Chapter 117 117
Chapter 117 117
Chapter 117
Alexander
...
A few days later...
"My King..." Baryon fell into step beside me as we walked through the southern palace. "The Alphas have all taken their positions."
"Good." My voice was calm once more, though the emptiness inside me remained unchanged. "I'll head there shortly with King Draxler Vermon. Return to your post."
"As you command, My King."
King Draxler Vermon had finally arrived with the army of Varland Dawn.
When I learned that the Vampire King had come in person instead of merely sending his commanders or soldiers, I couldn't help acknowledging that he truly understood the meaning of repaying a debt.
His presence alone would make this war much easier to win.
As much as I disliked admitting it, vampires possessed extraordinary speed and strength. Combined with the magic they had inherited from the dragons and the power of their homeland, they were formidable allies.
And King Draxler Vermon... He was an invaluable asset to this war.
"King Alexander Hagard Raizel." Draxler greeted me the moment I stepped into the chamber prepared for the royal delegation.
"King Draxler Vermon." I walked toward him, only to find him studying me with an unusually probing gaze.
"Your Majesty Alexander, we're marching to a battlefield, not attending a nutrition recovery program." Valerian's sarcastic remark echoed through the room before anyone else could speak.
If Varland Dawn hadn't been our ally... I might have torn his mouth apart.
"Valerian." Draxler's voice carried a quiet warning.
Valerian immediately lifted his shoulders with an innocent shrug, pretending he hadn't said anything at all.
"My apologies for my son." Draxler sighed before turning back to me. "I've already heard what happened... and I understand your situation." His expression softened.
"When my wife fell gravely ill, I went without food for days as well." He placed a hand on my shoulder, looking at me less like a fellow king and more like a father offering advice to his son. Somehow, it felt less like advice and more like he was remembering his own past.
A moment later, he leaned in slightly, lowering his voice as though he were about to reveal the greatest secret in the world.
"But, young king... your fight isn't over yet."
"If she left you... if she rejected you..."
"Then chase after her." His lips curved into a faint smile. "That is... if you truly love her."
"My wife rejected me more times than I can count."
"But I kept chasing her."
"And now..." His smile deepened with unmistakable pride. "Now we have a son together."
"Hah..."
A long breath escaped me.
"I wasn't rejected," I replied flatly.
But the moment the words left my mouth... I fell silent.
My brows slowly knitted together.
Rejected?
Huh?
The word wrapped itself around my thoughts like chains.
Was...
Was that what Layla had done? Had she run away because she was rejecting me? Because she didn't want to marry me?
Was this...
...what it felt like to have your love rejected?
For a few long moments, I stood completely still.
The voices around me faded into nothingness. Everything felt distant as that realization struck me with unexpected force.
Knock. Knock. Knock.
"My King, the preparations are complete." Baryon's voice came from outside the door, pulling me back to reality.
Damn it.
My hand slowly curled into a fist.
The first thing I had to do... was win this war. Only after conquering the Human Kingdom would I be able to search every corner of it until I found Layla.
"Come, King Draxler Vermon." I gestured for him to follow.
He looked at me with the same knowing gaze as before, as though he truly understood what it felt like to be abandoned by the woman you loved.
For some reason... That look bothered me. Not because it angered me... But because I couldn't deny he understood exactly what I was going through.
Our footsteps echoed through the corridors of the Southern Palace as we walked side by side. Outside, hundreds of thousands of soldiers had already assembled into massive formations, each division led by the Alpha of its respective pack, alongside the commanders of Varland Dawn's army.
"My King." Baryon stepped aside and bowed, gesturing toward the grand balcony overlooking the army below.
I walked forward without another word, Draxler Vermon and his son following closely behind me.
And then...
As the blazing sunlight spilled across the balcony, I narrowed my eyes against its brightness. Almost at the same instant, an earth-shaking roar erupted from below, so thunderous it seemed to make the very air tremble.
"WOOOOOOO...!"
The deafening cheers rolled across the vast plain without end.
When my vision adjusted, I looked out over the army gathered before me.
Every werewolf warrior. Every one of my Elite Wolves... And the countless soldiers of Varland Dawn stood in perfect formation, filling the enormous field as far as the eye could see.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
My heart pounded heavily as I swept my gaze from one end of the army to the other. Sharpening my hearing, I caught fragments of the soldiers' excited voices. None of them had expected the Kingdom of Varland Dawn to stand beside Lunaris in this war.
GONG! GONG! GONG!
The war drums echoed across the battlefield, their powerful rhythm silencing the sea of voices almost instantly.
Within seconds, every pair of eyes was fixed on me.
The silence that followed was suffocating.
I could hear nothing but the heavy breathing of hundreds of thousands of warriors waiting for my command.
Then I stepped forward.
"Today..." My voice rang across the battlefield.
"Today is the day we claim our vengeance!"
"The soldiers and Alphas who fell at the Northern Border will be avenged today!"
