Aji’s staff unlocked with a soft click, splitting into a pair of dual armaments: a longsword charged with high-density light aura in his right hand, and a long trench dagger in his left. As the ten elite captains lunged forward in their mutated Demon Transformations, Aji executed an aerial spin, parrying the synchronized barrage from all ten opponents in a single fluid rotation.

The coordinated strike failed to land a single hit. Before the captains could reset their stances, Aji launched a high-speed counter-flurry. Spinning like a tempest of light, his dual blades sliced cleanly through the defenses of two elite guards, while the resulting shockwave blew the remaining eight backward.

The two captains struck by Aji's blades collapsed to the earth, instantly reverting to their human forms as their mutated traits withered. Aji had coated his steel in a specialized alchemical compound designed specifically to inhibit the cellular regeneration of dark magic.

Incapcapable of initiating cellular repair, the two sub-commanders lay motionless, their dark cores completely neutralized.

Jonas watched in absolute disbelief. The youth wielding dual blades was clearly no ordinary cultivator—he possessed the specific knowledge and means to suppress the dark army's regenerative advantages.

Despite the abrupt loss of two comrades, the remaining eight captains surged forward without hesitation. Bound by absolute loyalty to Jonas and Marie, they flanked Aji from all eight cardinal directions.

Nodding to one another, they amplified their dark magic, tightening their assault formation. Aji glided gracefully between their blades, using his longsword and trench dagger to intercept every incoming weapon from the remaining eight guards.

The kinetic collisions generated heavy shockwaves that shook the ground. The eight captains rotated their vectors continuously, searching for an opening in his perimeter. Aji swiveled on his heels, his sharp eyes tracking every subtle movement in their attack patterns.

Forced onto the defensive by their relentless, multi-directional flurry, Aji found no space to initiate a counter-strike. Yet just as the captains believed they had backed him into a corner, Aji channeled a heavy volume of internal aura, discharging a roaring wind field that erupted in a wide circle around his vessel.

Thousands of ambient aura blades swirled outward, forcing all eight captains to retreat immediately to avoid being torn apart. Even when caught in a tight pincer, the youth possessed the tactical output to break a high-density siege effortlessly.

Aji brought hisAfterimage illusions to a halt, standing calm and composed at the center of the clearing. Jonas and Marie stared at him in quiet shock—how could a single youth remain so unfazed while surrounded by an enemy army?

Recognizing the threat, the eight remaining captains unsealed their ultimate parameters. Dark magic erupted from their vessels in volatile pillars as they initiated Full Demon Transformation.

Their frames expanded exponentially into giant reptilian and beast-like dreadnoughts, standing several meters tall. Wrapped in suffocating veils of dark aura, their eyes ignited with a blood-red glare.

This was the absolute peak capability of dark practitioners. Facing a foe of unprecedented strength, they sacrificed their human forms to access the absolute limits of dark magic.

The influx of dark energy forced open every spiritual pathway in their vessels. Channeling such unbridled dark magic was extremely dangerous; if maintained too long, the volatile energy would permanently destroy their rational minds, leaving them as mindless, feral monsters.

Mutating rapidly, heavy scales, jagged talons, and dense fur sprouted across their towering frames. Their physical height expanded fivefold, and their heavy breathing released scorching thermal vapors into the cool air.

With a single, earth-shaking stomp, the eight transformed dreadnoughts charged in unison, their kinetic parameters multiplied several times over. From the sidelines, Jonas and Marie watched closely, curious to see how Aji would handle eight high-tier dark dreadnoughts operating at maximum output.

Mathematically, no solitary grandmaster could survive a prolonged clash against eight transformed sub-captains. Every strike unleashed by the monsters carried the kinetic force of a localized blast.

One giant dreadnought brought a massive, scale-armored fist crashing down toward Aji. Raising his dual blades, Aji reinforced his steel with high-density light aura to absorb the blow. Simultaneously, a second dreadnought swept a razor-sharp claw toward his flank, its mutated arm reinforced with natural bone armaments.

Aji held his ground, blocking the first strike while maneuvering to deflect the second.

SWOOOSH!

Bracing his back boot, Aji launched himself into a backward vault, dodging the sweeping claw by inches. The first dreadnought, losing its resistance as Aji shifted his weight, stumbled forward under its own momentum.

As the monster's giant face lurched close, Aji focused a surge of kinetic aura into his boot, delivering a swift kick directly to the dreadnought's forehead. The movement appeared light and effortless, barely brushing against the monster's brow.

