At more or less the same time, in somewhere far away from Svarga, farther from Mahar, and the farthest from Ikky's dreams...
The grey sky, murky roads and old concrete houses reeked of the same sadistic atmosphere as always. Except, the people who had stained this once-great kingdom, were either sitting on the floor in despair or crying in their various homes.
There were other people surveying the towns' streets— soldiers. Those who's uniforms looked lightweighted and seemed to be crafted from versatile ashen fabric.
They carried weapons better than what this still-healing kingdom could produce, especially at its current state.
Nevertheless, the alien soldiers had completely overwhelmed the entire nation without even having to shed too much blood. Even the castle was under siege, so this nation was coming to an inevitable fall.
———
The knights at the royal castle gates had been brought to their knees, held down by the invading soldiers.
A small heavy armoured knight however was left to roam free through the gates and was even accompanied by one of the highest ranking soldiers. The knight glanced at the rest of the different armoured knights on the ground and then continued along the stairway to the main palace.
"They don't seem to be putting much of a resistance. If anything, they're acting too compliant for valiant knights." The high ranking soldier explained to the small knight.
"They think their lives can't get any worse. That is rather wishful, is it not?"
The soldier kept quiet as he followed.
"Supervise. This shouldn't take too long." The small knight ordered.
"Yes ma'am."
The female knight proceeded to then push open the wide doors of the throne room.
Looking in, her right hand moved to the greatsword attached behind her back. Through her visor, her glowing silver eyes squinted in confusion as she stared at the seat up ahead.
His countenance was undisturbed, his pale lips free from any quivering, and his left hand calmly drawing over the book on his lap; an image far from what a weak monarch of a falling kingdom should have.
His mighty aura filled the entire expanse of the throne room, choking hers back in through the cracks in her armour.
Without a single grain of doubt, the man fitting into that large throne was of purple blood.
But acknowledging he had a mighty royal aura was the best Bright could say about this man. She definitely wouldn't call him a king. He had failed his kingdom in every possible way.
"Foolish king of Nocturni, I have come to take your life, and purge your repulsive kingdom!"
Bright wasn't even sure he had heard that.
'Nothing flutters. Not even his heartbeat.'
Nevertheless, not being the kind of person to enjoy dillydallying, Bright unsheathed her blade and pulled it along the ground as she walked up to the throne. She approached thoughtfully.
Letting her sword clang against the stairs, despite being strong enough to wield it for days on end, she soon arrived right in front of him.
Either having finished with what he was writing, or finally giving her audience, he covered his book and then stood up from his throne. Placing his book on the armrest of the throne, he pulled out a uniquely forged soot-black Zweihänder resting behind the seat.
Seeing it as an invitation to a duel, Bright held her sword with both of her hands and readied herself when he suddenly asked,
"Have you ever dreamt of the endless lea of inky grass?"
Silence overcame the hall, as Bright had no idea what the man was speaking of.
He continued, his voice ringing only once despite hers echoing a while ago,
"I saw it from afar, and could only falter as the whistles of the flowers scratched my ears. If there was something beautiful about that gross amalgamation of many forms of doom... It has long faded from my memories."
The king, sword in hand stood in front of Bright, but stared straight ahead, rather than down at her.
He might have been acting condescendingly, or just staring into a distant memory, but there was no knowing with this man.
"I will bestow onto you two tokens which you will give to the Seer who has just passed."
From his words, the king was surely being prideful, but it was not without equal confidence.
Bright's eyes suddenly widened, and she leapt away from him. Still not uttering a word, she kept her sword in a firm grip.
With his right hand holding his sword by the space between the parrying hooks and the two headed dagger-like cross guard, the Failure king lifted his left hand in the air, and opened his mouth to call his people one last time.
Astrid could only flinch as an ominous air struck. The king was bleeding out his mouth, his blood as beautiful as the starry night's sky as his voice voice spread throughout the kingdom.
"Return."
———
Equinox had always felt his presence was that pungent, because living beings seemed almost too compelled to try and step on him. But Nox was not raised with the mindset of the fault of his misfortune being his own, instead on the environment.
He was not wrong... not at all.
The invading soldiers were the ones on the floor now, with looks of shock, fright and disgust plastered on their faces.
"Hell is this kingdom..." A soldier whispered with his voice quivering with fear.
A woman suddenly fell on the floor in the room of her home, filled with grey mist rising into ceiling. She wretched out black blood, yet kept grabbing onto the mists around her as they flew away. Her mind was shattered completely now.
Things were always bad in this heaven-forsaken nation, but they got exponentially worse after the loss of the knights... of her husband. Now once again, the bastard king was ripping out her other reasons to live.
With her memories fading away into uselessness, she recalled his warmth embracing herself and their offsprings, for the final time. With his dauntless blade, and unyielding heart, he had sworn to eat out the darkness shrouding their own world just to make sure they were happy.
But just as that darkness ate at him away instead, it rushed to tear apart their home. Her smile slowly faded in that moment of serenity, like the Omen itself was delaying her inevitable inexistence.
Well, her strong knight did keep his promise... for a while.
Just like the people, their homes soon scattered along and blew to the black sky like dust. In mere minutes, the 2000 square miles of a kingdom that was Nocturni was reduced to mud.
———
The castle had long disappeared, yet the throne and its platform was still there with Bright and the Failure king standing face to face.
"Commander!" The man who had followed Bright to the door of the throne room called out worriedly. But from Bright's glance at the soldiers, he could tell she wanted them to stay in place.
In time, the entire essence of Nocturni spun into a vast typhoon before gradually thinning down into a single black rose floating above the Failure king's palms.
Gently holding the black stem of the flower in his hand, he said,
"Their usefulness as subjects has finally come to an end."
Bright swung her sword to the side and stabbed it heavily into the floor. Her strong composure was only there to hide her shaking heart as she used her blade as a crutch.
The amount of spirit essence within that small flower was suffocating, blinding, so disgusting... so tempting. Oh, what she'd give to have just a nibble of the slim stem.
The king continued, despite being aware of her rising lust and unrest.
"... and so has mine as the king this realm had created." He picked up his book and placed the black rose in the middle of its pages, sealing the tempting aura the rose possessed.
All of a sudden, the air around them became dense with trampling waves of spiritual essence.
With her ensemble shrouded in a silhouette of grey, Bright swung her sword up at the king's neck.
"It would be a waste of time for swordsmen to converse while their blades are left idle to rust.
Come, let me put you to use at your final moments."
"..." The Failure king stared then sighed, leaving the words he had previously spoken to be his final.
And perhaps because he had a bit of hope for a last enjoyment before his parting, he readied his stance, with his sword in one hand and the world in the other.