The sword didn't shatter this time. But it trembled. The beam didn't tear through it immediately—but it pressed, steadily, slowly, with horrifying force, grinding its way forward like a divine needle piercing a mountain.
Max's feet slid an inch across the cracked temple floor as he maintained control of the sword, pushing his inheritance to its very limits.
It pushed him too even though he wasn't directly using the sword with his own hands but controlling through the crown.
The sword and beam screeched against one another in midair, locked in a ferocious tug of dominance. Sparks and tendrils of black lightning radiated outward, tearing through the golden trees around them.
The temple walls groaned from the shockwaves, and fissures spread across the ground like a spider's web.
Max grit his teeth, pouring more energy, more command into the sword through the Emperor's Domain crown hovering above him. "You will not pass," he growled, flames flaring from his back like wings.
