Eleven standard seconds before the coronation ceremony, Nareth stepped into the ceremonial hall.
A collective breath caught in the throats of the assembled nobles. The approaching giant was even more oppressive than he appeared in surveillance footage.
Most, like Kozubal, thought to themselves:
'Could this be a deity from the Old Night myths, descended upon us?'
Some thought of the war god Svantovit, but the giant had neither four heads nor four faces.
Others thought of Perun, the god of thunder, but the giant's head was not made of bronze.
….....
Some nobles, including Yelena, furrowed their brows and glanced sideways at the Magos Kaminsky.
'Could this be a cyborg from the Machinum? Are they dissatisfied with the dual-headed political system and planning to upend it, to unify Tizca under one rule?'
Kaminsky's artificial eye surged with torrents of binary code, the speed generating faint crackling noises.
The final scan results appeared in binary, and his internal translator converted the techno-speech into Low Gothic of Vostroya per protocol:
[Threat Level: Lethal Threat]
[Physiological Structure: Unreadable]
[…]
The Magos realized that this giant was beyond his scanning and analytical capabilities.
Still, he did not stop. The forced scan module continued operating until a puff of black smoke rose, forcing him to stop. Two mechanical tendrils on his back reached forward.
After a brief flicker of sparks, Kaminsky's scanning module rebooted. He turned his head reluctantly.
Howard Fender, dressed in red robes with golden trim, addressed the crowd loudly:
"Ladies and gentlemen, today we gather to witness the dawn of a new era."
"The Boleslaw family has long lost their virtue, seizing and sabotaging the industries of other families."
"King Boleslaw is nothing more than a giant rat nesting in the hive-capital of Tizca, despicable and greedy."
The blonde count's words stirred a wave of indignation, every family had suffered losses at the hands of the Boleslaws.
"By the grace of providence, Nareth has come to Tizca and overthrown King Boleslaw's brutal regime."
"Even the servants of the Omnissiah see the light of the Machine God shining upon him."
"Now, let us welcome Magos Kaminsky to crown our new king."
Kaminsky's lower mechanical arms raised the crown. The upper pair received it and lifted it high, and Kaminsky began walking toward Nareth.
Flashes of red and green lit up his visor—logic and curiosity warring fiercely within.
The 121-meter walk felt like ten kilometers.
When he stood before Nareth and was about to instruct him to bow and recite the coronation litany, Nareth reached out and placed the golden crown on his own head.
His kingship was not bestowed by the Machine God, it was won by conquest.
Everyone froze. This was not in accordance with tradition.
Kaminsky's visor flickered red, his audio synthesizer emitting tremors.
"Nareth… Crown… Protocol…"
The Magos did not enter maintenance mode, but his overheated logic processor couldn't compute an immediate response.
"Magos Kaminsky, you can't reach my head anyway. It's better if I wear my crown myself."
The nobles fell into silence. Every gesture in such a ceremony carried political weight.
Nareth's action was not just about height—it carried deliberate political meaning.
Their eyes shifted to the two double-headed scepters on the crown, all thinking the same thing:
'It seems King Nareth does not consider the royal house and the Mechanicum as co-equal heads.'
"So then, what does Magos Kaminsky think?"
Everyone held their breath, palms sweating—was another war about to erupt?
Even Yelena, previously confident in her judgment, now began to question it.
'Is the new king insane? Does he intend to challenge the Mechanicum directly?'
All eyes turned to the Magos to see his response.
Kaminsky remained silent for several seconds. For everyone except Nareth, those seconds felt like an eternity.
Finally, the audio synthesizer spoke:
"The Omnissiah blesses you, Nareth!"
He did not recite the traditional coronation litany penned by the Magos Kivior, but his words affirmed Nareth as the new king.
Nareth remained composed. Just as he had expected, Kaminsky valued protocol, but only second to efficiency and industrial output.
Though Nareth exceeded his projected threat model, Kaminsky knew his strength was necessary to resolve the Vostroya's crisis. The Mechanicum would not choose war over political traditions.
To Kaminsky's logic core, efficiency and output far outweighed protocol.
Accepting Nareth's breach of tradition was the only logical result.
Nareth would cooperate with the Mechanicum—but only under his leadership. If not, he'd reduce everything to rubble and rebuild from scratch.
Today was only the beginning. As his power grew, he would reshape Vostroya in his own image.
Howard exhaled deeply. If war had broken out, no one but him would've stood by Nareth.
To prevent further surprises, he shouted loudly:
"The new king has ascended—pledge your loyalty!"
He dropped to one knee, following Muskan custom, and declared:
"I, Howard Fender, pledge my loyalty to King Nareth! Whatever my king commands, I shall obey and fulfill!"
Yelena, caught off guard, immediately knelt.
"I, Yelena Kournikova, pledge my loyalty to King Nareth! Whatever my king commands, I shall obey and fulfill!"
Kozubal and the rest quickly followed suit.
Nareth surveyed them all.
"I accept your allegiance!"
After the others rose, he turned to Howard, still kneeling.
"Howard Fender, I hereby grant you the title of Count, in recognition of your loyalty and service."
Once again, Nareth broke Muskan tradition—titles should be conferred in his spire tower, not a noble's estate.
"The rest of you, your titles remain unchanged. Restart your industries and factories immediately."
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief and respectfully accepted the command.
"As you command, my king."
"Howard, stay. The rest of you—go carry out the orders."
Kaminsky approached Nareth.
"Next: White-Night Shift. Tech-priest Rosicky will coordinate with you on weapons and armor design."
"Per protocol, restore operations in all upper-hive factories within five work cycles."
"I will honor the agreement."
After the others left, Howard sent Bukayo to fetch the prepared equipment, then entered the palace.
"Roslov will take over the Boleslaw family's industries. For the rest, I want a complete redistribution plan within one stellar cycle."
"As you command, my king."
Howard understood that though Nareth had entrusted him with the fallen families' assets, he could not assign them arbitrarily, especially not by carving out the most profitable pieces for the Fender family.
To earn Nareth's trust, the distribution must be based on industry relevance and maximum efficiency.