"I respect you, and that is why I will not ask for your loyalty again, but I will give you thirty seconds to prepare your strongest attack, and in that time, I will not kill you," Daenal said, standing above the stairs leading to the cryptic Mausoleum.

Alex's mind was in turmoil as he searched for a way to make this battle last at least a few seconds, but when he was given thirty seconds, he didn't feel happy but angry because they were not given out of respect but to humiliate him.

Alex was already quite angry because he surely was dead, and after everything he had done to save this stage, it probably would still fall.

But there was hope that the city would survive as Daenal couldn't hope to keep using his domain again against Galatan, at least not at its true power, knowing this was the second time using it in the span of just a few minutes, yet that hope was shattered before he could get content with it.

"If you think that your efforts will save the city, then you are wrong because while your intervention has greatly cost me, it will not change the fate of the city, its residents, or the Seraphian clan,"

"The crown on my head is named Aszor Desire, a mythical grade item of immense power that was shattered into pieces the moment Arch Litch completed it because the price of its completion was all of Aszor's remaining life and so the life of all his students and followers,"

"So while his legacy was immortalized through the ages, because of the crown of power he created, he made sure that the price of wielding his power is the life force of the user,"

"So yes, while it will cost me years of my life, I can always fight at strength far surpassing my own," Daenal said, the unsettling smile growing on his ashen white face.

'That's not nice,' Alex thought, suppressing his urge to curse and thinking about the failure looming before him.

The time was still running very slowly for Alex, so the twenty seconds Daenal took to talk were around 100 seconds for him, and while his boastful talk affected him, he didn't put his mind to it because he was busy trying to think of a way to delay him just for a few more seconds, and learning of the cruel reality did not change it.

The Arcane Trance skill effect also ended a second after Daenal stopped talking, leaving Alex with just thirteen real seconds to think of something to stand his ground, knowing his Elemental strength could do nothing inside the Domain of a Ruler.

'I can only hope to stand in a physical battle, and with my current skills, I am dominated, so let's create new ones because what is a better time to push myself than in the face of failure and death,''Yes, with my control over Darkness' concept now, I can do that on a scale that far surpasses my normal techniques,' Alex thought as he remembered the new technique he was learning but had yet to master it to a decree that he could use it in battle.

---------------

"The Means will always pale before the usefulness of the end product when done right."

"Domain Ruler, Now that you have advanced to the Fourth Rank, you should learn to channel the darkness concept instead of pure mana into your weapon because not only will it elevate your strength but also act as training for you to better learn and wield the intricate yet the formless nature of darkness," Elder Darrien said, and after he had Alex complete attention he continued.

"As you have already learned, Darkness as the primordial Law is the canvass of the universe, and it could take the nature of anything, from being cold as the remotest corners of space, carrying intensity same as strongest blazed infernos, destructive of the highest grade and it could even mend physical and spiritual wounds,"

"But learning to wield any of those nature without a spell is much harder, but doing so means wielding them freely in any form."

---------------

Alex had worked on channeling the darkness concept of particular nature after his Rank promotion under the guidance of his elders, but due to it being a very hard concept and as he was jumping from one thing to another in the past two months, he had made little progress with it.

The ability to channel darkness concept was as simple as giving form to the desired end product using mana and channeling it into the sword and then compressing it into the blade so it becomes concentrated and potent because leaving it free would render the sword a mere conductor of energy, dispersing it in all directions.

But because it was being done without magic circles and needed to be done at a continuous pace to keep the effect active, it was far from easy to accomplish.

The process was the same as casting an instant spell, but it needed to be done continually, and the energy needed to be held from running wild only to be released on the user's desire, which took not only exceptional control but also a mastery of the concept of darkness.

Alex made little progress in the time he had trained because even though he was capable of channeling the energy of concept into the sword, he did not succeed to sustain it for long in the heat of the battle, and a big part of it was his inexperience with managing elemental concepts.

'Let's see if the threat of failure and death could push me beyond my limits,' Alex thought, the heaviness on his mind washing away as his two hearts came to life, one pumping adrenalin and blood with the other pumping mana through his cold mana veins.

"Mana Amplification""Mana Overdrive"

"Darkness Expanse"

Alex pushed his Ancient heart to its limits, making his mana flow ten times the already enhanced flow, pushing his body to its very limits, and then using his work-in-progress skill, using a million points of mana, creating a dome of destructive darkness flow from the sword.

As quickly as the energy expanded, it was suppressed back into the plain pitch-dark sword, making it appear no different, yet Alex could feel more power flowing through it than he had ever seen before.

Alex pushed his eyes to the limit, causing him see the aura and mana surroundings with much more clarity, which in a battle allowed him to see the flow of movement through aura and mana, giving him time to react.

The dome surrounding the sword grew to a few meters, covering Alex in darkness, but as the thirty seconds came to an end, it was erased out of existence, showing the complete elemental dominance Daenal held in the domain.

'400k per second and 1 million per strike, so the remaining 18 million will last me around eighteen attacks and 45 seconds maximum if I can stay alive,' Alex thought, as he felt his control over the darkness getting cut off.

Alex vanished the next instant, leaving behind a mirage and appearing before the man who stared back with cold eyes and a smirk on his face, and without hesitation, he swung his sword, letting the buildup of destructive darkness leave the sword all at once.

As the vast concentrated energy gushed out like water from a broken dam, the blade exhilarated to ten time the speed, but even then, Daenal moved back just a step, making the blade fail to hit him by an inch, yet the torrent of energy gushed out, engulfing the man and the grand Mausoleum behind him in his entirety.

'This single strike carried 3 million points worth of energy, and I can proudly say this was the strongest single target attack I ever executed, yet he took head-on,'

'I underestimated what elemental dominance and going against an Elemental Ruler truly means,' Alex thought, with a wary smile as he felt the man standing before him unscathed, with his own body rooted in place, not shifting an inch.

"I believe if I can give you just a few more minutes, you will surprise me once more, but sadly, our battle has come to an end," Daenal deep voice sounded as his hand moved a blur, catching Alex by the throat.

Alex felt his neck getting crushed, his skin getting ripped, and his veins being torn, and at that moment, all he had was a bit of sadness, realizing he had did not succeed to make a contract with the monster he had luckily summoned, but just as he was about to stop using the Aura and other skill, he heard a tearing noise, so loud it jolted him back to reality.

"GGGOOOOOAAAARRRZZZZZZZZZ"

"Summoner, Do you have some life left to end what you started?" Alex heard a familiar voice, loud and clear, not drowning under the growing noise of space being torn apart.