Two months later,
Cid's plan worked like a slow venom.
The moment Vara's agents fed Kine false intelligence, his lieutenants started dying.
Convoys burned. Outposts turned. By the third week, even Kine's own soldiers started defecting.
In the fourth week... A charge through the Southern trade road, flanked by Chief Commander Darius.
By the fifth, Hana marched through the outer cities with mechanized battalions.
And by the sixth... Kine was surrounded.
They didn't even give him a battlefield.
Cid personally cut through the front gates of his stronghold. And when Kine tried to offer terms, Yuri gave him none.
"You wanted to cure the kingdom?" Yuri said, sword at his side.
"Congratulations. You're the first infection we've burned out."
Kine died on his knees.
And with that, King's Medicine was wiped from history.
Inside The War Chamber,
"We've done it," Elias said, sitting with his boots up. "No more rebellion. No more shadows."
Cid didn't speak. Neither did Loki.
Not until the doors slammed open.
"...Message. From the border. East watch. Omega Kingdom forces have mobilized."
Everyone froze.
The soldier stepped forward, placing a scroll on the table. Hana unrolled it, lips tight.
Cid scanned the message.
"Siege formations. Thirty thousand. Moving fast. Artillery we've never seen before. Marching under full colors."
Loki's hands curled into fists. "They waited. Let Kine bleed us dry so they could strike when we were soft."
Cid's face went cold. "Kine was never meant to win. He was bait. They wanted him to make us spend troops, reveal command structures, weaken internal unity."
Yuri's expression hardened. "And now they move while we celebrate."
Chief Commander Darius slammed his fist against the wall. "It's a goddamn setup."
Silence filled the room for a moment until, Elias stood.
"Then we fight smart. They want to finish what Kine started. We don't let them."
The Eastern Border, Warline Drawn.
Dust rose as tanks rumbled into position.
Artillery wheels creaked.
Soldiers marched forward.
Power-users lined up.
And at the front... stood a king.
Yuri Falk, twenty years old, silver mantle over matte-black armor, walked through the line with Cid on his right and Elias on his left. Gauntlet on his hands.
His eyes were quiet. Focused. No hesitation.
The soldiers of Bolt stared as he passed. And something shifted.
Breath held.
Across the warfield,
The Omega Kingdom's colors bled across hills. Jet-black banners. Crimson pheonix. Row after row of soldiers. Cannons mounted on reinforced hulls.
Two figures stepped forward.
All the Bolt Kingdoms army felt the pressure of their Aura.
They were as strong or stronger than Loki.
One wore gold-stitched armor, tall and lean, an air of nobility around him.
Commander Karsian Vell, Supreme Strategist of Omega's Eastern Force.
The other wore iron-plated robes, more machine than man. A silent Warden-class.
Vice Commander Rei Osaki.
Karsian smirked as Yuri approached the centerline.
"You are bold," Karsian said, folding his hands behind his back. "Bringing a child to negotiate?"
Cid took one step forward. Elias stopped him.
Yuri didn't blink. Didn't flinch.
"I am King," Yuri said. Calm. Cold. "And I came to speak."
Karsian chuckled. "Ah. So it's true. They put a boy on the throne."
He gestured to the battlefield behind him.
""Do you know how many men I command? How many artillery pieces we brought? How many power-users tuned to destroy fortresses, not flesh? This… is not a duel. This is war. And kings do not belong on the frontlines."
Yuri's reply was a whisper.
"...A king hiding in a fortress is merely an ink on paper. You just have to wipe it off."
Karsian frowned.
Yuri stepped forward.
"A King who won't bleed beside his people is no King. A throne is not a shield. It's a target."
He turned slightly, voice rising for all to hear.
"And I've decided, if they want to take this Kingdom, they'll have to kill me first."
The Bolt army erupted.
Roars cracked the air.
Swords, spears and guns were lifted.
Aura flared like wildfire.
The soldiers of Bolt Kingdom surged forward with new breath, as if the war had already been won.
Karsian's face darkened.
He raised his hand.
"Then die with them, boy-king. I'll paint your crown red."
The battle begins.
Artillery screamed.
Swords clashed.
Tank turrets rotated, steel thunder tore through formations.
It was pure chaos.
Elias crushed a tank into a cube with one hand and launched it into another, laughing like a goddamn lunatic.
Yuri moved like a phantom.
Slicing through the gaps. Coordinating his troops. Pushing forward with steel and fire, his Gravity power crushing troops.
Cid? He was frozen in one place.
Observing the whole battlefield with his Power Sense.
Chief Commander Darius led a full-scale flanking maneuver on the eastern ridge
Magic. Bullets. Blood.
Chaos became music.
And the Eastern Border turned red.
The field was fire.
Bolt's left flank pushed hard. Elias left a trail of collapsed machines and bodies, crushed tanks used like battering rams, laughing as explosions sang behind him.
He was a one-man catastrophe.
"MOVE!" he roared, flinging an enemy's tank like a grenade. "WE'RE NOT STOPPING HERE!"
Smoke rose in pillars. Artillery blazed through the air.
Even though Cid, Elias, Yuri and most of the Warden Class Aura-users were dominating their sides of the battle.
The Bolt Kingdom was at a huge disadvantage. Their troops where being killed faster.
"Invert."
A bullet suddenly shot through the heads of thirty soldiers curving and bending in the air.
Cid sighed and used Power Sense to observe the battlefield.
On his left, almost all the Bolt Kingdom Soldiers where lifeless.
Rei was standing alone, half his face hidden by a charred mask and blood on the other half. A dangerous smile. He was looking straight at Cid.
Silent. Still.
No words. Just movement.
Cid blinked...
BAAM!
A punch.
Cid barely blocked. His arm shook violently as Rei's punch clashed against his dagger.
Cid jumped back.
"He is fast," Cid thought. "And he just punched my dagger and his hand is still intact."
"The only reason I could sense his attack was Power Sense."
Rei smiled.
"Ah, you can use Power Sense. Guess some of you Bolt Kingdom's pricks are talented."
Cid was silent.
Cid twisted, pivoted, drew his hidden pistols...
BANG!
The pistol was suddenly on Rei's hand.
"Huh, I didn't even sense him."
"No, Power Sense is the ability detect or track Aura just before a movement… but it couldn't calculate Rei's speed in time."
Rei scanned the pistol and then said.
"Bolt Kingdoms technology is really backwards... Huh?"
Cid stood tense, sweat sliding down his face.
"This is dangerous, I might die."
[Notice]
Classifications of Aura-Wielders Across the Kingdoms.
All recognized combatants capable of manipulating Aura are classified under the following tiers:
First-Class — The entry rank for trained aura-wielders. Capable of minor enhancements in strength, speed, and durability. Often foot soldiers or cadets.
Second-Class — Experienced fighters. Can project Aura beyond their bodies, often seen leading squads in battle.
Knight-Class — Elite combatants. Able to manipulate Aura with refined technique. Typically assigned as royal guards, generals, or battlefield anchors.
Great-Class — Rare individuals who have achieved mastery over their power. Capable of devastating techniques and wide-area impact. Usually command entire divisions.
Warden-Class — The highest known rank. These are monsters in human skin. Few ever reach this level. Their Aura presence alone can bend the battlefield. One Warden-Class equals an army.
— Signed, Lord BadWritter, Royal Regulator of All Four Kingdoms in Quartet Continent.