Ash walked the central avenue of the reborn capital with Nia locked on his left arm and Vaeloria on his right, their tails lazily entwined behind them like living banners. A week had passed since Velora entered the rankings, and the city had become a hymn in crimson and white.
Every rooftop flew banners of fresh blood-silk and snow-satin that snapped in a wind that smelled faintly of phoenix flame and winter roses. The cobblestones themselves had been redone overnight into alternating crimson and ivory tiles that caught the rose-gold dawn and threw it back into the sky.
Sky-islands drifted overhead in perfect formation; their undersides painted with murals of a crowned fox wreathed in fire and moonlight.
Citizens lined the streets in perfect silence; men and women of every age sank to one knee as the trio passed, foreheads pressed to the warm stone, not out of fear but out of a devotion so complete it felt like gravity.
"Ashy," Nia murmured, tilting her head so her tricolored hair brushed his shoulder, "shouldn't they be a little more shocked about all the tails? Ten black-white, ten white and rose ones—kinda hard to miss."
Ash glanced at a young mother bowing so low her child's cheek touched the street, then at an old guard whose eyes shone with tears of reverence instead of alarm.
"Hmm. Maybe the crown's loyalty is stronger than I thought," he answered, voice low and thoughtful.
In truth he wasn't certain.
'....Over half a billion of these people see me as their god... due to my skill then the rest were simply bound to my banner....' He thought
Either way, the streets stayed calm, and that was enough for now.
They ascended the palace steps beneath an arch of phoenix flame that bowed as they passed. The halls beyond were deliberately empty; the old staff had been released with honor and wealth, not punishment.
Ash wanted every hand that served him chosen by his own eyes. The silence echoed, broken only by the soft pad of their feet and the whisper of ten celestial tails brushing marble.
They entered the throne room.
A single immense table of crimson wood and white marble now dominated the center, maps and crystalline slates already spread across it. At the far end, raised on a dais of polished white and rose-gold, waited Ash's throne.
Thalion and Seris stood beside it, faces tight with the kind of tension that only bad news carried.
"Your Majesty," Thalion greeted with a precise bow.
Ash slid into the throne.
Nia perched on the left armrest without hesitation, legs swinging.
Vaeloria claimed the right, one arm draped possessively across the back, her tails curling around Ash's like black and white smoke.
"Uhhh, what's with those looks?" Ash asked, one hand already threading idly through Nia's tricolored hair while the other stroked the soft fur of Vaeloria's nearest tail.
The previous crew wouldn't lose privileges.... well, the privileges that would soon come, they would have them.
"Your Majesty.." Thalion gave a slight bow seeing Ash and the others enter the throne room.
Thalion exhaled once, sharp, and flicked a crimson cloth into the air. The artifact unfurled like a banner of liquid blood, then froze mid-float. Letters of molten scarlet ignited across its surface, searing themselves into every retina in the room.
[Declaration of Total War
Issuer: Voss Kingdom – Rank 9 400
Ruler: Kale Voss
Terms: Winner takes all – crown, territory, lives.
Countdown: Three months.]
The words pulsed like a fresh wound.
"Isn't he the supposed only SSS-rank talent in the world?" Vaeloria asked, voice silk over steel, tails still lazily mingling with Ash's.
"Right," Thalion confirmed, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "This declaration came from nowhere. And even if we refuse, they will march regardless. This declaration is nothing more than a warning."
"Tsk. So what?" Nia scoffed, leaning forward, flames flickering at her fingertips. "You're acting like we're scared of them?"
Thalion opened his mouth, but Ash's voice cut through first, soft and thoughtful.
"A declaration of war, huh…"
His fingers stilled in Nia's hair. His rose-gold eyes narrowed to slits of fire.
He leaned back, crown catching the light like fresh blood on snow. "Accept it," he said, calm as a death sentence. "Three months is perfect. The main legions are weeks away from S-rank. When they cross the threshold, we'll have one hundred thousand S-ranks ready to march.
That also gives all of you more than enough time to awaken your physiques. Two months in the Greater Chamber will finish the job. You don't even have to train—just exist there and let the seed bloom."
His gaze shifted to Seris, who had been silent the entire time, crimson eyes locked on him with absolute, worshipful focus.
'Her affection had long reached 100 %.'
"My General~" he teased, voice dropping into velvet. Seris's cheeks flushed scarlet so fast it looked painful.
"Y-yes, Your Majesty?"
Ash's smile curved, lazy and lethal.
"I need your help. Caelan and Kael are too young, too inexperienced to command an army of this scale. They will follow your lead in this first war. You will have complete authority over our hundred thousand S-ranks."
He paused, savoring the silence he was about to shatter.
"Oh, right. There are currently two hundred S-ranks from the Elarian Empire living in the palace. All, completely loyal."
The room froze.
*Silence*
"WHAT?!"
Nia jolted upright.
Thalion's glasses slid a centimeter down his nose.
Seris simply stared, lips parted.
Ash chuckled, low and warm, and shook his head.
"Yep. They attacked while you were painting Crysend red.... long story short—they belong to us now."
He turned to Thalion. "Next: gather every scrap of intel on the Voss Kingdom. Two people will arrive shortly to help you."
Seris recovered first. "Two people?"
Ash's smirk widened; he had been blinking with Eyes of First Dawn every day for a week and knew exactly what the next minutes held.
"Queen Sonna of the Voss Kingdom, and her sister Queen Yonna."
"Eh?" Nia blinked. "And why would they help us?"
Ash leaned back, crown flaring like a second sunrise.
"Let's just call it a favor."
He flicked two fingers toward the doors.
"Thalion, go receive our guests."
Far beyond the throne-room walls, two streaks of blue light were already cutting across the rose-gold sky....