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

At the Joy Hotel in Skyline City, Adrian was juggling contracts while keeping an eye on the crowd.He’d thought he could slip away once the Snow Beauty Secret launch wound down. Instead, sharp-eyed Freya had hauled him back to play pack mule.Adrian sighed and accepted his fate. The post-event signing frenzy refused to cool; every company head seemed remarkably accommodating. In a short span, he’d stacked up five or six completed contracts.Daisy was over the moon and chose to ignore Adrian’s long-suffering face.He’d lost count of his sighs. He should’ve taken the back exit, not the front. Then Freya wouldn’t have collared him so brazenly to work. No lounging, no slacking, not even a bite to eat—despair lapped at his ankles.Would someone please rescue him from this venue…His phone buzzed, a faint vibration. Adrian, moving at a leisurely crawl, fished it out. Who could possibly be calling now?A message from Ronald Peterson popped up. “Dr. Doyle, help! A few Hinoku bastards are tryi

In a flash of steel and breath, those who caught Jirō Saionji’s small motion went rigid with dread—too tense even to remember their anger.Quentin Kennedy didn’t retreat. He drove straight into the gleam of the blade.Everyone saw it—he had stepped onto the field with death already accepted. The Hinoku fighters saw it too. They simply intended to kill him.The fist-wind sharpened until it stung the face.Someone cried, “Master Kennedy!” and the cry seemed to snap everyone awake. The Hinoku men weren’t merely breaking decorum—they meant to take a life in plain view.Rage lit the hall in a chain reaction, glare after glare. Jirō Saionji saw—and didn’t so much as blink.“You go too far!”“Master Kennedy—watch yourself!”“Shameless Hinoku cowards!”The world flickered—just a blur of shadow—and a thunderclap rang in their ears. In the next breath, Neil Peterson had hauled Quentin Kennedy back into the safe line.Neil’s face was calm stone as he clapped Quentin’s shoulder. He had recognized

Archie Nolan’s injuries were severe. Even conscious, he was suffering. Wesley Nolan’s eyes burned red with fury. This made twice now—whether his son’s arm would be ruined was anyone’s guess. A fighter without an arm—how could that not matter?Wesley and Raymond Mitchell rose in the same breath and lunged at Ki Fujiwara with blistering speed.Jirō Saionji had no intention of letting them fight two-on-one. He drew his blade in a single motion and slashed for Raymond. The blade-wind hardened to a cutting gale; Raymond twisted away, but his left shoulder split open beneath a razor of wind, crimson soaking his shirt in a heartbeat.“Their blade-wind is vicious—watch the arcs!”Even as Wesley barked the warning, his fist skimmed for Ki Fujiwara’s face—and in that instant, Ki Fujiwara dropped straight back, hit the ground flat, then snapped upright like a sprung hinge.“Jujutsu—Hinoku jujutsu!”One of the dojo heads shouted the warning.Wesley’s expression froze; he recovered instantly and d

“Bah! Shameless scum!”Ronald Peterson was seething. How had they run into such a relentless, cling-on cur with a face thicker than a city wall? If you lose, take the loss—but he’d gone and dragged reinforcements back to cause trouble. Hinoku dogs—despicable.J. Ino didn’t even bristle. He laughed, delighted. “Don’t you Novaland folks say a gentleman can wait ten years for revenge? I couldn’t wait a decade, so I brought my brothers along.”Neil Peterson snorted, dripping contempt. “You’re no gentleman, of course you couldn’t. And you crow over petty tricks like these.”“Revenge, is it? The last time you slunk in here to take advantage, the only reason you left breathing was our mercy.”J. Ino’s expression didn’t shift. Instead, the burliest man behind him stepped forward. “J. Ino, which one is the master you mentioned? I’ll grind his bones to dust.”J. Ino skimmed a dismissive gaze over them. “These?”The man frowned, puzzled. “So the real expert isn’t here?”J. Ino nodded and let his

The instant Neil Peterson saw them clearly, his composure fractured.“Master Griffin? Master Holden? What on earth—”Behind them stood a line of small dojo heads, some barely recognizable through the swelling, others carried in on stretchers.A throb pulsed at Neil’s temples. His instincts screamed that something had gone terribly wrong.“Mr. Peterson, we’ve all been hit by dojo challengers!”“Yes, Mr. Peterson—they didn’t even bother with words. They walked in and started swinging! I stepped up to reason with them, and they said they were here to take revenge on every dojo in Skyline City.”“My nephew was beaten within an inch of his life! He’s in the hospital right now—we don’t even know if he’ll make it!”Dojo challenges? Neil’s first thought was J. Ino. Had that man still not given up his grudge?Ronald took a step back. “Dad, could the one behind this ‘retribution’ be J. Ino?”Father and son were thinking the same thing. But the word “they” made Neil suspect it wasn’t that simple

Once everything on her end was settled, Daisy rose to seek out Adrian and the others.As for the remaining agents, Daisy trusted that the Hill Group executives were more than capable of handling themselves.Over there, Adrian and Commander Hamilton were chatting animatedly with Mayor Adams—none of them treating the others like outsiders anymore. With the mischievous Lorenzo Watson chiming in—“Master” here, “Master” there—he kept pulling Vincent Wallace and the rest into the conversation until the whole circle was humming.Seeing Daisy free at last, Adrian waved her over. She approached with a bright smile.“Mayor Adams, thank you for making the trip.”“Commander Hamilton, much appreciated…”“Director Thompson, Dean Emerson, many thanks…”“Truly—thank you, everyone…”After she’d thanked them one by one and they’d exchanged a few more pleasantries, she and Adrian escorted them out of the venue together.“You’ve worked hard too.”Daisy had been about to say the same, but Adrian got there