The evening slowly burned itself out, filled with loud breaths and fading moans, only cooling once the moon cast its pale brilliance over the ruined walls of the castle. By then, silence had returned to the halls, heavy and strange after everything that had happened in a single day.

No one had expected one kingdom to fall before sunset, only for another to be born from its ashes by nightfall. The weight of that truth pressed on everyone alike, leaving the people exhausted, uneasy, and deeply afraid of what this new future might become. To them, Max was already a tyrant.

His judgment, his threats, and the speed with which he had begun twisting the fate of the kingdom made many curse him in silence. No one dared speak those thoughts aloud. The memory of his iron grip was still far too fresh, and fear sealed their mouths better than loyalty ever could.

Max used the single free day he had stolen for himself to study the map further, tracing every road, ruined outpost, and surrounding town belonging to the Thunder and Wind Empires. He had no room left for mistakes now. Every village, every mountain trail, every hidden passage might decide whether his plan ended in conquest or disaster.

Outside, the Voidstar kingdom was already in motion.

The people were being driven toward the secret mountain passage, the hidden route known only to the royal bloodline, a narrow and ancient path that cut deep beneath the mountains and led into the buried city where the Fire Dragons had first recorded their history.

All the food they could gather was carried with them. Grain sacks, dried meat, preserved roots, and barrels of water were moved in frantic waves, while the livestock was dragged along behind in restless, panicked herds.

The entire process was rushed. More curses filled the air than actual work, and every order barked at them only deepened the resentment burning in their chests. Mothers clutched children while glaring toward the ruined capital.

Men hauled supplies with clenched jaws and hatred in their eyes. Even the nobles, stripped of dignity and certainty, moved under the same pressure as everyone else, forced to bow their heads beneath a fate none of them had chosen.

And through it all, the kingdom continued to empty itself, one bitter step at a time.

The next day, after a good night’s sleep, Max woke early, greeting the first rays of the rising sun. He drew in a deep breath, preparing himself mentally for what was to come.

By the time Agnia and Rosalia had woken and begun preparing the warriors from both camps, Max was already at work gathering mana. His mana container filled steadily, stripping energy from the sky itself.

After nearly two years of constant consumption, his mana soul had begun to show signs of a strange evolution. He had come to learn that a mana soul shaped a warrior almost like the foundation of their power.

Each one responded to the purity of the bloodline, feeding on blood to produce the element of the affinity best suited to its owner. If someone were able to look into his mana soul right now, they would see something faintly black, shimmering with an ethereal glow and twisting at the edges as if trying to take on a new shape, yet still unable to fully form it.

Max could feel it clearly. If he somehow managed to evolve his mana soul, he might soon reach an entirely new level of power.

Mounted on the ancestral Ice Beast, Max arrived before the mountain castle. There, beside the pool of lava, stood a small army of warriors, the two camps separated in a way that was anything but equal.

"King Maximus!" The warriors on the left dropped to one knee. Though their faces were reluctant, they still showed him respect. They were from the Fire camp. The warriors of the Ice camp, however, remained standing, their fists striking their chests instead. A mere twenty of them stood there, yet the way they honored him somehow felt more fitting in Max’s eyes.

Max gave them a slight nod. "Rise."

The warriors of the Fire camp returned to their feet, many of them sneering toward the Ice side with open dissatisfaction.

"Agnia, how many troops do you still have in total?" Max asked as he walked before the army, his eyes scanning each face as if trying to carve them into memory.

"Two thousand and six, my liege..." she answered with reluctant respect, though there was a strange light in her eyes that Max found hard to read. Something about her felt different. He could not tell what it was, but he swore to keep a close eye on her. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

Agnia, however, was doing everything she could to avoid meeting his gaze directly. Ever since those nights, ever since she had seen far too much and felt even more than she wanted to admit, she no longer knew how to speak to either him or Rosalia without her thoughts slipping into dangerous places.

"Good. That’s all we need for now." He nodded once. "Are the people well hidden?"

"No one will be able to find them. Your Ice Clan members are safe as well. The towns, villages, and larger cities of the kingdom have already been torched. We couldn’t gather the people from the outer edges of the kingdom. They were too far away, so it’s better if they don’t even know what’s happening here. They never come to the capital—"

"Enough," Max cut her off.

Agnia saw his impatience at once.

He turned toward the army, his back straight as a drawn bowstring. "I will not ask you to die. I will not ask you to throw your lives away for me. That is not what I need right now." His gaze swept over them, hard and steady.

"But I am asking for your strength. I am asking you to help me save this kingdom and the people you love from those murderous empires." His voice rang out across the field, carried by the force of his void magic.

"Fly with me, brave warriors. Fly with me and turn the enemy lands upside down. We will not allow them to do as they please. We will not let them lay a hand on our children and enslave them forever."

His eyes burned.

"Today, we rise!"

He roared the final words, and his speech ignited something deep inside the hearts of the men who had once seen him as nothing but a tyrant.

"We follow the king!" the crowd roared as one, their blood churning like never before.

Max felt his own heart pound wildly. This was a feeling he would never have known in his old world.

"Let’s move!"