Novels by Lily Monroe

Adrian’s brow furrowed. If they’d kicked up this much chaos, they wouldn’t rest until they found him—vanishing made no sense.Emptiness hesitated. “What if those old men learned how strong you are and bolted ahead of time?”Adrian shook his head. “No. There’s a larger scheme at play. Either way, we need to flush them out fast—or they’ll remain a ticking bomb.”Everyone agreed without argument.He checked the time and rose. “It’s late. Your bodies need days to recover. We won’t keep you. If anything breaks in the next few days, call me.”They escorted Adrian out of the hospital.Lorenzo Watson, William Lane, and Vincent Wallace hurried after him.“Master, wait!”Adrian glanced back, puzzled.Vincent, nudged forward, threw Daisy a quick look, then handed over a finely wrapped box. “Master, Miss Sandy had an emergency back home and had to leave. She regrets not saying goodbye in person. This is for you—and she said not to forget her.”Adrian, not the most sensitive man alive, accepted th

With no choice, the remaining team members fell in behind.They made straight for the elevators. According to their intel, the school’s labs were underground—if there was evidence to be found, it would be there.The corridor ahead stretched long and empty, harsh white lights buzzing over silence so complete it scraped the nerves raw.“Captain, why is the lab deserted? If the proof is really here, they wouldn’t leave it unguarded.”Ophelia frowned, thinking. “We check it anyway. We came this far. We may only get one shot—no way we leave empty-handed.”She pushed the door and led the way inside.The lab was fully stocked—racks of bottles and jars whose purposes would be gibberish to anyone untrained.“Steven, you’re up.”Steven was the specialist Ophelia had brought for exactly this—to find what would hold up in court.He nudged his glasses and set to work with brisk efficiency.“Captain, got something. What’s in this vial matches the toxin we extracted from the kids. We need to take it

Vincent Wallace and William Lane both shook their heads, faces creased with worry.“The injuries are catastrophic—tendons severed in hands and feet, and the dantian completely destroyed. At this point, perhaps only Master, when he returns, has any real chance.”“These Hinoku thugs went too far!” Ronald Peterson ground out. “Even in a challenge match, you don’t maim like this. If my father and the others don’t wake up… what are we supposed to do?”A heavy pall settled over the ward.Daisy tried to soothe them. “Don’t panic yet. When I called Adrian, he’d already booked a flight. He should be on his way back right now. Let’s hold on.”Ronald nodded, voice catching. “We’ve never doubted Mr. Doyle’s skill—but their dantians are gone. Even if they live… the rest of their lives, they’ll be ordinary.”If that. Martial artists carried old wounds like second skins; with energy to protect them, they could pass for whole. Strip that away, and they’d be plagued by every small illness under the su

Only then did everyone remember—Adrian was also the captain of the Sixth Divine Healers.“I nearly forgot. With the vice Chamber Master treating us, I’d be a fool to waste the chance. I’m hitting the shower first!” Vincent Norris waved and vanished into his room.The others exchanged brief nods and dispersed to wash up.Adrian took a quick shower, changed, and settled cross-legged on the carpet to wait.“Vice Chamber Master, we’re here!”Before long, the team leads and members filtered in.“Everyone, take a seat. Men, shirts off. Norris and Moyu, you can keep your undershirts—makes it easier for me to treat you all at once.”Naomi Norris and Octavia Isaacson weren’t the bashful sort. They nodded and slipped out of their jackets.Naomi was tiny—a pixie with slim arms and legs that brought out everyone’s protectiveness… provided she didn’t transform.Octavia, by contrast, was the picture of discipline—musculature clean and even, all coiled, healthy power.Once they were set, Adrian dist

With a roar, Watanabe Tano hurled himself at Adrian.Adrian’s iron-fisted execution of Uchiha was a naked insult to the three who remained—a slap across the face.They could not swallow the humiliation.“You two, cut down the others. This brat is mine.”Uechi Daiki and Fukukawa Yōsei answered once and charged Harley Emerson and the rest.“Watch yourselves. I’ll finish this old relic and back you up!”Adrian called the warning over his shoulder just as Watanabe Tano’s strike descended.“Wail of the Nether!”A sweeping tide of deathly chill rolled in. The sky darkened under a swarm of translucent specters, their faces twisted and ravenous.The temperature plunged, as if the living world had fallen away.Adrian snorted. “Parlor tricks. You think that can kill me?”Gold flared over his hands. With his left, he traced a sigil through the air; with his right, he drove a palm forward.The talisman blazed, detonating the onrushing wraiths to tatters.Before Watanabe Tano could react, Adrian’s

Unlike Adrian, the others were clearly outmatched by the guardian beasts and were quickly forced onto the defensive.He seized one of the serpent’s heads with pinpoint precision, let out a roar, and hauled the three-meter-tall monstrosity clean off the ground before slamming it into the earth.The impact shook the ground like an earthquake, a sound that rattled the bones.The Yamata-no-Orochi answered with a voiceless scream of fury and lunged for Adrian again.The melee grew more chaotic by the second. Anxious to aid his companions, Adrian stopped holding back.Golden shockwaves burst from his fists, obliterating the serpent heads one by one.At last, only a bald, mangled torso remained, its will to fight utterly broken.By the time Adrian finished, the others had more or less taken down the remaining two guardian beasts.They delivered the final blows. Each of them bore wounds, some light, some not.“Chamber Master is a monster! With power like that, only our Chamber Master could go

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