Final Regression of The Legendary Swordmaster Chapter 50

"Domain Release."

The moment the duke spoke those two words, the world changed, as if reality itself flinched.

The air trembled, shaking in tight, violent waves, like the space around them could no longer bear the pressure of what was about to unfold. Edward felt it first in his chest. A deep, crushing weight pressed down on his lungs, making it harder to breathe. His mana stirred on its own, reacting as if it sensed a natural predator.

High above, the duke hovered in silence. His eyes glowed faintly, the killing intent behind his gaze never shaking.

Instantly, a surge of energy erupted from the duke’s core.

It spread outward in all directions, rolling through the sky like a massive wave, swallowing distance, swallowing space. When it touched the edges of the ruined estate, the world folded inward, as if a dome had spiraled out and enclosed everything.

The sky split open.

And what replaced it was a vast ceiling of fire and smoke. Thick, rolling ash clouds churned endlessly above, glowing red and orange from the light below. The ground cracked and reshaped itself in an instant, turning black and jagged, glowing lines of molten lava running through it like veins.

Edward stood at the heart of it.

The duke’s Domain had fully formed.

It was like standing on the peak of an erupting volcano.

Heat slammed into Edward from every direction. The ground beneath his feet was solid, yet it radiated warmth, as if it could melt at any second if the duke willed it.

Far below, rivers of lava flowed endlessly, slow and heavy, lighting the domain with a hellish glow. Every breath tasted of smoke and sulfur. The air shimmered, bending light, warping distance.

This was not an illusion.

This was a world.

A world created by one man’s will.

A will that had perfectly encased only the duke and Edward, erasing all unnecessary space, as if the world outside no longer existed.

But outside the domain, the Leviathan reacted instantly.

It opened its jaws, and a crushing torrent of water fired forward, a focused blast strong enough to tear through mountains.

The attack slammed into the exterior surface of the domain.

The surface rippled.

Just rippled.

Like water disturbed by a tossed pebble.

The attack dispersed, its force swallowed completely, leaving not even a crack.

The Duke threw his head back and laughed. Mocking the attempt by the beast to attack the domain from the outside.

"Did it really think that would work?" the duke said, his voice echoing across the volcanic world. "Inside my Domain, everything answers to me."

He spread his arms wide.

"This is the true difference between us," he continued. "You are talented, yes. Dangerous, indeed. But this..." He gestured around them. "This is something you can never reach."

The lava below surged higher, reacting to his words. Pillars of molten rock rose into the air, floating around him like obedient beasts.

The ground beneath Edward’s feet trembled. Cracks formed, glowing with magma, inching closer to him.

"Your death is already decided," the duke said, smiling. "You are standing inside my world. And in my world, I am absolute."

Edward forced himself to breathe.

Slow.

Steady.

He could feel it clearly now. The domain was suppressing him, bending the rules of the world around him. The lightning mana flowing through his body flickered weakly, then died out completely. Every movement felt heavier than before, as if invisible weights were pressing down on him. Even his thoughts slowed, burdened by an overwhelming pressure, like his mind itself was being slowly squeezed.

This was why domains were feared.

No one from the outside could interfere. No ally could enter. No attack could pierce in from beyond. Once trapped inside, the only way out was victory or death.

That was the power of a domain. A low tier, mythical ranked spell that is only accessible to mages at the Archmage realm and above. Obtaining a domain is a necessary requirement for breaking through into the Archmage stage. Achieving one shows the level of mastery a mage has over the conceptual law they have been comprehending.

The core of a domain is an extension of its owner’s power and the method through which it was obtained. There are two ways to form a domain. The first is through long and careful comprehension of a conceptual law, such as fire, earth, chaos, anger, and so on. The second is by copying another person’s domain. However, a copied domain can never exceed fifty percent of the original domain’s power. The strength of a domain depends on one’s understanding of the concept and how powerful that concept is compared to others.

Most importantly, there are only two ways to defeat a domain. The first is simple in theory: kill the caster. In practice, this is extremely difficult, because within a domain, all ambient mana answers only to the domain’s master. The second method is to use a stronger domain to overlap it, crush it, and replace it. That, however, is impossible for someone like Edward, who is still in the High Mage realm.

Still in the domain, the volcanic world responded to the Dukes growing confidence. The sky darkened further. Ash fell like snow. The heat intensified, pressing against Edward’s skin, threatening to burn him alive simply by existing.

The Leviathan roared again, clearly frustrated by the domain.

Edward stood as the Leviathan struck again, slamming its massive tail against the domain boundary.

The surface rippled.

Again.

Nothing more.

The duke shook his head.

"Pointless," he said. "Within a Domain, nothing from the outside can enter."

Outside the domain, as Edward stood trapped within it, unable to wield mana that no longer answered to him but only to the Duke, the Leviathan flickered violently. Its massive form trembled as cracks of dim blue light spread across its body. Without access to Edward’s mana, the spirit could no longer anchor itself to reality. Its roar weakened, turning hollow and distant, as its scales dissolved into drifting droplets of water and fading mist. Piece by piece, the Leviathan unraveled, its presence thinning until it was nothing more than a ghostly outline, struggling to exist in a space that rejected it.

Inside the domain, the heat intensified sharply. The Duke raised his hand and waved it with casual authority. In response, the ground split apart, and massive waves of molten lava surged forward from both sides of Edward. The glowing magma rolled like living walls, radiating unbearable heat as it closed in, determined to crush and incinerate him in a single, final strike.