HELL UNIVERSITY

At the North Gate

The freezing drizzle had turned into a relentless, icy downpour by the time Rowan and Declan emerged from the subterranean passages back into the stormy night air.

The high gothic spires of Hell University loomed through the dense fog, their stained-glass windows glowing with warm, orange light from the Grand Auditorium where the mid-term Academy Assembly was in full swing. Miles away, music and applause drifted faintly across the manicured lawns—a stark contrast to the dark storm gathering at the perimeter.

Gideon and Briar emerged from the shadow of the clock tower, their long coats drenched. Beside them, Selene carried her crystal focus, her pale face tight with strain.

"Node 5 is completely silent," Selene reported immediately as Rowan approached. "The ley line pressure across campus dropped forty percent the moment you severed the conduit. But the perimeter wards..." She paused, her dark eyes flashing with dread. "The North Gate wards just died. Someone cut the ward stones clean through."

Gideon flexed his claws, a harsh snarl low in his throat. "The Council?"

"They're already on school grounds," Rowan said, his voice flat and untroubled. He adjusted his dark cuffs, looking toward the heavy iron gates at the northern edge of the campus grounds. "Hale was just the scout. The execution team is here to harvest."

Declan gripped his silver knife tightly. "Hale said three High Executioners. Rowan, these aren't regional trainees like the ones in the East Quad—High Executioners are trained specifically to hunt elder noble bloodlines."

"Let them come," Rowan replied smoothly, stepping past them into the storm. "It saves us the trouble of hunting them down later."

The North Gate was a massive, fifty-foot archway of wrought iron and ancient granite, marking the boundary between the university’s ward perimeter and the dark pine forest surrounding the valley.

The heavy iron gates had been sheared cleanly off their hinges, lying twisted in the muddy grass. The ancient rune stones embedded in the archway—designed to incinerate uninvited intruders—were sliced in half, their magical light completely extinguished.

Standing in the center of the muddy path, illuminated by sporadic flashes of lightning, were three towering figures.

They wore tailored, charcoal-grey combat trench coats lined with heavy silver plating that hummed with a low, oppressive frequency. Unlike the lower-tier hunters, they wore no helmets—only high, silver-threaded collars covering the lower halves of their faces, leaving their cold, calculating eyes exposed.

The lead executioner, a tall man with scar-lined eyes and slicked-back raven hair, stepped forward over the shattered ward stones. In his right hand, he casually carried a heavy, black-steel broadsword inscribed with glowing anti-vampiric runes.

"Rowan Hawthorne," the lead hunter spoke, his voice carrying through the rain with sharp, icy precision. "I am High Executioner Vance of the Central Citadel. By order of the Global Council, you are charged with high treason, illegal bloodline awakening, and the murder of Regional Director Victor Hale."

Gideon stepped up beside Rowan, his amber eyes blazing as his wolf form partially surfaced, thick fur bristling along his arms. "Hale sacrificed himself to break the hybrid seal, you blind bastard! We stopped him from leveling this school!"

Vance didn't even glance at Gideon. His cold gaze remained locked squarely on Rowan. "The details are irrelevant. The Council does not permit the existence of an active Blood Monarch in this era. The world has moved past your kind."

The two executioners behind Vance drew their weapons—one unholstering a pair of massive, silver-chambered hand cannons loaded with anti-magic rounds, while the other unsheathed twin curved scimitars that crackled with high-frequency light energy.

[Notice: 3 High-Tier Entities Identified]

[Target 1: High Executioner Vance (Level 45 Hunter Master)]

[Target 2: Executioner Kael (Ranged Combat Specialist)]

[Target 3: Executioner Drake (Dual-Blade Specialist)]

[Warning: Combined Anti-Magic Field Exerts 30% Suppression on Standard Mana]

Selene took a sharp breath as the heavy anti-magic field washed over them, suppressing her crystal lantern’s glow. "Rowan... their field is twice as dense as the ones in the catacombs. Standard spellcraft won't ignite within twenty paces of them!"

"Good thing I don't use standard spellcraft," Rowan said softly.

He took a step forward into the mud.

[Skill Activated: Monarch Domain - Expansion (15-Meter Radius)]

BOOM!

The moment Rowan’s domain collided with the hunters' anti-magic field, the heavy rain in a thirty-foot radius instantly flattened against the earth. The oppressive suppression field generated by the executioners' armor shuddered violently, then shattered like brittle glass under the sheer weight of Rowan's aura.

Executioner Vance’s eyes widened slightly as the sudden pressure force pushed him back half a step, his boots carving deep grooves in the wet mud.

"What is this force...?" the dual-blade executioner, Drake, muttered, his grip tightening on his scimitars as his anti-magic runes flickered erratically. "Our field was completely overridden!"

"He’s not using spellcraft," Vance realized, his scarred face darkening instantly. "It’s pure Monarch pressure... His bloodline has already reached the Sovereign stage!"

