The One King

After the golem general's voice echoed throughout the capital, a heavy silence descended over the walls of the Kingdom of Light.

No soldier or civilian dared to speak.

The general's words still lingered in their minds:

Submission... or annihilation.

Behind him stood half a million golems in endless formations.

There was no disorder among their ranks.

Not a single soldier stepped out of place.

Every golem stood with absolute stillness, as though half a million beings had become a single body awaiting orders from one mind.

At the forefront of that army stood the golem general, his enormous body radiating divine might, like a living mountain that had come to pass judgment upon an entire kingdom.

One soldier whispered:

"They're waiting for our answer..."

His companion replied:

"No. They're waiting for our verdict."

The soldier swallowed nervously.

"Do you think they'll give us much time?"

He looked toward the general.

"I don't think they even know what waiting means."

At the highest point of the wall, King Verdant stood with the four dukes, including Valer Foyd, along with the kingdom's most powerful nobles.

The atmosphere was suffocating.

One of the dukes said:

"We cannot fight half a million golems, especially with a general at the Divine Ascension Realm among them."

Another duke replied:

"And if we surrender, the Kingdom of Light will never remain what it was."

Valer spoke heavily:

"And will the kingdom remain if we fight?"

The duke looked at him.

Valer continued:

"Look at the army before us."

He gestured toward the horizon.

"This is not an army that came to occupy a city or bring down a fortress."

Then he said:

"It is a force that came to subjugate an entire kingdom."

Everyone fell silent.

One of the nobles said:

"But if we surrender, we will become slaves."

Valer replied:

"And if we refuse, we may not live long enough to say that we were free."

The noble lowered his head.

He had no answer.

Everyone knew the truth.

The force standing before them was not something the Kingdom of Light could confront on its own.

Suddenly...

The sound of hurried footsteps came from behind them.

The guards turned.

A man came running toward them.

He wore the formal robes bearing the emblem of the Kingdom of Light.

It was the Foreign Minister.

His face was frighteningly pale, his breathing ragged, as though he had witnessed something so horrifying that he had forgotten how to breathe.

One of the guards shouted:

"Stop! Who allowed you up here?"

The minister cried:

"Make way!"

Then he looked toward the king.

"Your Majesty!"

The king stepped forward.

"What happened?"

The minister stopped before him.

He tried to speak, but the words seemed trapped in his throat.

Valer said:

"Speak."

The minister raised his eyes.

Then, in a trembling voice, he said:

"Dozens of kingdoms... have fallen in the north of the Central Continent."

Everyone froze.

He continued:

"The army that destroyed them has continued its advance and has now reached the outskirts of the Races Protection Association."

One of the nobles gasped.

"The Races Protection Association?!"

The minister nodded.

"Yes."

Then he continued quickly:

"And war there is on the verge of erupting."

Silence descended.

The king asked:

"What about the Central Empire?"

The minister answered:

"They are engaged in a brutal war."

He hesitated.

Then said:

"Against half a million undead."

Everyone's expressions changed.

One of the dukes said:

"Half a million?"

"Yes."

The minister then looked toward the horizon.

"As for the Western Continent..."

He paused.

"It is on the verge of annihilation."

One of the nobles' eyes widened.

The minister continued:

"And in the Eastern Continent, dozens of islands have been destroyed, and the sea..."

He lowered his head.

"Has been stained red with blood."

Silence.

Then he said:

"As for the Northern and Southern Continents... there is no confirmed news from either of them yet."

The king asked anxiously:

"Is that everything?"

The minister raised his head.

"No, Your Majesty."

His voice changed.

"There is more."

He took a step forward.

"The Heavenly Council has begun mobilizing its army within its own sub-dimensional realm."

Absolute silence followed.

This time, their fear was not directed solely at the golem army before them.

It was directed at the entire world.

One of the dukes said:

"The Heavenly Council as well?"

The minister replied:

"It appears the war has already surpassed the ability of kingdoms and empires to contain it."

Then he added:

"The entire world is moving."

The king's face paled.

Even Valer seemed to have lost the ability to speak.

As for Alex, all color drained from his face until he was as white as paper.

He muttered:

"This isn't real..."

Everyone looked at him.

"It can't be real."

His breathing began to quicken.

"This..."

Then he said in a broken voice:

"This is hell on earth."

Selena was trembling.

She reached out and took her mother's hand, searching for some comfort amid the horrifying news.

But Lilian's hand was cold as well.

Suddenly...

Lilian's eyes widened.

She remembered someone.

Leon.

Her son was at the headquarters of the Races Protection Association.

She placed a hand over her chest.

"Leon..."

She spoke in a trembling voice:

"My son..."

Miranda turned toward her.

Lilian said:

"He's at the headquarters of the Races Protection Association."

