The Grand Arena of the Royal Academy was a marvel of ancient engineering and modern vanity. Built into a natural depression in the earth, its tiered seats were carved from enchanted granite, capable of holding fifty thousand spectators. Today, however, the atmosphere was not one of festive competition. The air was thick with the scent of frankincense and the underlying metallic tang of hidden steel.
High above the sands, the Royal Box was draped in the scarlet and gold of the Crown, but the central seat was not occupied by the King. Instead, Cardinal Borgia sat there, his hands gripping the armrests so tightly his knuckles were white. Surrounding the arena, standing like silver statues at ten-yard intervals, were the Holy Knights of the Third Circle. Their presence suppressed the natural chatter of the crowd, turning the Selection into a grim religious procession.
Lucian stood in the darkened tunnel leading to the arena floor. He was dressed in a simple, pitch-black combat tunic, devoid of house crests or ornaments. The obsidian-gold mana within him was a silent, coiled serpent, invisible to the sensors of the Church, but vibrating with a frequency that made the stone walls of the tunnel weep condensation.
"The brackets have been rigged," Shizuka whispered, checking the tension on her bowstring. She stood in the shadows behind him, her violet eyes glowing. "They've put you against the three strongest 'Paladins' of the Academy in a gauntlet match. No breaks. No healing. They want to exhaust you before the Cardinal triggers the Rite."
"They are underestimating the capacity of a Monarch," Lucian replied, his voice a calm, low hum. "Aria, is the underground perimeter secure?"
Aria's voice drifted from the shadows near the ceiling, though she remained invisible. "The shadow-constructs are in place, Master. The moment the first drop of 'blessed' blood hits the sand, we will have control of the arena's subterranean ley lines. The Cardinal's Rite will find no fuel here."
"And Elara?"
"Selene is with her in the vault," Shizuka confirmed. "The girl is stable, but she feels the Cardinal's 'Key' pulsing. It's a beacon, Lucian. He's going to call her during the final match."
"Then I must ensure there is no one left to witness her arrival," Lucian said.
The horn sounded—a deep, mournful blast that echoed through the stadium.
As Lucian stepped out into the blinding sunlight, the crowd remained eerily silent. There were no cheers for the 'Zero' who had reached the peak. There was only the heavy, judgmental weight of the Church's gaze.
"Contestant Lucian Kurogane!" the announcer's voice boomed, magically amplified. "Against the Defenders of the Faith! First Challenger: Sir Gawain of the Silver Lily!"
Gawain was a mountain of a man, a Rank A tank who specialized in kinetic reflection. He stepped onto the sand, his shield glowing with a blue, repulsive light. To the spectators, this was a match between a talented upstart and a seasoned holy warrior. To Lucian, it was a chore.
"Kneel, heretic," Gawain growled, raising his mace. "The Light does not tolerate those who play with shadows."
Lucian didn't draw a weapon. He didn't even raise his hands. He simply walked forward.
Gawain roared and slammed his mace into the sand, sending a shockwave of holy energy toward Lucian. The crowd gasped as the blast hit Lucian head-on—only to see the energy split and dissipate around him like water hitting a prow.
[SKILL ACTIVATED: ECLIPSE VEIL]
Lucian was ten feet away when he finally spoke. "Your light is hollow, Gawain. It's a borrowed flicker."
Lucian blurred. To the audience, it looked like he simply ceased to exist for a fraction of a second. In reality, he moved through the shadows of the falling dust. He appeared inside Gawain's guard, his palm touching the center of the Silver Lily shield.
KRA-KOOM.
The enchanted shield didn't just break; it inverted. The kinetic reflection was turned inward by Lucian's Sovereign mana. Gawain was sent flying across the arena, his armor crumpling like tin foil, before he slammed into the granite wall with enough force to crack the stone. He didn't get up.
The crowd finally found its voice—a low, terrified murmur. One hit. No magic circle. No incantation.
"Next," Lucian said, looking directly at Borgia in the Royal Box.
The second and third challengers fared no better. Lady Isolde, a master of holy fire, found her flames turning black and freezing her limbs before she could utter a single syllable. Captain Valerius, the cousin of the man Lucian had already killed, tried to use a forbidden Light-Artifact to drain Lucian's mana, only to have the artifact explode in his hand as Lucian's superior Rank S core overloaded the device with a mere glance.
In less than ten minutes, the three "Defenders of the Faith" were broken heaps on the sand. Lucian stood in the center of the arena, not a single hair out of place, his black tunic spotless.
The atmosphere shifted. The sun was directly overhead now, the perfect zenith. Cardinal Borgia stood up, his face contorted with a mixture of terror and fanaticism.
