The One King

The Central Continent was experiencing a day that appeared ordinary on the surface.

In the great cities, markets bustled with activity, kingdoms and empires continued their usual affairs, while news of the wars raging across the other continents spread from mouth to mouth.

The fall of the Central Empire was still the talk of the world.

But no one knew that something far greater was about to begin.

In the far west of the Central Continent...

The Infinite Ocean was calm.

The waves moved gently, and ships sailed across the water.

Then...

The wind stopped.

The waves stopped.

And an eerie silence descended upon the ocean.

One of the sailors raised his head.

"What is happening?"

No one answered him.

The surface of the sea began to sink.

At first, slowly...

Then faster and faster.

The waters retreated an enormous distance from the coast, revealing portions of the ocean floor.

One of the sailors said:

"Is this the tide?"

The captain shook his head.

His face had gone pale.

"No."

Then he shouted:

"Get away from the coast!"

But before anyone could move...

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!

The ocean shook.

A gigantic wave rose on the horizon.

Then the surface of the sea split apart.

Something enormous and black began emerging from the depths.

At first...

The people thought it was a mountain.

But the mountain moved.

It rose higher.

Then another part of its body emerged.

Enormous black scales appeared from the water, each one larger than a fortress.

Then an entire colossal body rose from the ocean.

A body stretching across a distance beyond the comprehension of the human mind.

One hundred thousand meters.

One hundred thousand meters of an ancient black body.

Then its enormous limbs appeared.

One of them slammed onto the land.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!

The earth shook.

The coastline cracked.

Rocks collapsed.

Then the other limb descended.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!

A massive earthquake spread throughout the region.

The hydra continued emerging from the Infinite Ocean until its colossal body finally settled upon the Central Continent.

Then its heads began to rise.

A gigantic black neck pierced through the clouds.

Then a head appeared.

Then a second.

A third.

A fourth.

A fifth.

A sixth.

A seventh.

An eighth.

And a ninth.

The movement of the world seemed to stop.

Nine enormous heads rose toward the heavens.

Clouds swirled around their colossal necks.

Their nine eyes silently surveyed the world.

Then the hydra raised all nine of its heads.

The winds intensified.

Clouds began gathering overhead.

The pressure in the surrounding region dropped to a terrifying degree.

The nine mouths opened.

Then...

ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

The roar erupted.

It was not an ordinary sound.

It was a destructive force that spread across the Central Continent.

Cities trembled.

Windows shattered.

Mountains shook.

People collapsed to the ground.

Then the roar crossed the Infinite Ocean.

It reached the other continents.

And at that very moment...

The wars stopped.

In the eastern continent, the forces of the Council and the Three Sea Tribes ceased fighting.

In the north, the soldiers of the Council and the barbarians raised their heads.

In the south, movement within the strongholds of the bandits came to a halt.

No one knew where the roar had come from.

But those possessing supreme power felt it clearly.

Something enormous had appeared.

Something unlike any beast they had ever known.

The great powers began to move.

Across empires, kingdoms, and sects, transmission and detection devices were activated.

Spiritual techniques began searching for the source of the roar.

One of the elders shouted:

"Expand the detection range!"

"We're trying!"

A map of the world appeared.

Energy signatures began moving across it.

Then one of them settled in the far west of the Central Continent.

One of the researchers said:

"We found it."

The commander approached.

"What did you find?"

The researcher swallowed hard.

"The source."

Then a distant image appeared on the transmission device.

At first, it was nothing more than an enormous black shadow.

The commander said:

"Magnify the image."

The image enlarged.

A body appeared.

Then one head.

Then another.

Then the nine heads came into view.

Silence descended.

No one could speak.

The image continued to zoom in.

Until the entire body appeared.

One of the researchers whispered:

"My God..."

The measurement appeared on the screen.

Length: 100,000 meters.

One of those present muttered:

"One hundred thousand meters...?"

The researcher answered:

"We measured it several times."

Then additional information appeared:

Number of Heads: Nine

Classification: Ancient Beast

Power Level: Peak Divine Ascendant

Silence.

Then the most terrifying information appeared:

Objective: Unknown

But the entire world understood one thing.

This creature stood at the peak of the Divine Ascendant realm.

And it was only one step away from godhood.

Panic began spreading.

In some kingdoms, the gates were sealed.

In others, armies were summoned.

Some rulers began searching for ways to escape.

As for the great powers...

They were not thinking about fighting.

