The One King

The war had reached its climax.

The battles stretched across vast regions of the Central Empire, transforming the fertile plains that had once symbolized the empire’s power into a barren, shattered wasteland.

Deep craters were scattered everywhere.

Giant trees had been uprooted from the earth.

Black smoke covered the sky, while flames burned among the ruins of villages and fortresses that had been ravaged by war.

In every direction, the clash of weapons and the screams of soldiers merged with the roars of beasts and the horrifying sounds of the undead.

And in the midst of this hell...

The Central Empire’s army was fighting a desperate battle against Azrael’s undead army.

The undead army was unlike any army the empire had ever faced.

Its soldiers knew neither fear...

Nor pain...

Nor exhaustion.

Whenever one of them fell, the others continued advancing.

And whenever an undead creature was killed, another rose from among the corpses.

It was like facing an endless tide.

At the forefront of the army...

stood one of Azrael’s most terrifying generals.

The Bone General.

His enormous skeletal body was covered in dark black armor, while cold blue flames burned within his empty eye sockets.

He wielded a massive sword, and every strike carved deep cracks into the earth.

And facing him...

was Empress Titania.

She was fighting personally.

She had not hidden behind her army.

Nor had she left the fate of her empire to her generals.

She wore her imperial armor, her hair streaming behind her amid the storm created by the battle.

She raised her sword.

BOOOOOM!

Her sword collided with the Bone General’s.

A massive shockwave spread in every direction.

Titania was forced back several meters, her feet carving two trenches into the ground.

She wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth.

Then she raised her sword again.

The Bone General said:

"Are you still resisting?"

Titania replied:

"As long as I have not fallen..."

She charged toward him.

"...the empire will not fall."

Something resembling a smile appeared upon the skeletal skull.

"Then I shall make you fall."

He charged toward her.

BOOOOOOOM!

Their attacks collided once again.

But suddenly...

The Bone General stopped.

Titania stopped as well.

Something had changed.

Titania slowly raised her head.

The winds raging across the battlefield began to calm.

Even the dust floating through the air seemed to stop for a moment.

Then millions of soldiers felt an immense presence above them.

A presence that made their instincts scream in warning.

One of the imperial soldiers raised his head.

"What is that...?"

His eyes widened.

"Look at the sky!"

Everyone raised their heads.

And above them...

A gigantic shadow appeared among the clouds.

The sounds of battle gradually faded.

Then the dragon appeared.

Azrael.

He was in his complete draconic form.

A colossal black-and-purple dragon, standing nearly three hundred meters tall, with a body stretching approximately five hundred meters from the tip of his head to the end of his tail.

His black scales reflected the light of the sky with a dark sheen, while glowing purple lines ran across them, as though some mysterious energy flowed beneath his skin.

His enormous horns swept backward.

His gigantic claws resembled colossal blades.

And his eyes...

carried such coldness that millions felt as though their souls had been laid bare before him.

He spread his wings.

They covered a tremendous portion of the sky.

Then he beat his wings once.

WHOOOOOOOOOOM!

A tremendous storm exploded in every direction.

The earth trembled.

Trees were uprooted.

Rocks and debris were hurled in every direction.

Soldiers were forced back dozens of meters.

Some fell to the ground.

Others drove their weapons into the earth to keep themselves from being swept away by the wind.

But Titania...

was not staring at him because she did not know who he was.

She had seen him before.

At the Races Tournament.

She had seen this very draconic body with her own eyes.

She had even witnessed Azrael fight against three Divine Ascendants.

That was not a sight she could ever forget.

Therefore, the appearance of the dragon itself was not what shocked her.

The true shock was...

that he had come personally.

Titania stared at him.

He has intervened personally...

She could not stop herself from feeling a heaviness in her chest.

Then he has decided to end this war himself.

Her expression changed when she sensed his aura.

She had felt Azrael’s presence during the tournament before.

But this aura...

was more terrifying.

Heavier.

Deeper.

Was he hiding this much power back then?

She did not know the answer.

But she had no time to think about it.

Because the dragon began lowering his enormous head.

Until his eyes were fixed directly upon the battlefield.

Then his gaze settled on Titania.

He opened his mouth.

And when he spoke...

the heavens trembled.

His voice was deep, savage, and majestic, carrying such overwhelming power that the earth itself seemed to tremble.

"Titania..."

The empress raised her head.

Then Azrael said:

"This Great One has come to give you a choice between submission and annihilation."

Everyone held their breath.

This was not an ordinary threat.

Azrael was not asking her to negotiate.

He was offering her only two choices.

Submission...

or death.

The imperial soldiers looked toward their empress.

