The Gate of the Soulforge Citadel
Nux stood outside the Soulforge Citadel.
The palace reached out infinitely into the sky, its wallowing spires shining in the sunlight like shafts of light. Golden rooftops shone brilliance, and the sweeping steps up to the gates bore the weight of centuries of respect. The whole complex felt solemn, unreachable majesty—an air that bore down on the heart like the heavens' judgment.
Battalions of silver-clad knights stood at attention, spears shining like chilled lightning in their hands. Their gaze was keen, their stance straight. Each breath, each movement bore the iron rigor of men tempered into swords.
Nux stepped ahead.
Cold steel spear shaft snapped across his chest abruptly.
"The Soulforge Citadel is a significant location. Desist." The tone of the silver-clad knight was curt, his gaze unyielding.
"I would like to come in," Nux responded matter-of-factly.
The jaw of the knight clenched. "Do you have a ticket?"
Nux's eyes became more intense. "No ticket, no admission?"
"Right."
Nux nodded his head, his tone steady but with the weight of helplessness. "Then is there no other means of coming in?"
An impatience flared across the face of the knight. His lips twisted in scorn. "With no pass, it's useless. If this holy hall might be entered freely, what purpose would our guard serve? Return, boy."
The faint furrow deepened between the brows of Nux. His silence was colder than speech.
"What? Mad?" The knight sneered, haughtiness sparkling in his eyes. "Don't matter who you are, you're nobody without a pass. Bug off. Don't take up my air, standing here."
Nux's face darkened. His silence became oppressive.
The knight moved in close, spitting his words as venom. "What, you want to cause trouble? You, a commoner? Let's see how much you're worth."
The disdain in his tone dripped with conviction. He wasn't bluffing—his five soul rings, softly radiating under his armor, identification of a Spiritual Monarch. Against the young man before him—a seemingly uncultivated one—he didn't feel respect necessary.
But Nux's tone pierced his pride like an icy blade.
"Do you even know who I've come to find?"
The knight stammered, his sneer lurching unevenly. "Who?
Nux's gaze was serene, his tone like wafting ash. "Rose."
The knight's expression turned ugly in an instant. His sneer grew pointed. "Presumptuous! You dare use Her Majesty the Queen's name so freely?"
A burst of light detonated as five rings of soul—yellow, purple, purple, black, black—swirled up around him in a shining aura, bearing down with crushing pressure. His aura rippled outward, shuddering the courtyard. Other knights automatically closed formation, spears bristling, soul rings flaring.
The first knight sneered. "If you wanted someone else, it might be forgivable. But Her Majesty the Queen? Not even if the sky falls apart are you worthy to appear before her."
He snarled the words with contempt. "You? You deserve it too?"
The words hung there, like a knife in the air.
Laughter erupted around him—derisive, cruel, laced with scorn.
"Haha! Look at him shake—before the Commander has even used his power! And he wishes to meet the Queen? Has he soiled himself yet?"
"Commander! Look at his smooth skin, holding that pink rabbit in his arms like a concubine girl. He appears to be a bitch rather than a man."
"Kick him out! Do not have his blood soil the gate of the Soulforge Citadel. It'd sully the Queen's palace."
Mocking sounded, ringing like rocks against Nux's silence.
The soft-boned Syra Rabbit in his arms trembled uneasily, her pointed ears twitching as if to caution him. But Nux did not stir, his head bent, his shoulders shivering faintly.
The knight's laughter expanded. "Brothers! Do you see that? This little boy is already shaking with terror. He had the courage to scream about seeing the Queen, but he can't even stand upright before us!"
The sneers chugged like a tempest. And then—
OutOf the shadow of his bent face, Nux's voice escaped, subdued but icy.
"I asked… are the guards of the Soulforge Citadel this idiotic?"
The courtyard came to a standstill.
Every knight's laughter cut short like a strangled throat. Their eyes bulged in disbelief.
"He… what did he say?"
"This brat dares—"
"You've grown bold, haven't you? Trembling with fear and still speaking provocatively? Are you seeking death?"
"Wrong place, boy. This isn't a playground."
The Commander bellowed, his rings of soul light blazing brighter. Individual circles of spirit light unfolded around the knights one by one. The atmosphere grew heavy with their combined aura, a tempest of suffocating power designed to annihilate an uncultivated man.
Halos congealed in dozens, weighing down upon him. The ground creaked beneath pressure.
Their eyes sparkled with cruel pleasure. Their script was already written in their minds: the haughty boy trampled on the ground, his bones breaking, his blood staining the holy steps.
But the play was interrupted.
The shivering in Nux's body stopped. His back stood straight like a drawn blade. He lifted his head, and the shadows covering his eyes rolled off.
A smoky grin creased over his lips.
His eyes swept the ring of knights, tranquil, unflinching, menacing.
"I haven't been ridiculed quite so thoroughly in years," he whispered, each syllable razor-sharp. "Pardon me. I was shaking just now—not of fear—but of restraint. I shook twice, and it appears you all misinterpreted."
The words dripped with poisonous humor.
Silence came crashing down. The knights' laughter expired in their throats. Their arrogance shattered, replaced with amazement as they gazed at the young man who should have been quashed under their presence—yet remained invincible, grinning like a loosened devil.
The courtyard was holding its breath.