Novels by Lily Monroe

A tidal blaze unfurled between heaven and earth, and within the flames—“Holy Emperor…”The warriors of the Solar Kingdom froze.This moment—This was the end.Their power swelled, vast and violent.From all directions the distant onlookers—those who had kept their distance—felt their hearts lurch.The Holy Emperor had fallen.The great factions witnessing it didn’t even dare show their faces.“Kill!”“Kill that brat!”The Solar Kingdom’s elites were enraged.At once they broke into furious curses.In an instant, the crowd drowned in wrath.The strong of the Solar Kingdom were terrified.No one hesitated.All of them lunged to kill Dragon-Slayer and Anthony.“You really want to die together?”The next moment—Anthony struck once.A swath of top-tier experts exploded, their bodies smashed to pieces.Squelch!Some heads spun off into the air.Dead.The Holy Emperor had been killed.But they… were powerless.They could not keep fighting. If they did, the entire Solar Kingdom might be gro

Dragon-Slayer grunted, swallowed the pain in his seams, and rose into it, the sword-edge cutting a white arc.Beside them, Thirteen Smith muttered a curse. “Stupid kid.” The Holy Emperor only sneered, eyes full of scorn.Dragon-Slayer didn’t answer, his grip biting down. “Hnh. I’ll carve you up.”He fought with everything, every stroke meant to kill. Anthony watched, his gaze shifting—he seemed to read the intent, and held his tongue.Boom—the air rolled like a tide swallowing the field. The Holy Emperor’s rampage had passed understanding; each strike was huge and ruthless.A heartbeat later, the gale rose again. His offense poured like a rain-screen, fists and palms crossing, killing intent spearing the clouds. He was a hammer overfilled with thunderfire—blow after blow grinding down.Dragon-Slayer braced in a flash—swordlight fierce—meeting edge with edge.Boom! He staggered back several steps, heart pounding, a flicker of disbelief breaking through his eyes. Why? What in hell did h

Dragon-Slayer dropped lightly to the ground; a tap of the heel, dust settled. He raised his eyes to the figure standing high above, gaze cold, voice low but heavy enough to hold the field.Though his chest still heaved, he ground out each word: “I’m not afraid of you.”“Today, I’ll defeat you—and kill you.”“The Solar Kingdom will never be a match for Ardenia.”“Your warriors are garbage.”The Holy Emperor laughed softly, a rasp like a blade dragging over stone. “You’re sure? Sure you’re not afraid? Then today, I’ll cut you to pieces.”Dragon-Slayer stepped in instead of back, a short drive of the foot, his body tipping forward, killing intent sliding free like a naked edge. He lifted his head and met the sword-hard gaze above, unflinching.The cold in his eyes cut sharper than steel. “To me, you’re—nothing.”“Today, you die.”“I will kill you.”“You think that boy can really keep you safe?” His words fell like a war banner rammed into open ground, snapping in the gale. Wind licked hi

“Y-you—why are you this strong…”Anthony’s mouth pulled into a cold curve. “It’s not that I’m strong. It’s that you’re useless.”Before the last syllable faded, he surged upward, a raptor cutting through knives of wind and sleet, and stooped.Boom!Explosions flowered across the sky, force scattering like invisible hammers pounding the void. Killing intent poured down like a tangible blaze.He raised another fist. Before it even landed, the gale at its edge flayed the dust to air.Bang!The Holy Emperor’s chest was punched straight through. Blood burst like a flower. His armor shattered; a hideous hole tore open across his front. He was blasted backward, blood running in a steady ribbon from his lips, his eyes wide with a terror that couldn’t focus—grasping at reality’s edge and finding nothing.The rim of the armor writhed, trying to stitch itself—futile against the gaping wound.He lifted his gaze in disbelief, and for the first time, true fear flooded his eyes—the primal dread of t

He pulled a breath, dragging his sight back from the dark. He looked up into the Ardenian youth’s face—indifferent, eyes like a winter lake, unruffled.“Your strength isn’t bad,” Anthony said, mild, with a flat contempt folded into it. “Unfortunately for you, you’re facing me. Which makes everything you do useless.”He tipped his chin, the cold at his eye’s corner cutting sharper. “So this is the Solar Kingdom’s best? No more than this.”Contempt, complete and entire.“In all martial ways, speed breaks all.” He sheathed in one clean motion, his pace itself a declaration. The Holy Emperor was fast—unquestionably. But he was facing Anthony. That alone sealed his tragedy.In a handful of exchanges, Anthony had hammered the Holy Emperor’s confidence to splinters. He had never imagined the man before him could be this absurdly strong. Terror—there was no other word in the minds of those watching.To Anthony, it was nothing. His gaze stayed cold; his killing will drew tighter.The Holy Empe

The heaving air over the four quarters suddenly sank. A darkened silhouette dragged itself out of the heights of the sky, like a deeper thread of night within the night, easing toward them. It had no sound, no scent; even the grain of its aura felt sanded smooth—more secret than a ghost, like a frost-sheathed dagger settling wordlessly to the throat.A heartbeat later, a figure fell from the heights. He touched down without a sound, yet his presence tore the silence around him. It was a tyranny that needed no words; with just an inch of ground underfoot, hearts clenched.“Holy Emperor!!”“The Holy Emperor is here!”“Lord Holy Emperor, a god forever…”“Lord Holy Emperor, mighty and unyielding!”“We can kill these Ardenians now…”“We must kill them…”The boiling shouts surged like oil set alight, raising the temperature of every throat at once. The Holy Emperor revealed himself—a man in his middle years, features unassuming, but a severity honed to lethal stillness. When his gaze droppe

