"Summon your emperor before me, or face extinction," Max said loudly, yet his voice remained calm, carrying across the sky like a decree from a god of destruction ordering mere mortals to obey.

The elven armies flinched beneath his words, their pale faces caught between terror and reluctance. None of them wanted to lower their heads to a dragon, but none of them could ignore what had just happened either. Max had completely overpowered their ranks on his own, crushed their arrows, broken their formation, and shattered their Sunfall Array as if all of it had been nothing more than a test of patience.

Their minds struggled to accept it. Even if someone as strong as Max existed on this continent, no sane ruler would dare make himself an enemy of every major force in the region, yet Max seemed to be doing exactly that without the slightest hesitation.

The black mist suddenly began to spread wildly across the plains, rolling outward from the dome like a living shadow. It moved past the broken capital, past the corpses, past the trembling front lines, surrounding the vast elven armies until the naked eye could no longer see where it ended. The dragon armies watched from beneath it, and pride rose in their chests as they realized their king was not only defending them anymore.

He was trapping the enemy.

"You will not live to see another day. I promise you that," one of the elven commanders cursed, his once-calm face twisting red with anger, his eyes bulging as golden mana trembled around his body.

"Funny you say that, because you no longer have control over your own life. If I want to kill any of you, who will stop me?"

Max threw the general’s own words back at him, the same arrogance the elves had used earlier when they claimed nobody could stop them from taking over these lands if their emperor wished for it.

The general’s face fell. His knees began to tremble beneath those dark eyes watching him from the sky above, eyes that no longer looked like they belonged to a simple dragon, but to a devil calmly deciding whether his life still had any worth.

"I will give you twenty-four hours to bring your lowly emperor here," Max said, his voice low, yet every word carried clearly across the trapped army. "He will kneel before me and beg for his life, and yours as well. If he is late, I will kill a thousand of you for every minute he wastes. If he refuses, I will kill ten thousand immediately and continue until he understands that this is no longer a negotiation." 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

The elven ranks went deathly still.

Then Max’s gaze shifted.

"You."

He pointed toward the back of the closest squadron.

A young-looking elf stood there, his body half-hidden behind taller warriors in golden armor. He looked no older than ten, with wide eyes, trembling fingers, and a blade too large for his small hands. Max still could not understand how children could be recruited into armies, no matter the race. Even he thought they should at least live long enough to understand what war truly meant before being forced to carry a weapon.

But if this world worked anything like the fantasy stories he remembered, then that child was probably much older than he looked.

At least, that was what Max chose to believe for now.

The young elf flinched under Max’s gaze, too afraid to speak, his eyes darting from side to side as if he was not sure whether the villain in the sky was truly pointing at him or someone standing nearby.

Slowly, he lifted a shaking finger and pointed at himself.

Max simply nodded.

"Y-yes!" the young elf shouted, his voice cracking.

The elves around him immediately stepped away, creating a wide space as if he had become a living bomb waiting to explode.

"Fetch me your emperor. Now."

Even the people those words were not aimed at flinched when they left Max’s mouth. His voice was calm, but it carried a weight that pressed down on the elven army like a hand around the throat, making the golden ranks stiffen despite their pride.

The young elf did not move.

He stared up at Max with fear in his eyes, but there was pride there too, stubborn and trembling, refusing to break even when the black mist surrounding the battlefield made every breath feel heavy.

"No..." he muttered, lowering his head.

"What was that?" Max crossed his arms, an amused smile resting on his face as he looked down at him from the sky.

The young elf clenched his fists. His fingers shook at first, digging into his palms until the pain seemed to steady him. Then his green eyes rose again to meet Max’s intimidating gaze.

"I will not betray our emperor," he said, his voice small at first, then growing firmer, "even if it means death."

His eyes were serious in a way that did not match the young face he carried, like someone who had seen life and death for many years, someone who had already been shaped by war despite looking like a child that should have been nowhere near a battlefield. His knees still trembled, but he forced them still, tightening every muscle in his body as if pride alone could keep him standing beneath Max’s gaze.

Max’s grin widened.

"Great choice..." he said, slowly nodding at the young elf. "What is your name?"

"Auryndor," the boy answered, swallowing hard before lifting his chin a little higher. "My name is Auryndor."

"Good." Max’s eyes darkened with amusement. "Then remember this moment, Auryndor, because now you will witness the real world and the cruelty that follows disobedience."

His wings flapped once.

For a split moment, something dark gathered beneath them, hidden behind the wide black feathers as if the night itself had folded into Max’s shadow. Then his wings opened again, and a beam of void magic swept across the battlefield in a silent, merciless line.

The attack passed beside Auryndor by barely an inch.

His green eyes widened as the air near his cheek vanished, the edge of the void cutting so close that a few strands of his pale hair were swallowed into nothing. Behind him, the line of elves standing in its path did not even have time to scream. Their bodies were erased where they stood, armor, flesh, weapons, and golden light disappearing together as the beam carved a long path of death through the army.

Auryndor remained frozen in place, his breath trapped in his throat, staring at the empty space where the elves behind him had stood only a heartbeat ago.

Max looked down at him with that same calm smile.

"Now go."