The sky above the Red Emerald Kingdom was heavy that day…
Heavy in an unnatural way.
It felt like even the air was bracing itself for what was coming.
The kingdom's emerald-coated towers were shining like fangs pointed downward…
But even that shine lost part of its majesty when the three arrivals passed through the city gates.
Korval — the king who walked with the steadiness of a man dragged across many blades in life.
Ashen — a shadow that must have come from an old, nameless abyss.
The giant abomination — a fifteen-meter nightmare walking on pillars of twisting flesh and bone, every step reshaping the ground beneath it.
The soldiers opened the path…
But there was only one thing in their eyes:
Fear.
Even in a kingdom famous for its brutality…
Nothing like this had ever been seen.
The castle gate trembled when the abomination climbed its stairs.
The ceiling was higher than most halls…
Yet it still felt too small for its massive body.
It had to lower its head, and the human-like arms growing on its back tore into the ceiling like broken wood.
Every movement sent a vibration through the air, forcing the soldiers to stand farther away than necessary.
Korval didn't look back.
The first thing he did was turn to one of his officers and speak in the tone of a king who did not tolerate hesitation:
"Send immediate messages…
To clan leaders, sect masters, nobles, and major merchants.
Emergency meeting… in the castle."
The officer nodded, trying hard not to look at the abomination, as if eye contact alone could damage his soul.
When they reached the throne hall…
Korval sat on his stone throne.
Across from him, Ashen sat on a wooden chair.
And the abomination sat on the floor, though the floor itself seemed unable to hold its weight.
Silence filled the room.
But it was not normal silence…
It came from three beings that should never exist in the same place.
Korval began speaking slowly…
With a calm smile…
But behind it, his eyes moved like blades.
"Let's start with something simple…"
He said in a soft, deceitful tone.
"Who are you, really?
Where did you come from?
And… do you have enemies who might threaten my kingdom?"
The questions seemed innocent on the surface…
But under them were layers of investigation, evaluation, exploitation, and plans for betrayal if needed.
Ashen stayed silent for a moment.
Then he spoke in a dry voice devoid of life:
"I… am not from here."
Korval raised a brow.
"You mean… not from this region?"
"Not from this continent."
Even the light in the hall seemed to pull back.
Ashen continued, with the same cold tone as if listing random items:
"I used a spatial spell… I don't know where I got it or how it works.
All I remember is…
It transported me.
I didn't know where."
Korval's mouth opened slightly.
"A spatial spell? With that kind of range?"
Ashen continued:
"I found… the abomination.
We met.
We fought."
The abomination let out a hoarse laugh, like a graveyard opening itself.
"Then…"
Ashen added, as if describing something with no importance:
"A man appeared. They called him the Imperial Guard.
We fought him."
Korval momentarily lost control of his expression.
"An Imperial Guard?!
And you… stood against him?!"
Ashen nodded slowly… without pride… without emotion.
"Then we used another spatial spell left behind by… the Corpse Purification Sect.
And we descended into a city."
Korval tightened his grip on the throne's armrest.
The Corpse Purification Sect?
An Imperial Guard?
Ashen delivered the final line with the same dead tone that could kill a soul:
"The people of the city attacked us.
So we slaughtered them."
Silence fell…
A heavy silence…
A silence that made even the king's heart stop for half a beat.
Korval was no longer sure if he was dealing with humans…
Or a curse.
How could a creature so empty inside…
Survive a fight with an Imperial Guard?
Slaughter an entire city?
Work alongside a monster like this?
Then he understood suddenly…
The reason the city turned into living flesh and moving blood…
The reason the murderous intent spread like a plague…
Was here.
Sitting in front of him.
Korval breathed in…
Then looked at the giant abomination.
"And you…
What are you, truly?"
The abomination laughed.
A laugh that cracked parts of the hall.
A laugh that drained the color from the soldiers standing outside the door.
Then it said:
"I am…
one of the experiments… of the Corpse Purification Sect."
Korval froze.
Every nation knew that sect.
But no one had ever seen one of their experiments survive…
Speak…
Laugh…
Think.
"Were you… human?"
Korval asked in a tone between curiosity and fear.
Silence.
Deep.
Tense.
Filled with the breaths of dozens of souls inside one body.
Then the abomination spoke in a voice that was not a single voice…
But a choir of a thousand throats:
"Maybe I was human…
Maybe I wasn't…
But what I am now…
Is greater than a question like that.
It doesn't matter what I am…
Or what I was…
Or what I will become…
What matters is that I exist."
The sentence fell on the hall like an ancient verdict…
Like a prophecy…
Like the birth announcement of a disaster.
Korval said nothing.
He only knew one thing:
This alliance…
Would be the greatest gamble in the continent's history.
And history would write:
On this day…
A king, a monster, and a phenomenon…
Sat at the same table.