​"I am your leader?" Sunny asked, the confusion in his voice quickly overshadowed by calculating self-interest. He wanted to ensure this wasn't a temporary truce, but absolute submission.

​"Yes, Ruler! Anyone who defeated Elemental Prism will be the undeniable king of the Abyss Dragon Tribe," Ladon stated, lifting his massive head, his red eyes filled with the solemnity of generations of history.

​"So you mean, you will follow my order to the very end?" Sunny pressed, a slight lift to his chin.

​"Yes, My Lord," Ladon answered without a hint of hesitation. The answer was his tribe's destiny, a heavy, yet comforting truth.

​Sunny felt a genuine smile stretch his lips, swiftly twisting into a cold, predatory smirk. The Abyss Dragon Tribe was an elite army dropped into his lap. He looked past the enormous dragon, his mind already set on his true, grand adversary.

​"Great Mother," he whispered, a promise and a threat combined. "Wait for me."

_____

​[Lower World: Eldoria]

​Josephine stood upon the vast, ornate balcony, the cool morning air a sharp contrast to the strategic heat of her mind. Beside her, Ellen hugged her waist, drawing comfort and security from her mother's presence.

​"Mum," Ellen looked up, her expression worried. "Shouldn't we be helping the others against this new enemy?"

​Josephine caressed Ellen's hair, her gaze fixed on the perfect city below.

"Your father," she began, "instructed all of us to defend our nations and people above all else. He made it clear that we shouldn't initiate any action against the Great Mother until she is significantly weakened."

​"Is that why the Phoenixes, Three-eyed race, and Dwarves are silent?" Ellen wondered aloud.

​"Yes," Josephine confirmed. "They are all holding their positions."

She looked down at her daughter, her gaze softening. "Eldoria's progress is good, but we can't risk the lives of our people just to fight an enemy we know nothing about. For now, we wait, and hope that those who attacked the Great Mother will defeat her first."

​"Do you really think they can defeat her?" Ellen persisted, her child's understanding seeking a firm answer.

​Josephine sighed, the sound barely audible. "I don't know, darling. The eight immortal council elders and the four nations will surely put up a fight. But the Mother's power is... ancient."

​"My Queen!!"

​The two turned as Nioh, rushed onto the balcony, panting heavily, his customary calm shattered.

​"We... We are under attack!"

​"Attack? By whom?" Josephine's maternal softness vanished, instantly replaced by the cool authority of a Queen.

​"Wendigos. Thousands of Wendigos' ships just entered the atmosphere. Some are right above us!"

​"Huh?" Josephine moved, turning to scan the sky. Tiny, dark dots were indeed moving toward the city.

​"What is that?" Ellen asked, confused by the strange aerial shapes.

​"Are those... missiles?" Nioh muttered in genuine surprise, watching over a thousand projectiles drop from the sky, aimed directly at Eldoria.

​BOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!

​The missiles slammed into Eldoria's protective shield, creating a dizzying, blinding fireworks display in the atmosphere. The citizens of Eldoria stopped, staring up at the chaotic spectacle as the explosions slowly faded. Not the slightest ripple, not the tiniest scratch, marred the smooth, crystalline barrier. It stood still, impervious, as though only a feather had brushed against it.

​"Seeing it with my own eyes..." Nioh swallowed, shaking his head. "...I am speechless."

​"Forget the spectacle, Nioh," Josephine commanded, a sharp, challenging edge to her voice. "Get the newly developed weapons ready. Let's show these creatures that Eldoria is not to be trifled with!"

​"Yes!!" Nioh rushed off, his exhaustion forgotten.

​"Mum. What weapons are you talking about?" Ellen asked, peering up curiously.

​Josephine gave a tight, proud smile. "Just watch the fireworks, dear."

​BOOOOM!!

​Ellen turned her head and, activating her enhanced godly eyes, watched as the ground located at the city's third defensive wall silently opened up. Before her stunned gaze, sleek, red missiles, twice the size of the Wendigos' projectiles, rose out of the silos, locked onto their targets, and shot into the heavens.

​"Now... let's watch the meteorite shower," Josephine murmured, caressing Ellen's hair. Her heart swelled with pride—not just for the technology, but for the safety it guaranteed her daughter and people.

​BOOOOM!

BOOOOM!

​A series of continuous, deafening explosions rocked the distance in space. Before Ellen and the watching populace, objects engulfed in flames began to fall from the sky, the trajectory calculated to ensure they landed far away from Eldoria.

​"It would be more spectacular if it were night," Josephine whispered, appreciating the visual effect of mass destruction.

___

​[Courtyard.]

​"Yawn!"

Jinx yawned dramatically, resting against a pillar, gazing up at the scattered, fiery debris of the Wendigos' ships with complete boredom.

"Where is he? I'm bored here." She turned to the striking blonde elf beside her. "What do you say, Star? And I'm still loving this new look!"

​Star raised her hand, examining it—the graceful, slender form of her true elven appearance.

"This is my true appearance... I unlocked it when I broke through to the Celestial Rank. But..." She suddenly shimmered, transforming back into her powerful, serpentine Beastify race form, her purple pupils splitting into the slit of a snake.

"...That's all in the past."

​"All in the past?" Jinx rolled her eyes, crossing her arms. "We are still investigating your family's death, so don't let go of it just yet."

​Star whipped around, her expression instantly filled with raw shock and disbelief. "What? When... when did you start investigating?"

​Jinx blinked, caught off guard. "Wait, you don't know...?"

​"Jinx! Shut up."

​The two commanders turned to see Blood Eye marching toward them. She was imposing in her grand-class golden armor, and following her was Nicolas.

​Blood Eye stopped before them, sighing heavily. "The King asked us to keep it a secret from you, Star. And it seems someone," she shot a hard glare at Jinx, who immediately looked away:

"Can't keep her mouth shut."

​"Why keep it from me?" Star asked, her voice cracking slightly with confusion and burgeoning hope.

​"We don't know the exact reasons," Nicolas answered gently, stepping forward.

"But the investigation started shortly after the King took complete control."

​"Any news then?" Star pressed, her snake-like eyes burning with intensity.

​"We only know for certain that some of your family are alive, but we don't know where they are," Nicolas admitted. "We are still searching."

​Nioh, who had just returned, now clad in his grand-class armor, joined the group:

"The King will know more. Speak with him after all this," he advised, his sheathed sword held ready.

​Star slowly nodded her head, tears welling in her beastified eyes. The cold despair she had worn for years was instantly fractured by the possibility of family.

"Thank you," she whispered, her voice husky. "All of you."

​A few miles away, Alexandra and Denny, stood staring at the five commanders with wide-eyed disbelief.

​"Wait, do the commanders even know we were under attack?" Alexandra asked, completely confused by their casual, emotional conversation amidst the space debris.

​"Under attack?" Denny muttered, genuine terror replacing his confusion:

"Our enemies all got wiped out without us even seeing them."

The speed and efficiency of Eldoria's defense system was a spectacle of terrifying power that even their own soldiers couldn't fully comprehend.

"All thanks to the King." Alexandra smiled.

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