Razeal slowly opened his eyes and drew in a long breath. The cold night air filled his lungs as his gaze steadied once more, the faint haze of concentration leaving his mind. For a few moments he remained seated against the stone wall, silent beneath the pale moonlight that washed over Silver Shield City. Then he rose to his feet in one smooth motion.

"You’re finally awake?" Maria said as she walked toward him, folding her arms beneath her chest. There was irritation in her voice, though it was clear relief hid beneath it. "I mean up now?"

Razeal ignored the remark. His eyes moved past her toward the battlefield beyond the walls. The land was still scarred from Sofia’s attack. Vast craters filled with dark water stretched across the plains, shattered earth glistening silver beneath the moon. No golems remained in sight. No soldiers either. Only silence.

Too much silence.

"How’s the situation?" he asked quietly. "No further attacks?"

"No," Lady Veyra answered as she approached from the side, her silver cloak swaying lightly behind her in the wind. Exhaustion lingered beneath her calm expression, though she kept herself composed. "Everything has remained still since the last assault. No movement from the enemy lines. No reinforcements. Nothing."

She paused briefly, glancing toward the distant darkness beyond the ruined battlefield.

"It’s strange," she admitted. "Almost eerie. It feels less like they retreated and more like they simply stopped."

Razeal’s gaze remained fixed ahead.

"Don’t lower your guard," he said after a moment. "Not for a second. This war is far from over."

The words settled heavily over those gathered atop the wall.

Lord Kael frowned deeply. Lord Torh Kharvek stood with his newly restored arm folded across his chest, jaw tense. Even Veyra’s eyes darkened slightly at the reminder. They all understood it already. Whatever had happened today had not ended anything. If anything, it had only drawn greater attention toward the kingdom.

Grace stood near the battlements with both hands clasped tightly before her. "Is there... any way to stop this war?" she asked softly.

There was a faint helplessness in her voice that did not suit someone of her status.

Razeal did not answer immediately.

Instead, he slowly lifted his head toward the sky.

High above the city walls, almost impossible to notice against the dark clouds, a lone bird circled through the night air. Small. Ordinary-looking. Yet its eyes were fixed directly upon them.

Or rather

Directly upon him.

Razeal narrowed his eyes slightly as the creature stared back without fear.

A scout?

Maybe magical. Maybe controlled. Probably?

After several quiet seconds, he finally spoke.

"I think all of you already know why the Pillar Family attacked this kingdom," he said calmly, his gaze still lingering on the bird overhead. "So there’s no point pretending otherwise."

Nobody spoke.

The wind moved quietly across the walls.

"We all know what this is about," Razeal continued. "The head of the Rock Pillar Family isn’t doing this for territory. Or wealth. Or politics."

His voice hardened slightly.

"This is revenge."

At those words, the atmosphere seemed to grow even heavier.

"And until every person in this kingdom experiences fear, suffering, and despair," he said, finally lowering his gaze toward them, "Everyone gets punished enough.. he will not stop."

Silence followed.

A hard silence.

Grace’s face paled visibly. Her shoulders stiffened as though the words themselves had struck her. Nearby, Lord Kael looked away grimly while Kharvek’s expression turned colder by the second. Even Veyra’s calm composure faltered for an instant.

They knew.

None of them could deny it.

Maria stepped forward at once, confusion and disbelief written plainly across her face. "What are you even talking about?" she asked sharply.

"Why would a Pillar Family wage war against some small kingdom? And not just war.. this?" Her voice rose slightly as she gestured toward the ruined plains beyond the city. "Mass slaughter? Terrorizing civilians? What kind of revenge is that?"

Razeal glanced toward Grace.

"Maybe.. Ask her," he said simply. "Her mother was the sister of the Rock Pillar Family’s head. She probably knows more than anyone here."

Grace visibly trembled.

Her head lowered immediately, strands of pale hair falling across her face as shame spread through her expression. The reaction alone was enough to answer half the question.

