"A king need not demand obedience. If he is worthy of the crown, even silence shall kneel before him."
— Ancient Heavenly Proverb
The battlefield remained frozen.
No blade moved.
No banner swayed.
No heartbeat dared challenge the silence that had swallowed the Plains of Eternity.
The single command still lingered across Heaven.
"HALT."
It had not been shouted.
It had not been whispered.
It had simply been spoken.
And reality itself had obeyed.
Thousands of celestial soldiers stood motionless where they had taken their final step. Spears remained lowered, swords half drawn, bows pulled taut, yet not a single warrior possessed the courage to move another inch.
It was as though Heaven itself had become afraid.
Then...
The light above shifted.
Far beyond the floating continents, beyond the endless layers of drifting clouds, stood the Eternal Light Source of Heaven. It shone with the brilliance of creation itself, illuminating every realm beneath it.
Against that infinite radiance...
A lone black figure appeared.
At first, no one could distinguish its form.
The light behind it was overwhelming, reducing the figure to nothing more than a dark silhouette suspended within the heavens.
Yet...
It descended.
Slowly.
Calmly.
Without haste.
Each step through the empty sky carried impossible dignity, as though the heavens themselves were lowering the figure toward the battlefield.
The pressure intensified.
Several young soldiers instinctively staggered backward.
One heavenly guard struggled to breathe.
"W... what is happening...?"
"I can't move..."
Another tightened his grip around his spear, only to realize his trembling hands no longer obeyed him.
"Who... who is that...?"
No answer came.
Not because nobody knew.
Because those who did...
Could not believe what they were seeing.
Among the Divine Angel Army, an elderly commander stared toward the descending silhouette.
His weathered eyes widened.
"...No..."
His voice cracked.
"It cannot be..."
The veteran beside him slowly removed his helmet.
Tears gathered within his eyes before he could stop them.
"I know..."
He whispered.
"I know that presence..."
He had stood beneath it once before.
He had witnessed it during the War of Extinction.
He had watched armies survive impossible battles simply because that presence refused to yield.
Without waiting for an order...
The old commander lowered himself onto one knee.
His spear rested respectfully before him.
Steel touched sacred stone.
The sound echoed softly.
One by one...
Every veteran who recognized the descending figure followed.
Thousands of armored angels knelt across the battlefield.
The younger soldiers looked around in confusion.
"Commander?"
"Why are you..."
The elderly angel lowered his head even further.
His voice trembled with reverence.
"...The King."
Like a wave passing across an endless ocean, realization spread through the ranks.
Helmets were removed.
Weapons lowered.
More and more soldiers bowed.
Not because they were commanded.
Because they remembered.
Across the battlefield, the allied army reacted very differently.
The Earth God narrowed his eyes.
His colossal fists slowly unclenched.
The ancient warrior had stood through countless ages, yet the pressure descending from the heavens stirred memories he had long buried.
"So..."
He spoke quietly.
"The stories were true."
Above him, the Wind Goddess floated silently.
For the first time since arriving upon the battlefield...
There was no wind.
Her silver hair fell naturally against her shoulders.
She looked upward, unable to hide the respect in her eyes.
"So this..."
She whispered.
"...is the King."
Behind them, countless soldiers exchanged uneasy glances.
Many had never met the ruler of Heaven.
Many had believed he would never return.
Yet every instinct within their souls warned them not to mistake the descending figure for an ordinary god.
Beside Earth stood the Water God.
Unlike everyone else...
His expression never changed.
His calm blue eyes remained fixed upon the descending silhouette.
"So..."
He said softly.
"You returned."
There was no anger.
No joy.
Only acceptance.
Almost as though he had known this day would eventually arrive.
The Fire God, however, reacted differently.
His jaw tightened.
His crimson cloak settled behind him as the pressure continued to increase.
Every instinct within him screamed that the approaching figure possessed impossible strength.
Yet...
He refused to lower his head.
"...Tch."
He folded his arms.
"So the King finally decides to show himself."
Though his voice remained firm...
His feet never moved.
On the opposite side of the battlefield, Daniel slowly removed his sheriff's hat.
A smile appeared upon his face.
Not one of amusement.
One of relief.
"So you finally came back..."
He whispered.
"I knew you would."
Beside him stood Kaito.
The Sun God remained completely still.
His golden eyes never left the descending figure.
For years...
He had carried the weight of Heaven upon shoulders never meant to bear it.
He had watched friendships crumble.
He had watched Heaven divide itself.
He had blamed himself for every failure.
Now...
