Chapter 436:A war in the horizon.

Chapter 436: 436:A war in the horizon.

Atheline thought he had time.

Not much.

Perhaps a few weeks if the World Tree continued deteriorating at its present rate.

A month if they were fortunate.

Several days at the absolute minimum.

Enough time to understand what connected his six Laws.

Enough time to approach Sovereignty properly instead of forcing a breakthrough he didn’t understand.

Enough time for the kingdoms to prepare their armies, evacuate vulnerable settlements, investigate the remaining ancient anchors and determine where Klaith had gone.

He was wrong... The end began three days later.

It began with Klaith.

Far beneath a region that no modern map recognized as important, the old Dark Elf walked through the remains of a civilization that had disappeared before the current continents even had names.

There were no roads here.

Only black stone stretching between mountains and a crack in the earth so deep that sunlight never reached its bottom.

He descended.

The container beneath his cloak had been shaking for the last several hours.

The Death Core knew where it was going, that was what Klaith believed, each step downward made it react more violently.

He considered that confirmation.

The Sovereign of Death was calling to it, and calling him toward the culmination of everything he’d sacrificed to reach this place.

Klaith eventually reached the bottom. The chamber waiting there was enormous, naturally formed.

Ancient roots thicker than palace towers crossed the cavern walls, blackened and petrified by thousands of years, yet faint traces of light still moved beneath their surfaces.

The original World Tree, or what remained of it.

Klaith stopped.

He’d seen the place before,many times,but never like this.

The chains were visible now.

They hadn’t been during his earliest visits. Back then, he could only sense them. Now enormous bands of pale light stretched through the darkness, disappearing into a vertical fracture floating at the center of the cavern.

Something existed beyond it.

Klaith’s breathing became unsteady.

He removed the container.

"Your Majesty." His voice echoed.

No answer.

Klaith walked closer.

"I’ve brought it."

The container shook and Black-gray light escaped through the inscriptions.

"I kept my promise."

Something moved beyond the fracture.

Klaith smiled.

"Give him back."

The cavern trembled and dust fell.

Klaith’s smile widened.

"The former king." He stepped closer. "Return him to me."

The response came as a whisper through Klaith’s soul.

Closer.

He froze, thousands of years of obsession condensed into that moment.

He had heard voices before; dreams, fragments and whispers around Death artifacts, never this clearly.

His eyes filled with something dangerously close to tears.

"You’re awake."

Closer.

Klaith obeyed.

He approached the fracture.

The chains brightened and the Death Core reacted violently.

Klaith removed it from the container.

Death flooded the cavern,black-gray energy rolling across the ground. Several petrified roots cracked.

Klaith held the core with both hands.

"This contains everything you asked for."

He didn’t know precisely when the instructions had begun; years ago, perhaps decades.

Dreams that told him where to search. Records that seemed to appear exactly when he needed them. There were ancient formulas, methods of concentrating Death Aether, the enhancement potions and the vessels.

He had always assumed the Sovereign of Death was guiding him through remnants of Authority left in the world.

He raised the core.

"I give this to you."

The voice returned.

Then give.

Klaith pushed the Death Core into the fracture.

The world screamed.

His eyes widened as the Death Core disappeared.

For one heartbeat, nothing happened, then every chain in the cavern snapped taut and the ancient World Tree roots ignited.

Klaith stumbled backward.

"No."

One chain cracked.

Klaith stared.

"No..."

Another cracked.

His face changed.

"This isn’t supposed to..."

Laughter answered him.

He froze.

It wasn’t Death, he understood that immediately. Death should have felt cold, silent and final.

This was heat, hunger and ambition so enormous that Klaith suddenly understood how insignificant his own obsession had always been.

Flames appeared beyond the fracture.

He backed away.

"Who are you?"

The laughter continued as the fracture widened.

Klaith’s face became pale.

"No."

A hand touched the other side,not completely physical, a silhouette formed from black-red flame.

Klaith stared at it.

Memories of forbidden records flashed through his mind.

Klaith whispered.

"Fire."

The being beyond the seal laughed again.

Klaith finally understood but it was too late.

"What did you do with Death?"

The answer entered his mind.

Consumed what remained useful.

Klaith stopped breathing.

His eyes moved toward the fracture, then toward the place where he’d surrendered the Death Core.

"No."

You cultivated it well.

Klaith’s face twisted.

"Give it back."

The flames moved.

It was never yours.

"My king!" Klaith stepped forward. "Bring him back!"

Silence filled the chamber, then amusement.

Your king?

Klaith’s hands shook.

"You promised."

You heard what you wished to hear.

Something inside Klaith broke.

"You promised me!"

He attacked, centuries of hidden strength erupting from the old Dark Elf.

The cavern shook.

Darkness, ancient techniques and concentrated Aether crashed against the fracture. The chains didn’t even move, but fire passed through.

Klaith screamed as his attack vanished. His arm caught fire, not ordinary flame; it burned through Aether, through flesh and through the protection around his soul.

