The Palace of Solaris was always busy with people roaming in corridors and nobles discussing treaties.
But tonight, the palace was filled with silence everywhere. King Raezon Solaris sacrificed his sleep for the whole night.
He had spent the entire night inside the War Room, a circular room protected by strong defensive spells. The large table before him was full of manuscripts, magic scrolls with ancient languages and symbols.
For three hundred years, the world had lived without knowing the existence of Malgrithal. The name Malgreth itself has a fantasy story that is told to children in their childhood, but they thought it was just a myth.
Raezon stared down at the map of his golden kingdom on the table. Raezon's character was paranoid, but first time, he felt scared and many thoughts were dancing in his mind about the circumstances that may occur due to 'Divinity.'
It is the Light of the Monarchs, Raezon thought, his heart thudding with a fast rhythm.
After her graduation, the ancient power had finally awakened, and the childhood myth came into light to claim 'Divinity'.
The reality of the world and incoming war consequences slam into his mind one by one, and sweat droplets drip from his left eye.
"The Demon Lord," Raezon whispered into the empty room. "he didn't just wake up by chance. The seal on his long slumber wasn't broken by time. He sensed it." Raezon continued.
Raezon tightened his fists and slammed onto the map on the table. The steam rose from the inner fold of his fists due to the flow of fire magic, enraged with Raezon's emotion.
"If Malgreth obtains her power..." Raezon stammered with his voice trembling. "If that monster consumes the pure 'Divinity'... he will not just remain as King of Demons anymore. He defies the laws of this world entirely. He will become Divine and when darkness becomes divine, the world will fall. The sun will never, ever rise again."
Raezon tensed and decided not to hesitate anymore. He needed the alliances to oppose the incoming threat. Raezon stood up suddenly, his heavy oak chair back screeching on the floor as he kicked it back. He walked to the heavy exit door of the War Room and raised his burning eyes, looking at the guards.
"SOUND THE HORNS!" he shouted at the two elite guards waiting aside in fear of looking King. "WAKE UP THE ENTIRE CITY!"
Before the first sun rays of the morning touched the villages of Solaris, the war horns of Solaris rang echoing in that massive sun kingdom.
VRRROOOOOOOMMMMM.
That horn was only blown in emergencies in the kingdom. It was a long time ago that the horn was used in the kingdom. Within minutes, the palace was thrown into chaos of arrangements. Messengers walked with a rush through the corridors, their boots slipping on the polished floors.
"The King commands your immediate presence!"
"Emergency Council!"
"War Room Assembly in the Grand Hall!"
They called everyone. Everyone should be assembled without any exceptions.
****
All Royal Generals were woken up from their beds and got ready to assemble in a rush. All Guard Captains abandoned their posts once they heard the summons. The High Court Advisors, the War Strategists, and the High Priests of the Solaris were all rushed toward the center of the palace.
Princess Seyana herself was escorted by a dozen armed paladin mages. They were gathered for a desperate council meeting.
The Grand Throne Hall, a white marble carved throne with a humble and proud sun crest on it, was shining with the first rays of morning coming from the glass window touching it. The air inside was felt heavy with confusion, murmurs and fear in the hall.
Soldiers continuously adjusted their armor, their eyes watching the sideways, ceilings and throne abruptly. S Rank commanders of Solaris whispered furiously to each other, trying to guess why the sudden emergency war horns were honked over Solaris. The nobles stood shivering in their silk night-robes, cloaks covering their shoulders, looking pale and sleepy as they woke just a few minutes ago.
Seyana sat on a small throne with a sun crest in front of the king's throne. She sat beside her mother, Queen Velayana, whose hands were shaking with fear of what was coming.
Seyana tried to read her father's expression, who stood in front of the glass window, looking out over the city. Seyana's gut felt a fear that something huge was going to happen, and a faint divine light was glowing in her palm due to the tension in the hall.
At the very back of the hall, near the massive double doors that served as the main entrance, Kairos stood silently with an unknown expression, as the war horns were sounded early morning when he arrived at Solaris.
He was aggressively wanting to know why Solaris was so agitated early in the morning, and why the King was tense and why his face filled with fear and anxiety.
He stood silently, leaning against the cold pillar. He was seeing Seyana sitting in a small chair, looking pale and terrible.
King Raezon finally turned away from the window and walked slowly to the centre of the hall's dais. He stood before his throne, looking down at the hundreds of pale faces staring up at him in the dim sunlight.
