The old farmer spoke again, beating his chest. "We pay taxes because the law says so. But in our hearts, we pray for the demise of that filthy Emperor. We only want our lords — they are the only ones who have protected us. They are the ones who keep us alive. Our archduke walks in the same mud as us if necessary... does that Emperor have that ability?"
He looked directly into Draven's eyes. His own eyes were wet but firm from years of enduring.
"So if that tyrant in his white palace tries to interrupt the crowning ceremony tomorrow, and even if he sends his edicts, his inquisitors, or his legion... let him come."
"We'll be the first to face them. We'll never let that Emperor disturb our lords. We'll sacrifice ourselves if necessary."
He grinned, toothless on one side. "The Emperor thinks the empire is his. He forgot it is built on our backs. And our backs are tired of carrying a fool like him..."
Draven sighed. He could feel everyone's resentment towards the Emperor. But he was more interested in the person who was going to be crowned tomorrow by the three ancient families...
The next morning ,
The Imperial Throne Hall of the Luminus Imperium was silent enough to hear armor creak.
Emperor Caelum sat above his throne on the dais of white sunstone, one elbow on the armrest, his chin resting on his knuckles. He had not slept. The dust of the spirit parchment was still under his fingernails from the garden.
His Level 90 aura was leaking...
It was a pressure without intent, the way a storm presses on your chest before lightning strikes. The great crystal chandeliers above trembled faintly. The air grew thin...
Below him, rank upon rank of nobles knelt on one knee, foreheads bowed. Their silk mantles clung to their backs with sweat.
Duke Morvain's face was purple. Duke Varnholt, old veteran of the imperium campaigns, had both hands braced on the marble to keep from collapsing. Younger barons were outright gasping for air.
Only two men stood upright.
Chancellor Selwyn, at the foot of the steps, kept his head down but his eyes kept flicking up to the throne. Worry was carved deep into his lined face. He had served three emperors. He knew what that leaking aura meant . Caelum was holding back rage, not power.
And on the Emperor's right, Hadrian ;Captain of the Red Cloaks stood expressionless in his blood-red plate, the white sunburst of Luminus on his breast. His helmet was tucked under his left arm. His right fist was clenched so hard the leather of his glove creaked.
Caelum finally spoke, his voice low and carrying through the hall like a blade dragged across stone.
"Send them."
Selwyn flinched. "Your Majesty?"
"The Red Cloaks," Caelum said. "Three legions... Take the griffon riders with you. Fly towards the north .Intercept the ceremony at Valerius. I don't care if you have to land in the middle of their ancestral square. Tell Cassian Valerius that if he places a crown on that crippled boy's head, it will be treason against the Pact of old Emperor Caspian. Tell him I will..."
He didn't finish.
The great doors at the far end of the hall slammed open with a bang that echoed off the vaulted ceiling.
Another Shadow Envoy , black cloak still dusty from the road, boots muddy half-ran, half-stumbled down the central aisle. He didn't wait for permission. He dropped to both knees at the foot of the dais and pressed his forehead to the cold floor, his whole body shaking.
"My... my Lord! Something terrible has happened."
Caelum's eyes narrowed. The pressure in the hall spiked. Two barons behind the envoy who followed him at the door fainted outright before they said anything more ,out of exhaustion.
"What happened!" Caelum snapped. "Did you not see we were in a busy meeting?"
The envoy didn't lift his head. His voice cracked...
"Beast... Beast Emperor Rukhzar has colluded with the demons... they attacked our borders together. With the demonic puppets and countless beasts..."
Hadrian's fist tightened further...he looked at emperor coldly. It was all because of this fool who tried to fool the beast empire a few days ago...
Selwyn took a half-step forward. He also blames the Emperor in his heart and asked in hurry,
"Where?....where are their forces right now ?"
"Ironweld county , Chancellor!" the envoy gasped out, words tumbling.
"The Ashen Pass — they broke through at dawn. The garrison at Fort Ironweld is gone, my lord. Not fallen ! It is completely Gone. The beasts used earth elemental attacks to destroy everything on site. They brought the walls down and the demons poured black fire induced with dark element into the breach."
" The survivors say the puppets didn't even loot their homes.....They just...killed everyone they saw then.....then stacked their bodies and burned them."
"At the Greywater Crossing, the beastmen swam the river under a veil of demonic mist. Our river fleet was boarded. They killed the oarsmen in their chains. The water ran black for a mile."
"And at White Pass ..." his voice broke, "at White Pass, where Lord Morvain's brother died two winters ago... they raised the banner of Velus. The God of Death. The dead soldiers rose, my lord ! Our own fallen soldiers stood up in black armor and turned on the living humans."
Duke Morvain made a strangled sound.
Caelum did not move. Only his aura did, it flared once, violently, and the stained glass windows high above rattled...he gritted his teeth more violently while his fists were clenched hard...
