From the top of the palace, Verdalis basked in the morning light. The plains flourished, and the people of Ashen worked diligently, but a new unease was looming on the horizon.
Kaelen, silently hovering above the southern borders of the continent, furrowed his brow. A subtle magical disturbance passed through the air, unlike any creature he had ever known.
He contacted his Servants stationed at the edges of Verdalis.
> "Report!"
"Master Kaelen," replied one, "a human presence approaches. Its energy is dark, powerful, and unstable. Even the beasts flee before it."
"A real threat?" Kaelen asked, his gaze piercing.
"We know nothing like it, Master. Our analysis suggests it may be one of the legends: a Demon King."
Kaelen returned to the palace and immediately informed Ryo.
> "Lord Ryo," he announced, kneeling respectfully, "my Servants report the presence of a human being to the south of the continent, of unknown power."
Ryo, impassive, reflected for a moment. He knew from the ancient dragons that Demon Kings existed, but he had never seen one himself.
> "Human?" Ryo asked.
"Yes, Lord. But its power is unlike anything known. It distorts the air and the land around it. Our Servants cannot approach."
Gabriel, floating around Ryo, added:
> "Lord, even according to the ancient dragons' accounts, its power seems to surpass anything we had imagined possible."
Ryo nodded slightly.
> "Watch carefully, Kaelen. Take no action for now. If this is a Demon King, we will learn its intentions sooner or later."
"At your command, Lord."
Kaelen vanished into the air, ready to observe every movement of the intruder.
And in the distance, atop a southern ridge, the being stopped, fixing Verdalis with a piercing gaze unknown to all.
The continent, until now peaceful, felt for the first time the shadow of a danger that even Ryo had never faced directly: a Demon King had arrived.
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