CHAPTER 47: THE MIDNIGHT DECISION AND THE RISE OF THE SHADOW
"Good. Then… when dawn breaks, Nexan will wake up to its doom."
Meanwhile in Nexan, preparations had already begun. Commander Amper had set off and started warning all the city-states. Finally, he arrived at the last city-state, Raftal.
As soon as the guards at the city gate saw him, they opened the gates. Amper passed through the square almost running and hurried toward the castle at high speed. When he reached the castle, the guards immediately opened the doors. Amper quickly walked toward the room where the ruler was located. The soldiers in the corridor already understood that something was terribly wrong.
Soon, one of the soldiers stopped Commander Amper.
"C-Commander Amper… forgive me for asking… but the reason for your arrival… is it because the wall has fallen?"
Amper only gave him an angry glare. The soldier immediately stepped back in fear.
Amper entered the main castle chamber without even knocking. Seeing him, the ruler of the city, Alfonso, quickly stood up and greeted him respectfully.
"Commander Amper? What a surprise!"
Amper immediately began speaking, without wasting any time:
"There's no time to talk, Alfonso. I bring orders from King Swain."
Hearing this, Alfonso instantly became tense and replied with a forced smile:
"Aha aha aha, is that so? What does our King command?"
Amper lowered his voice and spoke in a serious tone:
"This is not the time to laugh, Alfonso. The wall has fallen. And Sun… is dead. You already know this, don't you?"
Alfonso swallowed hard.
"Y-yes, of course I know, Commander Amper."
Amper continued:
"Then prepare for war. Most likely, the battle will begin at dawn. The Ice Kingdom has no intention of waiting. And send half of your army to the capital. They must be ready before dawn. This is the direct order of King Swain."
Alfonso nodded nervously:
"The King's order is above all."
Amper simply said, "Good," and left the room, heading back toward the capital.
⸻
At the same time, preparations in the Ice Kingdom were nearly complete. But the army still didn't know why they were preparing. Seeing the anxiety among the soldiers, Flower climbed onto a wall and began to speak.
"SOLDIERS!!! Listen to me carefully!"
All the soldiers turned toward Flower and began to listen.
"I know you are all worried. You are asking yourselves, 'Why are we preparing like this?' And you don't know the reason. Yes, you are right to be anxious. Now I will tell you why."
She paused for a moment, then raised her voice:
"Yesterday, thanks to Morde, we destroyed the Nexan wall and killed its guardian!"
Hearing this, the entire army looked at each other in shock. Whispers spread through the ranks.
"What? How is that possible?"
"Are we going to war again?"
At that moment Flower shouted:
"DON'T BE AFRAID! Yes, I know! We just came out of a war and suffered many losses. But this time it's different! Morde will fight alongside us! And he has his own army as well! That means two armies against one! We have the advantage! We will destroy Nexan and become the strongest kingdom! All their resources will be ours! The entire Ice Kingdom will become rich!"
Flower raised her fist into the air.
"So… ARE YOU READY TO FIGHT ALONGSIDE KING TASK?!"
The entire army shouted together, loud enough to shake the mountains:
"WE ARE READY, COMMANDER FLOWER! LONG LIVE KING TASK!"
Flower's face was already filled with the joy of victory.
⸻
Meanwhile, in the Ice Kingdom palace, King Task and Morde had begun discussing an important matter.
"Speak, Morde," Task said. "Let's hear what you have to say."
Morde began speaking confidently:
"King Task… I have an idea. I realized this during my battle with Sun."
Task became curious.
"Tell me. What did you realize?"
"King Task, tell Flower… to bring me the body of the fallen Commander Tamps."
Hearing this, Task immediately gave the order.
"Soldier!"
A soldier entered.
"Yes, my King."
"Tell Flower to bring Commander Tamps' corpse here. Immediately."
"Your command shall be obeyed."
A few minutes later, Flower and Flem entered the room carrying the dead body of Commander Tamps, who had died in the battle of Layern Valley. They laid the body down in front of the throne.
Flower immediately asked angrily:
"Morde, why did you want Tamps' body? Do you not even respect the dead?"
Morde laughed.
"I have no respect for anyone, Flower."
Flower became furious and clenched her fist. But Flem held her back.
"Be patient. Let's see what he's going to do."
Morde spoke:
"Now watch carefully."
He extended both hands toward Tamps' corpse and closed his eyes. Suddenly, dense black energy began to emerge from his hands. At the same time, dark energy also began to rise from Tamps' body. The energies became so intense that a black vortex formed inside the room, as if it would swallow everything.
After exactly thirty seconds, the vortex suddenly disappeared.
And in its place, a figure appeared.
Morde shouted:
"RISE, COMMANDER AILIAN!"
King Task, Flower, and Flem watched in shock.
Tamps' body had been resurrected… but entirely in shadow form. His body was pure darkness, his eyes glowing red. In his hand was a strange sword—flexible, extendable, a true weapon of death.
This shadow being named Ailian took two steps forward and knelt before Morde.
"Command me, my Lord."
Morde ordered him to stand, then turned to the others with a dangerous smile.
"So? What do you think of my new power?"
Flower, furious, drew her dagger and attacked Morde.
The dagger shattered into pieces before it could even touch him.
Ailian's flexible sword was already wrapped around Flower's neck.
Flower froze in terror.
King Task quickly intervened:
"Morde! Forgive Flower's disrespect. Tamps was her friend."
Morde laughed.
"Very well."
He signaled Ailian, who released her instantly and disappeared like smoke.
Morde whispered with a grin:
"Now… the war is ours."
⸻
Meanwhile in Nexan, a new decision was made.
Terex proposed bringing all northern city-state armies and civilians to the capital. Swain agreed.
Orders were sent. Preparations accelerated.
⸻
But at that very moment, on the ruins of the destroyed wall, two massive black portals suddenly opened.
Flower and Flem had done the impossible.
The Ice Kingdom army began pouring through the portals.
King Task raised his sword and shouted:
"MY ARMY! ENTER THE PORTALS AND DESTROY NEXAN! THE WAR… HAS BEGUN!"
And like a dark river of ice and steel, the army rushed forward.
Dawn had not yet arrived.
But the apocalypse already had