Maria stared at her in shock.

"What?"

Clearly, she had known nothing about this.

Her eyes narrowed as she looked between them all. "How was something like this hidden?"

No one answered her.

Because there was no good answer.

Lady Veyra, however, did not linger on the matter. Whatever truths lay buried beneath this conflict could wait. The kingdom itself might not survive long enough for blame to matter.

She stepped closer to Razeal, her face serious now.

"How much time do we have?" she asked directly.

At that question, Razeal slipped one hand into his pocket and did not answer immediately. Instead, his eyes drifted upward once more toward the lone bird circling high above the battlefield. The creature was still there, gliding through the dark sky beneath the moonlight as though patiently observing everything below.

His gaze narrowed faintly.

"The mysterious danger surrounding the Empire has disappeared," he said at last. "Which means the Empress has most likely learned about the Pillar Family’s little move."

He paused briefly.

"A Pillar Family starting a war under her rule without her approval? That alone is enough to shake the entire Imperial Court. Right now, the Rock Pillar Family is probably more occupied dealing with that matter than this battlefield."

Lady Veyra hesitated. For the first time since the war began, something close to hope flickered across her face.

"Her Imperial Majesty was not aware of this?" she asked carefully. "Then... doesn’t that mean the war is effectively over?" Her voice grew steadier as she spoke.

"I assumed this attack mustve had Imperial sanction from the beginning. But if it does not..." She looked toward the ruined battlefield again. "Then the Empress can stop it. Pillar Family or not, they cannot openly defy an Imperial decree. She would never allow something this monstrous to continue."

The words spread through those gathered atop the wall like the first warmth after a long winter night.

Grace visibly straightened. Even Lord Torh’s grim face loosened slightly. The Queen herself looked as though she wanted desperately to believe it.

But then Razeal justchuckled.

A quiet sound.

Cold.

"You give her far too much credit," he said. "She’s nothing more than a hypocrite."

The faint hope that had appeared vanished almost immediately.

Lord Kael frowned deeply and stepped forward. "And how can you be so certain of that?"

Razeal finally looked away from the sky and toward him.

"Because I am not an idiot.. unlike everyone on you.."

There was no emotion in his voice now.

"Prepare yourselves. That’s all I’m saying."

His gaze moved across each of them slowly.

"This is not some story where you sit around hoping another person will save you. If you wait for someone else to stop this war for you, then you deserve whatever follows."

The sharpness in his tone made several of them stiffen.

"I’ve already told you what I know," he continued. "Ignore it if you want. But when the consequences arrive, don’t pretend nobody warned you."

The wind blew heavily across the walls.

Then Razeal spoke the next words calmly.

"In a day or two, a Supreme will step onto these battlefield."

Everything froze.

For a moment, nobody even reacted.

Then

"A Supreme?" Lady Veyra’s voice came out almost sharply. "That’s impossible."

Actual fear entered her expression for the first time.

"No Supreme is allowed to interfere in a battlefield involving kingdoms or even empire itself. The balance exists for a reason." She shook her head immediately, as though rejecting the thought itself. "Every major power agreed to those laws centuries ago. A Supreme entering open war would destroy entire regions. It’s forbidden by the World Organization itself."

And she was right.

Everyone knew it.

A Supreme-level existence was not merely powerful. They were walking catastrophes. Battles involving beings at that level did not leave kingdoms behind. Mountains vanished. Rivers changed course. Entire nations could disappear beneath the aftermath of their power.

That was why the law existed in the first place.

Not morality.

Fear.

Razeal laughed softly.

The sound alone made several of them uneasy.

"Sure," he said. "If you really think words written on paper can stop people like that."

Lady Veyra’s pupils trembled.

No one answered.

Because deep down, all of them understood the truth in those words.

Rules only mattered when those with power chose to obey them.

And people strong enough to shatter kingdoms rarely feared consequences.

Razeal looked toward the distant darkness beyond the battlefield once more.

