The Eagle Clan Head was still stammering.
"This—this is a misunderstanding—Your Majesty, I swear—"
Raven did not raise his voice.
He did not sit back on the throne.
He stepped forward.
The air shifted.
Those closest felt it first—a pressure, ancient and suffocating, like standing too close to a storm.
Raven's hand lifted.
His nails elongated.
Not grotesquely—precisely. Sharpened, darkened, gleaming like obsidian claws kissed by firelight.
Gasps ripped through the hall.
Before anyone could move—
Raven's hand drove forward.
Straight through the Eagle Clan Head's chest.
Silence detonated.
The man froze, eyes wide, mouth opening and closing in disbelief. His hands clutched weakly at Raven's wrist as if trying to understand what had happened.
Raven met his gaze.
"You chose treachery," he said calmly. "This is its end."
He withdrew his hand.
The Eagle Clan Head collapsed, lifeless, eyes still staring as though death itself had surprised him.
The Great Hall erupted into terror.
Some screamed.
Others fell to their knees.
More stood frozen, faces drained of color.
Raven turned—blood trailing slowly from his fingers.
"Kallen."
Kallen stepped forward instantly, expression grim, unshaken.
"Go to the Eagle Clan," Raven ordered. "Behead every adult male. No exceptions."
A sharp inhale rippled through the court.
"The women," Raven continued, "the children, and the boys too young to hold arms—send them to the borders."
He paused.
"As slaves."
The command landed like a death knell.
Kallen bowed once. "It will be done."
Raven turned slightly and seized the nearest slave by the collar, dragging him close without looking.
"Cloth," he said.
The slave trembled violently.
A maid nearby rushed forward, hands shaking so badly she nearly dropped the rag as she offered it.
Raven wiped his hand slowly.
Deliberately.
As if cleaning away something insignificant.
"Filthy blood," he said, releasing the cloth.
The Tiger Clan Head stood rigid, fury and shock battling behind his eyes.
So this was the truth.
The dragon was never weak.
He was waiting.
Raven did not dismiss the court.
He simply turned and walked away.
His footsteps echoed through the hall as Kallen and the guards followed, already moving to carry out his will.
Behind them, the court remained frozen—
Forced to witness what happened when the King of Acosta decided mercy had ended.
And every clan understood the same thing:
This was not a warning.
It was the beginning.