Chapter 117—The Eclipse of the Jackal God.
Chapter 117—The Eclipse of the Jackal God.
The monumental obsidian doors of The Sunless Citadel, carved with colossal gold hieroglyphs depicting ancient soul-weighing rituals, stood as an impenetrable barrier against the living world. Yet, as Kaelen approached, taking a calm, measured step across the black limestone plaza, the mere presence of his Void authority caused the towering doors to disintegrate into fine, purple spectral dust.
---
[ZONE ENTERED: The Sunless Citadel—Hall of Judgment]
HAZARD RATING: TIER-SSS (Soul-Weighing Rupture & Absolute Necrotic-Decay Field)
FIELD EFFECT: [Weight of Damnation]—Non-Sovereign Entities Suffer 15% Max Health Drain & 85% Physical Defense Reduction!
STATUS: Overlord Boss Lair Reached
---
The inner sanctum was staggering in its ancient, dark grandeur. A colossal golden scale, big enough to weigh mountain peaks, hovered above a vast pit of swirling purple soul-fire. Soaring obsidian pillars inlaid with glowing lapis lazuli and gold leaf lined the grand hall, their tops lost in the shadows of an endless ceiling. Millions of trapped spectral souls fluttered through the dark air like restless blue wisps, crying out in silent agony.
Kaelen walked down the central causeway with dark, predatory elegance. His hand remained warmly wrapped around Lyra’s slender dark-gloved fingers.
Her golden staff radiated a brilliant, solar aura that expanded across the room, creating a thirty-meter sanctuary that completely neutralized the [Weight of Damnation] field effect and turned the biting necrotic pressure into harmless golden particles.
Beside them, Ignis carried his heavy claymore with casual ease, black dragon flames swirling along the dark steel to burn away the spectral wisps that drifted too close.
Ren monitored her tactical displays, her gauntlet mapping the complex necrotic conduits embedded within the temple’s structure, while Tsubaki glided silently from shadow to shadow along the perimeter columns.
"The soul-energy concentration in this chamber is unlike anything on previous floors," Ren reported calmly through her comms link, her gauntlet projecting purple three-dimensional schematics.
"Anubis has anchored his physical form directly into the floor’s ancient soul-vault. He can siphon the spiritual energy of millions of dead souls to instantly restore his health or generate absolute necrotic barriers."
"Siphoning dead souls just means he’s hoarding extra fuel for my fire," Ignis chuckled with a confident grin, resting his sword on his shoulder as dark flames crackled around his boots.
"Exercise caution, my lord," Tsubaki murmured from the shadow of a lapis column. "The space around the judgment scale is woven with spatial curse bindings."
"Curse bindings are woven from matter, and matter belongs to the Void," Kaelen purred smoothly, his low velvet voice carrying a chilling, effortless authority. He gently stroked the back of Lyra’s hand with his thumb, his dark violet eyes gleaming with triple-ringed golden light.
"Let him weigh his souls. In the end, his scales, his souls, and his divinity will be erased alike."
---
[OVERLORD BOSS ENGAGED!]
TARGET: The Necro-Sovereign Anubis—Lord of the Celestial Necropolis (Level 190 Tier-OVERLORD)
HP: 420,000,000 / 420,000,000
SPECIAL RULE: Soul Vault Immortality—Automatically Absorbs Trapped Souls to Regenerate 5% Max HP Every Second!
RELIQUE RESONANCE: Key of the Holy Grail (100% Operational)
---
At the far end of the hall, seated upon a throne carved from a single block of dark cosmic stone and crowned with golden scarabs, sat The Necro-Sovereign Anubis (Level 190 Tier-OVERLORD).
Anubis stood forty-five feet tall, an imposing jackal-headed deity clad in dark gold armor and black linen robes that billowed with purple necrotic energy. In his left hand, he held the Scales of Fate, and in his right, he wielded a massive, double-ended golden scepter pulsing with absolute-death mana—the Scepter of the Underworld.
Beside his throne stood an ancient guardian construct—an eighty-foot-tall Anubis Colossus (Level 188 Elite Overlord) forged from obsidian and gold, flanked by three thousand elite Spectral Archons!
"Living mortals..." Anubis’s deep, echoing voice sounded like the scraping of ancient coffins, sending shockwaves through the grand hall. "You desecrated my tombs, slaughtered my vanguard, and dared to breach my Hall of Judgment. But here upon the scales of fate, your souls are light as feathers! You shall be fed to the abyss!"
Anubis rose from his cosmic throne, slamming his golden scepter into the limestone floor!
BOOOOOOM!
---
[OVERLORD DOMAIN UNLEASHED!]
FIELD EFFECT: [Dominion of the Underworld]
EFFECT: Anubis gains 400% Necrotic & Dark Damage! All incoming physical and elemental attacks suffer a 90% Soul-Dampening Reduction!
---
The Anubis Colossus bellowed, raising its massive golden khopesh alongside the three thousand Spectral Archons, unleashing a tidal wave of purple necrotic flames and spectral sandstorms directly toward the Sovereign Faction!