They were simply trying to understand what had appeared before them.

In the north...

Where the war between the Council and the Barbarian Tribe was still raging, the Great Barbarian King stood inside his command center atop one of the icy peaks.

The commanders around him were monitoring the battles on their maps when a scout hurried inside.

"Your Majesty!"

The king raised his head.

"What is it?"

The scout bowed.

"We have received a recording from the transmission devices."

"What does it contain?"

The scout raised a device before him.

The image of the hydra appeared.

Nine heads.

An enormous black body stretching across the horizon.

The expression of the Great Barbarian King changed.

He remained silent for several moments.

Then he said:

"What is that?"

One of his advisers answered:

"An ancient beast that has appeared on the Central Continent."

Then its power data appeared.

Peak Divine Ascendant.

The king's eyes narrowed.

"Peak Divine Ascendant..."

He looked at the map of the world.

His forces were still engaged in a fierce war against the Council's army.

One of the commanders said:

"If this beast moves north, it may reach our territories."

Another added:

"And if it moves east, it may collide with the Council's armies."

The king remained silent for a moment.

Then he said:

"But do not expect the hydra to save us."

The commanders looked at him.

He continued:

"We are at war with the Council. If the hydra clashes with Azrael's army, that is their affair."

Then he looked at the image.

"But if it approaches our territory..."

He clenched his fist.

"We will have no choice but to deal with it as well."

The king was no longer worried about the Council's army alone.

A new factor had appeared in the world—one that no one could predict.

In the south...

The situation was similar.

Inside the massive stronghold of the bandits, the Bandit Lord was monitoring the progress of the war against the Council when news of the hydra reached him.

One of his commanders rushed inside.

"My lord!"

The ruler raised his eyes.

"What happened?"

"An ancient beast has appeared on the Central Continent."

"What kind of beast?"

The image was placed before him.

When he saw the enormous body and nine heads...

The smile disappeared from his face.

He said:

"This..."

Then he stepped closer to the device.

"How large is it?"

"One hundred thousand meters."

Silence.

Then its power level appeared.

Peak Divine Ascendant.

The Bandit Lord remained silent.

His men were fighting a war against the Council, and he had hoped that prolonging the conflict would exhaust Azrael's forces.

But the appearance of the hydra had disrupted all of his calculations.

One of his commanders asked:

"Should we continue the offensive?"

The ruler remained deep in thought.

Then he said:

"Yes."

Everyone was surprised.

"But, my lord..."

He interrupted:

"We are at war with the Council, not the hydra."

Then he looked at the image.

"But keep an eye on that beast."

"If it approaches our territory, halt any unnecessary operations."

"We do not want to fight both the Council's army and the hydra at the same time."

Everyone knew that doing so would be suicide.

As for the Central Empire...

Titania stood before the transmission device.

The enormous image of the hydra filled the hall.

Nine heads.

A black body stretching one hundred thousand meters.

And an aura so powerful that even the image on the screen seemed to tremble.

Titania was not frightened merely by its appearance.

She was thinking about one person.

Azrael.

She said quietly:

"Why has such a creature appeared now...?"

One of the guards approached.

"Your Majesty, do you believe it poses a threat to the Empire?"

She did not answer immediately.

Then she said:

"Not to the Empire alone."

She looked at the hydra.

"It is a threat to the entire world."

Then she remembered Azrael's roar that she had heard before.

And she wondered:

"Will he stand against it?"

But she did not know the answer.

Meanwhile, inside the Foyd family's palace...

The family was gathered before the transmission device.

The same image was displayed before them.

The hydra.

Nine heads.

One hundred thousand meters of body.

And a heavy silence filled the hall.

Alex was the first to speak.

He stared at the image with widened eyes.

"This..."

He paused.

Then said:

"This isn't a beast."

Valer looked at him.

Alex continued:

"This is a walking catastrophe."

Selina stared at the screen.

She said quietly:

"It's terrifying..."

Miranda was studying the data.

"Peak Divine Ascendant..."

She raised her eyes.

"That level alone is enough to change the balance of the world."

Lunaria remained silent.

She stared at the hydra for a long time.

Then she said:

"It didn't come here by chance."

Selina asked:

"What do you mean?"

Lunaria answered:

"Look at the direction of its heads."

Everyone looked.

All nine heads were facing east.

Toward the heart of the continent.

She said:

"It's searching for something."

As for Lilian...

She was not thinking about the hydra.