Their armies were exhausted.

Their formations were shattered.

And the army before them knew no retreat.

As for the creature hovering above them...

Titania herself had witnessed his power before.

She knew that fighting him would not merely be a gamble.

It could become collective suicide.

Titania slowly lowered her sword.

Silence descended.

The Bone General looked at her without interfering.

She took a deep breath.

Then she looked toward her army.

At the soldiers who had fought for her.

At the distant capital.

At the people of the empire.

Then she raised her eyes toward Azrael.

If I continue...

everyone will die.

Pride could not save her people.

And dying for a lost battle was not heroism.

It was simply a meaningless sacrifice.

She closed her eyes for a moment.

Then opened them, having made her decision.

She raised her voice:

"Cease the fighting!"

The battlefield froze.

One of the commanders shouted:

"Your Majesty!"

But Titania raised her hand.

"No more fighting."

Then she looked at Azrael.

And said clearly:

"I have decided to come under the protection of the Council, Lord Azrael."

Silence descended.

Even the soldiers who had been prepared to die did not know what to say.

As for Azrael...

There was no surprise on his face.

He said in his deep voice:

"You have made a wise choice, Titania."

Then he added:

"And you will not regret it in the future."

Titania lowered her head slightly.

"I hope you will keep your word."

Azrael replied:

"If I wanted to annihilate your empire, I would never have given you the choice to submit in the first place."

Titania raised her eyes.

She understood his message.

Her submission meant that the empire would survive.

The Fall of the Central Empire

Titania turned toward her army.

She said:

"Lay down your weapons."

The order spread throughout the soldiers.

Some hesitated.

Others tightened their grips around their weapons.

But moments later...

the first sword fell to the ground.

Clang!

Then another.

Then another.

Soon, entire ranks of soldiers began throwing down their weapons.

The undead army did not attack.

It simply stopped.

Then Azrael’s forces began advancing into the territories of the Central Empire.

The gates were opened.

The fortifications were dismantled.

And the cities surrendered one after another.

And thus...

the Central Empire came under the banner of the Council.

It had not fallen after a massacre.

It had fallen when its rulers realized that resistance could no longer change the outcome.

The Empress’s Palace

Several hours later...

Silence filled the imperial palace.

The throne hall was vast and magnificent, with enormous chandeliers hanging from its ceiling and the banners of the Central Empire decorating its pillars.

But the atmosphere was no longer the same.

The empire had lost its independence.

And inside the throne hall...

there were only two people.

Azrael.

And Titania.

Azrael stood before the imperial throne.

Titania sat upon it, but she no longer sat there as an independent ruler.

She said:

"I did not expect you to come personally."

Azrael replied:

"I said that I would subjugate the Central Empire myself."

Titania gave a faint smile.

"True."

Then she looked at him.

"But I did not expect you to release that aura."

Azrael remained silent.

She continued:

"I saw your draconic form at the Races Tournament."

"And I watched you fight three Divine Ascendants."

Then she added:

"But your presence today was different."

Azrael said:

"Because I was hiding nothing today."

Titania remained silent for a moment.

Then she asked:

"What about the other fronts?"

Azrael answered:

"The war continues."

"The Eastern Continent?"

"The Council Army continues its war against the three Sea Tribes."

"And the Northern Continent?"

"The war against the Barbarian Tribe continues."

"And the Southern Continent?"

"The Bandit Stronghold is still resisting."

Titania contemplated his words.

Then she said:

"Then you still have a long road ahead."

Azrael replied:

"Not a long one."

He raised his eyes toward her.

"We have already taken longer than we should have."

She asked:

"What is your plan after subjugating the Mortal World?"

A brief silence followed.

Then he answered:

"You already know the answer."

Titania’s expression changed.

The Divine World.

And Hell.

She said:

"The other two worlds..."

Azrael nodded.

"Yes."

Then he said:

"When this world falls beneath the banner of the Council..."

His eyes turned toward the window.

"We will begin the next war."

Titania said:

"A war between worlds."

"Exactly."

She stared at him for a long moment.

Then she said:

"You truly fear nothing."

Azrael replied calmly:

"After living for billions of years..."

His eyes paused for a moment.

Then he continued:

"Many things that humans once feared become nothing more than obstacles."

Silence filled the hall.

Outside...

the banner of the Council rose above the walls of the Central Empire’s capital for the first time.

As the empire’s banner...

slowly descended.

And thus ended the era of the Central Empire’s independence.

But its fall was not the end of the war.

It was merely another step on Azrael’s path toward a far greater objective...

Subjugating the Mortal World first.

And then...

opening the path toward the War Between Worlds.

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!