Max let out a sharp breath, reacting before anyone else could. Today, no matter what, nothing could be allowed to go wrong.

Void magic lashed out and wrapped around the woman’s neck, snapping it before she could ever touch the bell. His heart bled at the sight, yet at the same time, a dark sense of relief settled inside him. It was as if some hidden part of him was beginning to accept this as the right path—to kill for control, to wield his power as a weapon, to crush whatever stood in his way.

He did not fully understand it yet, but he was changing. Little by little, the kind and caring man was being pushed aside, making room for someone far more ruthless, far more merciless. Something deep inside him was guiding his hand.

Both the townsfolk and the warriors at Max’s side watched in horror as the woman’s body was torn apart before she could ever touch the bell.

"Disable it. Fast." Max barked at his warriors, his fingers trembling faintly.

He turned to face the kneeling crowd, the thousand or so of them staring back at him as if they were looking at the Demon Emperor himself.

In the next instant, every single bell was inspected again and disabled just as quickly. But now Max’s eyes were fixed on the warriors at his own side. Someone among them had dared go against him, and because of that, he had lost one of the hostages he treasured so much.

Even one death could create problems for him. If word reached the Wind Emperor, the man could demand compensation, forcing Max to trade back more captives for less time, less leverage, and less room to negotiate.

Max walked toward Agnia, dropping the man he had been holding by the throat. The moment he hit the ground, the man scrambled toward his little daughter, hugging her tightly and checking her over in panic for any sign of injury.

He did not understand this man called Maximus. He did not understand why he had spared his daughter, yet killed the young woman who had dared rush for the bell.

"Gather the people. We move out now." Agnia immediately took charge.

The warriors began herding the townsfolk together, tying their hands and forcing them into lines so they could be marched away.

"Rosalia, I want you to keep a few warriors with you, control the crowd, and lead them toward this town next, then this one." Max spoke quickly, pulling the map from his holster and pointing out the route.

"Understood," she replied without wasting a single word.

Everything moved quickly, especially considering how hastily the plan had been made and how chaotic the takeover had been.

Max knew that once they began moving, the Wind and Thunder Empires would need around three days to reach the borders of the land where he had once lived with the Ice Clan. If his calculations were right, that march would likely begin within a few days. These regions were all outskirts, places the great empires rarely monitored unless it was time to collect taxes or unless the alarm bells were rung.

Because the Wind Empire and the Elven lands had long been at peace, and their rulers were close allies, there had never been any need to build powerful outposts here.

That only made his plan easier. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

By the end of the day, Max had overtaken more than twenty cities, reducing them to ruins as he left. All food was taken, every storehouse emptied, and every strand of mana was stripped away. No one knew that by the next day, the lands surrounding the capital would be silently devastated as well.

Among the captives, his name had already changed. He was no longer the King of Voidstar, but Maximus the Tyrant.

His small army grew quickly as it absorbed the captured warriors, swelling its ranks to a total of ten thousand. Though those warriors were weak compared to his core force, they were still useful for controlling the masses of captured villagers, townsfolk, and the few nobles who ruled those cities.

No one dared rebel. Max had already proven that with a single flick of his fingers, he could snap a neck if he wished. He held the ordinary citizens as leverage over the warriors, forcing those same warriors to fight beneath his banner.

On the third day, Max learned from his scouts that the Wind Empire had begun to move. For some reason, they had gathered another hundred thousand warriors, making Max’s conquest even easier.

"Time to charge the capital. By now, their warriors should have already left the borders."

Late at night, Max stood beside the campfire, before a crowd now too large to ignore. They had set camp around the capital, and the winds here raged wildly, rushing across the plains as if whispering ancient stories into the dark.

With a snap of his fingers, the fire went out. Mana vanished with it.

"Listen carefully. Today, the capital of the Wind Empire falls. I know all of you hate me for this." His gaze swept over the crowd. "Good. Hate me. I admit this is something I would never have done if my hand had not been forced. But..."

His brown eyes gleamed, a faint trace of crimson hidden deep within them. "As long as you follow my commands, I promise I will not kill any more of you, and I will give you lives better than anything you could have imagined."

The crowd listened to his madness in silence. No one believed a word he said. And yet, one after another, they still nodded. It was better than dying and watching their loved ones suffer.

Rosalia stepped closer and took his trembling hand into hers.

Max was nervous. This was a step too large to take lightly. Less than two years ago, he had been nobody. Now he led more than seventy thousand people into a forced rebellion. If he had told that to his past self, the old him would have laughed and called him insane.

He sat atop the ancestral Ice Beast, its draconic eyes staring back at him with fierce recognition. By now, they had bonded so deeply that the beast no longer accepted Rosalia as its rider, only allowing Max onto its back, and only letting her ride along if he wished it.

Then he rose into the night sky alone, the wind roaring around him like something alive.

Deep in the fields below stood the citadel, so vast and imposing that it looked almost like a wonder of the world. Its defensive walls stretched far and wide, and from above, Max could finally see just how enormous the capital truly was.

He could not help but admire it.

If he had been given a choice, he would never have wanted to destroy such a place. He would have rather taken it intact and claimed it as his own. But that was not the choice the world had given him.

High above the city, riding the beast through the freezing dark, Max suddenly slipped from its back and dropped into a freefall. Void armor wrapped around his body at once. Deep, rich darkness swallowed his fist, growing thicker and larger with every passing heartbeat until it had become bigger than his own head.

He let out a heavy breath.

Then he unleashed his attack upon the gates of the citadel.