The winds between the Green Continent and the Snow Continent carried more than frost and forest scents now — they carried the stink of distrust.
It began with a border patrol gone missing. The Snow Continent's scouts claimed they found the bodies of their own warriors deep inside Green Continent territory, arrows still buried in their flesh. The shafts were fletched with emerald feathers — unmistakably the mark of the High Elf Kingdom.
When the High Elf King Elmirion heard the accusations, his golden eyes burned with calculated fury.
> "Lies," he said before the Snow envoys. "Your people trespassed into our forests. They attacked us first. If war is what you want, then war you shall have."
But the truth was darker. Elmirion's words were a mask, polished and elegant. Beneath it, his heart beat with a hunger that had nothing to do with vengeance.
The High Elf King was infamous even among his own kind — not for his wisdom or his power, but for his appetites. Fifty women already graced his personal harem, taken from all corners of the Green Continent. And yet, fifty were not enough.
He wanted more.
He wanted the Snow Maidens, famed for their beauty that seemed carved from ice and moonlight. And he wanted the Sand Continent's women, whose warm skin and exotic dances were whispered of in noble courts like forbidden spells.
His plan was simple — and vile. Provoke war with the Snow Continent. Secure their women as war spoils. Then, betray the Sand Continent in a political alliance, taking their queen's court for himself. He had no love for his allies, only lust for their treasures.
---
The Warning to the Sand King
Far across the seas, in the shifting dunes of the Sand Continent, its ruler — the Serpent King Nasir Atheris — lay in his chamber of gold and stone. The desert wind howled outside, but it was not the wind that woke him.
A voice did.
It was deep. Vast. Terrifying. It spoke not in the common tongue, but in words older than the sands themselves. Yet he understood.
> "Once the world is out of control," it rumbled, "the Ancient Serpent Leviathan will awaken… and the Overworld will crumble. This planet will break from his strength. And we cannot stop him. We cannot use our techniques against him."
The voice grew darker still.
> "Because he is my elder brother."
Nasir's scaled hands tightened into fists. "Who are you?" he demanded into the empty air.
> "One who watches. One who waits. You would call me… guardian. But even I fear what is coming."
When the voice faded, the Serpent King felt cold for the first time in his life. He summoned his advisors at once.
"We must hold peace at any cost," Nasir said. "No wars. No provocations. The balance must remain, or Leviathan will rise."
He sent messengers to every continent — to the Red, the Green, the Snow, the Sky, even the newly crowned rulers of the Dragon Kingdom. But each response came back the same: refusal.
The Green Continent's elves dismissed him outright. The Snow Continent would not forgive. The Sky Continent sneered at the notion of danger they could not face. Even the Red Continent laughed, saying the gods themselves had never dared enter their lands.
And the Dragon Kingdom… many refused to acknowledge its new ruler at all. After all, Aizen Arcime was not a dragon — he was a beastman. To them, this was not a kingdom reborn, but a kingdom stolen.
Nasir knew then: the world was already sliding toward chaos.
---
The Wedding Under the Stars
War whispered in distant lands, but within the Dragon Kingdom, a different kind of night was unfolding.
The great hall had been emptied. There were no banners, no trumpets, no roaring crowds. Just two figures, walking side by side up a narrow staircase that spiraled into the highest tower.
Aizen had not told Lyra where they were going.
When they reached the top, the world spread out before them — the sleeping city bathed in silver moonlight, the distant mountains painted in shadow, the stars burning like cold fire above.
Lyra's breath caught. "It's beautiful…"
"It's not the view I wanted to show you," Aizen said softly.
She turned, curious — and found him holding a small, silver ring.
Her heart stopped. "Aizen—"
"I've fought for kingdoms, for friends, for peace," he said. "But the only fight I've never wanted to end… is the one where I fight to keep you by my side."
Her eyes blurred with tears as his words sank in.
"Lyra… will you marry me?"
She didn't answer with words. She stepped forward, wrapped her arms around his neck, and kissed him under the endless sky.
The vows were spoken quietly, without priests or witnesses — only the stars, and the wind, and the beating of two hearts. And when the words were done, they stayed there, holding each other as if nothing else existed.
---
Far away, in a place no mortal could name, something stirred.
"𒄆𒀱𒀱𒀱𒀱𒀱𒀱𒀱𒀱"
(END of Chapter 38)