The silence that cloaked the kingdom after the war was nothing but a deep breath before the coming storm.
The throne had been reforged—not from stone or shadow alone, but from an unbreakable will. The Shadow Commanders stood around Sajibro, reorganizing the forces, watching the humans as they took their first uncertain steps in a realm reborn from the ashes of war.
The Awakened Ones radiated flickers of power, yet none dared cross the threshold of fear laid by the true soldiers. Everything seemed to move toward stability.
Until the earth trembled.
A quake not born from its depths—but from the sky.
"Do you… feel that?" said Kain, his eyes frozen on a distant point in the horizon.
The clouds cracked—not from wind, but as though something had torn through them. A rift forced open from another world.
The roar that followed was older than time itself, mightier than wars, and harsher than death.
Darkness fell—but it wasn't ordinary… it had wings.
Then came a single strike—a blow that shook the ancient towers of the Shadow Palace.
Guards collapsed. Soldiers froze. Commanders like Kain and Kuroma exchanged glances… afraid, tense, unable to explain.
"What is this…?" murmured Seraphin.
But Sajibro?
He remained still… as if something inside him already knew.
"He has returned…" he said quietly—but with hidden power. His eyes narrowed slightly as he walked toward the throne's balcony.
The sky didn't just rain fire—it poured black flames, burning and unquenchable.
And within those tongues of infernal blaze appeared…
A dragon the size of an empire.
Its body was pure void—coated in scales that reflected emptiness.
Its eyes glowed like eternal embers.
Its second roar made the commanders bow their heads—without choice.
It landed atop the throne tower, the stone beneath its claws crumbling, part of the roof collapsing.
"Ignus…" said Sajibro, staring at it unwaveringly,
"The Shadow of the Empire… you've finally returned."
Kain gasped,
"You… you expected this?"
Sajibro didn't turn. He placed his hand upon the throne's handle and said,
"When I fought Raizen… I sensed a dormant blaze, restless within the abyss. Ignus wasn't dead. He was asleep—waiting for me. And he awakened… when my power was unleashed."
The dragon lowered its head—a creature of unimaginable size bowing before the King of Shadows, for the first time.
"My Lord…" he said, his voice a thunderous whisper,
"I come bearing a message from the flame… a threat unlike anything we've known."
Sajibro stepped closer, raising a hand to Ignus's jaw,
"Speak."
"A kingdom unlike any we've seen… appeared out of nowhere.
No maps mark it. No treaties recall it. Its name is…"
"… the Demon Kingdom."
The dragon paused, then continued:
"It is not of our world… not of this fabric.
I saw them, my Lord… slithering like smoke, devouring lands, feeding on the fall of other realms."
And then, the narrator's voice entered—
As if time itself sought to tell the tale:
> "In the ancient era, there were seven great kingdoms—of sages, warriors, sorcerers, and kings of iron and wind.
The Kingdom of Sages once stood closest to Sajibro—an ally, before he was sealed.
But now… a new kingdom has risen.
No flag. No origin. No history.
Only flame… blood… and thrones that bow before it.
It is… the Eighth Kingdom.
The Demon Kingdom."
In that moment, Sajibro raised his hand, commanding silence.
Then looked Ignus in the eye and spoke with a calm that sounded like an ancient promise:
"The shadow has awakened. And the throne… shall not be threatened again."
End of Chapter Twenty-Seven