Nero stood face to face with Xersies. Their eyes scanning for weakness. Nero took a deep breath, readying himself—then, without warning, he struck.

  A long spear of pure darkness shot toward Xersies, crackling with immense power. But Xersies raised his hand calmly. A golden light radiated from his palm, so intense that Nero had to shield his eyes with shadows to avoid being blinded.

  The dark spear collided with the luminous barrier Xersies had conjured and was obliterated. But that was exactly what Nero had planned. The darkness itself wasn't destroyed—it merely pooled onto the ground beneath Xersies.

  Clenching his fist, Nero commanded the shadowy puddle to erupt, sending hundreds of smaller spears flying at his opponent.

  But it's surprising Xersies that easy? Of course not!

  He saw through Nero's plan and simply stomped the ground, unleashing an explosion of light from his bare feet, annihilating the shadows this time. Nero dared not to give him time to counterattack. He immediately launched another relentless barrage of spears, yet Xersies deflected each one with ease. Nero knew he couldn't keep this front up for long—at least not as long as Xersies could—so he changed his strategy.

  He stopped his barrage of attacks and then stepped into his shadow, he vanished . In an instant, a massive portion of his energy was consumed, but now he was moving within the shadows themselves. Swift as a whisper, he emerged behind Xersies and struck.

  Xersies sensed the attack and spun around, unleashing a wave of radiant light that burned through the air. It obliterated Nero's strike instantly, forcing him to wrap himself in darkness once more to avoid being killed.

  As the searing wave passed, Nero seized the lingering shadows for a devastating counterattack.

  Tendrils of pure darkness lunged at Xersies, moving with surgical precision under Nero's command. Xersies was forced to maintain an unbreakable shield—one without a single gap.

  This drained him significantly, as light magic was strongest in offense and considerably weaker in defense. Both of them knew this.

  Xersies relied on an age-old principle: the best defense is a strong offense. Holding the barrier with one hand, he used the other to launch dozens of light-forged swords at the enormous shadow tendrils. It cost him more energy, but Nero couldn't split his focus enough to control all the tendrils while also defending against the daggers . In a single calculated strike, Xersies destroyed nearly half the tendrils. Moment freed Nero from focusing on his attacks, allowing him to block the remaining daggers.

  But that moment of distraction was all Xersies needed.

  With a flick of his wrist, he transformed his luminous shield, channeling even more energy into it. He intended to unleash it as a wave, breaking through the tendrils and shattering Nero's defense in one devastating attack k. But Nero had predicted this.

  As Xersies unleashed his light wave, Nero pulled the darkness back into himself, catapulting behind Xersies at breakneck speed. Xersies caught off guard, took the full force of Nero's strike.

  Nero poured a significant portion of his magic into this single attack, aiming to enthrall the battle in one decisive move. Therefore a sharp pain shot through Nero's fingers and hands, as small fractures formed upon impact. The first sign his magic was depleting! Sadly, most of his attack was absorbed by a nearly invisible membrane of pure light that enveloped Xersies—a thin but powerful defensive layer.

  Even so, the force of the hit sent Xersies crashing backward.

  The glowing symbols on the massive hall's walls flickered to life as he collided with them. He let out a chuckle as he pushed himself back up. But Nero didn't give him a moment to recover—he lunged again.

  Xersies snapped his fingers and vanished.

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  Nero's pupils shrank. This was the first time Xersies had used this ability and it caught Neroo unprepared. But he immediately refocused. He knew Xersies was still here. He wouldn't just flee.

  Nero concentrated, tuning out everything else, focusing only on the space around him. And then—he felt it.

  To his right!

  Whirling around, he barely managed to block the blinding light beam Xersies had fired at him. But he was a fraction of a second too slow. His defense wasn't strong enough. A sharp force slammed into him, sending him crashing into the wall. He felt several bones break on impact. Blood spilled from his lips as he fought against the creeping edges of unconsciousness.

