"Kuaaaagh...!"
A beast-like roar burst from Liu Bei's mouth.
The Golden Fragment embedded in his heart heated up like a fireball, spreading through his veins to his entire body.
It was pain that burned flesh and carved bone, but at the same time, it was a colossal stirring awakening the deepest part of his soul.
It was then.
Explosive pillars of light erupted from Liu Bei's heart.
It was not the sharp and greedy gold that the Golden Fragment originally possessed.
Lucifella's transparent and noble holy power, which she had burned her life to use for healing the forest.
And the primordial vitality held by the blue bioluminescent plants of the 'Hagon's Terrace' forest that had protected this canyon for thousands of years.
The qualification of a King bursting from Liu Bei's heart sucked in all those energies scattered in the atmosphere and resonated.
Golden authority and blue life mixed, reborn as a completely new color that had never existed in this world before.
Zzzzt-
Liu Bei's black eyes were slowly, but perfectly dyed Emerald.
His expression, distorted by pain, calmed down like a lie.
The fear of death facing him, the pain gnawing at his flesh, were no longer felt.
Only one thing.
The instinct remained that he must embrace them.
He raised his trembling hand and reached out with an empty palm toward the swarm of tens of thousands of Golden Predators rushing to devour him.
At that moment, the true power dormant within the inner side of the man called the 'Hornless King.'
'Benevolence' took shape and burst out into the world.
Whoooosh-!
A giant tidal wave of light rose from the tip of Liu Bei's palm.
It was not a sharp offensive flash designed to cut and pierce enemies.
It was a soft and gigantic wave of healing that caressed and embraced all wounded things in the world.
The brilliant Emerald Wave hit the fiercely rushing Golden Tsunami head-on.
It was not a collision of light and darkness.
It was like a mother's embrace calming a raging wave.
"Kieee...? Kkik?"
The moment the light touched them, an unbelievable miracle happened.
The giant alpha predator rushing at the forefront, emitting murderous intent, stopped abruptly.
Unable to overcome inertia, it rolled on the ground raising dust, but the beast did not try to get up and attack again.
Sizzle... Shhh...
A surprising change occurred in the bodies of the monsters touched by the emerald light.
The golden spikes and saw-like protrusions that had sprouted hideously to tear opponents apart melted down softly like spring snow and disappeared.
The outer skin, hard like armor, turned into soft leather, and the blood-red eyes glistening with greed settled into a calm gold.
That change spread to the army of tens of thousands in an instant.
The mysterious wave did not affect only living things.
The earth of the canyon, which had been stained with blood and oil and rotting for thousands of years.
Through the cracks in that barren soil, nameless wildflowers bearing emerald energy began to poke their heads out.
It was a truly marvelous sight where a land of death was instantly transformed into a land of life.
Grrr... Whimper...
The roar that seemed to swallow the canyon disappeared.
Instead, only the low growls that beasts make when they feel good filled the battlefield.
They were no longer destroyers.
Like gentle sheep finding their lost mother, tens of thousands of beasts lay flat on their stomachs in front of Liu Bei and bowed their heads.
A lie-like silence descended upon the canyon.
Only the sound of a mysterious wind blowing from Liu Bei's fingertips filled that silence.
The miracle did not happen only to the monsters.
The Emerald Wave extending from Liu Bei's heart passed over the predator swarm, sweeping through the rear where the refugees were and up to the castle walls guarded by Liu Zhang's soldiers.
"Ugh... My head... is clearing..."
The fanatics who had been poisoned by the Elder's spores and rampaging like hungry ghosts.
The red madness covering their eyes washed away as if rinsed clean.
Regaining their senses, they looked around with blank expressions.
The blood-stained stones in their hands, torn clothes, and the unrealistic scene unfolding before their eyes.
They instinctively realized that the one who saved them was that man standing in front, shining with a brilliant halo behind his back.
The soldiers of Liu Zhang who had been resisting desperately on the castle walls were the same.
The terrifying predators that were about to trample them just moments ago lying down like gentle sheep.
And Liu Bei standing alone in the center.
One old soldier watching this from the wall muttered blankly, dropping his spear.
He had served Liu Zhang for the past 20 years and fought in numerous battles, but his heart had never beaten this wildly before.
The true Lord he had waited for his entire life was standing not in a splendid palace, but right there in the mud.
"This is... What on earth..."
