The sky above Sanctum had changed. No longer was it a quiet canvas of stars, but a roiling dome of prismatic light. Three thrones—The Bonefire Throne, The Frost Crypt Throne, and the Covenant Sigil Throne—had begun to fuse, their ancient magics lashing at the air like storm-bound serpents.
At the center of the village, a towering beam of arcane energy surged upward—visible across the known world.
SYSTEM GLOBAL ANNOUNCEMENT:"PLAYER: Iden has initiated THRONE INTEGRATION (3/3).Duration: 12 hours (Real-Time).Interruption will cancel all progress. All players, monsters, or factions may interfere."
Within moments, every candidate, creature, and alliance was watching.Some with awe.Others with hunger.
But Sanctum was ready.
Iden stood on the command platform of the upgraded Central Nexus, interface buzzing with alerts. Summons, villagers, scouts—all were mobilized. He didn't have time for hesitation.
"Status," he called out.
Nyra: "All four outer watchtowers upgraded. Long-range archers in position. Scouts are shadow-cloaked and circling."Rael: "Medical and barrier sectors reinforced. Sanctum Pulse is ready if needed."Kael: "The reanimated tyrants are at the gate. Reinforced with Abyssal plating."Arlen: "Just finished crafting two new toys."
Down in the Arcane Armament Bay, Arlen and Kael were immersed in schematics pulled from the Arcane Library, lit by eerie blue runes.
"Mana routing needs a cleaner core," Arlen muttered.
Kael responded while welding abyss-metal to a cannon mount. "I'll bind a minor soul to stabilize recoil."Their creation?
Mana-Reactive Field Turrets – Auto-aiming arcane weapons that drew energy directly from Sanctum's grid.
Rune-Tethered Detonators – Portable mines tuned to skeletal signatures—only Iden's troops could pass.
Sentry Drones: Modeled from Earth's basic aerial recon, using summoned mana cores and reinforced glider shells.
Pillbox Defense Nests: Semi-autonomous, rotating dual-barrel mana blasters. Buried and concealed, then rise upon enemy detection.
Iden had remembered it from Earth's military doctrine. "Layered deterrent. Punish entry. Delay every inch."
"Deploy everything," Iden ordered. "This is our first stand as a true nation."
Scouts returned.
"Three factions," Nyra reported. "All under different banners. All hostile."
Black Iron Syndicate – Mercenaries. Bought by a rich candidate who wanted Iden's thrones.
Crimson Moon Cult – Obsessed with denying others power.
Dreadspire Kin – Rogue nobles from the western zones, backed by beastmasters.
They weren't coming quietly.
The air trembled. The shield dome shimmered. Traps armed.
Then—
BOOM!A mana-charged bolt shattered the treeline. Dozens of mounted shadow-beasts rushed the first layer.
Skeleton archers opened fire from hidden roosts, guided by scout spotters whispering through their spectral links.
Turrets activated with a scream of rotating mana-rings—tearing through the first line. Explosions lit the fields.
Then the Sentry Drones dove from their towers—raining plasma bolts from above, spinning like banshees.
"Push them into the trap line," Iden called.
With one gesture, his skeletal infantry stepped forward. Coordinated, synchronized, merciless.
The mines detonated in ripples.Two dozen enemy beasts were obliterated in seconds.
A new assault came. Faster. Stronger. Cloaked. One beast even reached the inner fences—but Kael's Second Tyrant, now fused with bone-plasma vents, met it head-on.
It melted through the beast in five seconds.
Meanwhile, Arlen's upgraded sniper skeletons picked off spellcasters from 400 meters using rifles refined with mana lenses.
One enemy commander screamed:
"This isn't a village. It's a f***ing fortress!"
An enemy party used teleport scrolls to bypass outer defense.
But they forgot Iden's internal system.
Within the Throne Room itself, a sudden thrum activated the Mind-Sigil Guardian—a summoned defense spirit from the Covenant Sigil. It activated a Mind Lock Prison, trapping intruders in an illusory loop where time slowed to a crawl.
They never even reached the heart.
Exhausted. But not broken. The final ten minutes brought monsters that shouldn't even be in this zone—summoned through Abyssal rifts.
But Iden had a response.
"Bring the rail-beam online."
The newest weapon—a mana-conducted beam cannon based on Earth railgun design—unleashed a pulse through the sky. It shattered the incoming rift gate and all who rode it.
Valtross's army had fallen. Now others would follow.
THRONE INTEGRATION COMPLETE!▸ Sanctum gains the Global Passive: "Unity of Command"▸ Summon sync efficiency +10%, Resource rate +15%, Realm-Wide Construction Buff unlocked▸ World Threat Rating Increased▸ Leaderboard Updated – Sanctum now Ranked #1 in Overall Influence▸ New Rewards:— "Thronelord Crest" (1/1)— "Ascendant Alliance Beacon"— "Legendary Class Skill Book" (Summoner-Only)
The defenders cheered. Drones buzzed overhead. Injured were healed under Rael's evolving skill, now pulsing greater regenerative auras.
Kael and Arlen stood, smoke and grease on their robes.
"It worked," Arlen said, nodding.
"But they'll come again," Kael replied. "In greater numbers. With darker powers."
Iden exhaled slowly.
"Let them."
He gazed toward the horizon where sky met ruin.
Sanctum had endured. And now... the world was watching.