[Elven Capital.]
"Mum, Dad!! Bad news!!" Zoey burst into the throne room, her breath coming in ragged gasps. Her parents, Austin and Victoria, sat upon their erald thrones, their initial frowns deepening into expressions of genuine concern as they saw the sheer terror on their daughter’s face.
"Speak!" Austin commanded, rising to his feet.
"The entire fleet sent to Eldoria... it’s gone. Completely wiped out," Zoey cried, her voice trembling. "Even our newly developed Elite rcenary units were dismantled in seconds. They didn’t even breach the third wall!"
"Impossible! God Wolf and Josephine are currently in the Upper World," Austin growled, pacing the floor. "How are they still so overwhelmingly powerful without their leaders?!" He turned his head to Victoria, seeking counsel.
"What is our next move?"
Before Victoria could respond, Zoey delivered the final blow. "Mum, Dad... the territories we recently seized from Eldoria... they are under simultaneous assault. Every single one."
"What?! We stationed over a million Grand-class rcenaries in each sector, supported by our heavy artillery!" Austin shouted.
"We have the B (rcenary Extermination Bomb)! We can neutralize their entire robotic army with a single pulse!"
"The B... it was useless," Zoey swallowed hard, a cold sweat breaking out on her brow. "Their technology has evolved past its disruption frequencies. But the real problem isn’t the machines. Only one person is attacking each territory, and we are losing everything."
"What?!!" Both Austin and Victoria exclaid in a choir of shock.
"It’s the Commanders," Zoey explained, wiping her face.
"Blood Eye, Nioh, Nicolas, Eve, and Jinx. Eldoria’s five commanders are single-handedly annihilating millions of our soldiers. We can’t even send reinforcents because..."
BOOOOOM!!
The air in the throne room suddenly turned heavy, an unholy, suffocating pressure descending upon the entire nation. It was a physical weight that made the very stones of the castle groan. In the city below, thousands of elves dropped to their knees, gasping for air as a primal chill raced down their spines.
"Because she is here," Zoey whispered, her eyes fixed on the ceiling as cracks began to spiderweb across the ancient masonry.
"Run!" Austin yelled, sensing the imminent collapse.
’What the?!! How did she past our defense barrier so easily?!!’ He thought.
BOOOOOM!!!
The roof of the palace was torn away like paper. Ellen stood atop the head of the colossal Abyssal Dragon, Ladon. Her arms were folded, her casual dress fluttering in the wind. Below her, the Elven Capital was plunged into total darkness; Ladon’s wingspan was so massive it acted as a secondary sky, blotting out the sun.
"Such a powerful aura," Victoria whispered through gritted teeth. She looked up at the small figure silhouetted against the dark scales of the dragon.
"Who would have believed a twelve-year-old could possess this much raw pressure? This isn’t the dragon’s power... it’s hers."
"We underestimated them," Austin said, dusting his clothes as he braced himself. "We thought Eldoria was a house of cards without Sunny. We didn’t realize his daughter was a mirror of his own monstrous nature." He looked at Victoria with grim resolve.
"If she is as ruthless as her father, she won’t negotiate. We have to fight for our lives."
Austin reached for a circular chip on his chest. It expanded instantly, encasing him in shimring, Grand-class fully-starred Armor. A golden bow manifested in his hand.
"Taking you hostage will end this instantly!" he roared, fueled by a desperate hope.
BOOM!!
He launched himself into the air, a streak of golden light. He drew his string, channeling every ounce of his Peak Divine Rank energy into a single, piercing arrow aid directly at Ellen.
Ellen didn’t move. She simply tilted her head a fraction of an inch as the arrow hissed past her ear. Her gaze shifted from the ruins of the city to the elf flying toward her.
"Useless."
She didn’t lift a finger. With a single, concentrated glance, the ambient light around Austin condensed into a physical force, slapping him out of the air with the weight of a falling mountain.
BOOOM!!
Austin smashed into the courtyard below, his Armor cracking like glass as he vomited blood.
"Dad!" Zoey scread, rushing to his side.
"Austin is at the peak of the Divine Rank, and he was defeated by a look?" Victoria felt her heart hamr against her ribs. She looked at Ladon, who remained motionless.
"The dragon hasn’t even acted yet. I have no choice. I have to use it."
She reached into a hidden pocket and produced a small, crimson skull no larger than a baby’s fist. It pulsed with a sickening, necrotic light.
"You are strong, you little brat!! But I will show you that you are still mortal!!" Victoria scread. "I call upon the power! Kill this enemy for !!!"
’Princess.’ Ladon’s voice rumbled deep in Ellen’s mind.
’That is a Causal Death Artifact. I have seen its likeness only once, in the hands of a Great World faction leader. It bypasses defense entirely to erase a single target, regardless of their power.’
"Does she have to mark first?" Ellen asked, her voice eerily calm as she stared down at the desperate Queen.
’Yes. It consus the user’s life force to guarantee the kill.’ Ladon replied with a growl.
"Die!!!" Victoria shrieked, crushing the skull in her hand.
A flash of absolute blackness erupted. Before the horrified eyes of the Elven survivors and Ladon, Ellen’s body shattered into a million parts.
"....?!!"
"Princess?!" Ladon roared in confusion, the connection to his rider suddenly flickering.
Victoria slumped to her knees, laughing hysterically through her exhaustion. "I did it... Hahaha... I saved us..."
"Saved who?" A cold, lodic voice asked from directly behind her.
Victoria froze. She turned slowly to see Ellen standing perfectly intact, idly inspecting a shard of the broken red skull that had sohow ended up in her hand.
"That was a clever trick," Ellen said, her eyes glowing with a faint, cosmic light. "But you can’t kill what isn’t fully in this world."
"What?"
The "Ellen" that had shattered was rely a high-density spatial projection created from light. The real Princess had stepped into the void the mont the artifact was triggered.
"Now," Ellen whispered, "it’s my turn to play."
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