In the Kingdom of Solaris, morning arrived.
****
Miles away from the palace, in the barracks of Zephyros kingdom, Kairos Vedaryan stood in front of a mirror. He wore a black kimono with only a left shoulder armor plate and sheathed a sword at his hip. His mind always remembers the blackout, which appears frequently in his mind.
[SEAL BROKEN!]
[LETHAL THREAT INCOMING!]
[LETHAL ANOMALY DETECTED!]
....
He tried to forget the text and flashes. Kairos kept his sword aside at the sword rest box. Luna was leaning against the door, arms folded, with an unknown expression in his eyes.
"You're polishing your boots," Luna asked quietly, his voice reached Kairos. "and you took off your sword. Where are you going this morning, Kairos? Because that isn't the look of a man sneaking out of the city."
Kairos turned towards Luna. The encounter in the market had changed everything. The Black Mist Knights proved that the danger was already here. If he waited until he was strong enough, Seyana would be dead.
"I'm going to the palace," Kairos answered, his voice steady and maintaining calm. "I am going to walk through the front gates. I am going to ask King Raezon for Seyana's hand."
Raksha and Velanor came through the doorway, rushing because they overheard the last sentence.
"Are you insane?!" Velanor shouted, his earth-mana enraging up. He stepped forward, grabbing Kairos's collar. "Have you completely lost your mind? The King will hate you. He hates anyone near Seyana. He locked his own daughter away! If you walk in there as a commoner and a mercenary to demand his daughter, he won't just say no. He'll execute you on the spot for sure!"
"He's right," Raksha said, her voice a little high rather than calm. "Kairos, we barely survived those Black freaks yesterday. If you walk into the throne room, you are walking into a threat itself. Raezon is not that good."
Kairos calmly adjusted the collar of his kimono.
"I know," Kairos said softly. "But if I don't go now, they will cage her forever. The engagement to the Sylphyros Prince is fastening. If I wait until I am a General, she will already be married, or worse, she'll be killed by those freaking bastards."
He looked at Velanor, then at Raksha, and finally at Luna. "I have to gamble everything today..." Kairos politely states his eyes are burning with desperate resolve. "If I survive... I get the person I love. If I die... at least she will know I didn't abandon her."
The room fell dead silent.
"Then go, brother. Ride like the wind" Luna paused for a second and continued, "and if things go wrong... if that old fool tries to execute you... We won't be far behind."
"Don't follow me!" Kairos ordered. "This is my fight."
"Shut up!" Velanor grinned, with anger and care flaring up in his eyes. "You don't give the orders yet."
Then Kairos just silently nodded his head to his friends, and Kairos walked out. He took a horse from the stables and rode toward the kingdom, toward a King armed with nothing but a resolve to save his love.
****
Meanwhile, in the suffocating cage of the Solaris Palace, Seyana sat sad. She looked perfect.
Knock. Knock.
"Come in", Seyana whispered faintly.
Brandon Sylphyros entered her room.
"Good morning, Seyana!" he said. It was a warm greeting, and he got behind her chair, looked into the reflection of her in the mirror, "You look beautiful, as always."
Seyana forced a smile. "Good morning, Brandon."
"I brought something for you..." he said smoothly, placing a box on the table in front of Seyana. "A gift to mark the days memorable before our official union."
He opened the box. Inside, there was a necklace made of gold and embedded with green gems. It looked beautiful, but Seyana feared accepting it.
"It would suit you perfectly at the engagement ceremony," Brandon murmured, his fingers placed on the necklace. "It matches your eyes."
Seyana froze and stared.
"Thank you..." she whispered, her voice dull and instantly she adjusted her voice. "It is beautiful. But... I am not prepared to think about the engagement today. I am still unwell from yesterday."
"It's alright," he said in a warm tone by shutting the box lid. "You will be ready eventually. Time flows in only one direction, my dear. Resistance only makes the current rougher."
He placed a hand on her shoulder. "I will leave you to rest. But wear it tonight at the King's dinner. For me."
