
A small smile tugged at his lips.
"So that's the level now," he murmured.
His aura settled.
But his eyes burned brighter.
Rein Clark wasn't arrogant without reason.
He had trained since childhood under pressure meant to break kings.
He had survived Divine Resonance.
He had learned what it meant to stand above others—and still keep moving forward.
And now—
He had found rivals.
True ones.
He clenched his fist.
"Good,"
he said quietly.
"Then I won't be alone at the top."