The alliance was tested sooner than expected.
Three days after the assassination attempt—
The southern marsh burned.
Joint Operation: First Unified Strike
A lizardman scout arrived injured but alive.
"Orc warband… larger than before… mutated…"
Raizen immediately issued mobilization.
For the first time in Jura's recent history—
Royal Oni and Lizardmen marched together.
Kaiser stood at the front.
Not because of ego.
But because he could feel the battlefield before it began.
Observation Haki expanded outward.
Hundreds of life signatures.
Orcs.
But twisted.
Magicule density fluctuating unnaturally.
Something was feeding them.
Behind him, Shiori adjusted her blade.
"Don't rush in alone."
"I won't."
Daiki tugged lightly at Kaiser's sleeve.
"You'll win, right?"
Kaiser placed a hand on his brother's head.
"Yes."
He would.
Because losing meant death for more than himself.
The Warband
They found them near the marsh basin.
Over a hundred orcs.
Skin darkened.
Eyes glowing faintly purple.
Magic circuits etched across their bodies.
At the center—
A towering orc chieftain.
Three times larger than normal.
Energy pulsating from within him like a second heartbeat.
Kaiser narrowed his eyes.
That one.
That was the anchor.
The commander.
He turned to Raizen.
"If we remove the center, the rest collapse."
Raizen nodded.
"Then carve the path."
The Battlefield Opens
The clash was violent.
Lizardmen spears pierced flanks.
Oni blades cut through muscle.
The air filled with screams and magic.
Kaiser moved forward steadily.
Every step calculated.
He felt trajectories before they formed.
He avoided fatal blows by inches.
Struck joints instead of armor.
He wasn't simply fighting—
He was controlling flow.
The mutated chieftain roared.
Magicules exploded outward in a shockwave.
Several lizardmen were thrown back.
The chieftain charged directly at Kaiser.
Shiori tried to intercept—
But Kaiser raised a hand.
"Mine."
The ground cracked beneath the chieftain's charge.
Kaiser inhaled deeply.
He did not whisper the name.
He did not need to.
He swung his blade—
And the world answered.
The First Public Quake
The vibration surged outward in a focused arc.
Not wide.
Not uncontrolled.
But compressed.
The air screamed.
The marsh water split in a straight line.
The chieftain's massive axe shattered instantly.
His chest armor fractured.
The vibration passed through flesh—
Shaking organs.
Disrupting internal structure.
The orc stopped mid-charge.
Blood sprayed from his mouth.
Silence followed.
Then—
The chieftain collapsed.
Dead before hitting the ground.
The rest of the orcs faltered.
Without their anchor—
Their coordination crumbled.
Within minutes—
The warband was annihilated.
Shock and Recognition
The battlefield fell quiet.
Lizardmen stared at Kaiser.
Oni warriors whispered.
That was not ordinary strength.
It was not elemental magic.
It was something deeper.
Raizen approached slowly.
"You controlled it."
"Yes."
"No collateral."
"Yes."
Raizen's eyes shone with pride.
"Then lead."
It wasn't ceremonial.
It wasn't official.
But the message was clear.
On that battlefield—
Authority shifted subtly.
Sibling Fire
After the battle—
Shiori punched Kaiser's shoulder.
"You idiot."
He blinked.
"I handled it."
"You handled it alone!"
Her eyes were trembling.
"You don't get to risk everything without telling us."
He stared at her.
She wasn't angry.
She was afraid.
Afraid of losing him.
He lowered his head slightly.
"…I'm sorry."
Daiki ran up breathlessly.
"That was amazing!"
Shiori immediately grabbed Daiki's ear.
"And you don't try copying him!"
Kaiser laughed softly.
This warmth.
This chaos.
This family.
He would guard it at any cost.
The Naming
That night—
Kaiser returned to the battlefield alone.
The fallen orcs lay silent.
He stood before the mutated chieftain's corpse.
This one…
Was different.
Stronger.
More stable.
He placed his hand over it.
Shadow surged violently.
Darkness twisted upward.
The corpse disintegrated completely.
From the darkness emerged a massive armored shadow warrior.
Twice the size of the others.
Eyes burning brighter.
It knelt immediately.
Kaiser studied it.
"You will lead the others."
A pause.
Then he spoke deliberately.
"Your name is Abyss."
The shadow's aura intensified instantly.
[Named Shadow Acquired: Abyss – Elite Rank]
Naming strengthened the bond.
Increased power output.
Increased synchronization.
He now had a commander.
A seed of an army.
The Dragon Watches
Deep within the sealed cave—
The Storm Dragon's consciousness stirred again.
A ripple passed through ancient magic.
Something in Jura had changed.
A presence.
Not weak.
Not ordinary.
The dragon did not wake fully.
But instinct noted it.
And somewhere—
A thread of fate shifted slightly.
Growth
System notifications appeared quietly.
[Whitebeard Sync: 23%][Shadow Monarch Sync: 17%][Shadow Army: 27 Soldiers][Named Unit: Abyss]
Power was accelerating.
But Kaiser did not grow intoxicated.
He remembered his mother's words.
Legitimacy before dominance.
He would not declare conquest yet.
First—
Stability.
Alliances.
Trust.
Then—
Unification.
A Star Falls
Far beyond Jura—
In another world—
A salaryman named Satoru Mikami was walking home from work.
A random attack.
A knife.
Blood.
Darkness.
A strange voice.
Reincarnation.
A soul crossing dimensions.
In Jura—
Kaiser paused suddenly.
He felt something.
A new presence.
Weak.
Confused.
But unusual.
He turned slowly toward the direction of a sealed cave.
"…It begins."
Not war.
Not conquest.
But destiny's second piece entering the board.
The slime would arrive.
And when he did—
He would not find chaos.
He would find Kaiser.
And the forest would already have a ruler.