Prince Kuwan and his lackeys had just been about to leave and go back to their royal capital when suddenly, they froze, both in fear and inability to move.
A godly aether pressure descended and blanketed the area.
In front of them, a man appeared.
He seemed to have been directly carved by God's hands as he stood at a whopping six foot seven and his long white hair, akin to pure threads of heavenly silk, flowed down his mighty and broad shoulders.
His gaze swirled with colors of emerald and amethyst as in their depths, stars of red, black, and gold could be seen.
He wore robes of black and white, embroidered with golden designs of clouds, and on his right index, a pitch-black ring could be seen.
Amon looked at the group that stood frozen before him, slightly confused as to why they were still here.
'Hm, I suppose time did not pass in the ruins.'
Despite the casualness of his thoughts, his gaze was frighteningly cold.
Prince Kuwan matched Amon's gaze for a second before he looked away, covered in sweat.
"M-may we know who the esteemed ancestor may be…?" he asked, unable to recognize Amon.
Amon didn't say much to this and instead looked to his left.
There, in the distance, a man stood in the skies.
Amon unleashed his spirit sense and immediately saw what the man looked like.
Dirty blonde hair. Golden eyes.
'A royal…' He looked back toward the prince. '…he's most likely his assigned guard or something.'
Though Amon wasn't afraid of the man, he could tell he was supremely powerful and was loaded with items and artifacts.
He simply couldn't afford to offend him.
He retracted his spirit sense and swept his gaze over the group.
"Prepare yourself, Kuwan. I will be coming to claim what's mine."
With these words, he turned around and sped off into the distance, leaving a gloomy prince to stew in his own confusion.
***
Amon ran through a dark forest, the sun already having left the skies to leave place to a soothing moon.
Its rays dripped down and through the leaves of the many trees around him to illuminate and guide his path.
Currently, Amon's goal was to reach the beast clan territories.
'I'm close.'
The planet of Zamaya was divided into three major factions.
There was the Human Faction, the Beast Faction, and The Elven Faction.
There were four continents, and each faction possessed one, the fourth left to be shared by all four.
Throughout each continent, various kingdoms and empires of all kinds existed, but above it all, each continent had a royal capital led by a royal family that lorded over the entire faction and race.
Amon's plan was simple. To cultivate, he needed backing and stability. The easiest way to do so was to join a faction, but considering he already had bad blood with the human faction, he only had two options left.
But even then, he knew he couldn't join the Elven Factions since they were known for their ungodly levels of xenophobia.
So it left him with the Beast Factions.
His plan was to join the Lich and Undead beast kingdoms.
'Few more days of running and swimming.'
***
The land was scorched black, the skies gray, filled with violent arcs of purple lightning as harsh winds whipped about, swaying the trees that covered the land.
The trees, each covered in flowing blood, had rotten human hands instead of leaves, and for branches, they had burnt bones.
A foul smell lingered.
At the center of this forest, a grand city could be seen.
Just like the forest around it, the atmosphere was dark. Its buildings were made out of black stone, the roads full of feces, and throughout the entire place, undead zombies and walking skeletons could be seen.
Despite this, the city was lively and filled with…joy? Life?
It was hard to fathom.
***
On the city's edges, a group of men stood guard, their aether pressures high and their bony bodies covered in mighty armors of black.
Suddenly, one of the guards seemed to sense something as his gaze pierced into the distance.
"Incoming!"
Instantly, all guards grabbed their weapons and got into formation, their aether wafting out of their bodies in droves.
"HALT! IDENTIFY YOURSELF! HALT! IDENTIFY-"
Soaring out of a bush, Amon appeared in front of them, immediately stopping when he heard them.
Upon seeing Amon, they all froze.
In the next instant, they all kneeled.
"WE APOLOGIZE, YOUR HIGHNESS!" they all said in unison.
"PLEASE PUNISH US LOWLY SERVANTS IF IT MAY QUELL YOUR-"
Amon folded his arms and shook his head.
"Enough of that," he told the skeletons. "I am of royal blood but have not been granted a seat. Get me a carriage toward the royal capital. I want to challenge a Lich or Undead for a royal seat."
The guards, already shocked by the sudden appearance of a noble blood undead, were even more shocked hearing this.
'Royal seat…'
Among the beast races of the Beast Faction, Liches and Undeads were part of the top ten most powerful races and yet were the most numerous, making them a fearsome duo.
In their ranks, to promote competition, the Lich and Undead ancestors introduced the concept of royal seats.
In simple words, a royal seat was a position within their race that granted the holder unlimited and unconditional support as well as thorough nurturing. It essentially gave them the status of a royal spawn.
Of course, this was all just a dupe. The holders of the royal seats of the Undead and Lich races were all members of the royal family.
They'd simply used this method to stop any future revolt by giving the people a false sense of meritocracy.
Of course, Amon knew all of this; in fact, he knew almost everything there was to know about each faction and race, and he knew very well that the Undead and Liches were only second to the five main beast clans, and yet, he didn't care.
"So?"