Building a Kingdom and Conquering the World

Under Henry\'s still dumbstruck eyes, the man lunged forward with one foot ahead and the other poised to follow, holding his rusty sword up with both hands in a quite familiar stance. His arms swelled as the flames enveloping the sword grew brighter and the particles near the sword\'s edge seemed to move faster, creating a thin and small barrier of hot air.

"The Second Level"- Henry though, speechless.

The skill being unfolding before his eyes was the second level of the Solfire Cleave, one of the eight main skills created by Garret Von Stahl. It was a powerful attack used by Stahl\'s founder to cleave a whole mountain in half with a single slash, deep into the Frozen Forest. It was divided into seven levels. Nôv(el)B\\\\jnn

The First one created a powerful cleaving slash, guiding the Mana through the circuits to enhance the user\'s speed and strength, utilizing a swift lunge to initiate and deliver a destructive strike. The Second Level was characterized by a faster lunge and even more energy coursing through the Mana Circuits, which forced the particles near the sword\'s edge to move rapidly. It created a thin layer of hot air that could project a scorching strike a few inches away from the user\'s body.

Suddenly, in the blink of an eye, the doll kicked the ground and dashed towards Henry with incredible speed. There was a sharp sound of the enemy cutting through the air as he closed the distance between them in mere moments. It was dangerous.

Henry\'s instincts kicked in, and he snapped out of his momentary shock. He knew he had to react swiftly and couldn\'t remain still. The man in front of him seemed to possess far greater skill in Sun God techniques than he did. As the doll approached, Henry could feel the air growing heavier and hotter, leaving him no choice but to expend the last remnants of mana within his heart.

The king could feel the cold air of the cave crawling into his skin, like small ants, but he could do nothing about it. In order to fight, he had to empty all peripherical Mana Circuits and direct it towards the vital areas for the fight.

"I won\'t be able to hold on for long" - Henry thought, his eyes drifting towards Leier, who maintained her distance, her icy blue eyes filled with worry - "I will deal with this" - Henry said, trying to reassure her as he gently swung his sword and locked eyes once more with the approaching doll.

It was his duty as a king to protect his subjects.

The fire covering Henry\'s swords appeared paler than usual, but with his newfound determination, it blazed with renewed vigor. He was prepared. Henry lunged forward, ready to confront the man, his eyes filled with determination. On the sidelines, Leier could only clutch her small sword\'s handle, unable to join a battle between two Fourth Stage Warriors.

The chamber seemed to blur around them as Henry clashed with the doll-like man, moving like two bullets. Their swords collided with a resounding clang, sending sparks and waves of scorching heat in every direction. Henry could feel the intense heat emanating from the enemy\'s sword, scorching his cheeks and hands, nearly causing him to lose his grip on his weapon. Gritting his teeth, he remained determined to hold on.

In a matter of a few seconds, the duo exchanged dozens of attacks, but Henry found himself on the losing side every time, his hands already burned beyond recognition. The mana within his body was nearly all depleted, and the Sun God Breathing Technique couldn\'t keep up with his spending rate. The king was using the giant statue as an obstacle, trying to somewhat delay the enemy\'s attack by hiding behind the legs of the giant man to protect himself. The statues already bore hundreds of cuts.

Henry\'s mind raced, divided between defending against the enemy and thinking of a way to counter the enemy. He had to find a way out of this situation. However, his energy was fading so rapidly that the fire enveloping his sword had already dimmed, leaving it with only a pale light. And, suddenly, Henry couldn\'t take anymore the doll\'s powerful and consistent attacks, leading him to lose his grip on his sword. Henry had only enough time to drop his sword and leap backward, hiding again behind the statue, as the doll unleashed another swift attack, without a care about his situation.

A large portion of the king\'s hands was already without a single speck of flesh, and in some areas, white bones were clearly visible. It was no wonder that he couldn\'t hold his sword any longer against the relentless doll.