The one person he had wanted to see more than anyone else was finally returning.
Kaito slowly lowered his spear.
"...Brother."
The single word barely escaped his lips.
Knowledge watched all of it in silence.
Unlike the others...
His eyes were not fixed upon the King's silhouette.
They were studying the aura surrounding it.
The overwhelming authority...
He expected.
The impossible presence...
He remembered well.
But hidden beneath that familiar brilliance...
Something else lingered.
Faint.
Almost impossible to perceive.
Like black ink dissolving into clear water.
Knowledge's bronze monocle rotated slowly.
His smile faded.
"...Curious..."
He murmured under his breath.
"Thy majesty remaineth unchanged..."
His gaze sharpened.
"...yet another presence walketh beside thee."
No one heard him.
No one noticed the concern hidden within his usually relaxed expression.
The darkness was subtle.
Not enough for anyone else to sense.
But Knowledge had spent centuries understanding souls.
And the soul descending from the heavens...
Was not exactly the same one that had left.
The silhouette continued its descent.
Closer.
Closer still.
Then, before either army could recover from the overwhelming pressure, the King's calm voice spread effortlessly across the battlefield.
"No one shall march another step."
The words carried no anger.
No threat.
They carried certainty.
Every soldier instinctively obeyed.
Kanetaro continued descending.
"All members of the Divine Angel Army..."
A brief pause followed.
"...return to your dormitories."
Not a single angel questioned the order.
Thousands immediately rose from one knee, saluted toward the descending King, and began withdrawing from the battlefield in perfect discipline.
Even the youngest recruits, who had never seen him before today, obeyed without hesitation.
Such was the authority of Heaven's sovereign.
At last...
His feet reached the sacred battlefield.
The instant the sole of his sandal touched the white stone...
An invisible wave spread across the Plains of Eternity.
Every god felt it.
Every divine soul recognized it.
Without discussion...
Without command...
Without pride...
The gods bowed.
Earth lowered his head.
The Wind Goddess placed a hand over her heart.
Water bowed calmly.
Fire clenched his fists...
Then slowly lowered his head as well.
Daniel smiled as he bowed.
Kaito knelt respectfully before his King.
Only Knowledge remained standing.
Not out of disrespect...
But because a master welcomes his student with open eyes.
And as he watched Kanetaro's return...
That faint shadow hidden within the King's aura refused to leave his sight.
The battlefield remained shrouded in an unnatural silence.
No one dared break it.
The gods still stood with lowered heads while the King's presence settled over the Plains of Eternity like the weight of the heavens themselves. The invisible pressure no longer crushed their bodies. Instead, it reminded every soul present of a truth that had been forgotten during the King's absence.
The throne of Heaven had never truly been empty.
Knowledge slowly lifted his clockwork staff.
The tiny bronze gears surrounding its head began turning with soft metallic clicks, each rotation echoing across the battlefield with surprising clarity.
"'Return unto thy rightful seat,'"
he spoke calmly in Elizabethan English.
"'For a king ought not remain standing whilst Heaven itself awaiteth judgment.'"
The white stone beneath Kanetaro's feet trembled.
Ancient runes, older than the oldest god present, awakened beneath the battlefield. Golden lines spread across the sacred ground before converging several steps behind the King.
The earth did not crack.
It yielded.
A magnificent throne slowly rose from beneath the celestial stone.
It was carved from immaculate white crystal streaked with veins of liquid gold. Its armrests took the form of two celestial dragons whose heads faced the battlefield, while the back of the throne resembled a pair of enormous wings reaching toward the sky.
No craftsman had created it.
The battlefield itself had remembered its King.
Kanetaro neither admired it nor hesitated.
Without a word, he turned and calmly sat upon the throne.
His posture was relaxed.
One arm rested against the carved dragon while the other remained upon his knee.
His face betrayed nothing.
Only his eyes swept across the divided armies before him.
The silence lasted only a few seconds.
Then...
It shattered.
"Where were you?"
The voice came from the allied ranks.
Another followed immediately.
"You disappeared!"
"Heaven collapsed because of your absence!"
"You abandoned the throne!"
"Do you still call yourself our King?"
More voices joined.
Questions became accusations.
Accusations became anger.
The battlefield erupted into a storm of overlapping demands.
Fire stepped forward first.
His crimson eyes burned with restrained fury.
"You left."
His voice carried across both armies.
"While Heaven tore itself apart."
He pointed toward the opposing ranks.
"Do you know how many divisions formed because no one believed the King would ever return?"
Earth slowly crossed his arms.
His deep voice rumbled like distant mountains.
