Inside the Grand Azure Hall, Elder Mo Zhen stood before the assembled elders, his posture rigid, his voice cold enough to frost jade.
"The Empire has moved," he said. "And it has moved against us."
One elder slammed his fist against the armrest. "That regional lord betrayed us. He elevated a devourer to lordship."
"He elevated a solution," another elder countered bitterly. "One that places us on the wrong side of imperial law."
Mo Zhen's eyes burned. "Law is a tool. Power decides who wields it."
An elder hesitated. "Then what is your command, Supreme Elder?"
Mo Zhen straightened.
"We invoke the Clause of Sectual Sovereignty," he said. "We recognize Lord Vahn's authority publicly… and violate it privately."
---
The war did not begin with a declaration.
It began with fire.
