Extraordinary Rise: Starting Contract with the Silver Dragon Countess

Faced with this fatal blow that could kill even an ordinary high-level legendary figure, a cold smile flashed across Cohen's face.

Rule-based technique – Divine Protection!
In an instant, a layer of golden-white light appeared on Cohen's body.

The light was not dazzling, but it gave people a strange feeling of being impervious to all magic.

Thrall's "Abyssal Annihilation Strike," a terrifying claw capable of shattering mountains and annihilating souls, firmly grasped the layer of golden-white light.

There was no earth-shattering roar, no ripples of energy explosion.

The terrifying power that had gathered in Sarna, the demonic claws entwined with chaotic rules, seemed to have grasped an unshakeable barrier made of the purest rules.

All the destructive energy and chaotic erosion melted away silently the moment they came into contact with that golden-white light, just as ice and snow met the blazing sun.

"What? This is impossible!"

The sneer on Sal's face froze instantly, turning into unparalleled horror and bewilderment.

He felt as if his powerful strike, capable of severely injuring someone of the same level, had struck empty air, or as if some higher, more fundamental force had forcibly "denied" its existence and the possibility of causing harm.

Rule-based technique – Divine Protection!
This rule-based skill, born from the fusion and transformation of the "Counterattack Storm" and "Zhongya Manifestation" runes, is enough to make any enemy feel despair.

Finally, at this moment, his formidable power was truly revealed!
Immune to all forms and levels of damage!

This is a bug-level ability that is almost "absolute defense," and it became the key to turning the tide of battle.

Invincible for ten seconds!

In a duel between top experts, life and death can be decided in an instant, let alone a full ten seconds.

Just as Thrall lost his composure due to the failure of his finishing move, his old strength exhausted and new strength yet to arise in that fatal moment—

"It's over, Sal."

You should be proud to die under Unlimited Blade Works!

Cohen's icy voice, like the pronouncement of death, rang in Sal's ears.

The golden-white light protecting Cohen had not yet dissipated when Cohen's eyes turned into a pure gold, as if countless sword shadows were being created and destroyed within them.

He raised his right hand and made a loose grasp on Thrall, who was momentarily stunned by the shock and the backlash of his attack.

"Unlimited Blade Works - All Weapons Return to One, Laws Manifest, Shatter!"

Following Cohen's will, the billions of weapons within the entire "Unlimited Blade Works" domain emitted a deafening tremor.

The gear-shaped clouds in the sky spun wildly, and the endless weapons on the ground trembled violently, converging like rivers flowing into the sea towards the center of the domain, where Thrall was located.

This was not a simple energy attack, but rather Cohen mobilizing the core rules of the entire "Unlimited Blade Works" domain.

A primal strike against Thrall's "legendary artifacts" within the realm!
In Sal's horrified perception, he felt his connection to the "Chaotic Demon Realm" being forcibly severed by an irresistible will.

His own abyssal demonic body, his soul's origin, and even his contractual connection with the distant abyss were all trembling violently.

"Do not--!!!"

Thrall let out a desperate and unwilling roar, desperately urging the remaining magical energy in an attempt to resist, to self-destruct, and to make a final struggle.

However, during the absolute safety period of "Divine Protection", Cohen does not need any defense and can unleash the power of "Unlimited Blade Works" to an unprecedented extreme.

Thrall, on the other hand, had just experienced the backlash of having his finishing move nullified and the mental shock it caused, and was at his weakest moment.

"Crack... Crack..."

A subtle sound, like shattering glass or the collapse of rules, emanated from within Thrall's body.

Thrall's legendary artifacts revealed countless fine cracks, like shattered porcelain, from which a dark golden light shone.

next moment--

boom!!!
There was no bloodshed or rampaging demonic energy. The Demon Lord Thrall, the ruler of the Demon Gold Empire who roamed the abyss, ravaged the northwest, and caused countless deaths, was present.