"Enough of this charade!" Borgia screamed, his voice carrying over the wind. "Lucian Kurogane, you stand accused of high heresy, soul-theft, and the murder of the Blackwood lineage! The Selection is over! The Judgment begins!"
Borgia raised a golden scepter—the Key of the Vessel. It emitted a high-pitched, piercing whine that resonated with the very air.
"By the blood of the martyrs, I call forth the Sun! Elara, come to your master!"
Beneath the arena, the earth began to groan. The ley lines, redirected by Aria's shadows, began to glow with a violet and gold light. But Borgia didn't notice the color change. He was too busy chanting the opening incantation of the Eclipse Rite.
Suddenly, the sand in the center of the arena began to swirl, forming a massive whirlpool. A pillar of white fire erupted from the ground, and in its center, Elara appeared, floating, her eyes twin suns.
The crowd panicked, screaming as the heat became unbearable. The Holy Knights drew their swords, but they didn't move to protect the citizens. They moved to encircle the arena, forming a living ritual circle to contain the energy.
"The Rite... it's starting," Shizuka whispered, appearing at Lucian's side, her bow drawn.
"Let it," Lucian said, his eyes turning a solid, obsidian black.
He looked up at the sky. The sun was being eclipsed—not by the moon, but by a massive, shadowy hand of mana that Lucian had projected into the upper atmosphere. The world plunged into a premature, terrifying darkness.
"Borgia!" Lucian's voice was the roar of a god. "You wanted a sacrifice? Look at your Knights!"
As the darkness fell, the violet ley lines beneath the sand flared. The Holy Knights screamed as their own mana was suddenly inverted. The "purification" they were meant to inflict on the nobility was being fed back into them. They weren't fuel for the Church anymore; they were the conduit for the Monarch.
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION]
[ULTIMATE SKILL ACTIVATED: ECLIPSE DOMINION]
[EFFECT: ALL MANA WITHIN THE RITUAL CIRCLE IS NOW UNDER THE SOVEREIGN'S CONTROL]
Lucian raised his hand toward the floating Elara. The white fire surrounding her turned into a soft, cool violet. She descended slowly, her eyes returning to normal as Lucian absorbed the excess heat of the Vessel into his own core.
"You... you stole the Rite!" Borgia shrieked, falling back into his seat. "That's impossible! Only the Pope... only a God..."
"I am neither," Lucian said, beginning to float toward the Royal Box. "I am just the man you forgot to kill."
Malphas, still under Lucian's Brand, suddenly turned on the other Inquisitors in the box. His light-sabers flashed, and three high-ranking officials fell before they could even react. The chaos was absolute.
Lucian landed on the edge of the Royal Box. The Cardinal was trembling, his scepter clattering to the floor.
"Please..." Borgia whimpered. "I was doing it for the stability of the realm! The nobles are corrupt... they needed to be purged..."
"You were doing it for yourself," Lucian said, his hand closing around Borgia's throat. "And now, I'm going to use that 'stability' to build my own kingdom."
Lucian didn't kill him instantly. He used [Soul Consumption] to drain the Cardinal's Rank S core, but he did it slowly, letting the old man feel every century of stolen life-force being reclaimed. The knowledge of the Church, the locations of the secret vaults, the identities of the sleeper agents—it all flowed into Lucian's mind.
[LEVEL UP! LEVEL 50]
[TITLE OBTAINED: THE ECLIPSE EMPEROR]
[ARC VICTORY CONDITION: MET]
As Borgia's body turned to ash in his hand, Lucian turned to look at the arena. The Holy Knights were unconscious, their mana drained. The spectators were huddling in fear.
Selene, Aria, and Shizuka appeared on the floating platforms around him, their auras blending into a perfect trinity of power. Elara stood on the sand below, looking up at Lucian with an expression of quiet peace.
Lucian looked out over the city of Albion. The sun began to emerge from the eclipse, but it was different now. The light was no longer oppressive; it was clear, sharp, and honest.
"The Church has fallen!" Lucian's voice echoed across the entire city, carried by the very air he now commanded. "The era of the 'Pure-Bloods' is over! From this day forward, magic is not a gift of the gods—it is the strength of the people!"
He looked at his Consorts. The true war was only beginning. The Holy See would send their legions. The other kingdoms would fear the rise of a Monarch. But as Lucian felt the three primordial bonds humming in his soul, he knew he wouldn't be fighting alone.
"We have a palace to take," Lucian said.
That was quite an explosive finale for the Cardinal! Would you like me to continue translating the next chapter or perhaps help you brainstorm the fallout of the Church's collapse in Albion?