He crawled out of the guest quarters, fixing his clothes carefully so nobody would notice his hands were trembling."Success?" Marco asked, reading the general's expression perfectly."Expensive success," the general corrected. "But he agreed to stay neutral."Marco nodded, already moving toward the central planning chamber where the other generals were gathered. The Hammer General, the Lance General, and a handful of subordinates who'd switched sides after the Mace General's death."We move now," Marco announced. "Full march on the Imperial Palace tonight."The Hammer General blinked. "Shouldn't we plan attack strategy first? We need formations, supply lines, defensive positions—""Plan my ass," Marco interrupted. "We have overwhelming numbers. We walk straight to the Imperial Palace. Complicated plans are unnecessary."The Lance General, who'd decided that humans were the pinnacle of tactical intelligence, heard this and agreed completely. The general's decision-making process was a

The guard captain wrapped himself in Earth Element essence, his form hardening into something that looked more like stone than flesh. He came back harder, his movements more controlled, his defense more solid.Marco decided he'd spent enough time on this particular obstacle.He stepped back and sheathed the Blood Holy Sword. Then he put ninety percent of his strength into a single punch.The air pressure alone locked the captain in place before the fist even arrived. Reality bent around the force of it, compressing space, making the world itself gasp.Then the captain was airborne. He crashed through wall after wall of the Imperial Palace, his body creating a path of destruction that carved straight through the building. When he finally stopped moving, he was somewhere in the palace's eastern wing, unconscious and broken.The path to the Song and Dance Hall was clear.The Rat King was waiting at the far end of the hall, enormous and golden-robed, his entire body trembling. The moment

Marco woke to Rocco's face at close range, the smell of someone who'd been sleeping in the same room for days without proper bathing hitting him like a physical force. His first thought was to slap the idiot, but his arms wouldn't respond to commands. He lacked the strength.Rocco grinned, completely unaware of how close he'd come to being struck. He produced a bowl of colorful mush that looked like it had been assembled from things that shouldn't naturally exist together."Try some! Sofia made this special for you!" Rocco held a spoon up hopefully."No," Marco managed, his voice hoarse.Julius walked in without knocking, took one look at the situation, and jerked his chin toward the door. Rocco scrambled out, sensing danger in a way his conscious mind hadn't quite caught up to.Julius waited until the room was completely clear. Then he settled into the chair beside Marco's bed, his expression carrying something between amusement and murderous intent."Sofia gave you mouth-to-mouth re

The waterfall saved him.Marco reached the cliff edge at the exact last moment and jumped, his body plummeting into the pool below. The Life Lock Arrow followed, its tracking magic disrupted by the sudden submersion. The arrow hit the water and lost cohesion, its power dissipating into the current.Samuel arrived at the cliff edge moments later, looking down into the noise and spray and churning water below. He saw nothing. No body. No blood trail. Nothing to confirm the kill.He gestured sharply to his soldiers. "Down. Find him."The troops began descending the cliff face, their movements coordinated and professional. They expected to find a corpse or someone too wounded to pose a threat.They were wrong about both assumptions.Underground, somewhere in the water or maybe in the forest afterward, Marco was on his knees beside five bodies. His hands were shaking, though whether from blood loss or something else, he couldn't tell. The arrow had gone completely through his back, leaving

"Kill him now while he's adjusting to new power!" someone shouted from the back, still upright, apparently made of sterner moral fiber than his colleagues. "He just advanced! He doesn't know his own strength yet! Take him while he's disoriented!"Several dozen melee fighters stood up from their knees and charged together, deciding greed was stronger than divine pressure.Marco watched them come. "I should mention something," he said."Don't," the lead fighter snapped. "You've killed enough of us already, stop talking and fight.""Blood Transverse Sky," Marco said. "Second Transition Level Eight."The fighters slowed, uncertain."That's impossible," the lead fighter said, his charge losing momentum. "Outsiders can't master skills above Level Four inside the wasteland. That's the suppression law. Everyone knows it.""Do they?""Yes! It's the entire point of the wasteland's existence! Level suppression applies to skills as much as cultivation! You can't use a Level Eight skill here!""Wa