The will to fight in the soldiers' hearts crumbled like a sandcastle.
For what were they pointing their spears?
For whom were they fighting?
In front of that overwhelming light, all justifications were nothing but trivial dust.
It was not submission due to fear.
Nor was it a servile surrender in front of martial power crushing them with overwhelming force.
The gigantic 'Virtue' emitted by a being who tried to save everyone by sacrificing himself.
It was an instinctive awe for that noble spirit.
Clang.
Someone dropped the sword they were holding as if possessed.
That clear sound became a signal announcing surrender.
Thud. Clatter.
The sound of weapons dropping continued throughout the battlefield.
Soldiers threw away their spears, and fanatics put down their weapons.
They bent their trembling knees.
Even though no one ordered it, they lowered their bodies as their souls commanded.
Thud.
No one was first or last.
Liu Zhang's soldiers, the lost refugees, and the repenting fanatics knelt on the ground one by one.
In the place where the distinction between enemy and ally disappeared, only silent worship for the one King remained.
Liu Bei standing with the brilliant Emerald Halo behind his back.
The light flowing from the fragment embedded in his chest was wrapping his whole body holily.
His blood-stained clothes fluttered in the wind, but his appearance was no longer shabby.
The man pointed at as the weakest race in the Demon Realm.
The 'Hornless Punk' treated with contempt because he had no horn.
But at this moment, he was a true 'Warlord' commanding tens of thousands of Golden Predators and hundreds of people beneath his feet.
"..."
Saintess Lucifella looked at Liu Bei's back with eyes wet with emotion.
Hot tears flowed down her cheeks.
They were not tears of sadness.
They were tears of overwhelming joy confirming that the hope she tried to protect by risking her life was never wrong.
'Do you see... My choice was not wrong.'
And, in the middle of the battlefield.
A change occurred in the expression of the most arrogant spectator, the Great Sage, Sun Wukong.
Sun Wukong's golden eyes narrowed.
He tapped the Ruyi Jingu Bang on his shoulder, chewing over the miracle that happened before his eyes.
'It's not simple mind control.'
Those subdued by force eventually rebel.
Those ruled by fear run away when that fear disappears.
Sun Wukong, who had seen countless gods and Demon Kings over thousands of years, knew that principle better than anyone.
But that is different.
Spontaneous submission welling up from the bottom of the soul.
An inexplicable energy that makes even starving beasts kneel.
'This... I might have caught a bigger fish than I thought?'
Sun Wukong curled the corners of his mouth into a smirk.
A power that neither the gods of the Celestial Realm nor the Demon Kings of the Demon Realm possessed.
A hunch crossed his mind that perhaps that hornless punk might be the vessel of a true 'King' to end this turbulent age.
Sun Wukong twirled the Ruyi Jingu Bang and put it behind his back, spitting out words casually as if nothing happened.
"Not bad. You pass, hornless punk."
Liu Bei moved his steps slowly.
As he moved, the prostrate predators parted like the Red Sea, opening a path.
Liu Bei approached the giant alpha predator that had bowed its head to him first.
The monster, the size of a house, flattened itself further to show submission as Liu Bei approached.
Liu Bei reached out his trembling hand.
His palm touched the monster's hard and cold golden head.
"Grrr..."
The monster made a low sound as if it felt good and accepted Liu Bei's touch.
It wasn't the touch of cold metal, but the warmth of life was transmitted through his fingertips.
The communion was complete.
Liu Bei raised his head and looked beyond.
The giant hole in the wall pierced by Sun Wukong's Ruyi Jingu Bang.
Beyond it, a world completely different from this dull gray canyon unfolded.
A landscape where warm sunlight poured down and peach blossoms in full bloom fluttered in the wind.
The paradise everyone dreamed of but no one could reach.
'The Peach Garden' was there.
Liu Bei squeezed the fragment embedded in his chest.
Now he would not hide there as a cowardly fugitive.
He would lead the people behind his back and enter there as the proud master commanding this Golden Army.
With every step he took, a heavy responsibility rising from beneath his feet pressed on his shoulders.
But it was no longer heavy or painful.
Rather, that pleasant weight was becoming a new driving force supporting him.
"...Let's go."
Liu Bei's small but firm voice resonated.
Amidst the fantastic landscape where the golden sunset and the emerald wave mixed, the silhouette of Liu Bei taking his first step toward a new era slowly faded away.