Focusing his internal parameters, Aji channeled a vast wave of aura through his vessel, executing a high-speed rotational sweep aimed directly at the joint barrier manifested by Jonas's seven transformed captains.

CRACK! SHATTER!

The combined dark barrier erected by the seven transformed dreadnoughts shattered like fragile glass before Aji's tempestuous aura. As the barrier collapsed, Aji tossed the long trench dagger in his right hand into the air. Clenching his right fist, he condensed an incandescent glare of light—shining as brightly as a miniature sun—and brought it sweeping across the seven giant beasts.

BLAAAAAM!

Shockwaves detonated across the clearing. The kinetic impact launched all seven dreadnoughts backward at terrifying speed. They tumbled uncontrollably across the terrain, snapping ancient trees like twigs for dozens of meters before crashing into the earth.

Aji reached up, catching his descending trench dagger cleanly by the hilt just as his boots touched the soil. Surrounding him, the seven sub-commanders lay groaning in the rubble, their vessels severely fractured by the sheer weight of Aji's kinetic strike.

Sustaining catastrophic internal damage, the seven captains struggled to pull themselves from the debris. To initiate cellular repair, they were forced to expend immense volumes of dark magic; given the severity of their wounds, full recovery would require considerable time.

Aji stood perfectly untouched amidst the devastation, his posture unyielding as he turned his gaze toward the two warlords of the dark army—Jonas and Marie.

"Will you truly not accept my offer to depart in peace, avoiding this senseless war against the martial alliance?" Aji asked, offering the same gentle choice. "I guarantee that you two can live together without further disruption from the world."

Jonas and Marie found his proposition increasingly bizarre. To them, Aji's words sounded like a subtle declaration of execution—sending them both into the afterlife so they could remain together for eternity. Outraged by the perceived threat, the two lovers locked their sights on Aji, their dark cores flaring in unison.

"I harbor no desire to slay you," Aji clarified, sensing their hostility. "I simply wish for you to leave this physical plane. I can send you both to a separate dimension where only the two of you exist!"

To the two warlords, the youth sounded utterly delusional. The spatial mechanics of the Second World deployed by Shura were already a marvel of dark magic. Yet this youth was claiming the existence of a Mirror World—a domain completely severed from the physical earth.

"Enough of your foolish ramblings, boy!" Marie declared, dark spellwork swirling around her fingertips as she offered a firm nod to Jonas. "If that is your desire, defeat us both first! Only then may you dictate terms!"

Aji adjusted his grip on his longsword and trench dagger, dropping into a balanced combat stance. Recognizing that a duel was unavoidable, he noted the profound bond sharing between the two lovers. They had long abandoned worldly ambitions, making them ideal candidates for peaceful withdrawal; yet asking them to trust a complete stranger on the eve of battle was an unrealistic expectation.

If force was the sole language remaining, he would speak it. In a split second, their opposing aura fields collided, generating gale-force atmospheric pressure that rattled the surrounding dark operatives who were watching the confrontation unfold.

Marie signaled her elite sub-commanders and the surrounding dark legions to hold their ground and refrain from interfering. She and Jonas would confront the intruder together.

Even before their weapons crossed, the opposing energetic domains clashed violently, whipping up a tempest of wild wind currents across the clearing.

SWOOOSH!

Jonas surged forward like a dark meteor. This time, however, he was not fighting with his individual parameters alone. Marie had deployed a high-tier telepathic enhancement spellwork, granting Jonas a massive buff that multiplied his kinetic and magical output by two hundred percent.

Through her specialized telepathic link, Marie remained continuously synchronized with Jonas's core, fueling his parameters effortlessly regardless of distance or visual line of sight. Their souls operated as a single, harmonious unit.

Dark magic enveloped Jonas's broadsword as he closed the distance. Aji raised his dual blades to intercept the incoming blow, yet the resulting kinetic shockwave far surpassed their previous clashes. Aji felt his stance buckle under the massive, multiplied pressure as Jonas drove him backward.

Aji's boots skidded across the soil, carving deep grooves into the earth as the ground fractured beneath the sheer force of Jonas's advance.

"Show me your absolute strength!" Jonas bellowed, driving his aura-laden blade forward with relentless pressure.

Intent on humbling the arrogant youth, Jonas detonated a secondary wave of dark magic at the point of contact, channeling a high-yield aura slash that swept across Aji's guard. The explosive arc tore through Aji's defensive perimeter, skidding him across the clearing into the trunk of a massive tree.