Yet the resulting kinetic transfer was staggering. The giant dreadnought was launched backward like a projectile, tumbling across the clearing into the surrounding dark operatives, snapping several ancient trees in half before coming to a violent halt.

BOOOOOOM!

The sheer physical yield stunned the observers.

Using the recoil of the kick to propel himself forward, Aji channeled elemental light aura into his boots and dual blades, surging toward the second dreadnought like a falling star.

WOOOOOSH!

Aji pierced straight through the giant chest cavity of the second dreadnought. His longsword and trench dagger shredded the monster's dark core, bursting out through its back in a spray of corrupted blood. As Aji landed cleanly on the far side, the towering beast collapsed, its dark regeneration completely neutralized by the alchemical poison before it could even initiate repair.

Aji had targeted its primary core with absolute precision, delivering a fatal dose of Saint Yonan's specialized dark-suppressing compound.

He neutralized two transformed dreadnoughts so casually?! Jonas and Marie realized in that moment that Aji was no ordinary martial artist—he commanded parameters capable of directly challenging Lord Demon Shura.

The youth had stated earlier that his sole purpose was the absolute eradication of Shura. His performance proved his words were no idle boast; even after the elite guards unleashed their Full Demon Transformations, they had failed to inflict a single scratch on him.

Jonas was now entirely convinced that his fractured premonitions of the future were tied directly to this youth. Aji was a mysterious figure whose true strength, in Jonas's estimation, could match Shura blow for blow in open combat.

Such a warrior had remained completely hidden within the orthodox alliance, leaving the dark army entirely unaware of his existence.

"Shall we join the clash together, my love?" Marie asked softly, stepping closer to Jonas. She noticed the deep, troubled look in his eyes as he analyzed the youth's movements, sensing he had glimpsed another vision of the future.

"Wait, Marie," Jonas advised, holding out a hand. "Observe his combat patterns a moment longer. We must identify his structural weaknesses before stepping onto the field. That is our cleanest path to victory—deciphering the flaw in his rhythm."

Marie nodded, honoring her lover's tactical judgment as they focused on the ongoing battle.

The six remaining dreadnoughts launched a simultaneous pincer attack. Aji found himself hard-pressed as the six giant beasts coordinated their vectors to eliminate all evasive routes. The seventh dreadnought, recovering from Aji's kinetic kick, pulled itself from the rubble and rejoined the charge.

High-density dark blasts and physical strikes rained down upon Aji. The seven monsters pressed their advantage, forcing him into a continuous defensive cycle. Though Aji agilely evaded the majority of their strikes, the sheer volume of their combined assault began to restrict his movement.

High strikes, low sweeps, left hooks, and right thrusts—the seven dreadnoughts maintained a flawless rotation. Whenever Aji dodged one blow, a second and third immediately cut off his escape path, forcing him to block heavy kinetic impacts with his dual blades.

Aji focused entirely on defensive evasion, his physical parameters augmented by a thin, razor-sharp layer of light aura that buffered the kinetic force of the giant monsters' strikes.

After enduring the heavy barrage for several moments, Aji was driven back into a tight vector. A giant scale-armored fist bypassed his parrying arc, catching his shoulder and sending him skidding across the soil into the base of a ancient tree.

CRACK!

Aji dropped to one knee against the trunk. The seven dark dreadnoughts paused, offering sinister grins as they regrouped, bracing for his next move. The seven fully transformed sub-commanders stood in a tight wall, waiting to see if the youth would rise or if his core had buckled.

A second later, a subtle haze of heat aura began rising from Aji's vessel, drifting upward like steam from his shoulders. Aji lifted his head, his eyes locking onto the seven giant beasts standing before him.

Aji stood up smoothly, his internal aura condensing into a dense, shimmering field around his frame. He adjusted his grip on his longsword and trench dagger as high-density kinetic energy accumulated in his legs.

The seven giant dreadnoughts instinctively took a half-step back, feeling a sudden, suffocating wave of pressure radiating from the solitary youth.

Aji leaned forward, his eyes flashing with incandescent light.

WOOOOOSH!

Ghost Speed!

Aji vanished into thin air, leaving behind a thunderous sonic crack as crackling threads of blue atmospheric lightning ignited across the clearing. His velocity defied mortal parameters, moving so fast that spatial time seemed to warp around his trajectory. Sensing the terrifying surge of incoming kinetic force, the seven sub-commanders instantly combined their dark magic to manifest a multi-layered defensive array before them.

CRACK!

The high-density array shattered instantly as Aji pierced straight through their collective barrier. The lightning trailing his path distorted the surrounding air, freezing the seven dreadnoughts in place as time itself appeared to stand still!