"How many of them are there ?" Hadrian asked quietly.
"Hundreds of thousands, Captain," the envoy whispered. "Beasts in full war-form. Demons riding wyverns stitched from corpses. And behind them... the Death Followers chanting. "
"The border villages are already turned into ash. The refugees are clogging the south road. They say Rukhzar himself marches under a combined banner."
Silence. A dead silence swept over the whole throne room. Even Caelum looked dumbfounded . He gritted his teeth ,
" Does that Rukhzar gone crazy ! Why did he suddenly colluded with the demons..... "
Selwyn's face had gone white. "Your Majesty, if the Ashen Pass is lost, the northern grain route..."
"I know," Caelum cut him off.
He stood up slowly from the throne. The movement alone made the pressure in the hall lift just enough for the nobles to draw a full breath.
For a long moment, he just stared down at the envoy's shaking back. At the map of his Imperium in his head, now with three burning holes in the north...
He had planned to send his best ,his Red Cloaks towards north to stop a crowning.
Now the north was actually burning, and it wasn't Valerius who lit it.
His jaw worked. He gritted his teeth so hard a muscle jumped in his cheek.
"Hadrian !"
"Your Majesty," Hadrian answered instantly.
"Take your three Legions towards Ashen Pass. Take the Seventh Legion from the Golden Knight garrison too, Take the Sunfire Mages too.... Hold the line at all costs. Burn the pass itself if you have to, but do not let them reach the inner provinces."
Hadrian slammed his fist to his chest. "It shall be done."
"Duke Varnholt," Caelum turned. "You will ride for Greywater with the river guard. Sink every ship if you must. Drown them in their own mist."
Varnholt, still on one knee, bowed his head. "Yes, my Emperor."
"Duke Morvain ! White Pass is yours. Avenge your brother...and kill those who dared to make moves against our imperium."
Morvain's eyes were wet with fury. "I will bring you good news my Lord..."
Caelum descended one step. Then another. His golden mantle dragged behind him. He looked older than he had at dawn.
"Chancellor."
Selwyn stepped forward, bowing deeply. "Your Majesty."
"Draft an edict," Caelum said, his voice flat. "To the Valerius Archduchy, and send one to Blackwood and to Sylveria each."
The whole hall held its breath.
"Tell them..." he paused, and the words seemed to cost him blood, "...tell them the Imperium recognizes their crowning ceremony....but we'll never bow down our head to another kingdom again. We'll fight to the end to make them bow..."
The luminus imperium already bowed their heads to the holy kingdom due to the presence of goddess Luminus...and they'll not bow their heads again.
Selwyn's eyes widened. Hadrian's head snapped up he looked coldly at the emperor for a few seconds before lower it again...
Caelum continued, louder now, for the whole hall. "Let the Valerius family do what they are going to do anyway. Let them crown their boy king. Let them play at thrones in the north for now...."
He turned and walked back up the steps, each footfall heavy.
"When the beasts and demons are dead, then we will remind the ancient families who sits on the Throne of Light...."
He sat back down. The Level 90 aura, which had been suffocating them, pulled back into him like a tide — not gone, but contained.
"Now go," he said quietly. "Save the border."
The nobles rose as one, armor and robes rustling, and filed out at a run. Hadrian was already shouting orders as he strode for the doors, his red cloak snapping behind him.
Only Selwyn remained for a moment, looking up at his emperor alone on the white throne.
Caelum was staring north, beyond the walls, beyond the garden, toward a place where a crown was about to be placed on a boy he had once called crippled.
His hands, resting on the sunstone arms of the throne, were shaking — not with fear, but with helplessness...
He had just let his greatest enemy become a king, because his other enemies were at the gate.
After everyone was gone, the great doors of the Throne Hall boomed shut.
The echo of voices faded, and then there was nothing but the soft the shallow breathing of one old man.
Chancellor Selwyn had not left. He stood at the foot of the dais, hands folded inside his sleeves, head bowed. He had served three emperors, and he knew when to stay.
Caelum was still on the white sunstone throne. The Level 90 aura was gone now, pulled deep inside, but the cost of holding it showed. His shoulders, always squared for the court, had slumped forward. His fingers drummed once, twice, on the armrest then stopped.
He looked at Selwyn. Not as an emperor looks at a servant, but as a man cornered by every possible outcomes.
"Selwyn."
"Your Majesty," the chancellor answered quietly.
Caelum's voice was lower than before. No sharp tone in it now, Just weariness and helplessness.
"Draft another edict. For the Holy Kingdom."
Selwyn's head lifted a fraction. "The Holy Kingdom, my lord?"
"Send our fastest shadow griffon. Not a public envoy but a sealed letter, under my personal seal to the Pope himself. And send a copy to High Priest Rokan, wherever he is..."