  He tried to stand up again. He failed.

  Looking up, he saw Xersies standing there, hands clasped behind his back, grinning down at him.

  Grinding his teeth, Nero growled, "I yield."

  At once, a white Polykenas rushed into the room, placing his hands over Nero. A surge of energy flooded his body, forcing his bones back together and closing his wounds. Nero sucked in a sharp breath as the healing process completed. Polykenashealers were incredibly rare. As a species, the Polykenas only respected strength—buxeries was different. He understood that healers were a vital asset to any army, and so he made an effort to nurture a few of them.

  Within two minutes, Nero was fully restored.

  The healer moved to Xersies next, mending his injuries. For the past thirty or so years, Xersies had been his teacher in the arts of magic.

  Xersies studied Nero with a pleased expression. "You fought well, my Duce. You've grown stronger. And your control over your power is improving."Nero exhaled, shaking his head. "I still can't compare to you. You managed to maintain a defensive membrane throughout the entire battle. I, on the other hand, can barely focus on more than two things at once. And I still lack the raw power."You're still young, my Duce. Mastery comes with practice. And if I hadn't recently received a massive boost in power, I wouldn't have lasted as long as I did."

  He was right. After absorbing the magic of the dark stone, Nero became at least twenty percent more powerful.

  If the fight had happened before yesterday, he would have stood a much greater chance against Xersies, and the battle wouldn't have been so one-sided. But yesterday, when Xersies bathed in pure chaos, he experienced an immense surge in power.

  The Polykenas were a mystical species, their very existence intertwined with Chaos.

  They did not need air, food, or water—they drew strength from Chaos itself.

  That's why, whenever Nero's forces conquered a world, he let the Polykenas burn it to the ground. Every death, every act of destruction, released Chaos energy, strengthening them. However, they could only absorb a tiny fraction of it. Most of the energy was lost, left floating aimlessly in the air.

  It was truly wasted potential.

  When Nero first learned of this, he devised the concept of the Fortress—a way to harness and collect that excess Chaos energy. He brought the idea to Ramorand Xersiess, who were immediately excited by the prospect. They recognized the brilliance of the plan but also knew how difficult it would be to execute it successfully! It took nearly three years to design, a colossal puzzle where every symbol had to align perfectly. A single mistake could cause the entire Fortress to explode, taking the planet with it.

  Afterward, it took almost another three decades to construct. And yesterday, at long last, he had activated its true function, absorbing the Chaosenergy released by the planet's destruction. But instead of using it to empower the Polykenas, which would have been inefficient, he did something far more significant.

  He funneled all the collected energy into their home—their dimension. Legend said that when the Polykenas first appeared nearly three thousand years ago, a powerful mage had sealed them away in that dimension. It was Nero who had finally freed them.

  But Polykenas were not immortal. Though they lived far longer than humans, even they eventually died. Only the strongest among them—like Xersies and Ramor—could live for over a thousand years.

  And they did not reproduce like ordinary beings.

  They were born from Chaos itself.

  And the only way to create new Polykenas was to infuse Chaos energy into their dimension. But entering that realm was impossible. Even Nero couldn't return. The only way to generate new life was through death—when a Polykenas perished, their energy was released.

  Yet that, too, was inefficient. Even if Xersies sacrificed himself, he would only produce a dozen new Polykenas.

  Who was Xersies?

  The second oldest of his kind, surpassed only by Ramor. And the most powerful of them all. He alone could wipe out thousands of newborn Polykenas.

  And so, Nero had formed his plan.

  Instead of letting excess Chaos energy dissipate, he gathered it. And yesterday, after nearly seven hours, he funneled all of it into their realm.

  Then, he sent a messenger r. It was nearly impossible to breach that dimension. Though Nero had created a gateway, it was strictly one-way.

  Only three Polykenas in his entire army possessed the ability to travel between realms.

  When the messenger returned, he brought incredible news.

  Millions of new Polykenas had been born!