"I’ll burn him to ash."

To the Redflame God, the atrocities Atticus had committed against the Redflames were utterly unforgivable. The boy would answer for those crimes, even if it was the last thing he did.

"Really?" The Nature King looked amused. "That serious? He’s just a cub. Don’t tell me the little bastard actually got under your skin."

The Redflame True God slowly turned his blazing gaze toward him, but the Nature King merely smiled lazily in return.

"It isn’t about him."

Eyes immediately shifted back toward the Spirit King, several brows rising.

"If this meeting isn’t about the cub," Eidovar said slowly, "then what exactly dragged all of us here?"

"I discovered the location of the Chosen Alliance."

Eyes widened.

The Chosen Alliance. Who amongst those present didn’t know of the carriers of Solvath? They were half the reason this alliance had been formed from the very beginning.

Attention gradually shifted toward Astraea, whose stoic expression had finally fractured. The calmness within her golden eyes vanished, replaced by a chilling coldness that seemed to seep directly into the bones of everyone present.

"Is this the truth?" she asked.

"Yes."

Astraea slowly exhaled, golden light beginning to blaze across her body.

"Where?"

"Far south," the Spirit King answered calmly before turning his gaze toward the others.

"This is why I called this meeting."

His tone remained utterly detached, carrying not the slightest concern for Atticus. To him, the child may as well have been an ant beneath his feet.

"This is why I called this meeting. Their location is something we’ve sought for a very long time. Now that we finally have it... I suggest war."

A suffocating silence instantly settled over the hall.

War.

It wasn’t a word that could be spoken lightly. It carried endless bloodshed, screams, death, and ruin in its wake. Entire worlds had vanished because of such a word. Yet for beings of their stature, none were strangers to it.

Still, that didn’t stop the Nature King’s expression from turning ugly. The moment his eyes landed upon the trembling staff behind the Spirit King, his face twisted even further.

"Yo—"

"The filth calling itself Chosen has stood against the Willguard for millennia."

An overwhelming pressure slowly spilled from Astraea as she rose from her throne. Golden light spread across the hall, and for the first time since entering, the calmness around her had completely vanished.

"Their existence alone is a stain upon this world. One that should have been erased long ago."

The hall trembled faintly beneath her pressure.

"Are you certain of this?" she asked. "You truly know where they are?"

The Spirit King gave a single nod.

"Yes."

BOOM!

Violent golden light erupted from Astraea’s body, so blinding it felt as though a second sun had manifested within the hall. The entire chamber trembled violently beneath her presence.

"Then there is nothing left to discuss." Astraea’s voice descended like the beating of a divine war drum.

"It will be war."

...

The meeting ended not long after that.

The Nature King walked alongside Astraea across the endless wasteland toward their respective escorts. Though his expression remained mostly calm, there was now a dangerous sharpness lingering beneath it.

"That arrogant little cub..." the Nature King muttered with a cold laugh. "Actually calling a meeting like he belongs at the table."

Astraea didn’t turn toward him as she spoke.

"You’re still obsessing over that dispute?"

"Obsessing?" The Nature King scoffed. "That bastard stole from me. If not for this alliance nonsense, I would’ve buried him the day he entered the Third Crown."

Decades had already passed since then, yet the Nature King remained an extremely vengeful man. Forgiveness was not something he practiced. No matter how much time passed, he never forgot a grievance.

Back then, one of his spawn in the lower planes had delivered reliable intel regarding an unusual weapon stronger than anything they had ever encountered.

They eventually secured the weapon — an ordinary, unremarkable staff that concealed absurd, almost frightening power within it. Yet while it was being transported to him, the Spirit King somehow intercepted it and claimed it for himself.

Even now, the Nature King still couldn’t understand how the man had discovered the loophole connecting to the lower planes when even other Primals had been unaware of its existence.

’And the bastard still dares carry it around openly...’

If not for the alliance rules forbidding direct conflict until their enemies had been dealt with, he would have long since reminded the fool of his place.

"Be careful."

The Nature King blinked slightly before turning toward Astraea with a faint frown.

"Careful? Of who?"

"The Spirit King."

Astraea’s voice remained calm, but her golden eyes had grown noticeably colder.

"I’ve seen countless True Gods rise and disappear across the ages. Eventually, I always understood what they truly wanted. But that one..."

Her eyes narrowed slightly.

"I still can’t read him."

For some reason, hearing Astraea speak about the Spirit King with such seriousness immediately filled the Nature King with irritation.

"You’re thinking too highly of that cub." His tone turned colder. "Once the Chosen are dealt with, this alliance ends. Then I’ll remind him exactly where he stands."

Astraea showed no visible reaction, maintaining her usual stoicism.

The Nature King swallowed slightly. His hand slowly moved, as though intending to take hers.

"What are you doing?"

Astraea suddenly turned, fixing him with an impassive stare that instantly halted his movement.

The Nature King sighed helplessly.

"Astraea... after all these decades, you still won’t give me a chance?"

"We made a deal," she replied before turning her gaze forward once more. "Once every fragment bearer is dead, you’ll have me."

The Nature King grimaced slightly.

"I turned hunting fragment bearers into the Nature Faction’s main objective over a century ago." He spread his hands helplessly. "How much more dedication do you want from me?"

"No."

The answer came so quickly the Nature King nearly choked.

"...You really are coldhearted."

Astraea ignored him completely and walked toward her golden chariot. Moments later, it shot into the sky like a streaking sun, vanishing beyond the horizon.

The Nature King released a deep sigh.

He was what many across the Middle Planes would call a man of culture. For as long as he could remember, seeking out and making love to beautiful women had been one of the greatest pleasures in his life. His ascension to the Third Crown had merely been another step toward indulging that desire freely.

Yet centuries ago, he had encountered Astraea and become utterly captivated by her beauty. Ever since then, he had pursued her relentlessly, but not once had she yielded to him.

"I’ll win eventually."

If there was one thing about the Nature King, it was that he was persistent to an almost unreasonable degree.

Eventually, he turned toward his retinue — a group of Nature spawn standing rigidly beside his carriage. The warmth in his eyes instantly vanished, replaced by cold indifference.

"One of you idiots has been resisting my will within the Third Crown." His eyes narrowed. "I finally tracked the fool down, and somehow they vanished before I could get close."

The surrounding temperature dropped slightly.

"Find them."

As he stepped into his carriage, the spawn immediately bowed in unison.

"Yes, Nature King!"