Arthur stepped out of the swirling time portal. His heavy boots landed softly on the obsidian glass of the Sovereign Summit.

As he crossed the threshold, the suffocating grayscale filter that had locked the entire universe in absolute stasis instantly shattered.

The world violently snapped back into full and vibrant color. The ambient hum of cosmic energy roared back to life.

Time had finally resumed.

"Tick... tock... boom," Arthur smirked. He casually rested the Ebonheart Sword on his shoulder.

[Ding!]

[Apex Realm Conquered. 10,000x Multiplier recalibrating for Celestial Ascension.]

[Host has assimilated the fundamental laws of Space, Time, and Karma.]

[Host has reached the absolute ceiling of the current dimension.]

[Host has ascended to: Grand Sovereign Tier.]

A blinding cataclysmic pillar of pure unadulterated white light erupted from

Arthur’s body.

It pierced the heavens and shattered the dark clouds above the Apex Realm.

The sheer suffocating density of his new aura was completely incomprehensible.

He was not just a cultivator anymore. He was the living breathing embodiment of the universe’s absolute laws.

Across the Summit, his four Queens staggered as the time-freeze lifted.

Aurelia gasped and her golden spear dropped to the glass floor.

Lyra stumbled forward. Her violet eyes were wide with shock.

Morwenna and Sylvia, who had been locked in poses of aggressive defense, slowly lowered their hands.

They looked at the empty space where Chronos had stood just moments ago.

They looked at the pile of ash that used to be the Sovereign of Karma.

They looked at the severed arm of the Sovereign of Space.

And then, they looked at Arthur.

He stood at the center of the carnage completely untouched.

He radiated an aura of such absolute and terrifying dominance!

It bypassed their minds entirely and struck directly at their souls.

The man in the dark coat had just slaughtered the untouchable Gods of the multiverse.

Yet, he looked like he was just deciding what to have for dinner!

As the crushing weight of the time-freeze finally lifted, the sheer and unfathomable magnitude of Arthur’s ascension crashed down.

It threatened to rip the atmosphere itself apart!

A normal entity standing this close to a newly birthed Grand Sovereign would have been instantly liquefied.

Their minds would be entirely erased by the sheer scale of his existence!

But these were not normal entities.

They were his Queens.

Morwenna let out a ragged breath.

Her abyssal tattoos flared wildly as she fought the instinctive and primal urge of her bloodline.

The universe was screaming at her to bow before a superior predator!

Instead, a fierce and deeply possessive smirk stretched across her pale face.

She took a deliberate step forward.

Her heels clicked sharply against the obsidian glass. She stopped right at his side and absolutely refused to lower her head.

Sylvia Thorne didn’t drop her gaze either.

The pristine Arch-Mage squared her shoulders.

Her silver uniform glowed brightly as she met his dark and world-ending eyes.

She offered a slow and deeply respectful dip of her head.

It was an acknowledgment between reigning monarchs, not a slave bowing to a master.

Lyra and Aurelia flanked them a second later.

The Valkyrie planted her golden spear firmly into the ground.

She used it as an anchor to stand tall amidst the suffocating cosmic pressure!

Beside her, the rogue thief leaned comfortably against Arthur’s arm. She was completely unfazed by the terrifying divinity radiating off him.

Arthur looked at the four most powerful women in existence.

They weren’t cowering at his feet. They were standing firmly in his shadow!

They were entirely unbothered by the fact that he had just rewritten the universe.

He felt a deep and genuine satisfaction.

He didn’t want mindless or groveling batteries.

A CEO was only as strong as his executive board, and his board was completely unbreakable!

He was no longer livestock. He was no longer a battery.

He was the actual owner of the cosmic firm.

"You held the line," Arthur murmured. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

His voice was a smooth and echoing baritone that resonated across the entire realm. It was laced with genuine approval.

"We wouldn’t miss the climax of the hostile takeover, Emperor," Sylvia replied.

A rare and breathtaking smile finally melted her icy facade.

Arthur turned his gaze toward the cosmic tear.

"The board has been cleared," he announced.

He gestured lazily toward the massive and jagged cosmic tear hovering in the center of the Summit.

"The Apex Realm belongs to the Ebon Citadel."

"BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!"

Down below the Sovereign Summit, the surviving remnants of the Apex Council’s armies dropped their weapons.

Millions of elite star-forged soldiers surrendered. The collective clatter of halberds and broadswords hitting the ground sounded exactly like a massive earthquake.

The moment the Three Sovereigns died, the psychological backlash rippled through their followers.

The absolute fear immunity Arthur’s Supreme War-God Aura provided instantly crushed their will to fight.

Entire legions dropped to their knees and surrendered to the Vanguard.

Arthur ignored the masses. He walked toward the ashes of Chronos.

Nestled in the glowing dust was a magnificent and intricately forged circlet.

It was made of pure condensed starlight and dark matter.

[Item Acquired: The Apex Crown.]

[Description: The symbol of absolute multiversal authority. Grants the wearer

total administrative control over the leylines of the Apex Realm.]

Arthur picked up the crown. It hummed in his hand as it was desperate to bond with his Grand Sovereign core.

He did not put it on his head. He just spun it around his finger like a cheap plastic toy.

"Looks a bit tacky for my taste," Arthur muttered.

He walked past his Queens and stepped right up to the edge of the massive cosmic tear.

The wound in reality was bleeding a terrifying higher-dimensional aura.

It was a doorway. It had been pried open by the billions of harvested mortal souls the Sovereigns had sacrificed.

Through the tear, Arthur could see faint glimpses of a sprawling and blindingly bright mega-structure.

He saw clouds of solid gold, palaces made of crystallized divine merit, and an atmosphere so dense it would crush a normal God into meat paste.

The Celestial Court. The next level of the corporate ladder.

"Are we invading immediately, Emperor?" Sylvia asked as she stepped up to his right side.

Her icy eyes stared into the cosmic tear without an ounce of fear. She was ready to freeze heaven itself if he asked her to do it.

"No," Arthur replied. His dark eyes narrowed as he analyzed the higher-dimensional energy.

"You do not rush a hostile takeover of that scale. We need to consolidate our assets."

He continued speaking while staring at the rift. "We need to liquidate the remaining Apex families, seize their treasuries, and integrate this realm with the Mortal Domain. I want a unified monopoly before we push into a new market."

Morwenna stepped up to his left side. Her abyssal claws retracted into elegant pale fingers.

"They will know we are coming. The death of the Sovereigns will not go unnoticed by the Celestial dogs."

"I am counting on it," Arthur smirked.