The moment the word fell from Beginning's mouth, alarm appeared in the Emperor's eyes.

"What are you doing?"

Beginning did not answer. He simply extended his hand, letting the darkness spread outward to touch the Emperor, who tried to dodge but could not.

Above the capital, countless supernaturals felt their souls tremble simply from staring at the sea of darkness overhead.

Even Michael felt goosebumps spread across his body.

The physical bodies of Beginning and the Emperor stopped moving. Both figures remained suspended in midair. It was as though time itself had stopped for them.

"What happened?"

"Why did they stop?"

"What's going on?!"

Panic spread throughout the capital. Most of it came from the citizens who had at some point emerged from their hiding places for reasons known only to themselves.

A gigantic sea of darkness had appeared overhead, and within it stood two colossal figures.

Together with the physical representations of the Emperor's and Beginning's essence, it felt as though four gigantic creatures loomed above the capital sky, creating a dreadful feeling that hell itself was about to descend.

The Emperor's soul form resembled an enormous draconic serpent. Bloody energy flowed endlessly through its body. Countless screaming faces could be seen beneath its scales, obviously the remnants of the sacrifices he had consumed.

Meanwhile, opposite him stood Beginning. A gigantic humanoid titan. His body appeared forged from stone.

Michael stared upward silently, worry etched into his expression.

He knew this was probably the same method Beginning had used to level up moments ago, but it was a different story when the undead used his domain while Michael was not close by versus when he was present and aware. Michael would have preferred Beginning's domain be used on creatures far weaker than him, where the outcome was far more stable and certain.

Now it might seem as though Beginning had the advantage since he had forcefully dragged the other party into his domain, but when the gap in strength was not sufficiently large, anything could happen. Michael himself was proof of that, which was precisely why he disliked this sort of reckless behavior.

Unfortunately, through his connection with Beginning, he could tell that his undead had grown quite greedy. It most likely stemmed from the significant increase in strength Beginning had only just undergone. It did not matter whether it was an undead or a living creature. The instinctive desire for more strength was universal.

Far above, inside the sea of darkness, the Emperor finally understood what had happened. His expression changed drastically.

"You dragged me into your domain?"

His voice thundered across the darkness. The Emperor immediately tried to retreat.

Unfortunately, nothing happened. The sea of darkness possessed no exit.

At the same time, foreign information about the domain drilled into his mind. The Emperor's expression finally became ugly. What he hated most was a battle with life and death as the stakes, and this creature had just forced him into exactly that.

Thinking this, the soul of the Emperor turned to glare at Michael outside. At this point, he had already realized that these creatures were not mindless beasts. Though he did not believe they belonged to Michael, or even think in that direction, the Emperor had concluded that Michael was an important figure within the group that wished to destroy his empire.

Feeling the Emperor's gaze on him, Michael angrily returned the glare.

After all, if it was not for this man, he would not be worrying about the life and death of his undead. Well, it was technically already a dead being, but that was beside the point.

Clearly, Michael was feeling a mixture of justifiable and entirely unreasonable anger.

The battle unfolded almost exactly as Michael had feared.

Beginning was stronger. That much was undeniable. However, strength and victory were not the same thing. The Emperor had lived for decades. Beginning had not even existed for a full year. The difference in combat experience was significant. Whether in terms of practical experience or simply years of existence, Beginning was ultimately a newborn. An extraordinarily powerful newborn, but a newborn nonetheless.

Inside the Sea of Darkness, the two colossal soul forms collided repeatedly.

BOOOOM!!!

Beginning's fist crashed into the Emperor's jaw. Then a moment later, the Emperor twisted his body unnaturally and tore three massive chunks of essence from Beginning's shoulder. 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

The giant staggered. For the first time since the battle began, Beginning's aura dropped slightly.

Below, Michael's expression changed.

The Emperor's eyes widened in surprise as realization struck him.

"So that's how it works…"

The foreign information granted by the Trial Domain had already explained the rules. Victory or defeat. Devour or be devoured.

With the rules of Beginning's domain, among roughly equal opponents, the first one to successfully consume the essence of the other would strengthen themselves while weakening their opponent.

The Emperor looked down at his body. The fragments of Beginning's essence were already dissolving into him. A moment later, his aura rose. At the same time, Beginning's aura fell by an equal amount. The two were now almost perfectly equal.

The Emperor froze. Then a smile slowly spread across his face. A genuine smile mixed with pure joy.

"Hahahaha…"

His laughter echoed throughout the Sea of Darkness. The bloody draconic serpent raised its head.

The benefits were far greater than he had imagined. The domain's information had told him what the rewards would be, but understanding something and experiencing it were entirely different matters. The strengthening was immediate, direct, and perfect. There was no refinement process. No bottleneck. No waste. Everything became his.

The Emperor felt power flooding through every part of his soul. His eyes brightened. The fear he had initially felt rapidly disappeared, replaced entirely by greed.

His gaze locked onto Beginning. The giant no longer looked like a threat. He looked like an opportunity. A heaven-sent opportunity.

"If I kill you…"

The Emperor's excitement deepened as his thoughts began to race. "If I completely devour you…" The current increase alone was already significant. What if he won completely? What if he absorbed everything? Wouldn't he emerge from this domain as a completely different existence? Wouldn't he stand equal to or even surpass his two ancestors?

The more he thought, the more the Emperor began to see a path opening before him.

The Black Serpent Empire? Suddenly it seemed too small. Far too small. Why stop there? Why remain confined to a single empire? Why continue bowing before his ancient ancestors? Why not set his eyes on the neighboring empires?

Ambition ignited in the Emperor's heart.

His laughter echoed once more. "Hahahahaha!"

Outside the domain, Michael's expression darkened. He could not hear the Emperor's thoughts, but through his connection with Beginning he could feel something changing. The Emperor was becoming more dangerous. He also seemed to have grown considerably more confident.

This was not a good sign.

Inside the Sea of Darkness, the Emperor spread his wings. Bloody energy flooded the horizon. His eyes locked onto Beginning.

"Thank you." The Emperor smiled. It was a strange sight on a serpent's face, but a smile it was nonetheless. "I was worried this would be a life-and-death trap."

His expression shifted. A vicious grin stretched across his face. "But now? This looks more like an opportunity."

BOOOOOOM!!!

The draconic serpent shot forward. Beginning charged at the exact same moment. Two gigantic soul forms collided once more.