His body, soul, and even the core embodiment of his legendary domain were all reduced to the most basic energy points and rule fragments under the brutal crushing force of the "Unlimited Blade Works" rules.

Like dazzling yet cruel fireworks, they bloomed, annihilated, and vanished completely in the wasteland of endless weapons.

A legendary high-level demon lord, he was utterly destroyed, body and soul, and perished completely!

A decapitation strike?

No, this is a counter-decapitation, a feast for hunting legends, a blood-red coronation where Cohen Corleone, stepping over the corpses of his old enemies, formally announces the arrival of a new era to the world!

……

Thrall's fall was not silent.

A legendary high-ranking being, especially someone like Thrall, the Demon Lord, who possesses the rank of Abyss Lord and has spent a long time in the Lost Lands, whose existence is deeply embedded in some of the world's rules.

The shock of its complete demise far exceeded that of the passing of ordinary life.

The first thing to arrive is a sense of emptiness and sorrow that affects the souls of all lower-level beings.

It was as if an invisible pillar supporting the world had suddenly broken, or as if a crucial note in a grand symphony had been forever silenced.

The sky darkened the instant Thrall fell.

It wasn't that dark clouds were obscuring the sky, but rather that the light of the sun, moon, and stars seemed to be absorbed by some invisible force, casting a hazy gray hue over the world, like a faded ancient painting.

Immediately afterwards, a desperate murmur, seemingly from the end of time or from the time when all things withered, began to echo in the ears and deep in the souls of every living being.

It wasn't a specific sound, but a resonance of pure concepts of "fall," "end," and "extinction."

It caused all who heard it, regardless of their strength, to instinctively feel a pang of unease and sorrow.

Then came the manifestation of the rules and the lamentations.

In the sky above the city-state of Bius and the vast area around it, countless fragmented and twisted phantoms of purple and dark red chains of law faintly appeared.

They convulsed and disintegrated in the air like dying giant snakes, turning into specks of light and dissipating.

A deep hum came from the depths of the earth, as if the earth's veins were trembling for the passing of a powerful being.

A legend has fallen; heaven and earth grieve!
Legends have been lost, the sun and moon have vanished into the void, and a despairing whisper echoes in everyone's ears!

This is a celestial phenomenon with an extremely wide range of impact that can only be triggered when those powerful legends who have truly touched the depths of the world's rules, whose existence has been able to resonate with a part of heaven and earth, completely perish!
This strange phenomenon is not only a final farewell to the power and status of the deceased, but also a declaration to the whole world that a being who once stood at the pinnacle of all beings has vanished into thin air.

The legends associated with it have now come to an end!

Such a clear and large-scale celestial phenomenon was like a bomb dropped on a calm lake. The chain reaction it triggered was far more direct and shocking than the energy fluctuations of the battle between the five saints.

At this moment, powerful beings throughout the entire human continent, and even in more distant places, felt a sudden jolt in their hearts and involuntarily looked towards the direction of the city-state of Bius.

"A legend has fallen?"
Such an aura... belongs to the very elite group below the Saint level!

"It's Thrall, those fragments of the laws of the abyss and chaos... it's the aura of the Demon Lord Thrall!"
He's dead?

"How is this possible? Who could kill a veteran legendary-level expert so quickly..."

"Who was it? Who dared to kill a legendary high-ranking figure in the midst of the battle among the saints?"

Countless powerful thoughts, hidden detection spells, and prying threads of fate surged madly toward the city-state of Bius, as if drawn by a magnet.

They tried to penetrate the still chaotic energy storm and the broken spatial barrier to see the truth inside.

When various forces, especially those saints with special observation methods or powerful organizations that barely managed to glean some clues with the help of some ancient magical artifacts, finally managed to capture the truth with great difficulty.

The entire continent was in an uproar!
"It's Cohen Corleone!"

"That King of Efein, that young man at the ninth rank of Gold!"

