The black flames came down on Aldrich.
But The slash collided with something solid. Stone exploded. Dust erupted everywhere, thick and choking, covering the entire throne room in gray clouds. The sound was deafening a crash of metal meeting rock, the grinding of destruction.
But when the dust began to settle, King Augustus stood there, his sword extended, black flames still coating the blade. His eye narrowed. He noticed Something was wrong.
Where was the blood? Where was the body?
The statue behind him one of the ancient stone sculptures carved to honor past kings of the Royal Kingdom lay in pieces. Shattered on the ground. The blade had cut clean through it, splitting the stone figure from shoulder to base.
But Aldrich wasn't there.
Augustus's head snapped left, then right, he was searching. His clock pattern eye spun rapidly, trying to track, trying to understand what had just happened.
Twenty feet away, near the far wall where the statue had originally stood, Aldrich dropped to one knee. His breathing came hard and fast, ragged. His right shoulder bled freely, blood soaking through his clothes and dripping to the floor.
The cut had reached him. Not fully, but enough. The black flames had grazed his shoulder before the exchange completed, leaving a deep gash that burned with residual dark essence.
What had just happened occurred in the span of a single heartbeat.
When Aldrich had reappeared and Augustus's slash was already descending already cutting toward him,his eyes had gone wide with shock. That was an endgame move. An impossible situation. No time to dodge. No time to dissolve. No time to escape.
But Solomon had intervened in the last possible moment. At the far end of the palace, right where Aldrich now knelt, there had stood a sculpture. A statue carved from solid stone, depicting King Aldus Aurelius, one of the past rulers of the kingdom. The moment before Augustus's blade struck, the statue had shined out with a brilliant yellow light that coated it.
And in that instant, Aldrich and the statue had swapped places.
Aldrich had muttered the technique name even as his body moved through space:
[Library of Light Magic: Archive One Twenty : Light Exchange.]
The ability allowed him to exchange his physical position with any non living object he could focus on. The statue for himself. Himself for the statue. Reality bent to accommodate the swap.
But the exchange hadn't been fast enough to completely avoid damage. The black flames had already begun cutting into his shoulder before the swap completed, leaving him injured despite the escape.
His system activated immediately, blue text appearing in his vision.
[SYSTEM ALERT: LIBRARY OF LIGHT MAGIC ACTIVATED]
[TECHNIQUE USED: LIGHT EXCHANGE ARCHIVE 120]
[DESCRIPTION: SWAP PHYSICAL POSITION WITH NON LIVING TARGET WITHIN LINE OF SIGHT]
[COST: MODERATE ESSENCE EXPENDITURE]
[WARNING: BODY COMPATIBILITY WITH SOLOMON AURELIUS PERSONALITY AT 80 PERCENT]
[FULL INTEGRATION NOT YET ACHIEVED]
Aldrich's eyes scanned the notifications quickly. Body compatibility? What did that mean? He pushed the thought aside. Not important right now.
But another question surfaced in his mind. "Why didn't the Danger Detection technique warn me about that attack?"
Inside his consciousness, Solomon's voice responded immediately. Calm and Instructional. "The Danger Detection technique won't work properly against Augustus. His attacks are already happening before the detection can activate in the present moment. He sees the future. By the time your system detects danger, he's already committed to the attack in a timeline where you can't avoid it."
He paused. "And it's useless against him for another reason. Every time you dodge, every time you move, he's already seen where you'll appear next. Your evasion patterns are predictable to someone who can see seconds ahead."
Aldrich processed this quickly. "Then what do I do?"
"Rely more on your Library of Light Magic," Solomon advised. "Light Exchange lets you swap positions with anything non living you can focus on. He can't predict which object you'll choose if you don't decide until the last moment. It's one of the few abilities that can counter Foresight because even he can't see a choice you haven't made yet."
Aldrich nodded internally. That made sense. Foresight saw futures based on current intent. If he made his decisions at the absolute last second, the futures Augustus saw would be incomplete.
This entire internal conversation happened within three seconds.
Meanwhile, Aldrich's body was already healing. The system prompted again.
[HEALING PROTOCOL ACTIVATED]
[INITATING LIBRARY OF SERAPH'S GRACE]
[SHOULDER WOUND REGENERATING]
[ESTIMATED TIME TO FULL RECOVERY: 30 SECONDS]
The pain in his shoulder dulled. Flesh began knitting back together. The bleeding slowed, and then stopped. Not instant, but fast enough.
Across the room, the dust finally cleared completely.
