A few hours slipped by as the throne room emptied, courtiers departing with bright but hollow smiles.
Kale guided his small procession through winding corridors until they arrived at the private solar overlooking the gardens. He turned first to Shia's clone, who was still blushing and fidgeting like a bride-to-be, and gently brushed a knuckle beneath her chin.
"I'll come to your chambers tonight, princess. Wear something worthy of a queen."
The clone's painted lips parted in a delighted gasp. "Yes, my lord."
Kale waved them off lazily, sending Caleum and Draven away.
The weary king bowed deeply, leading the false princess and the lone remaining prince away as he muttered on about wedding plans.
Soon, only Sylvara and Rhea stood before him.
Kale's tone turned cold as ice.
"Rhea. Find Prince Aster. Tell him his new lord expects him at dawn for a private audience. Don't take no for an answer." Rhea's eyes gleamed with predatory amusement, her greatsword thrumming at her back.
"Understood."
"Sylvara." Kale's eyes shifted to the violet-eyed beauty. "Get in touch with Mother. Let her know Solace is ours... and I want the next name on the list before sunrise."
Sylvara gave a slight nod, the black rose at her throat pulsing once. "As you wish, love."
Without another word, they walked away, their footsteps disappearing into the fading light.
Now completely alone, Kale strolled through the palace grounds as if simply admiring the gardens, hands clasped behind his back, boots soundless on the marble paths.
Every step, however, was intentional, every pause carefully planned.
He slipped through a neglected servant's gate, descended an old staircase overgrown with ivy, and pushed open a corroded grate that should have been locked away centuries ago.
"It should be somewhere around here, according to the instructions," he murmured, his breath misting in the sudden chill of the underground air.
The forgotten proving ground of the ancient Seraphiel Kingdom lay hidden beneath the current palace, like the tomb of a long-buried god.
Towering pillars of star-forged obsidian stretched fifty meters into the darkness, their surfaces carved with runes that still leaked a faint silver glow. The floor was pure voidstone—so black it devoured any reflection...
At least, that's how Ash had found it.
Now, it was nothing but ruin.
Pillars lay cracked like snapped bones, craters marred the voidstone, and shattered constructs were strewn across the ground in jagged fragments.
Every weapon, every pill, every last drop of elixir had vanished.
At the very center rested a lone scrap of black cloth, pinned beneath a broken sword, marked with crimson ink in lazy, mocking handwriting.
'Appreciate the gifts, Mr. SSS ♡
Try not to cry too hard, golden boy.
– Sincerely... Who knows?'
Kale gripped the cloth so tightly that smoke curled up from the fabric.
"Dammit! I did exactly what you said, and this is all I get?"
Only silence replied—until a woman's voice, ancient, amused, slipped straight into his mind.
"Mortal, watch your tongue."
The words slammed him to his knees. Blood dripped from his ears. The floor cracked beneath him.
"An unexpected… anomaly has appeared in your world. The prince, Ash Solace… he must be eliminated."
"A-anomaly? What do you—"
"Never mind it. Continue conquering. This place was meant as a reward. Since events have shifted… accept a greater blessing."
The world froze—though not all of Elaris, just the buried chamber.
Space ripped apart, and from the tear floated a crown of living black flame. It spun lazily once before coming to rest half an inch above Kale's head, weightless yet heavier than mountains.
Reality snapped back into motion.
A status window burned itself into his vision.
----
[Aspect: Crown of Ten Thousand Tongues (SSS)
Passive Effects
Absolute Dominion Resonance
-Every being who has ever verbally submitted to the user (through any agreement, oath, promise, or even casual "yes") is permanently registered as a "Tongue." Their voices literally become extensions of his own.
-The user can speak through any Tongue simultaneously, no matter the distance.
-When the user issues a command, every Tongue within a 500-kilometer radius hears it inside their skull as their own innermost thought. Resistance is possible only by SS rank or higher.
-The only way to break this connection is if the user dies.
Throne-Bearer's Echo
-Once per day, the user can manifest a perfect phantom copy of yourself at the location of any Tongue. The phantom possesses 100 % of his current power and lasts until the next sunrise. You can see, hear, and act through it as if you were physically present.
Active Effect – Let My Voice Be Law
-For one hour per week, the user can declare a single sentence as Absolute Law across every territory he controls.
-Every living creature (below S rank) who hears the sentence (directly or through a Tongue) is compelled to treat it as immutable reality.]
----
Kale rose slowly, fingers brushing the invisible crown, smile widening until it split his face.
"As promised… it will all become mine."
----
In a place that existed both infinitely far and impossibly close to Elaris, two women sat in a domain woven entirely from clouds.
Cumulonimbus thrones loomed high behind them, and even the tea in their cups was condensed mist, carrying the taste of rain on the verge of falling.
The blonde woman sprawled sideways across her seat, legs swinging lazily, her bright green eyes sprouting living leaves in place of pupils.
"Hey, isn't that cheating?" she asked, her voice rustling like wind through new foliage.
Across from her, the pale-blue-haired woman pouted, storms brewing in her clouded eyes.
"It's not fair—I'm stuck with an anomaly while you get to playhouse with your little dragon. This just levels the bet."
"SSS-rank Aspect as a consolation prize? This will be the second one you've given him, not to mention what you're doing to his poor mother." The blonde arched an eyebrow.
"That's a bit much for 'even.'"
"Tsk. SSS rank is nothing but a trinket, and you know it." The cloud-eyed woman flicked her wrist, and a screen of solid mist formed between them, replaying Ash's death under Draven's fists.
They watched as his soul visibly drifted away, only to snap back into the same body moments later.
The blonde straightened in her seat. "That shouldn't be possible."
"It's the same soul," the other murmured. "Not reincarnation. Not possession. Something else entirely."
"Even so..." the blonde muttered under her breath.
More visions flashed: Ash training, Ash vanishing and reappearing, Ash standing in the Seraphiel ruins months before Kale ever arrived, Ash laughing while looting everything in sight.
Then the final image appeared—a fox woman with ten black tails tipped in white and dark, moonlit eyes walking beside him.
The blonde exhaled a single breath that made the cloud domain tremble.
"A Celestial Fox?!…"
Back on Elaris
Far below the massive World Kingdom Stele, every Lesser Stele across the world flared crimson at once.
VOSS DOMINION SUBJUGATES 4TH KINGDOM IN 6 MONTHS
SOLACE FALLS IN LESS THAN A DAY.