"Let me burn this entire tomb to ashes!"
Ignis bellowed with a wild laugh, stepping forward and bringing his claymore down with terrifying power!
"Dragon Fire Art: Black Sun Soul-Burn!"
A massive, three-hundred-meter wave of black-and-gold dragon flame erupted from his blade! The sheer heat flash-incinerated two thousand Spectral Archons in a single second, turning their spectral forms into ember dust!
"Shadow Style: Necrotic Core Sever!"
Tsubaki glided through the burning steam, his dark katana leaving behind black spatial cuts that severed the soul cores of the remaining thousand Archons!
"System Override: Spectral Pulse Overload!" Ren launched sixteen acoustic disruptor charges directly into the Anubis Colossus’s chest! The high-frequency shockwaves shattered the necrotic bonds of the eighty-foot colossus, causing it to collapse into a mountain of harmless black sand!
In less than ninety seconds, Anubis’s entire elite army was completely wiped out!
Anubis’s glowing purple eyes flared with absolute rage and disbelief. "LIVING DUST! SUFFER THE ULTIMATE JUDGMENT OF THE UNDERWORLD!"
He spun his golden scepter and leaped from his throne at light-speed momentum!
"Necrotic Overlord Art: Grand Soul Extinction!"
BOOOOOOM!
A colossal wave of compressed dark necrotic fire and spatial soul-blades erupted from his scepter, surging directly toward Kaelen with the force of an entire collapsing realm!
Kaelen didn’t raise a shield or shift his footing. He simply extended his left dark-gloved hand toward the incoming tidal wave.
HUMMMMMMMM!
A pitch-black singularity of pure Void Origin flared into existence before his palm. The colossal wave of super-compressed necrotic energy struck the dark sphere—and was instantly swallowed whole, vanishing into absolute non-existence!
---
[PASSIVE EFFECT: Void Singular Absorption]
DAMAGE RECEIVED: 0!
Anubis’s soul extinction: absolutely erased!
---
Anubis froze mid-air, his golden scepter trembling in complete terror as his ultimate technique vanished into thin air. "WHAT?! My grand soul extinction... ERASED INTO NOTHING?!"
"Your scales are empty, Anubis," Kaelen purred softly, his velvet voice icy and smooth. "Before my presence, life, and death are erased in equal measure."
Kaelen slowly reached down to his hip, his slender dark-gloved fingers wrapping securely around the hilt of the Void Blade.
The completed Key of the Holy Grail within his soul core flared with intense dark-gold radiance, coating the cosmic steel in black void flames.
He drew the blade completely from its sheath.
SHING!
The entire atmosphere of the Hall of Judgment fell into absolute silence as space itself began to warp and fracture around Kaelen’s feet.
"Sovereign Secret Art: Spatial Erasure—Underworld Collapse!"
Kaelen delivered a single, effortless horizontal slash through the purple air.
SKRRRRRRRAASH!
A razor-thin, six-hundred-meter line of pitch-black spatial deletion exploded across the grand hall!
---
[CRITICAL HIT!]
TARGET: The Necro-Sovereign Anubis (Level 190 Overlord) & Sunless Citadel Core
DAMAGE DEALT: 650,000,000 (Pure Spatial Eradication)
SPECIAL EFFECT: Soul Vault Immortality Negated! Domain Erased!
DEFENSE NEGATED: 100%!
---
"AAAAAAAHHHHH!"
Anubis let out a deafening, agonizing shriek as his forty-five-foot body, his gold armor, his scepter, his hovering scales, and the massive cosmic throne behind him were cleanly cleaved in half! The pitch-black spatial tear spread through his necrotic core, bypassing his soul-absorption immortality and erasing his physical form in a split second!
BOOOM!
---
[OVERLORD BOSS ELIMINATED!]
TARGET: The Necro-Sovereign Anubis—Lord of the Celestial Necropolis
EXP RECEIVED: 120,000,000 Points!
WORLD SYSTEM ANNOUNCEMENT: FACTION ’SOVEREIGN’ HAS CONQUERED FLOOR 22!
---
As Anubis and the entire sanctuary dissolved into glowing purple experience particles, the soul core floating above the shattered throne condensed into a magnificent amethyst-and-gold crystal that descended gently into Kaelen’s open palm.
---
[FLOOR CONQUERED!]
ZONE CLEAR: The Celestial Necropolis of Anubis
WAYSTONE UNLOCKED: Floor 23 Waygate Active.
REWARD: Sovereign Necro Crown & 9,000,000 Gold System Tokens.
---
Lyra stepped closer to Kaelen, her bright blue eyes shining with radiant affection as she wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her head gently against his chest. "Floor 22 is conquered, Kaelen. The lord of the dead bows before your eternal shadow."
"The dead were merely waiting for true rest, my light," Kaelen whispered softly, pulling her close and kissing her forehead gently before turning toward the shimmering spatial portal leading to Floor 23. "Now, let us continue our ascent."
Kaelen purred smoothly, his dark violet eyes flashing with triple-ringed golden authority as he led the Sovereign Faction forward into the rift.