King Augustus walked forward slowly forward. His black coated sword rested casually in his hand. He swung it between his fingers, spinning the blade in lazy circles as he approached. Blood still ran down his face from his destroyed left eye, but he seemed unbothered by it now.
A devilish smile spread across his face. "Little brother, it seems you're going defensive now, huh?"
Behind him, the Rainbow Serpent moved. Its massive body coiled and uncoiled through the air, dancing around Augustus like a protective guardian. Its scales flowed through every color continuously. Its forked tongue slipped in and out of its mouth, tasting the air like a snake it was.
Augustus's smile widened. "Come on. I know you're stronger than this."
He took another step forward. His voice grew quieter, more dangerous. "I've foreseen this whole event already, Solomon. Today, you're going to die against me. Once again."
Aldrich stood slowly. His shoulder was nearly healed now. He stretched out his right hand,his palm open, fingers spread and then Light gathered in his palm. It came together and then solidified, forming into a blade. A sword made entirely of pure light magic. No metal. No physical substance. Just concentrated light given the shape and sharpness of a weapon.
He gripped the light sword firmly and pointed it at Augustus.When he spoke, Solomon's voice came out. . "How about you foresee your own death today, brother?"
He raised his free hand slightly.
[Library of Light Magic: Archive Eleven: Omni Sun Flower."] he muttered
The ground trembled.
All across the throne room floor, small green stems pushed up through cracks in the ground . They grew rapidly, sprouting leaves, thickening, rising higher. Within seconds, dozens of sunflowers had grown throughout the entire space. Their stalks were as thick as a man's finger. Their flower heads were massive, easily two feet across.
Augustus stopped walking. His eye narrowed. Then He chuckled, low and amused. "What are sunflowers supposed to do huh ? You and your stupid tricks, Solomon, here we go, you never take things serious so now I have to end you"
But even as he spoke, the sunflowers bloomed.All at once. Simultaneously. Every flower head opened fully.And they released light.they were Not normal light it was Concentrated, bright , an overwhelming light. Each sunflower became a miniature sun, radiating brightness so intense it was physically painful to look at.
The entire throne room erupted in blinding white light. Every shadow disappeared. Every dark corner vanished. The light was absolute, inescapable, it was all consuming.
Augustus's eye went wide. He raised his hands instinctively, shielding his face from it. "What the…"
The Rainbow Serpent hissed and recoiled, its eyes squeezed shut against the overwhelming brightness they Both were blind.Inside Aldrich's mind, Solomon spoke urgently. "Now. This is perfect. Augustus's Foresight is useless if he cannot see his target. His ability requires visual confirmation. Strike now, while he's blind."
Aldrich didn't hesitate.He activated another library. "Library of Hermes."
Energy flooded his legs. Power compressed in his muscles.
"Speed of Hermes." He muttered one of the techniques the Hermes library granted was super speed.His body launched forward. Not running. Exploding into motion. The ground cracked beneath his feet from the force of acceleration.
He crossed the distance in a fraction of a second. Too fast for Augustus to react. Too fast for the serpent to respond.His light sword swung upward in a perfect vertical arc.
The blade cut clean through Augustus's neck. No resistance. The light magic was sharp beyond measure, slicing through flesh and bone like they were nothing.
Augustus's head separated from his body. It flew upward, spinning, blood spraying in an arc.
But Aldrich didn't stop. He kept moving. His momentum carried him past Augustus's falling body.He swung left. The light blade cut through the Rainbow Serpent's body. Then right. Another cut. Then diagonal. Then horizontal. Again and again, his sword moved in rapid slashes, dissecting the massive creature.
The serpent was sliced into chunks. Sections of its rainbow scaled body fell in different directions, hitting the ground with heavy thuds.Aldrich's final position was behind where Augustus had stood. His light sword still extended. His breathing steady despite the speed.
Behind him, King Augustus's headless body collapsed forward. It hit the floor with a wet thump. Blood pooled rapidly, spreading outward in a red circle.
The Rainbow Serpent's severed pieces began dissolving into smoke. Fading. Disappearing. The summon had been destroyed.The sunflowers' light began to dim. Slowly and Gradually. The overwhelming brightness faded to normal illumination.
Aldrich stood there for a moment. Then he turned around slowly.He looked at his brother's body. It was Headless. Blood everywhere. The head had rolled a few feet away, the face frozen in an expression of surprise.