"He...he killed the Demon Lord Thrall?"
In direct combat?

"Absolutely true!"
A sage provided evidence, albeit blurry, of a 'time reversal' fragment; it was indeed Cohen Corleone, wielding some kind of... unprecedentedly vast weapon domain, directly confronting the Demon Realm of Sal and ultimately annihilating it!

"Golden Ninth Rank... High-Level Legendary Reversal... This... How is this possible?"

"How could he possibly possess such a complete domain?"
That 'Unlimited Blade Works'... I've never heard of it before, I've never seen it before.

Its power was actually able to suppress Thrall's 'Chaotic Magic Domain'?!

"Not only that, he seemed to have used a kind of... absolute defense-type rule ability in the end?"
Completely immune to Thrall's finishing blow!

"In his early twenties... at the ninth level of the Gold Realm... comprehended the complete Legendary Domain... defeated and killed a high-level Legendary Demon Lord... each of these achievements is enough to shock the continent!"
Now, all of this is concentrated in one person?!

incredible!

Terrified!

My worldview has collapsed!
This is the truest reflection in the minds of all the powerful individuals who learned the details of this victory.

After achieving the title of strongest Gold and strongest Silver at the Noble Martial Arts Festival by defeating Eighth and Ninth Rank opponents with a Seventh Rank, Cohen has not made a move for a long time.

Now, in a direct battle, he actually used his own solid ninth-level mastery of the complete and powerful "Infinite Blade Works" legendary domain to directly kill a veteran high-level legendary expert!
This goes beyond simply being described as a "challenge to a higher level"!
In everyone's perception, there is an insurmountable chasm between gold and legend, especially in the mastery and application of the rules of the domain, which is a fundamental difference.

But Cohen not only crossed this insurmountable barrier, but also turned the tables and killed a powerful demon lord who was a high-ranking figure even among legends and came from the Lost Land, known for its fierce combat prowess!
The legends of the Lost Lands are generally a step or even a step stronger than those of the human continents—a fact earned through countless lives!
This can be seen from the fact that Belmod was able to reach the top of the Legendary ranks with the strength of a mid-Legendary.

A reclusive sage let out a long sigh, his tone filled with complex emotions:
"At such a young age, with such strength and such a temperament... With the Covenant of the Gods imminent, the continent is likely to welcome a true giant who will stir up the winds and clouds."

"Golden Ninth Tier Legendary High-Level... Heh, have we old guys wasted the last few hundred years of our lives?"

Another eccentric saint laughed self-deprecatingly, but his eyes were filled with solemnity and apprehension.

If Cohen hadn't deliberately blocked all observation channels in order to maximize the deterrent effect and "legendary status" of this battle, and even tacitly allowed some shocking battle clips to be leaked through special means, it would have been a different story.

If it weren't for the fact that multiple saints, through their own credibility and observational methods, cross-verified this incredible feat...

The entire elite circles of the mainland would probably think this was some madman's fabricated fantasy. However, the undeniable facts are right before our eyes, leaving no room for doubt.

Cohen Corleone, the young king, proclaimed to the entire continent the fall of the legendary high-ranking Demon Lord Thrall:

His era has arrived in the most domineering and undisputed way!

……

The virtual joint meeting venue of the highest-level magical communication network of the five great empires.

At this moment, on the oval conference table formed from pure magic, five figures with imposing auras, representing the highest power and strength on the continent, are gazing at each other through the blurry light and shadow.

The atmosphere was so heavy it was almost palpable.

Just moments before, they had been shaken to their core by the earth-shattering news that "Cohen disguised himself as Mayne, infiltrated the Demon Lord Sal's inner circle, and became his chief of staff."

Various conspiracy theories, astonishment at Cohen's courage and ability to disguise himself, and anxiety about the future situation are clashing fiercely in their minds.

The meeting briefly fell into a noisy discussion and incredulous gasps.

However, this commotion did not last long.

