Apollo remained in the archive for days and tried to read any information related to the legend of the creation of the empyrean sword world or anything related to the Empyrean.

After a week, Apollo finally set down a stone tablet, rubbing his thumb across its cracked surface. "So even the oldest records end there," he murmured. "As if something erased the rest…"

But before he could consider further—

The entire archive trembled.

Not the gentle quiver of a distant battle. Not the weight of a sword master's aura.

But a violent, sickening warp in space.

The shelves rattled. Scrolls fluttered. The chandeliers of floating crystals shivered violently, flickering between stable light and twisting shadow.

Then—

BOOM.

A shockwave of Abyssal energy tore through the outpost's protective formations, shaking the entire building. The sword-qi engravings on the walls flickered wildly, some even cracking.

"What's happening?" Apollo had to stop his reading while shockwaves hit the outpost and quickly came out from the archive.

The swordsmen in the outpost didn't seem too surprised, as they all quickly came out and were ready for any battle.

And this situation wasn't only happening there, as all over the crimson domain seems to be enveloped by Abyss's power, and dozens of space rifts opened at the same time.

A large number of abyssal creatures then quickly started to invade.

Abyssal creatures poured out in swarms.

Some shrieked with mind-shattering cries. Others crawled like twisted shadows. A few emerged in towering humanoid shapes, each footstep instantly rotting the earth beneath them.

Everywhere the Abyssal aura touched, life died.

Grass withered to ash. Stone decayed into powder. Even the air tasted like poison.

The eerie abyssal aura turned the sky dark and corroded the land.

Soldiers roared and quickly took their position, ready to face the oncoming onslaught.

Tamora appeared beside him, breath uneven, eyes wide—not with fear, but with the realisation of what this attack meant.

"Abyssal Assault… on this scale…" she whispered. "This hasn't happened in centuries."

Apollo's gaze sharpened.

The sky split again, a massive rift opening—far larger than the rest. And from its depths…

Something far more dangerous began to step through. Its aura was very strong; it rapidly rose to the peak of eternal god level, but it still didn't stop as it broke another barrier and reached the half-step transcendent level.

It finally became clear; it appeared to be similar to a human except its eyes were pitch black and it had horns. But it didn't mean it was weak; instead, it was the opposite. The Abyssal creature whose power and bloodline were closer to perfection can only achieve humanoid forms.

Veterans clenched their teeth. Younger swordsmen trembled. Even the runic barriers flickered under the pressure of its presence.

Then—

BOOM.

A burst of sword rule split the sky.

A single figure appeared above the outpost, standing with feet planted on nothing, sword aura flowing around him like a silent storm.

The commander.

His presence was nothing like the Abyssal's wild corruption. His aura was calm—so calm it was terrifying—like a blade that had been honed until nothing in existence could dull it.

Sword-qi descended in invisible threads, weaving a protective dome around the outpost.

The commander's eyes sharpened, filled with a quiet fury. "A humanoid variant… at this frontier?"

He unsheathed his sword an inch. The sky groaned.

The Abyssal humanoid turned its pitch-black gaze upward. The air trembled between them. Everyone below held their breath.

Apollo also looked at the confrontation with interest, as neither side was easy; even he himself cannot tell what level their strength will reach, so he is looking this intently.

On the other side from the abyssal rifts, monsters continued to pour out, but they didn't attack, as they all knew the clash above in the sky will determine the true outcome and which direction the battle will go.

Up in the air, the humanoid Abyssal finally parted its lips, its voice a wet, echoing mockery that twisted the very air.

"You all will be devoured…" It dragged the word like a blade across flesh. Its tongue brushed its sharp teeth.

"And you…" Its pitch-black eyes landed on the commander—and then flicked knowingly toward Apollo. As it seems, he was able to feel he was different.

"…you two look quite delicious. Hopefully… enough to quench my hunger." A ripple of killing intent surged across the sky.

Apollo was surprised, and a bit of seriousness appeared on his face, as it appears this one isn't simple.

Sword-qi howled like a newborn hurricane.

The commander's aura exploded.

The calm, restrained sword essence containing sword rules around him ignited into a vast, invisible domain like an ocean of swords only true swordsmen could perceive. The air shimmered, space bent, and every swordsman in the outpost felt their breath catch in their throats.

The abyssal leader aura also started to climb, and the equally powerful black, eerie, corrosive aura started to collide with the sharp ocean of sword power.

"Dark corrosion!"

The Abyssal leader made the first move, and seeing this, the commander also raised his sword.

"Infinite Sword Ocean!"

The commander's voice split the sky.

His blade descended—not as a single strike, but as a world of swords. An ocean of sword power erupted outward, each wave forged from pure, honed rule. Thousands of invisible edges layered over one another, surging like a tidal force that threatened to drown the heavens themselves.

It met the Abyssal leader's Dark Corrosion head-on.

BOOOOM—!!

The collision shook the entire domain.

Light and darkness roared against each other, spiralling upward like two monstrous storms wrestling for dominion.

The ground beneath the outpost shattered into spiderweb cracks. Defensive formations flickered violently, some collapsing outright.

Abyssal creatures stumbled back, their bodies trembling under the shockwave.

Sword energy tore the sky open. Abyssal corruption devoured the torn space. But neither side yielded an inch.

It was clear both sides couldn't end the battle quickly. Seeing this finally, the soldiers in the outpost and countless abyssal monsters also began their battle.