The fragile balance between the continents finally shattered.
The Snow Continent, ruled by the High Elf King Elmirion — a man whose vanity was rivaled only by his insatiable lust — had long been the subject of whispers. He already claimed over fifty women as his own, yet his hunger only grew. Now, his gaze turned toward one far beyond his reach: the Queen of Vampires, eternal monarch of the Crimson Court — known in whispered legends as the Blood Queen Selene Noctis.
Selene was ancient beyond comprehension. Her beauty could silence courts, her presence an intoxicating blend of elegance and danger. Her magic was pure and absolute, untouched by mortal frailty. For countless millennia she ruled without challenge — neither cruel nor merciful — but utterly sovereign.
But Elmirion, drunk on power and blinded by arrogance, sent his most elite assassins to take her. They were draped in moonweave cloaks, their blades dipped in elven venom, their footsteps silent enough to stalk gods.
They never made it past her gates.
Selene waited in her marble hall, black gown trailing like liquid night. The moment they entered, she spoke a single word.
> "Kneel."
They collapsed at once, their bodies breaking beneath the sheer force of her magic. She walked among them like a shadow passing over the dead, her crimson eyes burning.
> "The Elf King," she said softly, "is a fool."
A fool — and a doomed man. She had endured the fall of empires and the fading of gods, but never such an insult born from petty lust. Immortality had not dulled her wrath; it had refined it into something colder.
She crouched before the last conscious assassin.
> "Tell your king," she whispered, "that if he ever sends another to touch me, I will drink his soul until the stars forget his name."
She let him crawl away, trembling — the message etched into his mind like a curse.
---
The War Begins
When the Snow Continent's own allies learned of Elmirion's attempt, the truth became impossible to hide. His lust had driven him to provoke one of the most feared and ancient beings in existence. The Green Continent, which had long traded with the Snow realm, declared its outrage and sided against Elmirion — not out of morality, but because the Blood Queen's wrath threatened to spill across their borders.
The Snow Continent's war hosts marched under banners of silver and frost, their armor gleaming like moonlight on ice. The Green Continent's legions answered with emerald banners and shields carved from living trees.
The sound of war drums rolled like thunder across the seas.
---
A Rare Truce
But amid this chaos, something remarkable happened.
The Sky Continent and the Sand Continent, once bitter rivals, met in a rare council. The Serpent King, Nasir Atheris, spoke first.
> "We are wasting our strength on grudges," he said, voice deep and cold. "If we follow the Snow King's example, we will burn our own thrones."
The Sky Queen studied him for a long moment, her eyes sharp as the winds above her domain.
> "Then let us make a truce. No more hidden daggers. No more games. We guard our skies, and you guard your sands."
The pact was sealed — not just with words, but with the first fragile thread of trust. From that day forward, both swore to abandon the selfish ambitions that had once defined them.
---
The Dragon God's Unease
Far above, in the unreachable Divine Realm, the Dragon God stirred from her slumber. She had been only mildly interested in the mortal squabbles below… until an old, impossible aura swept across the realm.
She turned — and there, in the shadow between realities, stood a figure shaped like a man but forged from darkness older than the stars.
> "Why are you here, Mister?" she asked lazily, resting her chin in her hand.
The shadow answered in a sound that clawed at thought itself:
‡›#¶∆^♣♦∞✓
The Dragon God sighed, unimpressed.
> "I'm too lazy to do that. Make your own."
The shadow tilted its head, as if amused, and then vanished into nothing.
Below, the war drums kept beating.
(END of chapter 39)