[Heaven Dominating Divine Sword Art] – First Form

[Heaven Transcending Slash]

Caelum swung his blade, releasing a surge of brilliant Sword Qi that tore forward, attempting to erase the malicious energy entirely as it carved through everything in its path.

’This won’t be easy,’ he realized almost immediately.

Only a fraction of that energy was destroyed.

The corruption had already taken root deep within their bodies. Unless he eliminated them completely, saving them would be nearly impossible.

Zoe moved again, stepping through space as if it were solid ground, and appeared behind Caelum in an instant.

At the same time, Matilda materialized above him, coordinating their attack flawlessly.

Caelum reacted without hesitation.

He blocked Zoe’s strike, grabbed her arm mid-motion, and hurled her directly toward Matilda.

The two collided violently.

In the next moment, Caelum closed the distance, appearing beside Matilda and gripping her neck with overwhelming force.

Without pause, he forced his Qi into her body.

"Ah–!" Matilda let out a sharp cry as the violent intrusion disrupted everything within her.

But just as quickly, she vanished from his grasp.

Zoe reappeared behind him, her hand seemingly empty, yet Caelum’s perception caught it clearly, a blade formed from distorted space itself.

Their attacks clashed.

Before he could fully press forward, Matilda reappeared from his left and launched a kick toward him.

The impact landed, but Caelum barely moved an inch.

"I don’t know what kind of parasitic entity you are, but you’re clearly an idiot," he said mockingly.

His aura surged outward.

Using that force, he caught Matilda by the neck once again. This time, with his Qi already raging inside her body, he precisely disrupted the blood flow in her neck.

Her face turned pale almost instantly.

Even then, she continued struggling, trying to attack him.

’A normal human would already be dead,’ Caelum noted.

Instantly, he drove a kick into her abdomen.

She spat out a mouthful of black blood before collapsing completely.

"It’s a good thing that worked," he muttered.

The malicious energy had infiltrated their bodies deeply, but by using his Qi to counter it internally and forcefully disrupting vital functions, he had managed to knock her unconscious.

Now, only Zoe remained.

But just as he turned.

"No... no, you’re not doing that now," Caelum said sharply, sensing danger.

Zoe was chanting something in an unknown language, her voice low as a portal began forming above them.

Before it could fully stabilize, Caelum rushed forward and struck her with a powerful punch, sending her flying.

The forming portal destabilized, but did not vanish completely.

Without wasting time, Caelum subdued Zoe in the same manner as Matilda and dragged both unconscious bodies aside.

Yet his gaze remained fixed upward.

’Why is it still there...?’

The remnants of the portal lingered, flickering unnaturally, and a deep sense of unease settled within him.

Nearby, Loreal watched everything unfold, momentarily dazed.

Caelum had handled both opponents effortlessly, even overcoming their unnatural resilience.

The rumors about a five-year-old Expert resurfaced in her mind, something she had once dismissed as noble exaggeration.

But now, she wasn’t so sure anymore.

"Loreal," Caelum called, cutting through her thoughts, "take Anastasia and those two to the seniors. Tell them to stay where they are, I have a bad feeling about this."

"Again?" she asked, half-serious, half-wary, as if he possessed some form of foresight.

"Hurry up," he urged.

Without arguing further, Loreal retrieved a binding scroll from her School Badge and tore it open.

A magic circle formed instantly, and chains materialized, restraining Zoe and Matilda securely.

Then, carrying Anastasia, she moved in the direction Caelum had indicated.

Left alone, Caelum stepped toward the unstable portal, intending to destroy it completely.

But before he could act, the portal suddenly expanded.

The air trembled as its structure began stabilizing, not from his side, but from the other as a suffocating pressure spread through the surroundings.

Caelum’s instincts screamed danger.

And then, something stepped out from within the portal.

Its presence alone was enough to taint the surroundings in black.

***

Highest Level — Dungeon

Atop a small, desolate hill sat a lone man.

Before him hovered an incomplete portal, its structure unstable and flickering as fragments of spatial energy twisted around it.

In his hand rested a shattered triangular artifact.

He glanced at it briefly before shifting his focus to the telepathic message he had just received from his collaborators.

With every passing second, his irritation grew.

’These insects... I only agreed to work with them because that person suggested it, and our goals aligned, yet now they dare to treat me like a slave?’ he thought, his expression darkening.

His role in this operation had been simple, maintain the spatial integrity of the Observation Room and ensure that the vessel remained unharmed.

That alone should have been sufficient.

And yet, he had just been informed that the vessel had already been compromised.

Worse still, he was now expected to retrieve it himself. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

’The audacity!’

As his gaze lifted, his shadow beneath him began to distort unnaturally.

It stretched, expanding outward until it revealed something far more sinister.

An army.

A vast legion of undead figures emerged within the darkness of his shadow, each one radiating a heavy, oppressive aura.

Their presence alone was enough to weigh down the surrounding space.

"You," the man spoke coldly.

From within the shadow, a figure stepped forward.

Mounted atop a massive warhorse that exuded dense, dark energy, the being was clad in pitch-black armor from head to toe.

"Retrieve the vessel. Bring my disciple back... and kill anyone who stands in your way."

Its eyes burned with an eerie green glow, and even its voice carried a hollow, unnatural resonance.

"Understood."

With a casual wave of his hand, the man manipulated the surrounding mana.

The unstable portal responded immediately, its chaotic fluctuations stabilizing as space itself bent to his will.

Slowly, the Undead Knight stepped forward and then it passed through the portal.

"There is no need to use something grand to deal with mere children," the man muttered to himself, his tone laced with disdain as he watched the Knight disappear.

After all, no group of students could possibly stand against a Master-level opponent.

At the same time, a faint smirk appeared on his face.

If things went well, then those fools would take the blame for everything.

And when that happened...

The entire Zenith Empire would turn its wrath upon them.

All for the inconvenience they had caused him.