"A plan... I need a plan!" Henry screamed in his mind, narrowly avoiding another attack aimed at his neck, as he had done several times before, adding another cut on the statue\'s surface.

The black-haired doll with red streaks in his hair seemed to be an unstoppable machine, unfamiliar with the concept of fatigue. On the other hand, Henry could feel his stamina rapidly depleting without the Mana to support it, opening a way for the cold air to crawl under his flesh and cause his movements to become sluggish. Suddenly, while evading yet another strike by a small margin and feeling the hot air generated by the sword passing above him, Henry had an epiphany.

"The Second Level isn\'t about how much energy I put into the Mana Circuits to create the fire. It\'s about the movement of the energy within it; it needs to be faster and more intense. It shouldn\'t flow like a river but explode like the ocean\'s wave" - Henry\'s mind flashed with this realization.

Suddenly, while lost in his thoughts, Henry was startled by a desperate shout that reached his ears - "My Liege!".

He turned his eyes to see a fiery sword approaching at a speed he couldn\'t dodge. Just as the weapon was about to pierce his heart, a figure appeared in front of him, like a shadow that had always been there but went unnoticed.

Leier\'s icy blue eyes shone with cold determination as she grabbed her king with both hands and rolled on the ground to safety. They had managed to dodge, but not without injuries. Henry turned to look at Leier, only to see her once-beautiful eyes now drained of color, with a scar from the slash wound, cauterized by the high temperature of the doll\'s sword. There was no blood, only a deep scar. She lost her vision.

However, despite that, she demonstrated no pain as if she didn\'t care about her vision or the pain spreading through her body – "Are you fine, my liege?" – Leier\'s remaining eye seemed to ask, but Henry had no time to respond.

Without warning, Henry hastily grabbed the small sword hanging from Leier\'s waist and raised it to defend against another powerful attack coming for them The powerful impact nearly caused him to drop the sword once more. However, the injury on Leier\'s eyes caused Henry\'s blood to boil with fury. He had failed his subordinate and his role as a king. He promised he would deal with this and failed. The lingering ego inherited from the previous Henry and the weight of his responsibilities toward all his subjects couldn\'t bear such an insult.

"You..." Henry said through gritted teeth with their swords entangled, not minding the pain spreading from his destroyed hands. He wanted this thing\'s head.

Driven by the epiphany, Henry took a deep breath and attempted to give a new life to his circuits. This time, it seemed like he could absorb much more Mana from the air with each breath, allowing him to restore some of his strength.

As he absorbed the energy, Henry no longer tried to restrain it in a peaceful and controlled flow, like the course of a river. Rather than that, he allowed it to surge chaotically through his circuits, which expanded dangerously. And, at that moment, he successfully ascended to the Fifth Stage Warrior, an unreachable status to most of those on northern lands.

"I will end you!" - Henry declared, a thin layer of hot air also enveloping his sword, allowing him to engage the doll, even with a tired body and limited mana. Previously, he had been only defending himself, but this time, he was going all out.

Without hesitation, Henry swiftly twisted his sword and attacked, but the doll easily parried it. However, Henry immediately followed up with another strike, launching a rapid flurry of attacks, exerting his maximum strength, and pushing his body to its limits, breaking every fiber of his muscles.

"If I were at my peak, ending things would be possible!"- Henry thought as the sword in his hands burned with a vivid fire.

The enemy blocked every single attack, making the king fear that the fight would drag on, a battle he was much more likely to lose. However, a variable entered the equation once again. Leier used her Tribal Tattoo ability to appear behind the doll, getting him off guard. Without her sword, Leier had no other option but to strike the man\'s head with her fist, encountering strong resistance but still managing to disrupt his balance.

"Great work!" - Henry shouted as he lunged forward, his sword held high - "Solfire Cleave!" - Henry screamed, the Mana surging chaotically in his circuits, intensifying the searing layer of air enveloping it.

The sword arched in a beautiful red color, like a dragon\'s tail sweeping the world.

*Thud*

The man\'s head fell.