The Gate of the Soulforge Citadel
Nux stood before the Soulforge Citadel.
The palace stretched endlessly into the sky, its towering spires glistening beneath the sun like spears of light. Golden roofs reflected brilliance, while the grand steps that led to the gates carried the weight of centuries of reverence. The entire complex exuded a solemn, untouchable majesty—an aura that pressed down on the heart like the judgment of the heavens.
Lines of silver-armored knights stood sentinel, spears gleaming like frozen lightning in their hands. Their eyes were sharp, their posture rigid. Every breath, every motion carried the iron discipline of men forged into blades.
Nux took a step forward.
The cold steel of a spear shaft suddenly barred his chest.
"The Soulforge Citadel is an important place. Stop." The silver-armored knight's tone was clipped, his eyes unyielding.
"I want to enter," Nux replied evenly.
The knight's jaw tightened. "Do you have a pass?"
Nux's gaze deepened. "No pass, no entry?"
"Right."
Nux tilted his head, his voice calm, but carrying the weight of inevitability. "Then is there no other way to enter?"
A flicker of impatience twisted across the knight's face. His lips curled into disdain. "Without a pass, it's useless. If this sacred hall could be entered at will, what meaning would our guard hold? Go back, boy."
A faint crease formed between Nux's brows. His silence carried more chill than words.
"What? Angry?" The silver-armored knight sneered, arrogance gleaming in his eyes. "No matter who you are, without a pass you're nothing. Get out. Don't stand here and waste my air."
Nux's expression darkened. His silence grew heavy.
The knight leaned closer, spitting his words like venom. "What, you want to make trouble? A commoner like you? Let's see how much you're worth."
The contempt in his voice dripped with certainty. He wasn't bluffing—his five soul rings, glowing faintly beneath his armor, marked him as a Spiritual Monarch. Against the young man standing before him—seemingly without cultivation—he felt no need for respect.
But Nux's voice cut through his arrogance like a cold blade.
"Do you even know who I've come to find?"
The knight hesitated, his smirk faltering slightly. "Who?"
Nux's eyes were calm, his voice light as drifting ash. "Rose."
The knight's face hardened instantly. His sneer turned sharp. "Presumptuous! You dare speak Her Majesty the Queen's name so casually?"
A pulse of light exploded as five soul rings—yellow, purple, purple, black, black—rose around him in a gleaming halo, pressing down with suffocating force. His aura rolled outward, shaking the courtyard. Other knights instantly tightened formation, spears pointed, soul rings activating.
The leading knight scoffed. "If you were looking for someone else, perhaps it would be excusable. But Her Majesty the Queen? Even if the heavens split, you are not qualified to stand before her."
He spat the words with contempt. "You? Deserve it too?"
The words hung like a blade in the air.
Around him, laughter broke out—mocking, cruel, full of scorn.
"Haha! Look at him tremble—before the Commander has even exerted his strength! And he wants to see the Queen? Has he pissed himself yet?"
"Commander! Look at his smooth skin, carrying that pink rabbit in his arms like a pet girl. He looks like a bitch more than a man."
"Throw him out! Don't let his blood stain the gate of the Soulforge Citadel. It'd dirty the Queen's palace."
Mockery echoed, striking like stones against Nux's silence.
The soft-boned Syra Rabbit in his arms shifted nervously, her long ears twitching as if to warn him. Yet Nux did not move, his head lowered, his shoulders trembling faintly.
The knight's laughter swelled. "Brothers! Do you see it? This little boy is already shaking with fear. He dared to shout about seeing the Queen, but he can't even stand straight in front of us!"
The sneers swirled like a storm. And then—
From the shadow of his lowered face, Nux's voice slipped out, quiet but cold.
"I said… are the guards of the Soulforge Citadel truly this brainless?"
The courtyard froze.
Every knight's laughter cut short like a strangled throat. Their eyes bulged in disbelief.
"He… what did he say?"
"This brat dares—"
"You've grown bold, haven't you? Trembling with fear and still speaking provocatively? Are you seeking death?"
"Wrong place, boy. This isn't a playground."
The Commander roared, his soul rings pulsing brighter. One by one, circles of spirit light bloomed around the knights. The air thickened with their combined aura, a storm of crushing force meant to obliterate a man without cultivation.
Dozens of halos pressed downward. The earth itself groaned beneath the pressure.
Their eyes gleamed with vicious delight. The scene was already written in their minds: the arrogant boy crushed to the ground, his bones shattering, his blood painting the sacred steps.
But the script broke.
The trembling in Nux's body vanished. His back straightened like a drawn sword. He raised his head, and the shadows hiding his eyes peeled away.
A wicked smile curved across his lips.
His gaze swept the circle of knights, calm, steady, dangerous.
"I haven't been mocked like this in a long time," he said softly, every syllable carrying a cutting edge. "Forgive me. I was trembling just now—not from fear—but from holding back my anger. I shook twice, and it seems you all misunderstood."
The words dripped with venomous amusement.
Silence slammed down. The laughter of the knights died in their throats. Their confidence cracked, replaced with disbelief as they stared at the young man who should have been crushed beneath their aura—yet stood untouched, smiling like a devil unchained.
The courtyard held its breath.