"You think that alone is enough?" The man sneered. He charged in, perfectly matching Caelus’s speed.

Boom!

The entire tower shook violently as they both shot into the sky.

They clashed fiercely in the air. Caelus unleashed waves of sword energy. The crazed man countered, sending beams of dark energy that Caelus desperately deflected with his blade.

"Xera!"

Caelus spammed the spell. Golden barriers flickered into existence, perfectly intercepting the man’s lethal attacks.

He didn’t stop there. Xera, Ferra, and Tecta were unleashed all at once. To add to the pressure, he layered Jirasad and Refla into the mix.

The entire Fortis City trembled below them.

A Gold rank combat score was no joke. Caelus was still struggling to adapt to this newfound strength. The only thing keeping him alive was his Xera shields. He was constantly forging them within one-second calculations, burning 3 CA per cast. But he wasn’t afraid. Even if he ran out of CA, he could tap into his Mind Power. That was the sheer superiority of spells.

Down below, the players looked up in awe.

"Who is that? Did a Gold rank arrive in our area?"

"Could it be Rachel? The Ice Queen?"

But before they could deduce anything else, the Null Players ambushed them in the streets.

High above, Caelus and the crazed man continued their brutal exchange.

"What happened? Are you just going to hide behind your shields?" The man sneered, his fists glowing with dark energy. "You are so weak it’s funny!"

"Brother, we can talk this out," Caelus said speechlessly.

He immediately activated Silver Tongue, trying to buy time, However, it didn’t work on him.

He couldn’t fully rely on his strength right now. The huge jump to Gold was too terrifying compared to a normal bronze to silver. The strength at Gold was completely different. Every single movement the he made was traced with a faint golden light, passively amplifying his power. Caelus now understood exactly why Gold ranks were considered untouchable by Silvers. They had this special golden light that improved their powers to a whole new level.

He, on the other hand, just hadn’t gotten used to it yet.

Hence, he was struggling.

He unleashed another wave of barriers, dodging a lethal strike. He felt an intense frustration. His mind, enhanced by his Aura perception, processed the fight perfectly. He could see the attacks coming perfectly. But his Silver-Rank that had not undergone Gold-Rank Baptism at gold rank was lagging behind the Gold rank strength.

He desperately needed a higher-grade Dexterity talent to bridge the gap or a gold-rank baptism to fine-tune himself to the amplification from the golden light. This lag wouldn’t exist if he had undergone a proper Origin Baptism at the Gold rank or had a higher Dexterity talent that could match Gold-level combat score.

He kept on trying to land a decisive hit, but it was all for naught.

Just then, the man grinned maliciously.

"Caught you."

Suddenly, a hidden black marking on Caelus’s chest lit up.

Boom!

A massive, point-blank explosion engulfed Caelus.

"What?" Caelus coughed blood, stunned. "How did this happen?"

"While you were so busy forging shields, I already calculated your cast time!" The man laughed loudly. "It takes you a little over one second to reform a barrier due to your irregularity in control. Every time you cast, your energy leaks. I simply merged my own explosive skill into your leaking energy!"

"You lack control! Hahahaha! Die!"

The man shot toward the smoke, ready to deliver the killing blow.

Caelus gasped for air. He checked his status. His HP had violently dropped. If not for the recent jump to Silver I pushing his base HP to 265, that explosion would have instantly killed him.

Around the man, Rime had passively accumulated from Caelus’s MOD. A Frost Core formed, instantly summoning the Frost Giant. However, because Caelus’s MOD hadn’t been fully recalibrated to 3-Star, the giant was instantly crushed by the man’s oppressive aura before it could even swing its fist.

Caelus’s expression turned incredibly dark.

He couldn’t adapt fast enough. He had only one option left. He had to completely overpower this man with a higher combat score!

Even if it resulted in a massive wave of exhaustion, killing a Gold rank enemy was worth the cost.

"Chaos Dragon Body!"

Caelus roared. A terrifying, unstable power surged uncontrollably through his veins.

"You can die here."

His voice glitched. His massive geometric dragon wings erupted from his back. Boundless draconic energy surged into his body. Thanks to his Aura reaching Tier 15, his dragon energy generation had increased. He could maintain this state for exactly 15 seconds.

His combat score violently surged far beyond the man’s.

"Y-You... What is this power?!" The man halted his charge, his face twisting in absolute shock as the oppressive draconic pressure crushed his lungs.

He raised his hands to defend himself, but it was already too late.

Caelus didn’t say a word. He raised his hand. A massive, apocalyptic magic circle formed in the sky, blotting out the stars.

"Volcra... x3."

Boom!

Ambient sound muted entirely. Boundless, fiery destruction descended upon the sky above Fortis City. The Gold rank area of effect was terrifying. It could easily wipe out a massive chunk of the city below. Caelus desperately used his Telekinesis and Mind Power to forcefully compress the blast radius so it only engulfed the man.

The man screamed as the compressed Volcra detonated. The sheer heat and chaotic energy completely vaporized him, leaving absolutely nothing behind.

Caelus stood panting in the air.

There were still a few seconds remaining on his transformation. He decided to test his new Ender class skill.

[Origin Lock (Mythical, 3-Star): Ping an opponent. Once pinged, it will automatically lock onto other opponents sharing the exact same Origin within a 30-meter radius. If targets are clustered, the ping will chain and spread. Grants an ’Origin Card’ upon completion. Using an attack on the card deals equal damage to all locked targets.]

He looked down at the chaotic city streets. He pinged a Null Player fighting a group of guards.

Within a second, a holographic Solitaire card with a golden-black cover appeared above the Null Player’s head. Just as quickly, the ping chained outward. The golden cards spread like a virus, jumping from enemy to enemy within the 30-meter radius, and then chaining further.

Within three seconds, the Origin Lock updated.

[Locked Targets: 504]

He had locked onto 104 Null Players and 400 Darkspawns. They all shared the same corrupted Hollow Origin, making the chain spread incredibly fast.

A physical Origin Card materialized in Caelus’s hand.

He didn’t hesitate. He channeled Volcra directly into the card.

Across the entire city, massive explosions triggered simultaneously. Mushroom clouds erupted precisely from the 504 locations, instantly wiping out the Null forces.

Caelus stood in the center of the sky, his body still glowing with a fading golden light.

Down below, from the command tower, City Lord Leon and Mia stared up at him in pure disbelief.

Ding!

[Challenge Domain Completed.]

[You are the MVP of the Challenge Domain.]

[You will receive abundant rewards.]

[You have done a great deed for the Origin Domain. Your rewards have been amplified.]

[You have obtained the following...]