Because, immediately afterward, that extraordinary phenomenon of falling from the heavens and earth, enough to make legends weep, touched the hearts of the five emperors present, even across a vast distance.

At almost the same time, battlefield footage from their respective intelligence systems left them stunned.

The meeting space, constructed with magical projections, seemed to have been muted.

All the noisy discussions and whispers abruptly ceased.

The magical projections of the five emperors displayed an astonishingly synchronized expression at that moment.

His pupils suddenly contracted to the size of pinpoints, his facial muscles stiffened uncontrollably, and even his breathing seemed to freeze in the virtual space.

Even with their shrewdness, experience, and composure at the pinnacle of power on the continent, they could not remain completely calm in the face of such a subversive and unbelievable fact.

Empress of the Middle Empire, Shanis Klein.

For a moment, a blank appeared on her usually cold and dignified face.

As the person closest to Cohen, and having had many intimate encounters in bed, she knew many of his secrets.

They knew he was no ordinary ninth-rank cultivator and that he possessed hidden trump cards powerful enough to threaten or even kill a legendary figure.

Knowing is one thing, but witnessing him crush a legendary high-ranking demon lord, renowned for his fame and fearsome reputation, in a direct battle with his "Infinite Blade Works" domain that covers the sky and buries countless weapons is quite another.

"He...he really did it..."

A voice whispered in Shanis's heart.

After the initial shock came a sense of relief, but this was quickly followed by an even stronger surge of pride and self-satisfaction.

This is her man, the partner she chose.

He is only at the ninth rank now, yet he is already able to reverse the situation and kill the legendary high-ranking Thrall.

What if he breaks through to the legendary level?

Below the sage, who else can keep him in check?

Even... what about saints? Immortals?
She suddenly realized that she may never have truly seen the terrifying energy and danger hidden within the man she shared a bed with.

Emperor of the Eastern Empire, Eberron Tang.

The smile on the face of this emperor, known for his great talent and unfathomable wisdom, had long since vanished.

shock?

He was naturally shocked, even more so than others. He believed he had given Cohen a high enough "assessment," otherwise he wouldn't have tacitly allowed his daughter to follow him without knowing why.

But now it seems that we underestimated it by a large margin.

Son-in-law, no, this relationship can no longer be simply defined by the word "son-in-law".

Countless thoughts flashed through Eberron's mind in an instant: Grace's position in Cohen's heart, the interests of the empire, the future landscape of the continent...

We must deepen our ties, no matter the cost!

Cohen Corleone is no longer a "potential stock" that needs the support of the Empire, but a "strategic force" that must be engaged in equal dialogue and even handled with care!
Emperor Abraham of the Northern Empire and Emperor Wilson of the Southern Empire did not look much better.

Their shock was mixed with even more apprehension and vigilance, and even a hint of barely perceptible fear.

Cohen's rise was too fast, faster than anyone expected, and so fast that it disrupted the established balance of power.

A monarch in his twenties who can defeat legendary high-ranking rulers, with an invincible dragon legion and fanatics under his command, and an alliance with the Central Empire through marriage...

This is no longer an "emerging force," but a behemoth growing at an alarming rate, poised to shake the existing power structure of the five great empires.

They exchanged a glance and saw deep worry in each other's eyes.

If Cohen can kill the Demon Lord Thrall today, will he turn his attention to other empires if there is a conflict of interest in the future?

Where are the limits of his ambition?
Cohen Corleone has transformed from a "neighbor" that requires vigilance into a "strategic threat" that must be re-examined, taken seriously, and even requires the development of specific countermeasures.

A deathly silence enveloped the entire virtual meeting space.

The silence lasted for a good dozen breaths, as if it were an eternity.

The five supreme rulers of the continents were all immersed in the enormous shock brought about by this subversive intelligence, as well as more complex calculations of interests and anxieties about the future.

Ultimately, it was not any words that broke this suffocating silence.