The light sword in Aldrich's hand flickered once, then vanished completely. The technique ended.Inside his mind, Aldrich's own voice spoke. "Is… is it over? Did we win?"
Solomon's voice responded, but there was tension in it. Wariness one would say. "I killed him. Yes. But something feels wrong."
And then, from across the room, someone started clapping, Mocking applause.
Aldrich's head snapped toward the sound.
King Augustus sat on his throne. Alive. Whole. Uninjured except for his destroyed left eye. His legs were crossed casually, one over the other. His hands came together in rhythmic claps.
He was smiling.
"Impressive performance, little brother." His voice echoed through the ruined throne room. "The sunflowers to blind me, then the light sword to obstruct my senses and vision. What a spectacular strategy you displayed there, Solomon."
Aldrich stared. His mind struggled to process what he was seeing. "What… what just happened? I literally killed you. I saw your head come off."
Solomon's voice inside him was grim. Resigned. "Yes. I saw it too. But it seems my brother has achieved something our father once feared when he discovered the true potential of Augustus's ability."
"What is that?" Aldrich asked urgently.
"The Foresight doesn't just let him see his own future," Solomon explained. "It lets him see his own death. And if he sees it coming, he can replace himself with a perfect duplicate. A clone made of essence. It looks real. Bleeds real. Dies real. But it's not him. The real Augustus escapes to a predetermined location."
He paused. "That technique drains him massively. It costs enormous amounts of essence. But it makes him nearly impossible to kill if he sees the attack coming."
Inside his consciousness, Aldrich was shocked. "That's… that's insane. He's basically unkillable."
"Not unkillable," Solomon corrected. "But extremely difficult to kill. You'd have to hit him with something he genuinely can't predict. Something outside the scope of futures he can see."
Back on the throne, Augustus stood slowly. His smile never faded. "I'm pretty sure you never thought I could perfect the ability to see my own future and avoid it despite being overwhelmed,did you?"
He laughed. He was Genuinely amused. "I perfected it, Solomon.
[Library of Foresight: Library Art: Archive Zero: Substitution."]
Archive Zero. The ultimate technique of his library.Aldrich's expression hardened. When he spoke, Solomon's tone came through clearly. "I'm proud of you for achieving that, brother. Truly. But this childish game ends here."
He raised two fingers. His right hand. Index and middle finger extended. Pointing directly at Augustus on the throne.
"Library of Malevolent Spirit: Library Art: Threads of Dismantle."
His fingers moved. A sweeping motion through the air. Like drawing an invisible line.And invisible threads shot forward.Not one. Dozens. Thin as spider silk. Sharp as razors. Moving faster than sight. Completely invisible to the naked eye.
This was an attack even Augustus's Foresight couldn't see. Because the threads themselves didn't exist in normal visual space. They were essence given cutting form. They had no physical presence to observe. No future to predict until they were already cutting.
The threads shot across the throne room. Aimed directly at Augustus's throat. His chest. His limbs. Cutting lines designed to dismember.But the moment before they reached him,The ground beneath the throne exploded upward.
Massive tree trunks erupted from the floor. Each one was ten feet thick. Bark rough and old. They grew at impossible speed, shooting upward and curving inward, forming a dome. A protective shell of living wood that completely enclosed King Augustus.
The invisible threads struck the wooden dome. And detonated.The explosion was catastrophic.
Half the throne room simply ceased to exist. The wooden dome absorbed most of the blast, but the sheer force was too much. Stone walls crumbled. The ceiling collapsed in sections. Chunks of palace rained down.
The shockwave threw Aldrich backward. He hit the ground hard, rolling several times before coming to a stop.
When the dust began to settle, four figures stood in front of the wooden dome. All facing Aldrich. All positioned protectively between him and the king.
The Royal Heads had arrived.
Lucian Makaveli stood on the left. His white coat somehow still pristine despite the chaos. His expression was calm but his eyes were sharp, analytical.
Liam Cross stood beside him. His red coat flowed around him. His wand was already in hand.
Liora Slothwell stood to the right. She took a drag from her cigarette and blew smoke out slowly. Her eyes were cold,Silas Heartveil stood at the center. Silent. His hand rested on the hilt of his katana. His presence alone was suffocating.
Liora spoke first. Her voice was annoyed, and irritated. She gestured with her cigarette toward the destruction around them.
["Library of God Tree: Archive Eighty-Eight: God Tree Dome."] it was the name of the technique she used in saving king Augustus.
She took another drag. Blew the smoke toward Aldrich. "Are you both idiots trying to destroy everything?"