Chapter 169: Adrian Vs King Theron (2)

Sovereigns, Adrian knew, stood at the absolute apex of power in this world. They were unrivaled, their might a force of nature that defied all conventional understanding.

Many years ago, when the first Sovereigns had clashed, their battles were cataclysms, reshaping landscapes and turning entire regions into desolate wastelands.

They had fought with their full, unbridled power, and in doing so, they had stumbled upon a terrifying discovery: the tribulation.

It was a rain of lightning, a celestial punishment from the heavens themselves, as if the world itself rebelled against such immense power being unleashed.

This tribulation was unavoidable, a raw, untamed force that dealt unimaginable damage. After costly, grueling experiments, the early Sovereigns determined that this was the universe’s consequence for their unchecked might.

From that day forward, they chose to control their power, to always hold back, ensuring they never fully unleashed their true potential in battle. The risk of invoking the tribulation and the devastating damage it brought was simply too great.

But now, King Theron, his rage boiling over from Adrian’s audacious and disrespectful assault, didn’t care for such ancient pacts or consequences.

He recognized the true strength of his assailant. It was a strength so profound that, despite several minutes of intense combat, neither side had managed to gain a decisive advantage.

Adrian always seemed to be one step ahead, reading Theron’s strikes before they landed and finding a counter for every blow.

Although Theron had landed some hits, he knew that at this rate, the fight would drag on endlessly. But now, he was determined to end everything, for good.

A crimson, flaming corona erupted around King Theron, drawing in the surrounding fire mana, which swirled around him like a miniature sun.

He shot forward, a blur of fiery intent, aiming to finish Adrian in a single, overwhelming blow. But just as he closed the distance, the small weapon in Adrian’s hand flared with a blinding white light.



~ZZZAP—BOOOOM!!!~

A colossal beam of pure energy, a torrent of concentrated force, erupted from Adrian’s gun and flew at King Theron with the speed of light.

Before the King could even process what was happening, or if such a small device could truly be a threat, the blast landed, slamming into him with a force unlike anything he had ever experienced. It was as if the very fabric of reality buckled under the impact.

King Theron was propelled backward several kilometers, his body becoming a mere rag doll against the incredible momentum.

He tumbled through the air, smashing through trees and tearing a destructive path through the forest, before finally impacting the ground with a sickening thud, carving a deep furrow into the earth.

[Mana: 71%]

Adrian’s lips pressed into a thin line. The attack had strained his Dantian, and he felt more pain when he glanced at his status panel.

His mana capacity, initially at 97%, had taken a massive hit from that single, devastating shot.

But Adrian wasn’t focused on the pain or the permanently depleted mana; he couldn’t waste this opportunity.

He pushed his body to its absolute limits, traversing the ravaged forest in mere seconds as he raced to find the King before he could recover.

He was a second too late.

As Adrian burst into the clearing, King Theron was already back in the sky, hovering menacingly. The intricate, regal cloth that adorned his stomach region was gone, incinerated by the blast, and in its place, a fiery aura pulsed, visibly knitting his flesh back together, healing him at an astonishing rate.

As he saw the approaching Adrian, Theron’s face twisted in a primal scream of anger.

With a sweeping gesture, meteors of flaming balls, each as large as a Trailblazer, materialized in the sky above him, raining down on the forest below.



Adrian pushed the Phantom Flow technique to its absolute maximum, his movements becoming a blur, almost defying perception.

Coupled with the enhanced perception granted by his [Omnisense], he was able to weave and dart through the aerial assault, evading each and every one of the raining meteors that seemed to fill the entire sky.

The forest around him erupted in a symphony of explosions, each impact sending tremors through the ground, but Adrian remained untouched, like a phantom in the fiery chaos.

He evaded one more colossal meteor, then, with a quick snap of his wrist, fired a normal mana blast from his gun, intercepting another incoming fireball and exploding it harmlessly in the air into a shower of dissipated particles. That was the last of them.

The time Adrian had spent evading had given King Theron enough precious moments to recover. With a furious roar, the King was on him again, a blazing comet streaking through the destroyed forest.

~BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!~

Adrian reacted quickly, spamming multiple shots from his Mana Gun. Each blast, though not as powerful as the first, slammed into the King, momentarily slowing his relentless advance.

But it was only a slight delay. Adrian’s brow furrowed, a realization dawning on him as he watched the King’s speed.

He could tell... the fight was already over.

The King managed to reach him because Adrian had remained stationary, not bothering to move an inch.

With a large, flaming sword conjured from pure fire mana, Theron brought it down in a powerful slash towards the unmoving Adrian.

The fiery blade cleaved through the air with incredible speed, and it was certain to hit. But Adrian had timed everything perfectly.

With a sudden, impossible burst of speed, Adrian shot straight up into the sky, ascending to an altitude that wasn’t meant to be possible for any being in this world.

The crushing pressure of the extreme height pressed down on Adrian, but he resisted with every ounce of his will and strength.



After attaining the perfect height and meticulously connecting the necessary mana threads from his Dantian, Adrian positioned the Mana Gun at a precisely calculated angle before pulling the trigger.

King Theron, looking up from below, saw only a blinding flash of white before...

~BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMM!!!~

The blast consumed him entirely, a blinding, all-encompassing torrent of power. It sent him plummeting deep into the ground with a massive, earth-shattering sound that reverberated across the entire continent, reaching the ears of those fighting on the distant battlefield, and even beyond.

Adrian, already falling from the extreme height he had ascended to, looked down.

Below him, a massive, perfectly circular crater had formed, at its center, the King’s body lay. It looked like a narrow well, several meters deep into the scarred earth.

Adrian could tell that the King wasn’t dead yet, but he was barely clinging to life. And Adrian was resolved to end him.

He retrieved twenty different mana grenades, each glowing faintly with contained energy. With a swift, practiced motion, he removed all their pins simultaneously. He then threw them all at once, a deadly volley arcing down into the depths of the hole.

~BOOOOOOOM!!!~

A final, slightly weaker explosion reverberated from the ground again, tearing through the earth across several meters and shaking the very foundations of the devastated forest.

When the dust, smoke, and debris finally cleared, the Tech Core lit up in Adrian’s vision immediately:

[Quest Completed!]