Dungeon Corpse Stacker: I Absorb Everything to Become Ominous Monarch
Chapter 45: THE FALL OF THE THREE PILLARS

Chapter 45: Chapter 45: THE FALL OF THE THREE PILLARS

The central courtyard of the breached Capital Iron Wall transformed into an arena of absolute, unmitigated carnage.

BOOM!

Sir Jonathan’s cracked silver war-hammer collided with Shadow General Ignis’s colossal abyssal broadsword, sending a blinding shockwave of golden and violet mana rippling through the asphalt. The explosive kinetic force blew away surrounding concrete debris and shattered nearby vehicle windows, but Jonathan’s massive arms trembled violently under the relentless pressure. Every time he parried the shadow giant’s strikes, viscous black dragon-fire seeped into his heavy plate armor, searing his flesh and rapidly burning away his protective holy barrier.

"I am a National-Level Guardian!" Jonathan roared through bloodied teeth, his eyes wide with desperate rage as he swung his heavy hammer in a wide, mountain-cleaving arc. "I will not fall to a worthless ghost!"

Shadow General Ignis did not reply. It simply stepped directly into the path of the devastating swing, absorbed the impact on its heavy dark pauldron without flinching, and brought its abyssal broadsword down in a brutal, supersonic execution arc.

CRACK!

Jonathan’s legendary S-Rank war-hammer shattered into a cloud of glowing silver splinters. Before the National-Level Tanker could recover his balance or draw a sidearm, Ignis’s shadowy gauntlet shot forward like an iron vise, clamping tightly around Jonathan’s throat and driving his heavy body face-first into the crushed pavement.

To the left, Master Ronald frantically wove complex spell runes in mid-air, but his hands were shaking so violently from sheer terror that his casting sequence stalled. High above him in the stormy sky, Shadow Commander Elena hovered like an absolute goddess of death, her hands crackling with volatile, dark electricity.

"Corrupted Judgement Spear!" Elena’s cold, spectral voice echoed through the ruined courtyard like a thunderclap.

THUNDER!

A colossal pillar of pitch-black lightning descended from the heavens, piercing straight through Ronald’s defensive elemental shields like paper. The high-density necrotic voltage fried his internal organs in an instant, dropping the country’s strongest invoker to his knees before his lifeless body collapsed face-down onto the scorched asphalt.

"Ronald!" Lady Beatrice screamed, her twin rapiers clashing frantically against Shadow Commander Sylas’s void-infused daggers.

Beatrice was bleeding heavily from a dozen shallow cuts along her arms, torso, and legs. Sylas moved with an unnatural, terrifying fluidness, utilizing the deep shadows cast by the burning vehicles to attack from every conceivable angle. Outmaneuvered, exhausted, and hopelessly outmatched in raw speed, Beatrice took two rapid steps backward, panting heavily as crimson blood dripped from her chin onto her leather armor.

She looked around the courtyard in utter, soul-crushing horror.

Over two hundred elite Association Enforcers lay dead or dying across the gravel. Master Ronald’s motionless corpse was already seeping viscous dark miasma. Sir Jonathan was pinned hopelessly to the earth under Ignis’s heavy boot, his chest armor caved inward and his breathing ragged, shallow, and hollow.

The Three Pillars of the Nation—hailed as the invincible guardians of human civilization for a generation—had been completely broken in less than ten minutes of open engagement.

Renan walked slowly through the drifting black smoke, stopping beside Sir Jonathan’s broken form. His tattered dark coat fluttered gently in the hot wind, and his golden eyes glowed with terrifying, unyielding dominance.

"You fought for a corrupt, predatory system, Jonathan," Renan said softly, looking down at the dying guardian with cold judgment in his gaze. "You believed your national status justified their systemic oppression of the weak. Now, your strength will serve as a tool for their execution."

Renan raised his hand toward the fallen National-Level Hunters.

[Absolute Extraction System Activated]

Target Locked: Sir Jonathan (National-Level Guardian)

Target Locked: Master Ronald (National-Level Invoker)

Target Locked: Lady Beatrice (National-Level Wind Monarch)

Commencing Mass Extraction of the Three Pillars...

"NO!" Beatrice shrieked, charging at Renan with her absolute remaining strength, driving her remaining intact rapier straight toward his exposed heart in a final, suicidal thrust.

Renan didn’t even flinch or shift his posture. He casually caught the razor-sharp edge of the S-Rank rapier between his index and middle fingers, stopping her full-force thrust dead in its tracks.

CRACK.

With a simple, effortless twist of his wrist, the S-Rank blade snapped in two like brittle glass. Before Beatrice could pull back her broken hilt, Renan’s left hand shot forward, gripping her throat with crushing force and lifting her entire body three feet off the ground. Thick dark miasma immediately erupted from the pavement beneath her, wrapping around her limbs like living, suffocating chains.

"Rise," Renan commanded, his layered voice vibrating through the concrete foundation of the Capital City and echoing across the heavens.

WHOOSH!

Towering pillars of dark violet flame erupted simultaneously from the bodies of Jonathan, Ronald, and Beatrice. Their physical flesh withered into gray ash in seconds, which was instantly replaced by towering, dark-armored shadow entities radiating immense, National-Level magic signatures.

[Mass Extraction Successful!]

[New Entity Acquired: Shadow Commander ’Jonathan’ (Rank-EX)]

[New Entity Acquired: Shadow Commander ’Ronald’ (Rank-EX)]

[New Entity Acquired: Shadow Commander ’Beatrice’ (Rank-EX)]

+2,100 Strength

+1,800 Agility

+2,400 Vitality

+3,500 Mana

[Physical Stat Total: 11,250 Points (Peak Monarch Realm)]

An intoxicating wave of absolute, godlike power crashed through Renan’s physical body and soul. His physical stats skyrocketed past eleven thousand points, expanding his Sovereign Domain across the entire outer district of the Capital City. The atmospheric pressure shifted violently, and dark storm clouds swirled into a massive, funnel-like vortex directly above his head.

Behind him, three thousand five hundred Shadow Knights, along with seven Rank-EX Shadow Commanders, dropped onto one knee in flawless, fanatical submission to their absolute master.

[System Status Overview]

[Active Shadow Legion: 3,761 Units]

[Obstacle Cleared: Capital Outer Defenses Annihilated]

[Final Objective Unlocked: Assault on National Association HQ]

Renan turned his golden eyes toward the center of the city, where the fifty-story glass tower of the National Hunter Association Headquarters gleamed under the darkening, apocalyptic sky.

Inside the executive boardroom on the top floor, President James stood staring at his personal monitor, his face completely drained of color as he watched the Three Pillars transform into dark specters.

Renan raised his pale hand, pointing his finger directly at the glass skyscraper looming in the distance.

"To the Association Headquarters," Renan commanded, his layered voice echoing in the minds of thousands of shadow entities. "Execute President James and dismantle their throne."