---
The dungeon around Adexander still smoldered from his awakening.
Ash rained down like black snow.
The Betrayer's ashes had barely settled —
and yet, a new presence tore through the dungeon walls.
Not one.
Not two.
Three.
Three monstrous figures, corrupted knights wrapped in obsidian armor, emerged from the shadows.
Their very steps cracked the ground.
Each one a former king in life.
Each one cursed into eternal hatred.
Obsidian King #1: "The Crimson… has risen?"
Obsidian King #2: "Unforgivable. He carries the ancient sin."
Obsidian King #3: "Break him. Tear his soul apart."
The trio charged in unison, weapons drawn —
a sword like a mountain, a halberd dripping with venom, and a mace that seemed to carry earthquakes.
---
Adexander stood there, his blood-soaked body steaming under the residual energy of Crimson Sovereignty.
His crimson-black eyes flashed.
And he smiled.
Adexander:
> "Finally... something worth killing."
---
The first Obsidian King swung his mountainous sword —
a blow that could split a fortress.
Adexander moved faster than sight —
sidestepped, the very wind screaming at his speed —
and slammed his palm into the sword's flat.
BOOOOOOOM!
The force exploded backward, knocking the knight off his feet, sending him crashing into a dungeon wall, stone cracking around his enormous body.
The second king lunged in, halberd spinning, trying to impale him.
Adexander caught the halberd mid-spin —
flesh tearing from the force —
but he didn't even flinch.
Instead, he yanked the weapon forward —
dragging the Obsidian King off balance —
then drove a savage knee into the knight's chest.
The black armor crumpled inward like paper.
---
The third king, the one with the earthquake mace, smashed it down in a vertical blow meant to annihilate everything below it.
Adexander raised one hand lazily.
The dungeon floor below him cracked.
A Crimson Pulse erupted from under his boots —
a bloodstorm explosion of sheer force —
that blew the mace's shockwave apart and shattered the weapon's handle mid-swing!
Obsidian King #3:
> "WHAT IS THIS POWER—"
Adexander appeared before him in a flash.
Grabbed him by the throat.
Lifted him off the ground, one-handed.
Adexander (low, cold):
> "Not enough."
He squeezed — and the Obsidian King's neck crunched inside the armor, black smoke pouring from the cracks as he disintegrated into nothingness.
---
The other two scrambled back, horrified.
They had faced countless heroes, gods, even demons.
But never… this.
Never something that bent existence around him.
---
As the blood mist cleared, two other figures approached from the distant corridor.
Tall, powerful.
One armored in midnight black, a massive sword resting on his shoulder —
Igris.
And beside him, her white hair fluttering in the chaos like a burning banner —
Velessia, the woman of light and death.
They had felt the pull.
They had come.
Even if they didn't yet understand why their souls had been drawn here —
they had answered fate's call.
---
Igris (grinning slightly):
> "Tch. Took you long enough to wake up, my king."
Velessia (cool and sharp):
> "Hmph. Leaving a mess behind, as usual."
Adexander (turning toward them, a faint smirk):
> "Good. You're both still alive."
He turned back toward the two surviving Obsidian Kings, crimson mist swirling around his shoulders like living wings.
Adexander:
> "Now… let's finish this together."
---
[SYSTEM NOTICE]
> [ALLIED BLOODLINES RESONATING.]
[UNKNOWN SYNERGY EFFECT ACTIVATED.]
---
The dungeon began to tremble again —
but this time, it wasn't fear.
It was submission.
It was the world itself recognizing:
The Crimson King was no longer alone.
And the war…
was just beginning.