KING OF THE NORTH

Chapter Nine: The War King Revealed

Master Duncan's mind raced as he stared at the golden energy swirling around Navine.

He knew that technique. Infact, everyone who'd served on the Northern Battlefield knew of it, even though they'd never seen it with their own eyes. 

The Northern Battlefield was hell on earth. A place where ordinary soldiers went to die and only the strongest survived

In that brutal crucible, a busy cultivation technique was invented out of pure necessity. 

The technique has levels. 

F-Rank was the entry level. All it required was basic body strengthening, enough to snap steel with your own bare hands. 

E-Rank soldiers could shatter concrete and move faster than the eye could follow.

D-Rank was where officers started. They could channel energy into weapons and unleash devastating strikes.

C-Rank commanders were walking weapons. Their bodies were harder than armor, their strikes powerful enough to level buildings.

B-Rank generals were legends. Only a handful existed in the entire military.

And then there was the forbidden level, S-Rank. The War King's level.

Master Duncan had trained in the Northern Battlefield for seven years. He'd managed to make his way up to the D-Rank but he'd been stuck there for three years. No matter how hard he trained, no matter how many battles he fought, he couldn't break through to C-Rank.

He'd witnessed high-ranking officers practicing advanced techniques. He'd seen generals unleash attacks that tore through enemy battalions like paper. He'd even caught glimpses of forbidden techniques during classified operations.

But the spiritual energy fluctuation radiating from Navine right now was beyond anything he'd ever encountered.

It was overwhelming. Master Duncan's throat went dry.

The man before him was the war king. The legendary soldier who'd broken through the limits of body cultivation and reached S-Rank. 

The myth made flesh.

"It's too late," he said coldly. Then he completed the forbidden technique in an instant. 

His hand shot forward, his palm still open and it glowed with a golden energy that seemed to disrupt the air around it. 

His eyes blazed pure gold, so bright that people had to shield their faces. 

The temperature spiked so violently that windows began to crack from the thermal stress. 

The ground beneath Navine's feet shattered, creating a crater that spread outward in jagged lines. Dust and debris lifted into the air, swirling around him in a violent vortex.

People in the crowd collapsed to their knees, unable to withstand the crushing spiritual pressure. 

Master Duncan’s face had gone completely white. 

Every instinct screamed at him to run but he legs wouldn't budge. He was paralyzed by terror. 

Navine's palm shit forward and a sphere of golden energy exploded outward in a beam of pure destruction.

The beam struck Master Duncan square in the chest. 

The entire building shook as if it had been struck by an earthquake. The windows shattered and paintings tore off the wall. 

Master Duncan's body was lifted off the ground by the sheer force of the impact. His eyes went completely white. His mouth opened in a silent scream of agony.

Every rib in his chest was broken. His sternum was obliterated. The golden energy tore through him like he was made of tissue paper, leaving a massive burn mark across his entire torso that smoked and sizzled.

He was thrown backward like a rag doll and he clumped to the ground in a broken heap, teetering at the edge of death itself. 

The entire auction house was frozen in absolute shock.

Navine turned slowly and looked up at the platform where Victoria stood.

Victoria's face had gone deathly pale. She stared down at Master Duncan's broken body, her mind refusing to process what she'd just witnessed.

Then, She grabbed the walkie-talkie with trembling hands and screamed into it.

"OPEN FIRE! ALL UNITS, OPEN FIRE IMMEDIATELY!”

Just then, Master Duncan's voice, barely audible, cut through the air. 

“No…don't…shoot…,”

Victoria's head snapped toward him. "What?”

Master Duncan  coughed up more blood. “You…must…not…fire…”

Victoria stared at him in disbelief, then she understood. 

"I see," she said. "You're being threatened by him. He's forcing you to say that.”

She brought the walkie-talkie back to her lips.

"Attention all soldiers! Your commander is being threatened by the intruder! He's under duress! Ignore his orders and shoot to kill immediately! I repeat – shoot to kill! Both targets! NOW!”

Static. Then a soldier's voice, 

"Understood. Opening fire.”

Victoria's face lit up with excitement. She could already see their bodies being riddled by numerous holes. 

But then, 

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Explosions erupted outside the building. The entire auction house shook violently. Chandeliers swayed. Debris rained from the ceiling.

Through the window, everyone watched as the black military helicopters were torn apart by a barrage of anti-aircraft fire.

The helicopters exploded in a massive fireball. Flaming wreckage spun through the air and crashed into the street below with a thunderous impact.

Victoria's smile vanished. Just as people dove under tables to avoid being hit by debris and gunfire, the door burst open and Navine’s soldiers poured into the auction house. 

Within seconds, they'd taken control of every exit, every corner, every vantage point.

Victoria stumbled backward, her expensive heels catching on debris. She nearly fell but caught herself against the platform railing.

"No," she gasped. "No, this isn't possible. How... how did he...?”

At that moment, a massive shockwave erupted from the center of the room. The force of it was like a bomb going off.

Victoria was thrown backward by the blast. 

She hit the ground hard, the impact knocking the air from her lungs. 

Pain shot through her body as she rolled across the floor, her designer dress tearing, her skin scraping against broken glass and debris.

She lay there gasping, her vision swimming, her ears ringing.

When she finally managed to push herself up onto her hands and knees, her mind was reeling.

None of this made sense. How did Navine possess martial power that surpassed Master Duncan's? Master Duncan was D-Rank – one of the strongest fighters in the entire region. Yet Navine had defeated him with a single strike.

And Master Duncan's soldiers had been wiped out in seconds. 

Who the hell was this man?

She looked up, her vision still blurry, and froze.

Navine stood infront of her. In his hand, he held something small – the tracking device, covered in dried blood. 

Victoria's breath caught in her throat. Her entire body went rigid with terror.

Navine looked down at her with cold eyes.

"You arranged for my sister to be auctioned," he said quietly. "You had a tracking device sewn into my aunt's body. So tell me, Victoria Caldwell, what do you think I’m going to do with you now?”