The colossal black warship finally reached the outskirts of the summit of the Mountain of Beginning and End.
Its enormous silhouette loomed above the summit, drawing the attention of every being gathered there.
The representatives of the lower races stared at it in awe.
Even the rulers of the Superior Races watched the strange warship with narrowed eyes.
No one spoke.
No one knew what to expect.
The vessel was unlike any human ship they had ever seen.
Its enormous black hull was crossed by glowing crimson lines that pulsed faintly with energy, giving it an imposing and almost ominous appearance.
Then...
after several moments of silence—
KRRRRR...
A metallic screech echoed across the summit.
A large gate began to open in the middle of one side of the warship.
Slowly.
Heavily.
The massive gate slid aside, revealing nothing but darkness within.
Then...
two silhouettes appeared behind the opening.
Two figures.
They stood silently for a moment.
And then, without saying a word...
both figures launched themselves from the warship.
They flew toward the summit at tremendous speed.
At the same time, the colossal warship began retreating.
It slowly moved backward, descending into the endless black clouds surrounding the mountain.
Within moments...
it disappeared completely from sight.
Everyone in the arena followed the two approaching figures with their eyes.
They drew closer.
And closer.
Until their identities became clear.
A man...
and a woman.
The man was none other than Thorinn.
And the woman...
was Eleanor.
The expressions of several rulers changed the moment they recognized them.
They knew these two.
Everyone in Gandalia knew them.
Thorinn, the War King.
Eleanor, the White Lady.
They had once been among the most powerful figures on the continent.
And, more importantly...
both of them had once served beneath the command of a colossal existence who had become forgotten by the world.
Their names had spread throughout Gandalia during the era of the Primordial War.
Even the Superior Races knew them.
They were not ordinary human warriors.
They were legends in their own right.
Thorinn and Eleanor flew toward the empty throne reserved for humanity.
The entire arena watched them.
When they reached the throne, however...
neither of them sat down.
Instead, they landed on either side of it.
Thorinn stood to the right.
Eleanor stood to the left.
The human throne remained empty between them.
The six other rulers exchanged puzzled glances.
What did this mean?
Why had the humans sent two of their strongest figures...
only for neither of them to occupy the throne?
Thorinn calmly looked toward the six rulers seated across from him.
His expression was completely composed.
Eleanor remained equally calm.
For several moments, no one spoke.
Then the silence was finally broken by the voice of Isabelle, Queen of the Elves.
She looked toward the two humans and asked:
"War King... White Lady... which one of you is the representative of the human race at this gathering?"
The other rulers watched with curiosity.
Their minds were filled with questions.
Questions about the strange black warship.
Questions about the arrival of Thorinn and Eleanor.
And, most importantly...
questions about why the human throne was still empty.
Eleanor turned her gaze toward Isabelle.
A faint trace of mockery appeared in her eyes.
Then she smiled.
"We are not the representatives of the human race at this gathering, Your Majesty."
She paused briefly.
Then calmly added:
"We are merely escorts."
Isabelle's expression changed.
She had expected one of the two to be the human representative.
The other rulers were equally surprised.
Even Gabriel's eyes narrowed slightly.
Lilith, however, smiled.
Her pink eyes gleamed with curiosity as she leaned slightly against her throne.
"Oh?"
Her voice was soft and alluring.
"So neither of you is the representative?"
She smiled.
"Then who is this representative... and why has he not appeared yet?"
The other rulers looked toward Thorinn and Eleanor.
Everyone was waiting for an answer.
But before Eleanor could speak...
the world itself seemed to tremble.
Then—
a voice resounded across the entire summit.
It was deep.
Majestic.
Overwhelming.
The sound seemed to echo through the void surrounding the mountain itself.
It carried an indescribable dignity and an infinite sense of grandeur.
"It seems that merely because this 'giant' has been absent for a few thousand years..."
The voice paused.
Then continued.
"...this world has forgotten—or perhaps chosen to forget—who the ruler of the human race truly is."
The moment those words fell...
every being on the summit froze.
The lower races were stunned.
The six rulers of the Superior Races were equally shocked.
The voice had come from everywhere.
And nowhere.
It had no clear direction.
No source.
No origin.
Isabelle's expression changed instantly.
Elena's crimson eyes widened.
Vulcan's body tensed.
Lilith's smile vanished.
Gabriel's gaze sharpened.
Even Teresa, who had remained composed until that moment, stared into the surroundings in disbelief.
All six rulers simultaneously released their divine senses.
Their immense spiritual perceptions swept across the summit.
They searched every corner.
Every stone.
Every cloud.
Every inch of space.
But...
nothing.
There was no one.
No presence.
No aura.
No trace of life.
It was as though the voice had come from nowhere.
Isabelle searched again.
Nothing.
Elena searched the surrounding space.
Nothing.
Vulcan's divine sense covered the entire summit.
Nothing.
Lilith's senses pierced through the surrounding clouds.
Nothing.
Gabriel's divine perception spread across the heavens.
Nothing.
Teresa searched every corner of the mountain.