Quentin Newman could no longer read Adrian at all. He only knew one thing—he didn’t want to die.“I’m Mythical Tier. If you really kill me, Lord Buddha will never let you go!”“Lord Buddha?”Adrian paused. Just as Quentin dared to hope, a sharp light flickered in Adrian’s eyes, and Quentin’s heart sank.“Is Lord Buddha formidable?”Quentin’s instincts screamed that Adrian’s line of questioning boded ill.Before he could answer, Otto Nelson’s temper snapped.“What kind of question is that? Who in Skyline City doesn’t know Lord Buddha’s name?”“Then I won’t kill you.”Every taut nerve in the room loosened at once. Thank heavens—their lives were spared.“I’ll simply defeat Lord Buddha. No need to waste time on the rest of you.”Decision made, Adrian rose without a care for the shock his words detonated around the hall.What did he just say?Defeat Lord Buddha?Quentin found his voice at last. “Do you have any idea what you’re saying?”Adrian looked down at him with a smile that wasn’t a

Silence, sharp as a blade.Then the air turned to ice.“Outrageous!”Murder flashed in Norman Russell’s eyes.“Enough talk. Kill him!”“Mr. Newman, we absolutely cannot let this punk walk out of here!”They’d long found Adrian an eyesore, tolerating him only for the Mafia’s future. To stand equal with the Five Tigers he did not deserve—yet he dared covet the chief’s throne?A brawl hung on a hair. Even Quentin Newman’s smile vanished, replaced by a glacial fury. His aura surged, a storm of dominance filling the hall.He slammed his teacup to the floor. In an instant, trained enforcers swarmed in from all sides.“No one refuses the Mafia.”“And yet I just did.”“Then die.”Quentin’s voice was cold as iron. His raised hand slashed down.The Five Tigers sprang forward. Otto Nelson struck first, driving a fist straight at Adrian’s face.Adrian stood with his hands clasped behind him, not even shifting. Otto’s lips curled in a sneer—until the instant his fist should have landed and Adrian v

Iverson White didn’t dare utter another wrong word. Trembling, he pulled a card from inside his jacket.“It’s all here—everything. I even put in some of my own money. Mr. Owen, Mr. Owen, please spare us.”Conrad Owen snatched the card without so much as a glance at Iverson, then walked straight to old Thompson and, with impeccable courtesy, placed it in his hand.Old Thompson didn’t dare accept it, but Conrad’s smile remained warm and easy.“This was yours to begin with. As for the extra, consider it compensation for everyone.”He shot Iverson White a hard look. “Well? The code.”“Two-three-three-two-three-three!”Iverson blurted it out and wiped the cold sweat from his brow.Hearing the code, Adrian stepped over and patted old Thompson on the shoulder.“They brought it back. Take it.”Only then did old Thompson accept the card, thanking Adrian over and over.With the matter settled, Conrad glanced at Adrian.Adrian finally understood why Conrad could be the Mafia’s number two. The ma

“What I do is none of your concern. In your world, the only qualification to bully others is a strong fist, isn’t it?”Adrian showed no fear under their looming threat. His tone stayed level, yet his words sent a chill through those listening.“Is he insane?”“He’s going head-to-head with them!”“Ah, youth…”“I hope he wins.”Iverson White wondered if he’d misheard. It was one thing for this kid not to fear him—but to dismiss the Mafia as well?He eyed Adrian’s lean frame and decided it had to be bravado, a hero act. He burst out laughing.“Some no-name punk sticking his nose into Mafia business? Look at this scrawny chick—one kick and he’s done!”His lackeys laughed along, not taking Adrian seriously in the slightest.Around them, sympathy flickered in the faces of the crowd.“What a shame. A decent kid—and now he’s crossed the Mafia.”“He’s young. Probably has no idea what he’s up against.”“He should run while he can, and stop playing tough.”Adrian ignored the chorus entirely, giv

Before the overturned table stood a man bowing his head, apologizing over and over. From this distance, his words were lost in the noise. The brute facing him, however, wasn’t having any of it—he grabbed the man by the collar and hurled him to the ground.The owner of the neighboring stall fell silent on the spot. Adrian, a trained fighter with keener sight than most, noticed a crushed cigarette butt beneath the man’s foot.“Old Thompson,” the brute sneered, “what’s it gonna be—pay up, or pack your junk and scram?”“Mr. White, I…”“Save it. None of your business,” he snapped at the neighboring stallholder, who shut his mouth at once. He glanced at his friend sprawled on the ground and sighed. This was a man none of them could afford to cross.Old Thompson, the one Mr. White had thrown down, fumbled upright, his face drawn with worry.“Mr. White, please—can you give me a little more time…”“Say that again?” Mr. White drawled. “Old Thompson, it’s not like we’re unreasonable people.”See

Realizing Adrian had completely misread her, Daisy’s face darkened for a moment.“I meant giving you shares of Hill Group! What on earth is going on in that head of yours?”Adrian lowered his gaze and rubbed the bridge of his nose, faintly disappointed.He hadn’t heard the whole sentence—hardly his fault.Daisy shook her head, exasperated. “I’ll have Legal draft the contract right now.”“That’s not necessary. Handing you the formula was my choice.”“If I say you’re getting it, you’re getting it.”Before Adrian could argue, Daisy strode off to the legal department.Was it really that urgent? Adrian lounged in the office chair, idly thumbing through a stack of files. In any case, he and Daisy would be family sooner or later; he didn’t particularly care about the formalities.Truth be told, as long as he wanted something, lack was never his problem.To Daisy, however, Adrian’s abilities were a treasure in their own right. It wasn’t that she distrusted him—quite the opposite. But what’s o