The world shook.
Not from impact.
Not from battle.
From something below.
The ruined streets of Varkhast split wider.
Stone buckled.
Walls cracked apart.
The palace stairs collapsed inward as if the earth itself had opened its mouth.
Knights lost their footing.
Commands turned to shouts.
Order became noise.
And still—
the trembling grew stronger.
Sora steadied Johan by the shoulder.
"…You good?"
Johan's breathing was uneven.
The echo of Riguta's touch still rang through his mind.
But his eyes were already moving—
watching the ground.
Watching the symbols.
"…Something's wrong."
Kael stepped forward.
Gravity rolled from his body in crushing waves, forcing monsters back from the widening fissures.
"All squads—fall back from the palace perimeter."
No one questioned him.
Even the captains moved immediately.
Above them—
Queen Vaeloria remained before the Demon.
Her cloak was torn.
Blood traced from the corner of her mouth.
Yet her voice did not waver.
"…Kneel."
The command descended like a mountain.
The Demon crashed to one knee.
The entire district cratered beneath its weight.
But then—
its fingers dug into the stone.
It began to rise again.
Slowly.
Violently.
Learning.
Its eyes shifted past the Queen—
toward the palace.
For the first time—
it did not attack her.
It watched below.
Riguta noticed.
And smiled.
"…Even an anomaly recognizes its elder."
Kael's head turned sharply.
"…Speak clearly."
Riguta ignored him.
He simply lifted one hand toward the palace ruins.
Every fracture in the city answered.
Lines of light raced through the streets like veins.
Ancient formations hidden beneath roads, towers, and walls awakened one after another.
Johan's eyes widened.
"…No…"
He stepped closer to the nearest crack.
Beneath the broken stone—
massive engraved chains stretched into the dark.
Each link carved with royal commands.
Each command fed by flowing aether.
Not sealing.
Supplying.
His voice dropped.
"…This kingdom wasn't built around the palace."
Sora frowned.
"…Then what was it built around?"
Johan looked toward the center of the capital.
"…A prison."
The words struck harder than any explosion.
Nearby knights froze.
Even Kael's expression hardened.
His gaze lifted—
toward the Queen.
She said nothing.
Silence became answer enough.
Riguta laughed softly.
"…How obedient."
He walked backward through burning rubble as if strolling through rain.
"…Generation after generation living inside a cage… and calling it civilization."
Kael moved.
Gravity detonated outward.
The ground folded as an immense force surged toward Riguta from every direction.
This time—
Riguta did not redirect it.
He vanished.
The pressure crushed only empty space.
His voice came from above.
"…You still strike what's in front of you."
A distortion opened in the sky.
Riguta stood within it like a figure framed in broken glass.
Sora clicked his tongue.
"Then I'll hit what's above me."
He drew his sword.
Flames burst along the blade.
Wild.
Bright.
Hungry.
He launched upward from shattered stone.
One swing.
A crescent of fire tore into the air.
Second swing.
The flames twisted together—
wings forming—
beak screaming—
a blazing phoenix born from the arc of his blade.
"Burn through him!"
The Fire Phoenix surged skyward.
Riguta's portal warped to consume it—
but the flames split apart mid-flight—
then reformed from another angle.
Unstructured.
Unreadable.
The phoenix slammed into the distortion.
BOOM.
Fire swallowed the sky.
Knights below shouted in shock.
For a moment—
Riguta disappeared within the blaze.
Then space tore open.
The fire scattered.
Riguta emerged through a second portal—
his sleeve charred.
He looked at the burn mark.
Interested.
"…Again."
Sora grinned fiercely.
"Gladly."
He rushed forward through the air itself, kicking off floating debris, blade trailing fire in erratic spirals.
Kael moved beneath him.
Understanding instantly.
He slammed one hand downward.
"Graviton Rise."
The broken earth rose in pillars around Riguta, limiting every escape angle.
Sora descended through the center—
blade overhead—
phoenix flames spiraling around him like a crown.
For the first time—
Riguta's smile faded.
Then the palace exploded.
Not outward.
Upward.
A pillar of black light erupted from beneath the throne hall.
The shockwave threw Sora and Kael away mid-attack.
Windows across the capital shattered.
Every active spell in the district flickered.
The Demon staggered back.
The Queen's command circle broke for an instant.
And from the abyss below—
something opened.
One eye.
Enormous.
Golden.
Ancient beyond language.
It looked across the battlefield once.
Every knight felt their breath stop.
Every monster froze.
Even the Demon lowered its head.
Queen Vaeloria trembled.
Just once.
Barely visible.
But Kael saw it.
"…Your Majesty…"
Her voice came quieter than before.
"…All forces… retreat."
No one moved.
They could not.
The eye blinked.
The chains across the city shattered all at once.
And a voice older than kingdoms rose from beneath the capital.
"…Who wears my crown?"
Riguta's portal widened behind him.
He looked directly at Johan one last time, and smiled.
Then he disappeared.
The ground beneath the throne began to rise.