"A ruler who leaves his kingdom cannot expect unquestioned loyalty upon his return."
The Wind Goddess lowered her gaze toward Kanetaro.
"The heavens sought guidance."
"They found only silence."
Behind them, several lesser gods nodded in agreement.
Some remained respectful.
Others no longer hid their resentment.
Questions continued to rain upon the throne from every direction.
Only two voices remained silent.
Kaito.
Daniel.
The two exchanged a brief glance.
Neither cared about the throne.
Neither cared about politics.
Kaito slowly stepped forward.
He lowered his spear until its tip rested upon the ground.
"...Brother."
The battlefield quieted just enough to hear him.
His voice carried none of the authority expected from the Sun God.
Only exhaustion.
"...Where were you?"
Daniel removed his sheriff's hat.
He looked directly at the King.
"We searched."
"We waited."
"We kept believing you'd come back."
A faint smile crossed his face.
"...So tell us."
"Where were you?"
For the first time since his arrival...
Kanetaro's eyes rested upon the two of them.
Yet...
He said nothing.
Knowledge watched carefully.
His bronze monocle spun once.
Twice.
Then stopped.
Without moving his lips, his voice reached only one person.
'What burden dost thou conceal, my student?'
'Thy presence remaineth that of a king...'
'...yet I perceive a shadow that should not dwell within thy soul.'
The battlefield heard nothing.
The telepathic question existed only between master and student.
Kanetaro's eyes shifted briefly toward Knowledge.
There was recognition.
There was understanding.
But...
There was no reply.
Only silence.
Knowledge's fingers tightened ever so slightly around his staff.
He had hoped to be wrong.
Instead...
The silence confirmed his fears far more than any answer could have.
Kanetaro slowly rose from the throne.
Every voice immediately died.
He descended the short flight of crystal steps with calm, measured movements before stopping upon the sacred stone once more.
His gaze swept across every god assembled before him.
Fire.
Water.
Earth.
Wind.
Metal.
Forest.
Crystal.
Lightning.
Then toward Kaito and Daniel.
Finally...
Toward the thousands of soldiers watching in absolute silence.
When he finally spoke...
His voice was calm.
"What..."
A brief pause.
"...were you all doing?"
No one answered.
The King continued.
"I return..."
"...to find Heaven divided."
His eyes remained steady.
"I return..."
"...to find gods raising weapons against gods."
He slowly turned toward the armies.
"The throne was not your enemy."
"Nor were your brothers."
His words carried no anger.
That somehow made them heavier.
"You chose civil war."
Fire took another step forward.
"We chose survival."
Kanetaro looked at him.
Fire did not lower his gaze.
"You vanished."
"You left us to rule ourselves."
"And now you return expecting obedience?"
Murmurs spread among the allied ranks.
Earth nodded.
"The Fire God speaks truth."
"The King's authority is no longer absolute."
Several other gods voiced their agreement.
"The throne has failed us."
"We no longer recognize your command."
Water remained silent until the voices settled.
Then he spoke.
"If you intend to rule again..."
"...prove that Heaven still belongs beneath your crown."
The battlefield fell silent.
Every eye returned to Kanetaro.
He neither defended himself.
Nor argued.
Instead...
He slowly turned back toward the throne.
His hand rested briefly upon one of its carved armrests.
Then he faced the gathered gods once more.
"So."
His voice echoed across the Plains of Eternity.
"You seek authority."
No one interrupted.
"Then authority shall decide."
A gentle breeze stirred for the first time since his arrival.
Kanetaro's cloak shifted softly behind him.
"The war for authority..."
He took one deliberate step forward.
"...begins now."
The pressure surrounding him deepened.
Not violently.
Absolutely.
He raised his head.
"Me..."
His gaze locked onto every god standing against him.
"...against all who oppose me."
The battlefield seemed to stop breathing.
"The one who remains standing..."
"...shall claim the Throne of Heaven."
Silence.
One heartbeat.
Two.
Then...
Fire smiled.
"So be it."
The sacred ground exploded beneath his feet as he launched forward with blistering speed, flames wrapping around his fists instead of erupting outward.
From the left, Earth surged ahead like an avalanche, each stride shaking the battlefield.
Above, the Wind Goddess vanished into a current of air before diving toward the King from the heavens.
Water moved last.
Calm.
Silent.
Deadly.
Streams of liquid gathered around his arms, instantly hardening into razor-sharp blades as he closed in from Kanetaro's blind side.
Four gods.
Four directions.
One King.
Their attacks converged upon him at the exact same instant.