The mont Azrath's words fell silent—
The woman on the throne narrowed her eyes.
And in the next instant—
An overwhelming pressure crashed down like a tidal wave, so dense it felt tangible. The entire grand hall seed to sink under its weight.
Azrath felt it imdiately—a force he couldn't resist wrapped around him like iron chains. His breath caught in his throat.
"So what you're saying is…"
The Phoenix Queen's voice turned cold.
"…we're not even qualified to go to war with Erald Castle?"
Azrath couldn't hold himself up any longer. He dropped to his knees, forehead nearly touching the floor.
"My Queen, that's not what I ant."
"I've personally led a probing force. If we push for open war, the only outco will be mutual destruction—Phoenix Empire and Erald Castle both reduced to ash."
Silence.
Absolute silence.
Ti itself seed to freeze inside the hall. No one dared speak. Even breathing beca a cautious act.
No one moved.
No one blinked.
Then, after what felt like an eternity—
The Phoenix Queen let out a quiet sigh.
"In that case…"
"Then we won't fight."
Her tone was calm, but final. Unshakable.
"We have enough resources to sustain the Empire. We don't need to plunder other worlds to survive."
That single sentence lifted a crushing weight from the room.
The tension broke.
Several of the gathered elites exhaled quietly, relief flickering in their eyes.
At the very least—their Queen hadn't been consud by ambition like so many other rulers.
"My Queen is wise!"
Soone called out.
And one by one, voices echoed in agreent.
But just then—
The ground let out a deep, furious roar.
The entire capital city jolted violently. The palace shook as if sothing massive was tearing at the very roots of the world.
Everyone's expression changed at once.
This was the heart of the Phoenix Empire.
A place where natural tremors were impossible.
Near the palace doors, Vornath froze mid-step. His body tensed as if sensing sothing. He spun around and dropped to one knee.
"My Queen—!"
"An intruder has breached the domain!"
"You must evacuate!"
But before he could finish—
The hall erupted with battle intent.
Powerful auras flared to life as the gathered elites surged forward, bursting out of the palace in unison.
Above the capital—
A man in heavy armor hovered silently in the sky.
His presence seed fused with the world itself.
A strange, oppressive energy radiated from him, resonating with the surrounding space. Storms ford beneath his feet. The natural flow of energy twisted and reford around him, drawn into his orbit.
"So this is the Phoenix Empire?"
His voice was low and emotionless.
"I didn't expect the energy here to be this rich."
He slowly raised his head.
"In that case…"
"I'll take it all."
HUMMM—!
The heavens trembled.
Energy storms spiraled outward, layer upon layer, until it felt like the entire sky had beco his domain.
Just as he was about to unleash his full power—
A streak of blood-red light tore through the sky.
The Phoenix Queen appeared in midair.
Her flas were no longer restrained. Blazing, violent, and radiant, the blood-colored phoenix fire erupted around her, dyeing the entire sky crimson.
"So this is who you are."
She looked down at him coldly.
"Just another clown from so backwater world."
She raised her hand.
The blood-red flas surged, condensing into a massive phoenix silhouette that blotted out the sun.
"You really think…"
"…that with this pitiful power, you can run wild in my Phoenix Empire?"
The phoenix let out a piercing cry.
Pure, unfiltered phoenix essence exploded outward, carrying the weight of annihilation.
The sky itself trembled under its might.
The mont the blood-red phoenix flas fully unfurled—
Everyone within the Phoenix Empire felt it at once.
A tremor that shook them to their very souls.
It wasn't fear.
It was sothing deeper—an instinctual submission etched into their very being.
No matter how powerful they were, no matter what ancient, twisted projections hovered behind them, every single one of them dropped to their knees.
Heads bowed.
Eyes filled with reverent awe.
This was the Queen's power.
"W-What…?!"
Up in the sky, the armored man finally lost his composure.
His eyes widened, and for the first ti, true shock twisted across his face.
He had never imagined that this seemingly remote Empire was ruled by such a terrifying force.
A sense of imminent death slamd into him.
He didn't dare hesitate.
He frantically pulled every ounce of energy from the surrounding world, compressing and condensing it into a single massive sphere of raw power.
The energy orb ford quickly in his hands—huge, unstable, and radiating the force to annihilate everything in its path.
With a roar, he hurled it forward.
But—
The mont it touched the blood-red flas…
There was no explosion.
No resistance.
It simply vanished.
Erased in an instant, as if it had never existed.
Then, the flas surged forward—tracing the path of his attack, reversing it.
They roared to life like a living creature, latching onto his body and dragging him into a sea of fire.
"AAAHHH—!!"
His scream barely lasted a second.
The energy he had forcefully drawn from the world spiraled out of control, collapsing in on itself.
And all of it—every last drop—was pulled into the Phoenix Queen's will, like rivers flowing into an endless ocean.
Within monts, the armored man's struggle ended.
He was consud completely by the blood-red flas.
Not even ash remained.
It was as if he had been erased from existence.
The Phoenix Queen slowly withdrew her power.
She took a deep breath, though the divine pressure around her didn't fade. If anything, it settled over the sky like a second atmosphere.
"Find out imdiately," she said, her voice calm but absolute.
"Where this man ca from."
"And who gave him the nerve to step into my Phoenix Empire like this."
The figure standing closest to her bowed low.
"At once, My Queen."
He and several other elites shot into the sky, streaking off like cots.
The Phoenix Queen exhaled slowly, her gaze still sharp, her dominance undisguised.
"Mobilize the army."
"Be ready to move at any ti."
…
anwhile—
Erald Castle.
The atmosphere inside the city was just as tense—just as charged.
Everyone was making final preparations for the war to co.
They all knew it.
The Vorgar Empire wasn't going to back down.
Next ti, it wouldn't be a probing force.
It would be a full-scale invasion—an all-out assault backed by the might of an entire empire.
Ethan stood atop a high platform.
He was already suited up in the newly upgraded Powered Combat Armor.
Intricate energy circuits pulsed across the surface of the armor, glowing with a power far beyond anything he'd worn before.
This suit didn't just integrate with surrounding tal structures—it could absorb and convert multiple energy types directly into his body.
And with the constant stream of power being fed to him by the three girls inside him—
Ethan could feel it, clear as day.
His combat strength had reached a level he'd never touched before.
HUMMM—
The armor gave a low, steady vibration as he tested its system load.
But just then—
The sky darkened.
A powerful, unfamiliar presence descended without warning.
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