Empress Xenia of the Central Empire was the first to make a move.

The shock and complex expression on her beautiful face receded like the tide, and she regained the majesty and calm of an ice queen.

She didn't look at the others, but simply nodded slightly, and her figure rippled like water before disappearing from the meeting space—she logged off.

Then, as if a chain reaction had occurred.

The last trace of emotion in Emperor Eberron's eyes vanished, leaving his gaze as still as a deep well.

Without uttering a word, his figure faded and disappeared.

The remaining three emperors also saw the solemnity and determination in each other's eyes, and then tacitly disconnected.

There were no farewells, no discussions, and not even a single prediction of the final outcome of this "decapitation operation."

Five emperors, from the five most powerful empires on the continent, representing five different stances and interests, all faced with the terrifying power that Cohen Corleone displayed, a power that completely overturned their understanding of existence.

They reacted with astonishing unanimity—immediately logging off and convening the Empire's highest-level internal meeting!

What does Cohen Corleone want? Where does his power come from? What are his limits? Is he a maintainer or a subverter of the existing order on the continent?
Is our relationship with him one of cooperation, checks and balances, courting, or... precautions or even hostility?
These questions lingered in the minds of every imperial ruler.

They must immediately convene their core strategists, their strongest military force, and the intelligence officers who know Cohen and Effie best, to re-analyze and reassess.

Even to redefine future national strategies.

The Central Empire, King Tandin, the Grand Court.

When the strange celestial phenomena of that legendary fall were faintly heard, and when the magical communication network, marked with the highest authority in red, delivered that earth-shattering battle report along with multiple verified video clips to the core of the empire.

The entire power center of the Central Empire was instantly detonated, as if a giant boulder had been thrown into a deep pool.

What followed was an eerie atmosphere of deathly oppression and boiling tension.

The solemn and dignified atmosphere in the imperial court had long since vanished.

Even the most dignified and composed senior officials could not hide the shock, horror, and a hint of bewilderment on their faces at this moment.

They were whispering to each other, their voices very low but their speech very fast.

Or he stands alone, his brow furrowed, his fingers unconsciously twisting the rings or ribbons that symbolize power.

Or they gaze anxiously out of the hall, awaiting the return and confirmation of the empire's ruler.

Even the usually composed First Lord of the House of Nobles, Heisenberg, stood there blankly, his eyes glazed over.

The moment Empress Xenise's magical projection vanished from the virtual joint conference space, her true form had already teleported from the secret chamber deep within the palace back to the supreme throne in the court.

Almost as soon as she sat down, all the noisy discussions in the hall vanished instantly, as if cut off by a sharp blade.

All eyes were fixed on her, filled with indescribable complex emotions.

Sunis sat regally on the throne, her purple-gold imperial robes cascading down her back, her exquisite face revealing little emotion.

But when those violet eyes swept over the assembled officials in the hall, everyone felt an invisible pressure emanating from them, even stronger than usual.

The brief silence was like the calm before the storm.

Finally, Prime Minister Hayes stepped forward, his voice hoarse with excitement and disbelief:
"Your Majesty, an urgent report from the magical communication network: a legendary high-ranking official has fallen in the city-state of Bius in the Northwest Continent, causing strange phenomena in the heavens and earth."

The killer is suspected to be... suspected to be His Highness Prince Corleone?

His question unleashed a storm of emotions in everyone's hearts.

Despite the intelligence coming from top-level channels, despite the young figure in the video clip unleashing an endless field of weapons bearing a striking resemblance to Cohen, and despite the fact that what ultimately collapsed was indeed the abyssal aura of the Demon Lord Sal...

But all of this was too incredible, and they needed the most definitive confirmation from Her Majesty the Queen, who was closest to Cohen.

This is not only about the authenticity of the intelligence, but also about the empire's future attitude towards this "royal consort," and the countless strategic adjustments that will follow! (End of Chapter)