She was thinking about Azrael.

She asked:

"Where is he now?"

No one answered.

Leon stared silently at the screen.

Then he said:

"If this beast continues moving..."

He looked at his mother.

"Then it will inevitably encounter Azrael."

Lilian lowered her eyes.

Valer slowly sighed.

"It seems the world had barely begun to comprehend what Azrael had done..."

Then he looked at the hydra.

"Before something capable of challenging him appeared."

Silence filled the hall.

Then...

The hydra raised its nine heads once again.

Its nine mouths opened.

And it released a second roar.

ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

The world shook once more.

But this time...

The great powers understood the meaning of the roar.

It was not rage.

It was a challenge.

A challenge directed toward anyone possessing enough power to answer.

And somewhere far away...

Azrael was flying through the sky.

His black-and-purple draconic body tore through the clouds.

Suddenly...

He stopped.

The roar reached him.

Silence descended.

He slowly raised his head.

He looked toward the west.

He sensed the immense power.

A primordial force.

Terrifying.

Standing at the peak of the Divine Ascendant realm.

But Azrael did not retreat.

Nor did fear appear on his face.

Instead, a cold smile appeared.

"A challenge..."

Then he added:

"So you wish to know who stands above this world."

He spread his wings.

Energy began gathering around his draconic body.

Then he raised his head toward the heavens.

And for the first time in a long while...

Azrael released a roar with all his might.

ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!

It was not an ordinary dragon's roar.

It was an eruption of overwhelming majesty and power.

The sky trembled.

The clouds split apart.

The Infinite Ocean churned violently.

And the sound spread across the entire mortal world.

In the east...

The battles froze.

In the north...

The Great Barbarian King raised his head.

In the south...

The Bandit Lord rose from his seat.

Inside the Central Palace...

Titania's eyes widened.

As for the Foyd family...

Everyone froze before the transmission device.

Azrael's roar was not merely a response.

It was a declaration.

A declaration carried by his voice to every corner of the world:

"I am the Supreme Ruler of this world."

Then his voice echoed across the land:

"And I accept your challenge."

An eerie silence descended.

Even the hydra stopped for a moment.

Its nine heads stared toward the horizon.

As though it had heard the answer it had been waiting for.

And the world...

Was plunged into a state of terror unlike anything it had ever known.

In the north, the Great Barbarian King stared at the sky.

He said:

"He accepted the challenge..."

Then he looked at his commanders.

"This is no longer the Council's affair alone."

As for the Bandit Lord...

He remained standing before the transmission device.

Then he said:

"Azrael and the hydra..."

He paused.

"If those two begin fighting, the outcome of our war could change completely."

He could no longer regard the hydra as merely a beast.

Nor could he regard Azrael as merely an opponent.

The two had become forces capable of turning the entire world upside down.

Inside Titania's palace...

The Empress remained silent.

She knew Azrael.

She had witnessed his power during the Races Tournament.

She had watched him fight three Divine Ascendants.

But hearing his roar now made her realize something else.

She said quietly:

"He accepted the challenge..."

Then she looked at the image of the hydra.

"And that creature doesn't look like an opponent capable of backing down."

Inside the Foyd family's palace...

Everyone remained silent.

Alex said:

"He answered it..."

His voice carried a mixture of astonishment and concern.

Selina said:

"Why do I feel that what happens next will be far worse than all the wars?"

Miranda answered:

"Because you're right."

Lunaria continued staring at the screen.

Then she said:

"This is not a war between two armies."

Everyone looked at her.

She continued:

"It's a confrontation between two entities, either one of whom could change the shape of the world."

As for Leon...

He could not take his eyes away from the image.

Then he said:

"I only hope..."

He paused for a moment.

"That Azrael knows what he's doing."

Lilian did not answer.

Her eyes were filled with concern.

Valer said:

"He knows."

He looked at everyone.

"Azrael has never been the kind of person to challenge something without knowing the price."

Silence returned.

And somewhere far away...

The hydra stood upon the Central Continent.

Azrael soared through the sky.

And between them...

An enormous distance stretched.

But the two now knew of each other's existence.

The hydra had issued its challenge.

Azrael had answered.

And the entire world had witnessed it.

The question was no longer:

Would they meet?

It had become:

When?

And at that moment...

The world began awaiting the greatest confrontation the age had ever witnessed.

A confrontation between a black-and-purple dragon...

And an ancient nine-headed hydra.

And the Central Continent...

stood between them.

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