The One King

The Eastern Continent was ablaze with war.

Neither the plains, mountains, nor shores knew the meaning of peace anymore.

Everywhere, the banners of the Council fluttered above the battlefields, while the banners of the three Sea Tribes continued to resist with fierce determination.

The armies stretched across vast distances, making the horizon seem completely covered by soldiers.

In the sky, explosions of spiritual energy illuminated the clouds.

And on the ground...

Thousands of corpses lay scattered among craters and ruins.

This was not a single battle.

It was a massive war that had spread across the entire eastern front.

One of the Council's generals raised his ice spear.

"Advance!"

His command thundered across the battlefield.

"For the Council!"

The Council's forces charged forward as one.

The two armies collided.

BOOOOOOM!

A wave of energy erupted at the point of impact.

The warriors of the three Sea Tribes surged forward from the opposite side. Some had bodies covered in blue and black scales, while others wielded techniques that drew upon the power of the sea.

One of the tribal warriors raised his spear toward the sky.

"Don't let them through!"

Another warrior shouted:

"Protect our lands!"

They charged toward the Council's army.

Weapons clashed.

Blood sprayed through the air.

Energy exploded in every direction.

The Council's army advanced slowly, but the three tribes fought with ferocity.

Behind their lines...

Massive sea creatures emerged from the water and attacked the Council's forces.

A sea beast dozens of meters long rose from the ocean.

It opened its jaws, revealing enormous fangs.

Then it lunged toward a group of soldiers.

But before it could reach them...

SHHHHHK!

A massive ice spear shot through the air and pierced its head.

The blood froze around the wound instantly, and the beast crashed back into the sea with a tremendous splash.

One of the Council's soldiers stood atop a rock, gripping his ice spear, which was covered in a layer of frost.

He said coldly:

"Next!"

At that very moment, a frigid aura began spreading around the Council's soldiers.

The water around their feet froze.

Layers of ice spread across the surface of the sea.

But before they could advance...

Another sea beast emerged from the water.

Then another.

Then dozens.

One of the Council's soldiers shouted:

"The tribes are summoning the sea beasts!"

His commander replied:

"Don't retreat!"

He raised his ice spear.

"Destroy them all!"

The Council's forces charged forward once more.

The battle grew increasingly violent.

Time passed.

One hour...

Then two...

Eventually, the battle continued until the sun began sinking toward the horizon.

Yet neither side retreated.

On a high ridge near the coast, the leaders of the three Sea Tribes watched the battlefield.

The leader of the first tribe said:

"Our forces are beginning to retreat."

The leader of the second tribe replied:

"And the Council isn't stopping."

The third said:

"If this continues, they'll break through our lines."

They fell silent.

Then the leader of the first tribe said:

"We have to use the greater sea beasts."

The others looked at him.

"Already?"

"Yes."

"You know the price of doing that."

The leader replied:

"If we don't, there will be nothing left for us to lose."

The other leader nodded.

Then he raised his hand.

A tremendous aquatic force began gathering within the ocean.

The sea began to boil.

The waves rose.

And deep beneath the water...

Dozens of massive sea beasts began to move.

The Council's soldiers sensed the change.

One of them raised his head.

"What is happening?"

Then the sea before them began to rise.

WHOOOOOOOOSH!

Three enormous sea beasts emerged from the water simultaneously.

One resembled a gigantic sea serpent.

The second was an armored creature with four massive limbs.

The third looked like an enormous whale with gigantic horns protruding from its head.

One of the Council's generals shouted:

"Do not fear!"

Then he raised his ice spear.

"Destroy them!"

The Council's forces charged toward the beasts.

The battle erupted once more.

The sounds shook the coastline.

BOOOOOM!

DOOOOOM!

KRAAAACK!

Mountains collapsed.

Sections of the coastline shattered.

Pillars of water rose toward the heavens.

And as the battle continued...

Blood began flowing into the sea.

One drop.

Then another.

Then thousands.

Then tens of thousands.

The blood mixed with the ocean water.

The currents carried it far away from the battlefield.

Very far away.

But no one noticed.

Everyone was too consumed by the war.

No one knew that the blood spilled in this battle had not simply disappeared.

It had awakened something else.

Something that had been sleeping since ancient times.

Then, in an instant...

One of the sea beasts suddenly stopped.

The creature, dozens of meters long, stared toward the west.

Then it began to tremble.

One of the tribal warriors looked at it in confusion.

"What is it doing?"

No one answered.

Then the beast suddenly turned around.

And fled toward the depths of the ocean.

"What?!"

The warriors stared at it in disbelief.

Then the same thing happened with another beast.

Then a third.

The sea beasts began fleeing.

Even those that had been fighting the Council's army without fear.

One of the Council's soldiers asked:

"Why are they running?"

His commander looked toward the sea.

"I don't know."

Then he felt something.

His expression froze.

"Wait..."

He slowly raised his head.

"Did you feel that?"

One of the soldiers asked:

"Feel what?"

He did not answer.

There was something in the air.

A faint pressure.

Extremely distant.

Yet it was growing stronger.

The waves began to calm.

The wind stopped.

Even the sounds of battle gradually faded.

The soldiers looked at one another.

One of them whispered:

"Why did the sea stop?"

There was no answer.

Then one of the Sea Tribe leaders said quietly:

"This isn't natural."