"Will you gamble?" he asked quietly.

That was enough.

Lady Veyra suddenly turned without another word and began moving down the wall at a near run, issuing orders before she had even fully descended the stairs.

"Move the civilians from the outer districts immediately!"

"Send messengers to every border settlement!"

"Prepare evacuation routes southward!"

Her voice echoed sharply through the fortress as soldiers hurried to obey.

Whether Razeal was right or wrong no longer mattered.

If there was even a chance a Supreme might appear here, then every second counted now.

Because if he was telling the truth..

Then Silver Shield City was already standing beneath a falling blade.

***

Inside the Imperial Palace, silence ruled the throne hall like a living thing.

The great chamber stood illuminated beneath pale golden flames burning within towering crystal braziers. Massive marble pillars stretched toward the distant ceiling high above, each carved with the ancient victories of the Empire. Yet despite the grandeur surrounding it, the atmosphere inside the hall felt cold enough to freeze breath.

Nerissa sat upon the Imperial Throne in complete silence.

One leg rested over the other, her posture composed and regal as always, but there was a sharpness in her eyes tonight that rarely appeared before others. The calm warmth she normally carried had vanished entirely. What remained instead was something colder. Heavier.

Dangerous.

Even Celestia, who stood several steps below the throne in formal silence, found herself growing uneasy beneath that mood.

Her mother was angry.

Truly angry.

And that alone was enough to unsettle the entire palace.

Celestia glanced subtly toward her from the corner of her eye, trying to understand what had provoked such a reaction. Very few people in the Empire possessed the ability to sour her mother’s temper to this extent.

For one uncomfortable moment, Celestia even wondered if it had something to do with her own recent failures.

Her jaw tightened slightly.

But before her thoughts could continue

The great doors of the throne hall opened.

The heavy sound echoed through the chamber.

A massive man stepped inside.

He stood nearly eight feet tall, broad enough to make even the palace guards seem smaller around him. Golden hair fell heavily past his shoulders while scars marked the visible portions of his exposed skin. Every step he took across the marble floor carried weight behind it.

Not merely physical weight.

Pressure.

A Supreme aura rolled faintly from his body despite his restraint, heavy enough to make the air itself feel denser around him.

Celestia’s eyes narrowed slightly in recognition.

The Head of House Rock.

So that was it.

Her gaze flickered briefly toward her mother again.

He was the reason for this atmosphere.

Strangely enough, the realization made Celestia feel slightly relieved.

At least Nerissa’s mood had nothing to do with her.

The massive man continued forward without hesitation until he reached the center of the throne hall. Then, in one smooth movement, he swept the enormous greatsword from his back and planted its tip against the marble floor beside him with a muted clang.

The sound echoed softly through the chamber.

Keeping one hand upon the weapon’s hilt, he lowered himself onto one knee before the throne and bowed his head.

"I, Head of House Rock, stand before the Throne in answer to the Imperial Summons."

His voice was deep and steady, carrying respect without submission.

Nerissa looked down at him coldly from above.

There was silence for a long full moment.

Everyone silent.

Thats when finally.. Empress chose to speak.

"Surely," she said, "You understand why you were summoned here."

The man slowly raised his head.

His yellow eyes met hers directly.

"I will see this war through, Your Imperial Majesty."

The meaning behind those words was unmistakable.

Permission or not

He had no intention of stopping.

Silence settled over the throne room once more.

The temperature itself seemed to drop.

Nerissa’s expression did not visibly change, yet the pressure surrounding the throne quietly intensified. Her fingers tapped once against the armrest beside her before becoming still again.

"You speak," she said slowly, "As though this Empress will is optional."

The Pillar Head remained kneeling.

He neither lowered his gaze nor answered immediately.

That alone would have terrified most men standing before the Imperial Throne.

But Supreme beings were not most men.

Nerissa’s eyes sharpened further.

"You presume far too much for a man kneeling before the Empire," she said. "Don’t you think so, Pillar Head?"

——