"The Underworld dared to slaughter our people... Then we'll tear out their flesh and take their land!"
"For countless years, the Titans have stolen our parents, our children, and our families from us."
"It's time they repaid every drop of blood they spilled!"
"TODAY..."
"SHOW THEM WHO WE REALLY ARE!"
My voice thundered through the ranks, carrying to every corner of the battlefield.
The air around me grew hotter with every word, and the stone beneath my feet trembled beneath the fury surging through my body.
My hand slowly clenched into a fist.
At once, silver light began radiating around me, wrapping my body in an overwhelming aura that spread across the balcony.
For several heartbeats after my speech ended, silence hung over the battlefield.
Then...
"WOOOOOOOOOO!!!"
"AVENGE OUR FALLEN BROTHERS!"
"TEAR THEM APART!"
"WOOOOOOOOOO!!!"
The roar of hundreds of thousands of warriors shook the earth itself. The sound rolled like crashing thunder across the endless field, making even my blood boil.
I gave Baryon a single nod.
Without hesitation, he relayed the signal to every Alpha and every commander from Varland Dawn. Almost instantly, the massive army began dividing into its assigned formations before marching toward the gates of the Underworld.
"A fine speech, Lycan King." Draxler Vermon chuckled as he stepped beside me. "Perhaps living for centuries isn't so dull after all."
I glanced at him briefly before he led his own forces toward their designated position.
As for me...
I surged forward at full speed, taking the lead at the very front of the advancing army.
...
And then...
Before me stood a colossal gate, towering like the boundary between two different worlds. It was the Gate of the Underworld, forged by the Moon Goddess herself to shield the werewolves from the darkness of the demons beyond.
Massive stone blocks, perfectly fitted together and covered in ancient seals, shuddered violently as something on the other side continued slamming against them.
Hhh...
I slowly closed my eyes.
At once, an overwhelming presence washed over my senses.
It wasn't merely hundreds of thousands... There were millions.
Millions of Titans.
My brow furrowed as nausea twisted in my stomach. Their stench was unlike anything I had ever encountered — a rotten, putrid odor so foul it seemed capable of poisoning the air itself. Yet beneath that unbearable smell, I caught another scent.
A familiar one... It was faint, almost fading away beneath the overwhelming stench of the Titans, but I recognized it instantly.
My foolish uncle... He really was in there. He was standing with the Titans.
And then...
DOOM! DOOM! DOOM!
The ancient seals, which weakened only once every thousand years, trembled more violently with each impact until, right before my eyes, the enormous gate finally shattered.
The colossal stone barrier broke apart and plunged into the vast chasm of Hyra Hill stretching before us.
"Srkkk!"
"Kkhhhkkk!"
"Varshaaa!"
Their voices hissed like countless serpents, echoing across the valley.
As the dust settled, I finally saw them clearly.
An endless tide of Titans.
Their gigantic bodies stretched as far as the eye could see, so numerous they looked like black ink spilled across the earth itself.
"My King..." Baryon arrived beside me, followed closely by every Alpha and the armies under their command.
I could already sense the unease spreading through some of my soldiers.
Now that the gate had collapsed into the abyss, the true scale of the Underworld's forces had been revealed. Alongside the Titans stood countless humans who had apparently been corrupted into monstrous creatures just like them.
DOOM!
King Draxler Vermon and Valerian stepped forward until they stood at my side.
Without another word, I released my power.
In an instant, my body transformed into my silver wolf. Unlike ordinary wolves, I didn't restrain my strength this time.
My wolf dwarfed every other werewolf around me, larger, taller, and wrapped in radiant silver light that illuminated the battlefield.
That luminous silver coat belonged only to the chosen Lycan King, a blessing bestowed once in thousands of years.
"Haha... Magnificent. In that case..." Draxler Vermon laughed, his crimson eyes fixed on me with unmistakable satisfaction.
Then his gaze shifted. His eyes ignited like blazing fire.
Vampires rarely transformed, but the Vampire King was different.
Before my eyes, his dark hair gradually turned white, his body expanded slightly, and the aura pouring from him became incomparably more terrifying than before.
"Valerian," Draxler said calmly without taking his eyes off the battlefield, "this will be your first war. Watch carefully... and learn."
Valerian fell silent.
For the first time, genuine shock appeared on his face as he looked at his father, finally realizing that the Vampire King standing before him was on an entirely different level from every other vampire present.
GOOOOOONGGGGGG!!!
A deafening war gong erupted from the Underworld's ranks.
The endless army of Titans stood waiting beyond the ruined gate, each one radiating an overwhelming, rotten killing intent that seemed to taint the very air.
The moment the gong echoed across the battlefield, they all reacted as one.
"Grrrrrr!"
"Varshaaa!"
BOOM!
The Titans surged forward with terrifying speed.
Within moments, they flooded across the great chasm, charging straight toward our forces like an endless black tide.
And before my very eyes...
The war had finally begun.
...
To be continued