The Lionhart Courtyard was swallowed by a silence more profound than any battle cry. It was the crushing weight of a shared, impossible truth, delivered by the Main Butler's trembling voice and confirmed by the terrified stillness of ten thousand elite soldiers.
The declaration was not merely an act of war; it was an act of continental annihilation.
Every man under the Lionhart banner knew the rigid structure of the Runiya Continent. Its stability was maintained by the terrifying balance of seven sovereign powers, each ruled by a Monarch whose personal might stood above armies. There was the Ocean Monarch, mistress of the global seas; the Wind Monarch, sovereign of the central skies and plains; the mighty Metal Empress, who forged the world's most devastating war engines; the searing Flame King, whose dominion covered the volcanic south; and the unyielding Stone Monarch, warden of the eastern mountain bastions.
