The heavens above the imperial capital had become a living countdown toward annihilation.
Far beyond the shattered tournament grounds, beyond the burning districts and collapsing defensive walls, the gigantic Monarch Eradication Protocol continued rotating across the fractured sky like a divine execution mechanism descending upon a condemned world. Endless golden symbols stretched across the heavens in concentric layers, each rune older than the empire itself, each carrying the terrifying authority of higher-realm judgment.
The formation illuminated the world like a second sun.
Yet unlike sunlight, its radiance carried no warmth.
Only extermination.
Every second that passed caused the pressure descending from the heavens to intensify further. Space groaned beneath its existence. Clouds evaporated instantly upon touching the golden light. Entire sections of the sky warped unnaturally as if reality itself feared what was approaching.
