The world was no longer the same since Ryo's rise Entire skies bent to his presence yet far below the eternal glow of the Crown life continued to move And within that movement new voices began to emerge.
Mira: Do you ever wonder what it means to live in a world where one man owns everything? Her eyes scanned the horizon where the faint shimmer of Ryo's dominion lingered like an untouchable aurora.
Beside her Kael once a prince of a forgotten kingdom adjusted the broken sword strapped to his back I wonder every day But I refuse to believe our stories are meaningless just because his is greater.
The two stood on the edge of the Iron Plains where countless warriors had once battled for supremacy Now silence ruled save for the whisper of the wind.
From the shadows of the old citadel Elandra a healer shrouded in white cloth approached Hope isn't gone Ryo is… untouchable yes But we too shape the world in smaller ways If he is the sun then perhaps we are the stars that shine when his gaze turns elsewhere.
Kael laughed softly You sound like a poet But tell me what would you do if he came here? If his footsteps fell upon these stones?
Elandra paused Her hand pressed against the cracked walls where ancient carvings of forgotten gods had long been erased I would kneel she admitted But I would kneel for survival not loyalty And in secret I would pray that the world still holds space for those who are not him.
A silence fell between them It was Mira who broke it her voice filled with quiet determination.
Mira: Then let's write our own chapters Ryo has his destiny but so do we Maybe… just maybe the Crown Cosmology is not as empty as it looks There must be places even he hasn't walked.
Kael's eyes lit with a spark of defiance If that's true then let's find them If we cannot stand against him then at least we can stand for ourselves.
Above them the sky trembled faintly as if aware of their words Yet Ryo did not appear For the first time since his ascension the world felt vast again filled with corners that did not belong solely to him.
And so in the shadows beneath the Crown a small resistance of voices began to form Not against Ryo for that would be impossible but for the sake of keeping the fire of individuality alive.
The story of the strongest man continued But now so too did the stories of those who walked beneath his light.