Nothing.
The six rulers exchanged glances.
A strange unease began to spread among them.
Then...
the space above the summit began to distort.
Everyone felt it.
The air trembled.
The laws of space began to ripple.
The sky itself seemed to bend.
All eyes immediately turned upward.
The distortion grew stronger.
The space began to ripple...
like the surface of a lake after a stone had fallen into it.
Ripples spread outward.
One after another.
Then—
something began to emerge from within the distortion.
At first...
there was only a vague silhouette.
No face.
No details.
Only the outline of a person.
The entire summit fell silent.
The figure slowly emerged from the spatial ripples.
And then...
his features became visible.
A man.
He stood approximately one hundred and ninety-five centimeters tall.
His appearance was extraordinarily handsome.
Almost unnaturally so.
Long, loose black hair flowed behind him like the darkness of night.
His eyes were completely black.
Not dark brown.
Not merely black in color.
They resembled two bottomless black holes.
His skin was pure white, flawless and almost impossibly smooth.
He wore an imperial black robe, its edges lined with deep crimson.
There was no visible weapon.
No armor.
No extravagant ornament.
Yet his presence alone...
was enough to make the entire summit fall silent.
He stood in the sky.
Not floating.
Not flying.
He simply stood there...
as though the air beneath his feet were solid ground.
His expression was indifferent.
His gaze slowly descended upon the countless beings gathered below.
He looked at them as though they were nothing more than passing scenery.
Then his eyes moved toward the stone table at the center of the summit.
One by one...
his gaze passed across the six rulers seated around it.
First—
Isabelle.
Then—
Elena.
Then—
Vulcan.
Then—
Lilith.
Then—
Gabriel.
And finally...
Teresa.
His gaze stopped.
For the first time since appearing...
the man's expression changed ever so slightly.
He looked at Teresa.
She was frozen in place.
Her golden eyes were wide.
She stared at him as though she were looking at a ghost that had emerged from the depths of history.
The man studied her face for several moments.
Then...
he spoke.
His voice was calm.
Yet every being on the summit heard it clearly.
"Even after five thousand years since our last meeting..."
A faint smile appeared on his lips.
"...you are still as beautiful as you were."
He paused.
His gaze remained fixed upon her.
"You have not changed at all, have you... Teresa?"
Silence.
Absolute silence.
The six rulers stared at the man standing in the sky with empty, stunned eyes.
They could hardly breathe.
His appearance had changed slightly.
Five thousand years could change anyone.
But memories...
memories did not fade so easily.
Especially memories left behind by a being like him.
Every ruler present had either witnessed him during the Primordial War...
or had inherited the memories of those who had.
His name had been carved into the deepest parts of the history of Gandalia.
His cruelty.
His brutality.
His overwhelming strength.
His countless battles.
His domination over the battlefield.
The terror his presence had once inspired.
None of it had ever truly disappeared.
Not from history.
Not from the memories of the Superior Races.
And certainly not from the hearts of those who had stood against him.
Yet...
no one had expected to see him again.
Not in their wildest dreams.
The arena fell into a terrifying silence.
Every eye was fixed upon the man standing in the heavens.
For several moments, no one could speak.
Then, as though someone had suddenly restored the ability to speak to the countless beings present...
quiet whispers began spreading through the tiers on both sides of the stone table.
"Impossible..."
"Is that really..."
"He can't be..."
"How could he still be alive?"
But none of them dared raise their voices.
The man who had appeared before them was a historical legend.
A legend known for his ruthlessness and brutality.
No one was willing to speak loudly in the presence of such a figure.
The rulers of the Superior Races stared at Fafnir with widened eyes.
Then they slowly exchanged glances with one another.
None of them wanted to be the first to say what they were thinking.
Until finally...
Lilith spoke.
Her voice was barely more than a whisper.
For the first time, there was no seduction in it.
No mockery.
No playful amusement.
Only disbelief.
"The Greatest Human..."
She stared at the man in the sky.
"...is still alive?"
Every ruler heard her words.
And somewhere inside each of them...
a desperate hope emerged.
Perhaps they had made a mistake.
Perhaps this man was someone else.
Perhaps the five thousand years had distorted their memories.
Perhaps the impossible had not actually happened.
But Lilith's words brought them violently back to reality.
Because there was only one person in the entire history of Gandalia who had ever been called—
The Greatest Human.
And that man...
was a legend among every race.
A legend whose name had remained buried beneath five thousand years of history.
A legend who had once stood at the absolute summit of the human race.
A legend who had vanished...
and whom the world had long believed to be gone forever.
Teresa stared at the man standing in the sky.
Her golden eyes trembled.
Then, when she heard him speak her name...
her lips slowly parted.
A name escaped her in a barely audible whisper.
"Fafnir..."
The moment his name was spoken...
the entire summit seemed to become even quieter.
Five thousand years.
Five thousand years since the last time that name had been spoken in the presence of the Superior Races.
And now...
he had returned.
The human throne was no longer empty.
Because its rightful ruler...
had finally appeared.
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