He felt doubtful, however, as every second that same aura became stronger and stronger. All the doubts vanished as he became certain that Apollo had joined the great one; it would be impossible for him to have the same power.

Apollo, on the other hand, was busy controlling his rising strength. The energy was vast, even though it was just a finger, but it was from an ancient being whose strength should have reached a sovereign level.

A drop of blood of a sovereign can destroy the sun and moon, not to mention a finger.

Although the energy was massive, his soul, after reaching the supreme level, gained control and understanding beyond the third-order transcendent level.

He remained under control and began the breakthrough to a transcendent level.

His cultivation quickly reached the peak of half-step transcendent, and to the point that it cannot be improved unless he breaks the final barrier.

Yet the overwhelming energy continued to flood into him, swelling within like a balloon on the verge of bursting. If he failed to break through, he would explode.

Fortunately, this was not a problem for him.

Be it his body, his soul, or his understanding of the rules—he had long since reached the required standard… and to exact surpassed it. Moreover, his inner world had already undergone transformation, leaving nothing to hold him back.

There were no more obstacles. Only the final step remained. 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

Boom.

And that thin barrier broke instantly.

Apollo's aura immediately started to climb and quickly surpassed the eternal god realm.

If it were outside the ruins, he wouldn't have been able to break through, as Rion was fully under the suppression of the runic formation, but within the ruins, that wasn't; here, even the transcendent from ancient times were roaming.

And so, without obstruction, Apollo broke through.

His aura continued to rise, growing increasingly terrifying as his very existence underwent transformation. He was no longer merely evolving—he was ascending into an entirely different level of lifeform.

The Transcendent realm.

A state that, as its name implied, belonged to beings who had surpassed the natural flow of the universe itself.

His body, soul and divine essence were all transforming and being liberated from the shackles of the universe.

The transformation was terrifyingly powerful, especially for Apollo, as whether it was body, soul or understanding of powerful rules was something no one ever achieved, and he can be called the strongest eternal god to ever exist.

So his breakthrough phenomenon was extraordinary, which the world had never seen before.

The entire ruin trembled. Then, the sky itself transformed.

What once was empty became a vast and breathtaking galaxy, filled with countless stars. Yet among them, some shone differently.

Some burned with golden flames.

Some pulsed with the aura of death.

Others radiated pure destruction.

But above all…

There was one that stood apart.

A constellation shaped like a sword—formed entirely of stars—shining brighter than all the rest.

The entire ruins were trembling, and numerous ancient entities hidden within the ruins seemed to be awakened by such a phenomenon.

Lucifer and others from the sacred empire also started to awake, but seeing what was happening, they were shocked. As they were close to Apollo, the mysterious phenomenon seemed to enlighten them.

Apollo's aura continued to rise until, after undergoing tremendous transformations, it finally stabilised.

The vast phenomenon faded away, leaving behind only a seated figure.

Apollo.

Yet now, he felt even more unfathomable—like a presence beyond comprehension, as if the very rules of the world could no longer fully contain him.

Slowly, he opened his eyes, and instead of an outburst, his aura seemed to completely disappear; even Seraphiel, who was second-order transcendent, could not feel anything from him.

He had completed the transformation and even absorbed the fragments of understanding of various rules of the ancient soul.

Apollo, after becoming the first order transcendent, completely changed.

A quiet thought crossed his mind: to test his strength.

Then his gaze met Seraphiel's.

A chill ran down Seraphiel's spine. His legs began to tremble.

"What… is happening…?"

Even he couldn't understand it. His body no longer obeyed him, as if some unseen force had seized control. A deep, instinctive fear took hold of him, and then he bent on his knees. He thought maybe the great one had taken over Apollo, which is why he was being terrified, but his thoughts seemed shattered as he heard Apollo's words.

"Why are you bowing?" Apollo's voice was calm, almost indifferent. "Sadly, I am not the one you expected."

"Tch, you are too weak, but I guess you can be my test puppet." As he said that, Seraphiel's expression changed. He immediately wanted to run, but seemed to be late.

"Try this."

Apollo, saying this, waved his hand, and the space around Seraphiel transformed into a five-element void prison. Instantly, he was crushed to the ground without being able to lift a finger.

An indestructible prison made by the fusion of space and the five elements rules, crushing him from all directions.

A true fusion that was before appeared to be almost impossible. The two rules weren't simply overlapped, but they fused and became something new.

This was knowledge Apollo had gained from the fragmented memories of the ancient soul.

From those memories, he had learned the entity's true identity— A terrifying Sovereign, standing at the peak of the Eighth Order.

A being who had mastered the fusion of light and darkness and was known as the Eclipse Sovereign.

In fact, after knowing the memories of reaching the Sovereign realm, almost all sovereigns follow the path of fusion. And more rules they can fuse, the stronger they become.

"Hmm, power is not bad." Apollo looked at the crushed Seraphiel, who wanted to say something but was unable to.

True fusion wasn't as simple as it was something only a sovereign can do, and just now, he just mimicked a bit. But due to his terrifying talent in his first try, he was able to pull something similar to true fusion.

But even if it wasn't a true fusion, its power was still terrifying—it wasn't a mere one plus one, but something that increased exponentially.