Chapter 56: The Binding of the Sealed Vessel

The air inside the Royal Treasury Vault was cold enough to freeze moisture instantly, thick with the heavy, metallic tang of unrefined void-dross and ancient mana.

Raphael stepped across the threshold, his dark boots clicking against the polished black marble floor. Beside him, Vanessa walked with her relic-staff raised, its tip casting a pale, violet light that pushed back the heavy shadows.

The cavernous vault was lined with towering stone pedestals and reinforced iron chests. Mounds of shimmering void-crystals, rare monster cores, and shattered B-tier armors from fallen challengers lay stacked in orderly piles, a fortune accumulated over centuries of domain stagnation. But Raphael’s attention was instantly drawn away from the treasure toward the far back of the chamber.

There, suspended ten feet above a raised stone dais, floated a massive, egg-shaped cocoon forged from solidified crimson ice and thick, dark void-chains.

Inside the translucent crimson shell sat a towering, hulking silhouette. It was an eight-foot-tall entity clad in jagged, obsidian full-plate armor, its head adorned with two long, backward-curving horns. A massive, broad-headed battle-cleaver was held tightly across its chest, frozen in time.

[ANCIENT ENTITY DETECTED: ABYSSAL WARMASTER]

- Class: C-Tier Field General / Domain Lieutenant

- Status: Dormant / Stasis Seal Active

- Threat Level: HIGH

- Description: A high-ranking commander who served the Old King before his defeat. Sealed away to preserve its core during the domain’s decline

---

"A dormant general," Vanessa whispered, her violet eyes narrowing as she raised her staff, her dark robes flaring with gravitational mana. "My Lord, its core is volatile. Without the Old King’s active command, awakening it may trigger an immediate berserk state."

"Let it wake," Raphael said calmly, his voice steady and icy. "A castle without generals is just a hollow cage. We need commanders for the garrison."

Raphael stepped onto the stone dais beneath the floating cocoon. He drew his left-hand parrying dagger from his back harness, channeling a thin, high-frequency line of silvery-violet Sovereign mana into the matte-black adamantine blade.

With a swift, rising diagonal strike, Raphael slashed through the anchoring void-chains.

CRACK-BOOM!

The crimson ice cocoon shattered like fragile glass, showering the marble dais in glowing crimson shards.

The colossal, eight-foot entity plummeted down, its heavy obsidian boots slamming into the stone floor with a bone-rattling thud that shook the entire subterranean level. For a long, silent second, the entity remained motionless on one knee, thick crimson steam venting from the seams of its dark armor.

Then, two blinding pinpricks of violent, blood-red light ignited behind its visor.

RROAAAR!

The Abyssal Warmaster exploded upward, letting out a deafening, metallic roar that rattled the stone pillars of the vault. Driven by centuries of dormant bloodlust and the sudden loss of its original master, the entity didn’t register Raphael’s Sovereign aura. It saw only an intruder standing on its master’s dais.

It swung its colossal battle-cleaver in a blinding, horizontal arc designed to cleave Raphael in two.

"Impudent beast," Vanessa said in a cold voice from the doorway, raising her staff to crush the entity with a gravitational well.

"Stand down, Vanessa," Raphael commanded sharply. "This one is mine."

Raphael didn’t retreat. His neural processing speed kicked into overdrive, slowing the incoming seven-foot cleaver to a crawling pace.

Instead of blocking the crushing blow, Raphael executed the newly mastered movement skill from his scroll: Shadow-Step Flash.

ZIP.

Raphael vanished into the shadows below the dais, reappearing instantaneously right inside the Warmaster’s guard, standing mere inches from its armored chest. Before the monster could adjust its massive weight, Raphael unleashed Tier 4: Spatial-Split Flurry.

He drew both the longsword and dagger in a fluid, seamless cross-strike, pouring every drop of his Sovereign’s Veil into the adamantine edges.

SHRRRR-BOOM!

A single physical swing manifested three distinct, overlapping silvery-violet spatial arcs. The concentrated force sheared straight through the Warmaster’s thick obsidian breastplate, shattering the dark metal and carving three deep, smoking furrows across its chest core.

CLANG!

The Abyssal Warmaster stumbled backward three long paces, its colossal cleaver scraping uselessly against the stone as its red eyes flickered in shock. The entity raised its head, finally registering the suffocating, royal pressure radiating from the dark-haired giant standing before it.

Raphael stepped forward, his messy dark bangs shading his luminous silver eyes, which were now burning with an absolute, terrifying violet fire. The sheer, crushing weight of his Sovereign authority expanded throughout the vault, pressing down on the entity’s soul like a falling mountain.

"Kneel," Raphael growled, his deep baritone carrying the irrefutable command of a true king. "Or be erased."

The Abyssal Warmaster trembled. The lingering imprint of its ancient loyalty fought against the overwhelming aura, but the raw, terrifying power of the newly awakened Sovereign was absolute. The entity felt the same primordial force that held the entire domain together.

THUD!

The Warmaster dropped its colossal battle-cleaver onto the floor, collapsing onto both knees and lowering its horned head until its helmet touched the cold marble at Raphael’s feet.

[SUBORDINATE SUBJUGATED!]

- Target: Abyssal Warmaster (C-Tier General)

- Binding Status: Bound to Sovereign Raphael Matthews.

- Role: Garrison Commander of the Iron Spire.

- Loyalty: 50 / 100 (Bound by Sovereign Conquest)

---

Raphael lowered his blades, resheathed them across his back, and looked down at the kneeling giant. The subjugation was complete. He now possessed a dedicated lieutenant capable of commanding the ten stone sentinels and managing the physical defenses of the fortress.

"Rise, Warmaster," Raphael ordered softly. "Take command of the Shadow-Guard Constructs on the upper ramparts. Your post is the main gate."

The entity let out a low, submissive rumble, stood to its full eight-foot height, retrieved its cleaver, and bowed deeply before turning to march up the subterranean stairs toward the upper keep.

Vanessa stepped up to Raphael’s side, her violet eyes watching the Warmaster’s retreat with quiet approval.

"A swift conquest, Lord Raphael. With a C-Tier commander garrisoning the gates, the stronghold’s operational security is quadrupled."

Raphael turned his gaze toward the center of the vault, where several high-tier skill scrolls and trade materials remained laid out on the stone tables.

"The fortress is secure, and the garrison has its leader," Raphael said, his silver eyes cold and focused. "Now, we build our bridge back to Earth."

He got this idea after waking up. If he had to build a castle away from Earth, what inhabitants would he live with? The natives of the dungeon? There had to be a way for him to travel between his castle’s world and Earth. The system affirmed that it was possible and even decided to help him.

So that was his next agenda.