Vance raised his heavy broadsword, pointing it straight at Rowan. "Suppress him! Maximum output! Do not let him establish control!"

The ranged specialist, Kael, raised his heavy hand cannons and opened fire without warning.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Three silver-alloy rounds, each infused with volatile light magic, tore through the sheet of rain at blinding speed, aimed directly at Rowan's vital points.

Rowan didn't dodge or raise a barrier.

[Skill Activated: Sovereign Command (Level 1)]

"HALT."

The single word vibrated through the air like a heavy iron hammer hitting an anvil.

The three silver rounds stopped dead in mid-air two feet from Rowan’s chest, their kinetic momentum completely neutralized as they hovered frozen in the pouring rain, spinning uselessly against the invisible wall of Rowan’s command.

Rowan flicked two fingers casually.

THWACK!

The three silver bullets reversed direction instantly, shooting back at twice their original speed.

Kael gasped, diving to the side into the mud as the rounds shattered his hand cannons into flying metal shrapnel, knocking him rolling across the gravel path.

"Drake, flank him!" Vance roared, lunging forward with his heavy broadsword engulfed in blinding white light.

Drake blurred into a shadow, circling around Rowan’s blind spot with his twin scimitars whistling toward Rowan's neck in a lethal, cross-cutting arc.

"Behind you!" Briar yelled, reaching for her silver dagger.

Rowan didn't turn around. His eyes flared with brilliant gold and crimson fire as his system interface calculated the exact trajectory of both attacks.

[Monarch Purity: 46%]

[Skill Activated: Blood Veil (Level 1)]

A dense wave of deep crimson fog erupted from Rowan's body, enveloping both Vance and Drake instantly. Inside the crimson mist, the white light on their blades died out entirely, smothered by the raw Monarch mana.

"My sight!" Drake panicked, his scimitars slicing through empty mist as his spatial orientation completely collapsed inside the domain.

Before Drake could recover, a pale hand emerged from the red fog, gripping his armored throat with terrifying strength.

[Skill Activated: Absolute Blood Pressure (Level 2)]

CRACK!

Drake’s armored collar caved inward as the internal pressure in his body spiked violently. He let out a strangled gasp, his weapons clattering into the mud before Rowan casually threw his unconscious body ten feet into the broken iron gate.

Vance burst out of the crimson fog, his heavy broadsword coming down in a desperate, two-handed overhead strike infused with his remaining life force. "Die, monster!"

Rowan stepped into the blow, raising his right hand bare-palmed.

CLANG!

The broadsword hit Rowan’s palm with a deafening metallic screech. The shockwave blew the surrounding mud and rain thirty feet backward, leaving a deep crater beneath their boots.

Yet Rowan’s palm didn't bleed. A delicate, glowing weave of crimson Monarch runes covered his skin, absorbing the kinetic shock without yielding an inch.

Vance stared in absolute horror at his blocked blade, his hands trembling against the hilt. "Bare... bare-handed...? You caught a High Executioner’s blade bare-handed?!"

Rowan looked up into Vance’s terrified eyes, his tone bone-chillingly calm.

"Your Council spent three hundred years preparing to fight vampires," Rowan whispered, his voice resonating with double-layered spectral authority. "You forgot how to fight a King."

Rowan tightened his grip on the heavy steel blade.

SNAP!

The High Executioner's broadsword shattered into a dozen glowing silver fragments.

Before Vance could retreat, Rowan delivered a swift, open-palm strike to the center of Vance’s chest plate.

BOOM!

The heavy silver armor caved inward under the concentrated pulse of Sovereign force. Vance was launched backward like a cannonball, crashing violently through the granite pillar of the North Gate before collapsing into the muddy grass, unconscious and beaten.

[Notice: 3 High Executioners Neutralized.]

[Monarch EXP +500]

[Level Up! Ancestral Blood Monarch System: Rank 1 (60% Awakened)]

[Monarch Domain Radius Expanded to 20 Meters!]

Silence fell over the North Gate, broken only by the steady drumming of icy rain against the mud.

Gideon, Briar, Selene, and Declan stood in absolute silence, staring at the three downed High Executioners—the elite force of the Global Council—lying defeated at Rowan's feet in less than two minutes.

Declan let out a long, shaky breath, sheathing his silver knife. "Unbelievable..."

Selene stepped forward, looking past the shattered gate into the dark pine forest beyond. Her crystal lantern glowed faintly as her eyes clouded with a new, sudden vision.

"Rowan," Selene said softly, her voice filled with deep urgency. "Vance wasn't the leader of the strike force."

Rowan turned his head toward her, his crimson eyes slowly returning to their dark grey hue. "Explain."

"The Council sent four teams to the valley tonight," Selene revealed, her dark eyes wide. "While Vance drew our attention here at the North Gate, the remaining executioners breached the East Quad... They're heading for the Grand Auditorium right now to take the Headmaster hostage!"