He turned backward and left without another word. The heavy door shut after Brandon left.
Silence began to fill the room again. Seyana pulled out a thin, silver chain hidden inside with a simple sapphire pendant Kairos had given her on graduation day.
She held the stone tight and remembered him. "Kairos..." she whispered to herself in an empty room. "Please come soon. I don't want to be alone anymore. The walls are closing in."
A drop of tear fell on the sapphire pendant when she saw it, and she hid it again inside and sat watching the vast sky outside.
****
Far beyond the borders of the kingdoms,
Malgrithal. The Kingdom of Eternal Night.
But the legend of demons woke up. Inside the pitch-black, obsidian throne chamber, a thousand crimson torches turned on simultaneously.
"Send the knight inside," Malgreth commanded. The large doors of the chamber opened. Heavy footsteps are coming towards Malgreth.
Thud. Thud. Thud....
A knight with giant form entered the chamber and kneeled before Malgreth.
"Your orders, My Liege."
Malgreth leaned back against his throne and replied. "Give a message to Dyrroth..." the Demon Lord said, taking the cigar to light up. "Tell him he must arrive at the palace soon. The long slumber is over."
An hour later, the air in the Malgrithal kingdom changed. All eight Generals of the Dark Army had gathered in the palace room. They were monsters, each where nearly an equal to the Kings in the world.
But a seven-foot beast man was standing in the center of the hall. He is the Second Strongest General of the Malgrithal Kingdom. He was carrying a long blade, of the height of a normal man named Darkikor, the Devourer.
Dyrroth. The Second General of Malgrithal.
Every single general bent their knees and bowed their heads as King Malgreth descended the obsidian steps from his throne. The Demon Lord summoned his own mythical blade, Vraykar. Malgreth stopped before the kneeling monsters.
"Three centuries," Malgreth started, his voice echoing entire palace room. "Three centuries I have remained silent. Watching from the abyss. Waiting for the mana of this pathetic world to awaken."
He continued. "But now, I smell it. Divine power has returned to humanity."
The generals shook in shock and disbelief. Every general has the same thought. Is His Highness talking about 'Divinity'?
Malgreth made a statement to the generals. "A girl of Solaris. Princess Seyana. She was born with the Remnant of 'Divinity'. Her power awakened fully now. If I consume her soul... if I devour her Divinity... I will break the boundary. I will become the one true Sovereign of this world. No god, no Monarch, and no primordial ghost will be able to stop me."
His voice roared with a name. "Dyrroth!"
"Yes, My Liege!" the giant responded to the command.
"Go to the Solaris Kingdom..." Malgreth commanded, seeing the east where far away Solaris is located. "take the vanguard. March straight to their front gates. Tell King Raezon to surrender his daughter in the name of peace."
Dyrroth raised his eye a bit. "If the Sun King resists?"
Malgreth laughed with pure malice and murderous intent. "Declare war. Burn his precious city into ash. Shatter his armies. Bring the girl to my feet, alive and sobbing."
Dyrroth bowed his head, placing the first at his chest. "Yes, my liege."
He stood up and drew Darkikor, which had thirsted for blood for 300 years.
"I will bring you the girl," Dyrroth swore to Malgreth. "even if all the kingdoms must burn to illuminate the path."
Dyrroth turned his back on the throne and began his march toward the east. Towards Solaris and toward Seyana.
****
At that exact moment, the threads of fate started to pull from another side. In Solaris, Seyana stood on her balcony, staring blankly at the horizon. Below her, Brandon is watching her.
Deep within the Palace War Room, King Raezon was moving wooden pieces across a map, plotting political alliances and border defenses.
Kairos rode his white horse across the grass, nearing Solaris.
"I'm almost there, Seyana!" he whispered to the wind. "Just hold on. I am coming."
Everyone was prepared to their absolute limits. Everyone thought they knew the rules and limitations of the game. But none of them knew that a destructive force had an eye on Seyana and it was marching straight into Solaris.
The pieces were moving and the board was set for a brutal massacre.