Leon simply looked back at him calmly.

The reason he survived wasn’t because his durability exceeded the king’s power.

And although his [Monarch of Darkness] sub-talent certainly helped reduce the damage tremendously, Leon knew very well that the king’s overwhelming combat power should still have been capable of injuring him badly.

But there was one thing the king didn’t know about: the [Divine Armor].

More specifically... Its blessing.

[Blood Heart Blessing: You are completely immune to all light and darkness-related attacks.]

As long as an attack was entirely made from darkness or light, it could not hurt Leon whatsoever, meaning that abilities like [Shadow Bullets], [Darkness Wave], or even the oppressive darkness flooding the castle itself were completely incapable of damaging him.

"Well," Leon rolled his shoulders lightly while tightening his grip around his sword once more, "Fighting won’t really change the outcome anyway."

Then he pointed the blade directly toward the king again.

"But let’s fight."

The [Forsaken King] stared at him silently for a few moments before finally understanding why the [Heavenly One] specifically stated that the final player would be a human.

Every other player who entered this city feared death, feared failure, feared consequences, and eventually broke beneath the despair of the assessment.

But this human standing before him was different, because he was insane enough to willingly destroy himself if it guaranteed victory.

And the worst part... Was that it was actually working.

The king hated admitting it, but deep inside, he already understood the truth. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

Today... He was going to die.

But even then, after realizing that fact, the [Forsaken King] still refused to surrender, because he had spent countless years trapped inside this cursed city, endlessly killing players while waiting for a chance to finally leave, and there was no way he would calmly accept defeat at the very end.

"Well..." Leon suddenly grinned before casually sitting down on the cracked floor of the throne room while still holding both his sword and staff, "I’m just gonna wait here now."

The king stared at him in disbelief.

Leon genuinely sat there casually while looking upward toward the shattered sky above the castle as though he was simply waiting for rain to begin falling.

Far above them, the massive meteor continued descending steadily toward the castle.

At most... Ten seconds remained before impact.

The [Forsaken King] almost rushed toward Leon immediately because he knew that from close range, he could still kill him instantly due to the difference in raw combat power between them.

At the same time, he also knew that killing Leon now would not stop the meteor from falling, meaning that wasting even a single second could decide whether he survived or died.

And so, instead of charging recklessly toward Leon, the king suddenly made another decision.

Fwoosh!

He dropped onto one knee instantly before slamming his massive sword into the ground with both hands.

BOOOOOOM!

The entire throne room shook violently from the impact.

Leon’s relaxed expression disappeared immediately.

"GOD OF DARKNESS," the king roared loudly, his voice echoing throughout the castle itself, "PLEASE AID ME!"

Leon’s eyes widened. A horrible feeling ran through his body immediately.

"Gods can’t interfere with—"

BOOOOOOOOM!

Before Leon could even finish speaking, gigantic tendrils of darkness suddenly erupted upward around the castle, each one nearly as massive as the structure itself while radiating terrifying divine darkness powerful enough to distort the surrounding air.

Leon immediately looked upward through the shattered ceiling. And his face darkened.

The tendrils were rising directly toward the [Oblivion Meteor]. Ready to stop it.

"...I guess gods can interfere in this place after all," Leon muttered quietly while staring upward at the terrifying scene unfolding above the city.

Whether this was truly the [God of Darkness] helping directly or merely power previously granted to the king didn’t matter.

What mattered was simple. The meteor could possibly be stopped.

And if that happened... Leon would lose.

The reason he acted carefree before was because he wanted the king to believe he genuinely didn’t care if he died.

Leon still possessed one resurrection remaining thanks to [Life Vessel] after all.

If the king killed him once, he could revive. But the problem was the meteor itself.

If Leon died once to the king, revived afterward, and then died again from his own forbidden spell once the meteor landed, then it would truly be over for him.

He would face whatever horrifying punishment waited afterward for failing a God-Rank assessment.

His bluff had almost worked perfectly too. Right until the king decided to seek divine assistance.

"I AM YOUR SERVANT, UMBRAEL!" the king roared upward while remaining kneeling, "ANNIHILATE THIS FOOLISH HUMAN!"

BOOOOOOOOOOM!

The meteor finally collided against the giant tendrils. The impact was catastrophic.

The entire sky above the [Forsaken City] exploded violently as purple destruction and divine darkness clashed against each other, sending shockwaves powerful enough to tear apart buildings throughout the city while roads cracked and towers collapsed from the pressure alone.

And despite the collision, the meteor was actually slowing down.

Leon immediately noticed something else as well.

The [Forsaken King] had lifted one hand upward toward the sky while his expression became visibly strained, almost as though he was personally struggling to maintain control over the tendrils blocking the meteor.

"...Not happening," Leon’s expression darkened instantly as he exploded forward at full speed.

Because now he finally understood. The king wasn’t simply summoning the tendrils. He was controlling them.

And if Leon interrupted him... The meteor would fall directly onto the castle.

"Let’s die together," Leon mumbled as he rushed forward.

SLASH!

Leon’s sword tore through the air with explosive force, the crimson and silver aura around the blade stretching outward like a streak of light as he struck directly toward the [Forsaken King].

But the king barely even looked at him.

With one hand still raised toward the sky, darkness pouring endlessly from his palm to strengthen the giant tendrils fighting against the meteor above, he casually lifted his sword with the other and blocked Leon’s attack.

CLANG!

The impact shook the chamber, cracks spreading beneath their feet, yet the king himself did not move even a single inch.

Celestial’s Might!

The familiar pressure exploded outward from Leon’s body at that moment, silver-white aura crashing into the king like an invisible storm, instantly suppressing his strength.

---

[Forsaken King (Assessment Boss)]

[Combat Power: 2,100,000]

---

Even weakened by nearly a million combat power, the king still radiated enough strength to wipe out every living thing in the city without effort.

And yet the terrifying part was not his power. It was how little attention he was giving Leon.

The king’s eyes remained fixed upward almost the entire time, focused completely on the meteor descending from the sky while his darkness fought desperately to stop it.

"...Come on..." the king muttered under his breath, veins bulging along his arms as more darkness erupted around him, "...I... can... stop it..."

Leon’s expression darkened. The king was actually succeeding.

The meteor had slowed. Not by much, but enough for Leon to notice.

The gigantic tendrils summoned through the power of the [God of Darkness] were wrapping around the [Oblivion Meteor], restraining it little by little as the entire sky screamed from the pressure.

Leon immediately decided to unleash his strongest skill at that moment, his blade flashing with white and crimson light.

ECLIPSE SLASH!