The others turned toward him.

"What do you mean?"

He continued staring at the ocean.

"There is something..."

He paused.

Then said:

"Something is coming."

One of the warriors scoffed.

"Another beast?"

He shook his head.

"No."

"Then what?"

He remained silent.

Because he did not know how to describe the sensation.

It was as though some creature stood somewhere unimaginably far away...

Yet he could still feel its gaze.

Then...

The sea level began to fall.

Slowly.

The waters started receding from the coastline.

The soldiers stared at the phenomenon.

"What's happening?!"

The water continued retreating.

It pulled back for enormous distances.

Parts of the seabed became visible.

One of the commanders shouted:

"Get away from the coast!"

But before anyone could understand why...

DOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!

A tremendous sound erupted from the depths of the ocean.

The earth shook.

Thousands of soldiers fell to their knees.

A pressure wave spread across the sea.

One soldier asked with a trembling voice:

"What... is that?"

Then another voice came:

"It's coming from the west."

Everyone raised their heads.

There was nothing there.

Only the sea.

But moments later...

A black line appeared on the horizon.

One of the soldiers stared at it.

"Is that... an island?"

Another answered:

"No."

The line drew closer.

Then it began to rise.

Higher.

And higher.

Something enormous was emerging from the sea.

At first, a portion of its back appeared.

No one could comprehend its size.

It looked like a moving black mountain.

More of its body emerged.

Then more.

Massive scales appeared above the surface.

Each scale was larger than a fortress.

Then...

The first neck began to rise.

Slowly.

From the depths of the ocean.

It rose above the clouds.

Everyone froze.

Then the head appeared.

A gigantic eye opened in the sky.

WHOOOOOOOM...

A terrifying pressure spread across the battlefield.

Then a second neck rose.

Then a second head.

Then a third.

The fourth.

The fifth.

The sixth.

The seventh.

The eighth.

And finally...

The ninth.

The battle came to a complete halt.

No soldier was thinking about fighting anymore.

No one cared about the Council or the Sea Tribes.

Every eye was fixed upon the heavens.

Nine enormous heads towered above the ocean.

Nine colossal necks pierced through the clouds.

Nine dark eyes stared down at the world.

One soldier whispered:

"Hydra..."

His commander turned toward him.

"What did you say?"

The man trembled.

"Hydra..."

Then he raised his head.

"It's a Hydra!"

But this was no ordinary Hydra.

Its body was so enormous that it surpassed the limits of imagination.

More of its body emerged from the ocean.

Its limbs rose above the water.

Then its colossal tail appeared.

And its body continued emerging...

Until its full form became visible.

One hundred thousand meters.

One hundred thousand meters of ancient black flesh.

Nine heads.

Nine necks reaching into the heavens.

A body covered in ancient black scales, bearing the marks of countless ages spent within the depths of the ocean.

Its mere existence caused the ocean to tremble.

Even the sky darkened above it.

Then the Hydra raised all nine of its heads.

It inhaled.

WHOOOOOOOOOO...

Its breath spread across the ocean.

And the scent of blood reached it.

The blood of war.

The blood of millions.

The scent that had awakened it from its endless slumber.

The nine heads fell silent.

Then all of them turned toward the east.

Toward the Central Continent.

Toward the source of the blood.

One of its heads spoke in a low, deep, primitive voice:

"Blood..."

Another head moved.

"So much blood..."

The central head opened its jaws.

Its voice caused the ocean itself to tremble.

"How long... has it been since I felt this hunger?"

The humans could not understand its words.

But they understood one thing.

That creature had not emerged from the ocean for them.

It had not emerged for the Council.

It did not even know who ruled this world.

The scent of blood had awakened it.

And now...

It was searching for its source.

The Hydra raised one of its colossal limbs.

Then brought it down onto the ocean floor.

DOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!

The Infinite Ocean shook.

Massive waves rose toward the heavens.

Soldiers screamed as they struggled to remain standing.

Then the Hydra raised its second limb.

DOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!

And it began to move.

It carved its way through the ocean.

Toward the Central Continent.

Every step caused an earthquake.

Every movement of its body created waves capable of swallowing islands.

As for its nine heads...

They stared toward the horizon.

There was nothing in their eyes except hunger.

Far away from the Eastern Continent...

Azrael was flying through the sky.

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

Suddenly...

He stopped.

He did not move.

He raised his head toward the west.

He felt something.

Something ancient.

Heavy.

Savage.

Extremely distant...

Yet powerful enough for its presence to reach him.

His eyes narrowed.

"That pressure..."

Silence filled the sky for a moment.

Then he said:

"Where did that come from?"

He remained suspended in the heavens.

A purple gleam appeared within his eyes.

He could sense a power that had not existed moments ago.

A primal force that had emerged from the depths of the world.

But he did not yet know its true nature.

Far away in the west...

The Hydra continued its advance.

It had emerged from the Infinite Ocean.

Its body stretched for one hundred thousand meters.

Its nine heads towered into the heavens.

And its power had reached the peak of Divine Ascension...

Standing only one step away from true godhood.

Its destination...

Was the Central Continent.

Where the scent of blood awaited it.

And so...

After countless ages of slumber, an ancient legend had returned to the world.

And no one yet knew...

That the path the Hydra was taking toward the Central Continent would eventually lead it into a confrontation with another entity no less terrifying than itself.

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