"You are all here," Raezon began with a calm voice, even in the heavy tension filled in his face, heard by everyone. "You are all here because the world as we know it has changed overnight. Malgreth is moving."
The entire room became stiffened in shock as the words reached their ears.
"You all know the stories," Raezon continued, his face pale and a scary look in his eyes, "about the Dark Lord Malgreth. The Consumer of Souls. The King of Demons. For three centuries, he has slept beneath the western wastes. But today, I stand before you to tell you it is no longer just a story. The nightmare has awakened."
A sound of murmurs started to began in the council room after hearing the words of Raezon.
"I called you here not to declare war!" Raezon shouted, his voice rose in panic and fear. "I called you here to discuss our survival! We must investigate why he woke from his slumber now. Why after three hundred years of silence?" He paused. The silence in the room became scarier. His eyes moved slowly, painfully across the dais, seeing his daughter.
Seyana felt the weight of the gaze from her father.
"There is only one reason the Dark Lord would break his silence...." Raezon announced, his voice reached every audience member in the room. "He has sensed the awakening of the Divine Power within Princess Seyana."
Seyana was shocked in fear as her father revealed her secret to the world and tried to hide the fear inside.
The court murmurs instantly turned into questionnaires and shouts.
"Divine power?!"
"The Legend of the Monarchs is real?!"
"She has the 'Divinity'? The Princess?!"
"Are we cursed?!"
"SILENCE!" Raezon shouted with a roaring command that silenced every noble in the hall.
"If Malgreth absorbs her power," Raezon said, his voice calm and terrifying, "he will ascend beyond the fundamental laws of magic and nature that rule our reality. He will become a God walking upon the earth, and when he becomes a god... the Eighteen Kingdoms will be erased from existence. There will be no slaves, no prisoners. Only ash will remain due to the destruction caused by the monster."
Raezon looked directly at his trembling generals. "This is a strategy meeting. We must understand our enemy before a single drop of blood is spilled. We must hide the Princess. We must fortify the capital walls with every defense rune we possess."
He turned abruptly towards the royal messengers.
"You will ride!" Raezon commanded, pointing a finger towards them. "Ride to the East, the North, the Midwest, and the South. Call for a Great Kingdom Summit. Tell the Kings of Zephyros, Sylphyros, and all the outer territories that Solaris calls for immediate, unconditional aid. Tell them the dark slumber has returned."
The messengers bowed to the king and ran out of the room immediately.
Raezon looked back. "We will prepare for a war of extinction... even if the war does not reach our gates today. Every mage will concentrate their mana, and we will defend this palace when the war comes."
Everyone nodded in acceptance with a terrifying look on their faces. Kairos was still standing motionless in the shadows. He looked over the crowd, focusing entirely on Seyana. She looked very scared and terrible due to the unbearable pressure of knowing she was the cause of danger.
He's coming for her, Kairos realized. The system prompt from yesterday suddenly made sense to Kairos. The lethal anomaly.
He was ready to walk towards the center and he was ready to reveal himself to the King.
Just as Kairos took his first step into the light a sound screeched in his mind... SCREEEEEE
Suddenly another sound came in reality.
DOOOOMMMM.
The sound was the massive impact of a meteorite blasted into the ground.
The colossal entrance doors, reinforced by magic that do not open until the king allows, were cracked with a heavy impact sound.
The heavy silence in the hall was gone instantly.
"What in the hell was that?!" a noble screamed, pointing his finger at the entrance.
DOOOMMMM.
It happened again with much louder than last time, and the massive doors were opened by destroying the reinforced defensive mana. In a sudden moment, the air changed to a rotten smell, and an immensely powerful aura, crushing nobles, generals and even the king widened his eyes due to fear.
Normal soldiers and the vice captain collapsed to the floor unconscious. Captains fell to their knees with suffocation.
"What... what is this pressure?!" a Captain said, panting and struggling for breath. "I can't... breathe..."
Seyana grabbed the golden armrests of her chair, struggling for breath with fast inhaling. She felt the pressure more than anyone else in the room. Her divine light was reacting to the invading aura like an alarm bell ringing from danger.
What is this?, her soul whispered in terror.
Kairos rushed forward instantly, pushing the nobles sideways. The dark pressure is on one side, and the blackout warning Kairos [KILL THE ANOMALY OR ESCAPE FROM HERE!]
The doors opened abruptly, and the sudden tension was filled with silence in the hall. A thick cloud of dust and dark mana formed, blurring the vision of who was incoming.
Then... the darkness stepped into Solaris.