The grand council chamber of the royal palace was cast in solemn bronze light, flanked by colossal pillars etched with royal genealogies.
High above the marble floor, vaulted arches converged beneath stained windows depicting the mythical unification of the realm's first five provinces.
At the center of the raised dais sat King Atheron upon the ancestral lion throne, his posture relaxed yet radiating an overwhelming twenty-shard spiritual pressure.
The golden crown upon his brow caught the afternoon light, reflecting gleaming glints across the floor where the leaders of the realm's five great Houses stood assembled.
Every breath drawn within the vast chamber felt thick and abrasive, laden with the suffocating weight of an apex monarch whose singular will could flatten mountains.
The density of the King's ambient mana distorted the surrounding air, creating subtle optical mirages that made the pillars appear to waver like reeds in a river.
