The gates of the monster capital lood like cliffs carved from black stone. Runes blazed across them in burning gold, humming with power that pressed even the air flat. From a distance the walls seed unshakable, their height scraping the low clouds, their towers lined with watchfires that burned silver instead of fla.
But the closer they ca, the more it stank of fear.
Thousands pressed against the gates. Wolfkin limped on broken legs, their packs scattered and bloodied. Boar soldiers with cracked armor shoved their way forward, tusks still stained with ash from their ruined holand. Serpents with half-burned coils slithered through the crowd, hissing in panic. Foxkin darted between larger beasts, their illusions flickering wild and uncontrolled as they clawed for space. The air was thick with cries, roars, and pleas.
"Let us in!" one bellowed, his voice raw.
"The capital is the only place left!" another scread, dragging a wounded child through the crush.
"Our wards are gone—open the gates!"
The guards held their line. Towering figures in blackened plate, spears braced, their auras steady as stone. But their jaws were clenched, eyes darting. Even they felt the press of desperation against them. Every shove of the crowd made the gates quake, every roar of pleading broke into snarls of rage when they were refused.
"Hold your ground!" the captain barked, his voice sharp as steel. "The King’s word stands. Entry will be ordered—none will storm the gates!"
His words only stirred the frenzy. Boars ramd their shoulders against the walls, wolves clawed at the stone, serpents whipped their tails. The guards shoved back with the blunt ends of their spears, sparks of aura flashing, trying to push the tide away without cutting them down.
Lucian walked straight through it.
The crowd parted without realizing why. Space bent faintly around him, the crush of bodies pulling aside as though the world itself refused to block his path. Lucy walked at his right, cloak trailing ash-stained edges, her sword sheathed but her eyes sharp. Karl stalked on the other side, his grin faint, claws twitching like he was half-tempted to test them on the desperate backs pressed close.
The monsters didn’t know who they were, not yet. To them they were just figures that didn’t belong—too calm in chaos, too sharp among panic. But still the way cleared. Instinct knew what reason didn’t.
Lucy’s eyes scanned the crowd. Bloodied packs. Shattered clans. Faces twisted not only with fear but with sothing else—dependence. Their gazes kept flicking upward, to the walls, to the banners burning with the Dragon King’s crest.
She leaned closer to Karl, her voice low but steady. "They really look up to him."
Karl tilted his head, watching a wolf mother clutching her cubs against her chest, eyes wide with desperate faith as she shouted for the gates to open. Another boar slamd his tusks against the stone, screaming that the King would protect them. The na carried in every voice, not even spoken but assud—this was the one place they believed untouchable.
Karl smirked, but it didn’t reach his eyes. "Of course they do. To them, he’s everything. The king of kings. The one who never loses." His grin tightened, his claws flexing. "And he is a great king. I won’t deny that. He built all this. Kept them fed, kept them proud. To them, he’s a father."
Lucy glanced at him, her brow faintly furrowed. "To them."
Karl’s smirk broke into sothing sharper, thinner. He spat to the side, his voice dropping. "But not to . His biggest mistake was thinking I was just another beast to mold. He never saw . Just the son that disappointed him. The cub that wouldn’t roar the way he wanted." His grin widened again, bitter now. "So let’s see how proud they sound when this city turns to dust."
Lucy didn’t answer. She only looked at him a mont longer before turning her gaze back to the gates. Her grip brushed the hilt of Infernal Eclipse, not in threat, but in readiness.
At the head of the cleared path, the guard captain finally noticed them. His spear lowered half a point, suspicion burning in his eyes. "You three. What business do you have here?"
Lucian stopped. His cloak shifted in the dust-laden wind, his expression calm, unreadable. He didn’t answer the question. His gaze lifted instead to the wards etched across the massive gates, studying the glow, the pulse of power that ran like veins across the stone.
Lucian drew a folded sheet from his cloak. The parchnt was old but convincing, marked with the sigil of a dissolved serpent clan. His voice was even, low. "Survivors from the marshes. Nothing left of ho. Seeking refuge under the King."
The guard narrowed his eyes, scanning the page. He looked them over once, suspicion flickering, then passed the sheet to the captain. The captain grunted, rubbing his thumb over the ink. "Marshes burned weeks ago. You’re late."
Lucian didn’t blink. "We ran far. Lost half our kin on the road."
The captain studied him a mont longer, then shoved the parchnt back. "Fine. Move along. Next!"
Lucy inclined her head faintly, stepping through as though the weight of exhaustion pressed her down. Karl followed, his hood shadowing his grin, though his hands itched to flex his claws. The crowd behind them shoved harder, voices rising in anger.
A foxkin scread. "They let them through—why not us?!"
The guards slamd their spears down, sparks of aura bursting against the stone. "Back! Or you’ll taste steel!"
The crowd recoiled in a wave of fear. Cries turned to whispers again.
Lucian, Lucy, and Karl slipped past the gates just as they closed behind them, the crash of stone drowning out the roar of the desperate still trapped outside.
Inside the walls, the capital spread wide and steep, streets cut into the mountain itself. Towers rose above them, banners of the Dragon King snapping in the high wind, the crest etched in gold. The air thrumd with layered wards, stronger than anything they had felt in the broken nations outside. It pressed on their chests, steady, suffocating, like a reminder of the power at the heart of the city.
Karl’s smirk lingered, his gaze sweeping the city he had once called ho. "Majestic, like I said. But all things fall."
Lucian’s cloak shifted as he moved forward, his voice flat but certain. "Then let’s start walking."
And behind them, the gates slamd shut on the chaos still howling outside.
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