While Ash kept the two guards at the gate occupied, the Velora royal throne room was in full session.
Across the long obsidian table, the kingdom's strongest sat in a tense, breathless circle. With everyone present being A-rank, no one dared sit beneath their station.
King Alaric sat at the head, a towering, burly man with silver hair bound tight by a lunar clasp, eyes cold as winter steel that had forgotten warmth centuries ago.
Queen Sara came next, beauty carved from living glacier, long sapphire hair cascading like frozen waterfalls over pale shoulders, silver eyes sharp enough to cut souls in half.
Then came their two heirs.
Crown Prince Cael was the spitting image of Alaric, broad and unyielding, only his hair and eyes dyed the deep blue of storm-tossed seas. His sister Princess Mirene sat beside him, her mother's mirror in delicate, lethal miniature.
Lastly were the two who were not blood yet mattered more than most of the blood combined.
General Seris Kaelthar sat with crimson hair tied into two long braids, ember-red eyes locked on the glowing wager contract floating above the table like it had personally offended her.
Grand Scholar Thalion Eversight, his slight frame swallowed by flowing white robes, wore crystalline lenses that cast faint strategic diagrams—ghostly shapes only he could see—as he spoke with the gravity of six centuries.
"The wager's set. In two weeks, we march on the Kingdom of Thalor—half our land, fifty thousand square kilometers, and half our wealth at stake." His voice was like dry parchment over steel.
Seris spoke next, her tone low. "Darius the Mountain Splitter is Thalor's biggest threat. Three years ago, he shattered an S-rank barrier like it was nothing. We'll need more than sheer strength to take him down."
Thalion's lenses flashed with shifting figures. "Statistically, our victory odds are sixty-two percent with Caelen. Seventy-nine if we—"
He cut off mid-sentence as a wave of pure, overwhelming killing intent crashed through the palace, silent yet as devastating as divine wrath.
Every A-rank shot to their feet. Chairs clattered to the floor. Mana flared in five distinct hues.
Mirene reached the balcony first, jaw slack, silver eyes wide with something far too close to fear.
"What in the hell is happening?"
Outside, hundreds of B-rank guards and hidden assassins collapsed onto the marble in perfect, unsettling unison, their cores shattering like dropped crystal, bodies folding into lifeless heaps under the moon's pale glow.
Three figures strolled toward the palace gates as if the carnage were nothing. The man leading them was so breathtaking it was almost painful to look at, like trying to stare into a second sun.
The two women behind moved with the elegance of rival goddesses descended from different heavens. Yet their gazes fixed on Vaeloria—ten flowing tails, black-and-white ears twitching, the full moon gleaming on her brow.
Cael's voice wavered. "W-what the hell is that thing?"
No one had an answer.
The towering twenty-meter doors, forged from iron older than the kingdom, swung open as if some invisible giant had booted them aside with casual contempt.
BANG!
Ash wandered in through the drifting haze of dust and moonlight, hands tucked in his pockets, coat flaring like a piece of the night come alive.
Nia and Vaeloria lingered at the ruined entrance, each caught in their own storm of thoughts as they watched him. Ash's grin stretched into something wild and captivating as notifications lit up before his eyes.
[Heart Sovereign | Seris vel Kaelthar Affection 1%]
[Heart Sovereign | Queen Sara Velora Affection 1%]
[Heart Sovereign | Princess Mirene Velora Affection 1%]
Seris's ember eyes found him first.
For a heartbeat, something ancient and ravenous flared within them, like a starving flame catching fresh kindling, before it vanished—replaced by twin daggers of solid ash sparking to life in her grip.
Thalion's lenses shattered in their frames, his projections winking out as his mind faltered, unable to quantify the walking disaster before them.
Queen Sara and Mirene felt their hearts falter for a single traitorous beat before weapons of living ice formed in their grasp, frost snaking up their arms.
Cael and Alaric followed close behind, gravity and lunar mana surging like twin tidal waves.
As events unfolded, Nia's thoughts were spinning. She could recall perfectly how Ash had introduced Vaeloria.
'A master, huh?'
Leaning toward the ten-tailed fox, her voice dropped to a low, intense whisper. "Fox… when this is done, you're training me. I'm not getting left behind."
Vaeloria snapped out of her own spiraling thoughts—trying to understand how every non-human trace had been erased from the world—and turned with a wry, fanged smile.
"Well, I can't make you into anything like that monster… but if you want real growth, I'll train you until you break and rebuild a thousand times."
Nia gave a single, fierce nod, gratitude burning in her eyes as she turned back to Ash.
Every weapon aimed at him was already laced with hairline cracks.
Their wielders shook, knees threatening to give out under the crushing weight of his passive Soul Brand, pressing the world itself to bow.
Ash stopped ten meters from the obsidian table, tilted his head, and smiled like a man who'd just discovered a playground built just for him.
"Evening. I see you like wagers."
His gaze swept the room. He appraised all of them in a single heartbeat, golden-pink eyes flickering with casual judgment. Nothing excited him too much.
Until his gaze landed on Seris and Thalion.
[Seris Kaelthar
Race: Human (Ancient Cinderborn Bloodline, S)
Age: 317 Years Old
Rank: Mid A-rank (Existence Level 9,412.7)
Mana Pool: 47,300,000
Affinities: Ash, Fire
Talents: Ash Rebirth (A), Ember Dominion (S), Cinderblood Command (A), Requiem of Ash (S)
Aspect: Eternal Pyre Heart (S) – An undying ember lodged in the core of her soul. When fatal damage from fire or ash would kill her, the heart detonates, consumes the attack, and rebirths her at full power, wounds converted into raw mana. Once per century, or once early at the cost of permanent lifespan.]
---
[Thalion Eversight
Race: Human (Stellar Mind Lineage, S)
Age: 584
Rank: Mid A-rank (Existence Level 8,905.2)
Mana Pool: 52,800,000
Talents: Omniscient Ledger (S), Perfect Memory Palace (A), Lawforge Edict (S)
Aspect: Infinite Calculation Mind (SS) – A living fractal supercomputer woven into his consciousness. Simulates hundreds of futures per minute, predicts kingdom-level outcomes months ahead with 94 % accuracy]
--
The five stayed silent, their eyes narrowing into cold slits of pure killing intent as King Alaric shattered the quiet.
"Who are you to dare set foot on this kingdom's grounds?!"
Ash couldn't care less about Alaric's words.
With an easy motion, he reached out; the glowing wager contract zipped into his palm and disappeared into his ring as if it had always been his.
Turning to face the group, their cracked weapons quivering in their hands, he clapped once.
CLAP.
The gentle, laid-back demeanor evaporated like mist before a wildfire.
"Wagers, wagers…" His smile twisted into something both beautiful and utterly demonic. "How about this… you win, and I die…
…Who knows, maybe she'll hold me close this time."
His golden-pink eyes flared with an unholy light.
"But if I win… I'm taking your kingdom. And your lives."
The throne room fell into a deathly, perfect stillness.
Nia's golden eyes burned with raw, obsessive devotion.
Vaeloria stood poised, like a proud lover and master, tails curling possessively.
And the rest?
Small artifacts at their throats glimmered faintly before their backs straightened and new weapons materialized in their hands. Smiles spread across their faces…
Ash raised a brow at the sight.
'Are they resisting my soul brand?' That was his last thought before…
…They attacked.