THUD!

Aji dropped to the ground. Though he had deflected the brunt of the heavy slash, the residual aura had sliced through his robes, lacerating his torso and leaving a deep wound across his cheek. Blood dripped down his chest as Aji stood up, his face marked by the ragged lacerations, yet his step remained firm as he advanced toward Jonas once more.

Jonas and Marie exchanged a swift glance, confident that the intruder's parameters had reached their ceiling. With their synchronized enhancement, they had successfully breached his guard without even unsealing their absolute maximum output.

Yet Aji continued walking forward, casually spinning his longsword and trench dagger in his hands. As he walked, a strange, shimmering light began radiating from his lacerated torso and torn cheek.

The open wounds began to melt and glow softly. In a matter of seconds, the bleeding halted, the severed tissue reconnected, and the ragged lacerations vanished entirely—leaving behind pristine, unblemished skin. Aji's stride never faltered as his vessel restored itself completely mid-step.

Jonas swallowed hard, his eyes widening in absolute shock.

How could a cultivator belonging to the righteous sects possess regenerative capabilities that put dark magic to shame? His wounds had not merely closed—they had vanished instantly as he walked forward.

It was neither orthodox healing magic nor dark regeneration. Orthodox healing disciplines relied on deliberate, high-volume internal aura manipulation, channeling spiritual energy directly into damaged pathways to stanch bleeding and accelerate tissue repair over time—a process requiring intense concentration and meditation.

Dark army regeneration, conversely, relied on Black Blood techniques—absorbing raw, volatile dark magic to forcibly bind severed tissue together. While rapid, dark regeneration consumed staggering volumes of dark magic, risking severe mental corruption if overused, as the volatile energy could erode the practitioner's soul and transform them into a mindless monster.

Yet the youth standing before them—Aji—had deployed neither method. His internal aura had remained completely passive; no energy streams had been directed toward his wounds to initiate repair. His physical vessel appeared to possess an intrinsic, absolute immortal constitution.

It was the mythic Immortal Body—a legendary state spoken of only in ancient parables, deemed impossible by both orthodox grandmasters and dark practitioners alike.

Instinctively, Jonas and Marie took a hesitant step back, utterly awed by the phenomenon they had just witnessed.

What frightened them most was that Aji had paid no attention to his injuries whatsoever. His physical form had repaired itself automatically, without requiring a conscious command or energetic focus from his core. While ordinary cultivators had to pause and channel aura to heal, Aji simply walked through catastrophic damage as if it did not exist, his recovery rate outpacing even the highest tier of dark regeneration.

Deep apprehension gripped Jonas as he stared at the advancing youth. Who is this boy?!

Aji halted a few paces away, his expression serene. "Answer my question now. Will you allow me to transfer you to the Mirror World, where no one will ever bother you again? If you insist on defiance, I shall be forced to compel you."

A shimmering aura swept around Aji's frame, rising like serene, golden flames. Facing his bizarre, absolute parameters and instantaneous recovery, Jonas and Marie abandoned all pretense of a clean duel. Recognizing the existential threat posed by a single youth, they resolved to mobilize their entire standing army to suppress him.

"Legions of the abyss! Destroy him together!" Marie commanded, her voice echoing across the encampment.

Her order was obeyed instantly. Thousands of dark operatives surrounding the command sector surged forward from every vector. Dozens of high-tier dark cultists vaulted into the air, deploying high-speed movement techniques to rain down upon Aji like a cloud of locusts.

Sheathing his trench dagger, Aji shifted his longsword to his left hand, clenching his right fist as a dense, shimmering orb of high-voltage aura condensed around his knuckles, spinning like a miniature galaxy.

As the dark operatives descended upon him from all sides in overwhelming numbers, Aji leaped into the air, bringing his right fist crashing down into the earth with catastrophic kinetic force.

BRUUUUUSH!

The resulting shockwave detonated across the coastal terrain, discharging a wide-radius seismic wave of high-density electrical energy that saturated every inch of the encampment.

Connecting like a glowing network of lightning tendrils, the high-voltage aura pierced through the soil, enveloping every dark operative within its massive radius. The paralyzing shockwave instantly locked the movement of the entire army; thousands of dark cultists froze mid-action, their physical vessels heavy and paralyzed, unable to execute a single command as time itself seemed to grind to a halt around them.