Then she looked toward the king.

"I need to make sure he's safe."

Her eyes were filled with worry.

"We must warn him not to act recklessly."

Lonaria did not respond.

She stood silently.

Her face appeared calm, but her eyes betrayed the fear she was desperately trying to conceal.

Miranda said:

"Lonaria..."

Lonaria answered calmly:

"I'm fine."

But she wasn't.

Every piece of news they received confirmed a single truth.

The war was no longer a conflict between Azrael and a handful of rulers.

It had become a storm sweeping across the world.

And at the center of it all...

One name appeared behind every catastrophe.

Azrael Netherval.

He was not standing before them.

He did not need to be.

Simply mentioning his name was enough to set the world's greatest powers into motion.

And a single command from him had been enough to mobilize armies numbering in the millions.

One of the nobles whispered:

"How can one person do all of this?"

Another duke answered:

"Perhaps the real question..."

He looked toward the golem army.

"...isn't how he does it."

Then he said:

"But how much power is he still hiding?"

Silence followed.

At that moment, King Verdant looked toward the army stretching across the land before the capital.

He closed his eyes for several moments.

When he opened them, his decision had been made.

He said:

"I have decided."

Everyone looked at him.

"We will submit to the Supreme Shura Clan."

Some of the nobles' eyes widened.

The king continued:

"I will not allow our legacy and our families to be destroyed for the sake of fleeting pride."

One of the nobles said hesitantly:

"Your Majesty..."

The king raised his hand.

"No."

He looked at him.

"I know what you want to say."

The noble lowered his head.

The king said:

"But I am responsible for millions of lives."

Then he looked toward the capital.

"A king has no right to send his people to their deaths simply to preserve his title."

No one answered.

Some of the nobles were unwilling to surrender.

But none dared to object.

They knew that a single word could reach the general.

And the Shura army might consider it defiance of Azrael's will.

At that moment...

The mere thought of angering that name was enough to silence them all.

The king stepped toward the edge of the wall.

He looked at the half a million golems.

Then he raised his voice:

"I am Verdant, King of the Kingdom of Light!"

His voice spread throughout the capital.

The whispers stopped.

The king raised his head and declared:

"I hereby announce our acceptance of submission to the Supreme Shura Clan."

The expressions of the people changed.

He continued:

"We accept your rule, and we accept entering beneath the protection of your clan."

Then the king bowed.

"Therefore, I ask you, army of Shura..."

He raised his head.

"Spare the people of our kingdom."

"Take us beneath your protection, and do not turn this land into a graveyard."

Silence.

The golem general did not move.

Long moments passed.

Then...

He slowly raised his head.

Something resembling satisfaction appeared in his eyes.

He said:

"You have chosen wisdom."

Some people breathed a sigh of relief.

But the general continued:

"However..."

The relief vanished from their faces.

"There is something you must understand."

He took a step forward.

BOOM!

The earth trembled beneath his feet.

He spoke in a majestic voice:

"After your submission..."

He paused.

Then said:

"You no longer have the right to call yourself a king."

The king's eyes widened.

Shock spread across the wall.

One of the nobles exclaimed:

"What?"

The general continued:

"Because the only king beneath these heavens..."

He raised a hand toward the sky.

And this time, his voice carried a reverence bordering on fanatic devotion:

"Is the Supreme Entity."

The members of the Foyd family exchanged glances.

Even Valer could not conceal his shock.

Alex muttered:

"The one true king...?"

Selena said:

"He isn't speaking metaphorically."

Lonaria slowly nodded.

"No."

Then she looked toward the army.

"They truly believe it."

As for Lilian...

She remained silent.

She could hear the name echoing inside her mind.

Azrael Netherval.

Her son.

The man the world had branded the Lord of Darkness.

And now...

Half a million golems stood before the capital of an entire kingdom, while a Divine Ascension Realm general proclaimed before everyone that there was no king beneath the heavens except Azrael.

The general raised his voice once more:

"From this moment onward..."

He paused.

"There is no king of the Kingdom of Light."

He looked at the king.

"And no independent sovereign beneath the banner of this land."

Then he added:

"There is one lord."

Silence.

"And one ruler."

His voice lowered, yet his words reached every ear in the capital:

"Azrael Netherval."

At that moment...

The people of the Kingdom of Light no longer felt as though they had surrendered to an army.

They felt as though they had surrendered to a new era.

An era in which the title of king no longer meant what it had meant yesterday.

A thousand meters from the capital's walls...

Half a million golems remained completely motionless.

As if they had not come merely to conquer a kingdom.

They had come to announce the birth of a new order for the world.

And far above the distant skies...

Black and violet storms continued to gather.

Somewhere beyond all these armies...

Azrael Netherval watched the world begin to fall beneath his shadow.

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