From Ruin to Reign Leander's Unbreakable Will novel Chapter 359

The sound of crashing waves echoed across the silent Southern Shore. No one spoke. The only rhythm that remained was the sea breaking against the rocks.

Gareth and Reginald stared blankly at Leander, unable to look away. They had always considered themselves among Astria's most powerful, but before Leander's godlike display—slaughtering Transcendents as though they were insects—they felt utterly insignificant.

All around, the young elites of Astria's martial world stood frozen, their faces pale with awe and disbelief. Only now did they truly understand why Jeff Ashcroft had reigned supreme over Astria, why Leander was known as the Iron Sovereign. With such overwhelming power, who in the entire nation could stand against him?

Leander stood calmly atop the waves, his posture relaxed and unhurried. Having slain four Transcendents in mere moments, he looked down at his own hand, flexing his fingers with a faint smile. "So this is the strength I possess now?"

He clenched his fist lightly. This was his first real battle since stepping into the Transcendent Realm. In the past, when fighting those of lower rank, he had relied on the Devourer's Ninefold Path to drain their vitality or unleashed the Devourer Form to overpower them.

But now that he had crossed the threshold into true transcendence, the likes of Kindling Transcendents no longer even registered as threats.

Above him, the four Ember Transcendents from the Arbitration Office watched with grim faces. Even Greed—the calmest among them—had his eyes narrowed, his expression dark.

Leander raised his gaze, meeting theirs. His tone was steady and quiet, yet it carried a cold finality. "The War God Sanctum has been dealt with. That leaves only you from the Arbitration Office."

Greed's bone whip trembled faintly in his hand, though he still didn't attack. Instead, he chuckled coldly. "Jeff Ashcroft, you truly live up to your reputation. The Arbitration Office has long marked you as a prime target for recruitment, but it seems we underestimated you. Killing four Kindling Transcendents in succession… it seems our evaluation of your strength needs revising."

Dark light rippled beneath his feet, casting an ominous shadow across the ocean's surface. With a sharp flick of his wrist, Greed barked an order. "Brothers! Jeff Ashcroft has humiliated the Arbitration Office once before. As Elite Arbitrators, it's our duty to restore that honor. Show him the true power of the Arbitration Office—form the array!"

At his command, the four Ember Transcendents spread out, taking their positions in four directions. Their palms opened simultaneously, each emitting a thick stream of crimson energy that shot outward and linked with the others.

In moments, a vast red square took shape in the sky, with Leander trapped at its center. The crimson lines pulsed and multiplied—four became eight, eight became 16, 16 became 32—until within seconds, the entire sky blazed red.

From the shore, it looked as though a giant cocoon of glowing scarlet threads had formed in midair, wrapping Leander inside.

Greed smirked, his tone dripping with arrogance. "You stood by and let them complete the formation without lifting a finger. I can't decide whether to admire your confidence—or mock your stupidity.

"Had you attacked before the array was finished, you might have had a slim chance of breaking it. But now? It's far too late. Even a Blaze Transcendent wouldn't dare claim they could destroy this formation once it's complete."

He raised a hand toward the glowing cocoon. "This is the Dragonbane Formation. Every crimson strand saps power from whatever it touches. Once it entangles you, your vitality will be sealed, your energy suppressed. Not even a dragon could escape its grasp.

"Few have ever even seen this array in action—and today, we'll use it to capture Astria's so-called dragon and bring him back to the Arbitration Office for judgment!"

As his words fell, the crimson web began to writhe and constrict, thousands of glowing lines tightening like living serpents. The sky turned blood-red, the light reflecting off the ocean below.

Within the shrinking formation, Leander stood calm and unmoving, but from every angle, red lines closed in, leaving him no visible path to escape.

"Sh*t!"

Down below, Gareth and the others cried out in alarm. They could see the Dragonbane Formation collapsing inward, its threads binding tighter and tighter around Leander's figure. Their hearts pounded with dread.

The Southern Ocean burned crimson under the storm of power, as if the sky itself had been set ablaze.

The power of a formation might not count as one's personal strength, yet once completed, its might boundless. That was why Sean Judie, though only an Elite Martial Sovereign, could stand on equal footing with Gareth Ashcroft, Grayson Shire, and Maximilian Morgan-Royce.

In an instant, tongues of flame raced outward from the center, igniting the lines of the formation one after another. The fire traveled swiftly along the threads, tracing them all the way to the four Ember Transcendents' palms.

"What—" They froze, flooding their bodies with innate vitality in an attempt to extinguish the flames. But the more energy they poured in, the more violently the fire burned. It flared like a living storm, devouring everything in its path until the sky itself seemed to catch fire.

Whoosh!

Thousands of red lines blazed at once, igniting the heavens like a festival of fireworks, brilliant and dazzling beyond imagination. And then came the thunderous boom.

The giant red cocoon shattered in a blinding explosion, and from its heart emerged a burning hand, massive and blazing, reaching outward like the head of a fire giant consuming the sky.

"What—"

The four Ember Transcendents' faces twisted in horror, while Greed's expression darkened, his composure finally cracking.

From within the inferno, a figure stepped forward slowly. Flames danced wildly around him, swirling in joy as though greeting their master.

Leander's palm lifted slightly, fingers curling into a fist. A faint, wicked smile curved his lips. "Flamebreaker—Detonate."

The instant he spoke, the bodies of the four Ember Transcendents flared bright red—then burst apart like exploding stars.

High above the Southern Ocean, four bursts of fire bloomed against the night sky—terrifying yet breathtakingly beautiful.