"Who," he asked, eyes fixed upon the throne at the heart of the hall, "is your King?"
"Insolence," she shouted, fury flaring across her dark features.
She never finished.
Lucien was already there.
Space itself seemed to fold as he stepped forward, his presence collapsing the distance between them. One hand closed around her head. There was a sharp, sickening twist, bone grinding against bone, and the sound of something vital snapping apart. Strength alone did the rest. No magic, no hesitation. Her head was torn free in a single, merciless motion.
She had no time to scream. No time to beg. No time to understand.
Her body collapsed onto the golden tiles with a dull, hollow sound, lifeless before it finished falling. Lucien held her severed head by the hair, blood dripping steadily onto the polished floor as he ascended the staircase toward the thrones, each step measured, unhurried.
The remaining five figures stirred.
Murmurs rippled through the hall, tense and shaken. They had witnessed power before, but this was different. One of their own, a being of status and strength, had been erased without resistance, without ceremony.
One of them finally stood.
His face was pale and slick with sweat. White hair clung to his temples, blue eyes wide with restrained panic beneath the shadow of his cloak.
"Let us not prolong this," he said, forcing steadiness into his voice. "Why are you here, Ruler of the Forest?"
Veldra did not answer.
He did not even look at him.
The question meant nothing. Their reaction meant nothing. They had discarded their fallen companion as if she were already irrelevant. That alone told him everything he needed to know about this race. Pride without wisdom. Authority without restraint.
If the elves were this defiant, this arrogant, what of the others? Would they all prove to be thorns demanding removal?
Veldra walked forward at an unhurried pace.
He passed Lucien without a word.
He passed the standing elf without acknowledgment.
His gaze never wavered from the throne.
At its center sat the King, golden hair spilling over his shoulders, eyes heavy with boredom rather than fear. Vines and living wind coiled around the throne itself, nature shaped into a symbol of sovereignty.
They locked eyes.
One stood.
One sat.
The imbalance was unmistakable, and it displeased Veldra.
The hall felt smaller under his presence, the air tightening, as though the forest itself was holding its breath.
"I define you," Veldra said, his voice calm, final, and absolute, "to be a dead man."
As soon as those words left Veldra's mouth, the King fell silent.
Not from shock.Not from disbelief.Not from fear.
He fell silent because he had already crossed the boundary between existence and absence.
Life abandoned him in an instant. There was no heartbeat to falter, no breath to fail, no thought to unravel. His mind was gone before it could register danger, his soul erased before it could cling to form. Body, will, spirit, all severed at once.
The King became a dead man.
His body slumped upon the throne of wind and vine, limp and meaningless. The sight irritated Veldra. Even in death, the corpse dared to occupy a seat that no longer belonged to it.
With a small flick of his hand, Control answered.
The body was lifted, twisted inward, and withered into nothingness, not ash, not dust, but absence itself. The throne stood empty once more, untouched, pristine, as if no ruler had ever sat upon it.
This was preferable.
War was wasteful. Loud. Inefficient. Killing a King was precise, elegant, and final. Authority collapsed the moment its source vanished. Veldra appreciated solutions that went straight to the point.
A chime echoed, heard by him alone.
== <<[|Congratulations, You have subdued the elven realm.|]>> ==
== <<[| QUEST |]>> ==
Objective: Subdue the Elven Realm and its King
Step 1: Wage war against the Elven Race-dropped
Alternative: Eliminate the King of the Elven Race-completed
== <<[| --- |]>> ==
== <<[|You chose the alternative|]>> ==
== <<[| You have completed the quest! |]>> ==
== <<[| You have eliminated the King of the Elves. |]>> ==
== <<[|You have leveled up!|]>> ==
== <<[|You have leveled up!|]>> ==
== <<[|You have leveled up!|]>> ==
== <<[|You have leveled up!|]>> ==
== <<[|Rank: E | Level: 5|]>> ==
== <<[|All stats have increased by 12|]>> ==
== <<[|STATS|]>> ==
Strength: 82 | Agility: 82
Durability: 92 | Endurance: 82
Perception: 82 | Intelligence: 82
== <<[|------|]>> ==
== <<[|You have awakened the title: Murderer|]>> ==
== <<[|Titles: ??? | Reincarnator | First One | Ruler of The Forest | Murderer|]>> ==
== <<[|For completing the quest without displaying weakness, you have been granted a reward|]>> ==
== <<[|You have awakened an Aspect!|]>> ==
== <<[|You have obtained the Aspect: Covenant!|]>> ==
== <<[|ASPECT|]>> ==
Name: Covenant
Rank: Primordial
Classification: Active | Bond | Conceptual
Description: No being under your authority within the forest may surpass you. All the strength they possess is reflected in you. All weakness they carry becomes fuel for your supremacy.
== <<[|-----|]>> ==
== <<[|Additional rewards are being granted...|]>> ==
== <<[|You have unlocked a Fragment of Prismora.|]>> ==
== <<[Fragment]>> ==
Name: ??????
Rank: ???
Classification: Manipulation | Conceptual | Imagination
Description: A Fragment of Prismora. Allows the user to impose imagination upon reality through Prismora itself.
== <<[|--------|]>> ==
== <<[|ATTRIBUTES|]>> ==
Affinity: ??? | Prismora | Aura: ???->[un-awakened]
Perks: ??? | Art: ??->[un-awakened]
Body: ???? | State: ???? | Aspects: Control | Definer | Convenant
Facets: Lucien | Fragments: ????? ->[Prismora]
== <<[|-------|]>> ==