Klaith collapsed.

The Sovereign of Fire watched from beyond the seal.

Useful until the end.

Klaith stared upward.

For the first time in centuries, he looked truly old. Just an old Dark Elf who had murdered countless people because he couldn’t accept one death.

He thought of the former king, thought of Lilith, Cassian, Cassian’s father, the councillors, the people used in experiments, the enhancement potions and the lives he’d traded for a promise that had never existed.

"No..."

Another chain cracked and the cavern exploded.

Across the world, every Sovereign looked toward the sky.

Draco was the first to understand.

The Dragon King stood on Dragonic Island when every piece of ice within several kilometers shattered simultaneously.

He raised his head as the sky had changed. A red line stretched across it.

A wound.

Draco’s expression hardened.

Eliana emerged from the palace behind him.

"Draco."

"I know."

Dragons throughout the island began roaring.

The barrier surrounding Dragonic Island flickered. Something struck it from outside, then again.

Draco disappeared and reappeared above the island.

The ocean below him erupted. Hundreds of corrupted sea creatures rose from the water.

Some were enormous while others flew despite having no wings. One creature resembled a serpent stretching hundreds of meters, its flesh split by glowing black-red veins.

Draco raised one hand and the sea instantly froze.

For kilometers around Dragonic Island, waves stopped. Corrupted creatures froze inside them and the serpent shattered.

Eliana appeared beside him.

She stared toward the horizon; more were coming, thousands, perhaps tens of thousands.

"This isn’t an outbreak."

Draco’s Sovereign Authority spread.

Ice formed across the sky.

"No." His eyes became cold. "It’s war."

On the Demonic Continent, King Seragus was eating when the first city disappeared.

One moment it existed and rhe next, black-red fire erupted from beneath its streets. Corrupted creatures crawled from the flames. The alarm reached the capital minutes later.

Seragus listened to the messenger, then calmly placed his cup down.

"How many?"

"We don’t know, Your Majesty."

"Estimate."

"Thousands."

Seragus stood.

"Evacuate the surrounding regions."

"Your Majesty..."

"Now."

The messenger ran.

Seragus turned.

Lucifer was already there.

The Demon Prince carried his enormous axe across one shoulder. Dark flames moved around the weapon.

For once, he wasn’t smiling.

"Father."

"No."

Lucifer frowned.

"I didn’t ask anything."

"You were going to."

Seragus walked past him.

"You’re staying here."

Lucifer stared.

"Absolutely not."

Seragus stopped.

They looked at one another. Lucifer tightened his grip on his axe.

"You’ve spent my entire life telling me that one day this kingdom will be mine."

"This is different."

"Exactly." Lucifer’s dark flames intensified. "If I hide in the capital while everyone else dies, there won’t be a kingdom left for me to inherit."

Seragus stared at his son.

Lucifer smiled.

"Besides." He rested the axe against his shoulder. "Atheline already humiliated me once. If he hears I spent the end of the world hiding behind my father, I’ll never hear the end of it."

Seragus closed his eyes.

"You are an idiot."

"I inherited it."

"From your mother."

"Obviously."

Seragus laughed once, then turned.

"Stay near me."

Lucifer followed.

"No promises."

The first Demonic army marched before sunset.

Across the Beastmen Continent, horns sounded. Dwarven gates sealed, then reopened.

Old grudges suddenly mattered considerably less when corrupted creatures began emerging from ancient tunnels beneath both territories.

Beastkin tribes that hadn’t fought beside one another in generations gathered.

Dwarven engineers brought weapons designed for fortress wars and turned them toward the corrupted hordes.

Human kingdoms received the same reports. Northern armies mobilized, Eastern forces marched and Gladia’s banners rose.

Old resentment toward the Dark Elven Kingdom didn’t disappear, beither did political hatred. But the sky was bleeding red above all of them.

There was nowhere else to run.

The final war didn’t ask which kingdom someone belonged to.

The Elven Continent suffered worst. The World Tree screamed and every High Elf heard it through their blood and the Aether surrounding them.

The enormous tree shook as a crack ran through its trunk. Black-red light erupted from within. High Elves collapsed throughout the capital.

The High Elven King appeared before the tree with Crown Prince Solaris and Helther.

"Evacuate the civilians!"

Knights moved.

Another crack appeared and Roots erupted from the ground as though struggling.

The tree was fighting something beneath itself. Something trying to climb through its ancient connection to the original World Tree.

Then corrupted creatures appeared inside the capital. Hundreds emerged directly from patches of black-red flame.

The High Elven King drew his weapon.

"Protect the tree!"

The battle began.

Atheline felt the seal break while standing beside Lilith. He didn’t know what had happened.

Not yet.

One moment they were discussing his Sovereign path. The next, the fragment behind his core screamed.

Atheline collapsed.

Lilith caught him before he touched the ground.

"Atheline!"