CHAPTER TWO: THE LAST COMMAND
"So you think killing me… taking my wife… will bring you peace?" King Edgar spat blood on the scorched ground, eyes blazing with fury. "Even if I fall here, I swear on my soul—I will protect them… to my last breath."
He turned to Daemon, the bloodied knight who knelt beside him, torn between duty and heartbreak.
"Daemon…" Edgar rasped, voice heavy with pain, yet laced with power. "You are the bravest warrior I've ever known. My heart trusts yours completely. Do not waste another breath on me—protect the Queen… and the Prince. Get them out."
Daemon shook his head violently. "No! I can't leave you here, Your Majesty! You're wounded, surrounded—if I leave, they'll kill you! I can't—"
"DAEMON!" Edgar roared, voice thunderous with desperation. "My Queen. My son. They're in danger! This is a ROYAL COMMAND—GO!"
A painful silence followed. Daemon's fists clenched. His eyes glistened with tears of rage and helplessness. But he bowed.
"Yes… Your Majesty."
He turned away, heart heavy, vengeance burned into his bones, and disappeared into the smoke of battle.
From the hill above, Orion clapped mockingly, sword dripping with blood. His armor gleamed in the firelight.
"Oh, what a tragic scene," Orion sneered, holding his chest as if moved. "Your final wish, your brave goodbye—pity it's meaningless. My men are already inside your palace. Your Queen? Your son? They're already surrounded."
Edgar's eyes widened in horror.
"Look around you, brother… hear the screams, the falling blades, the crackle of fire devouring your people." Orion's voice was venom. "You've lost. Your kingdom bleeds. And soon, your crown will rest on my head."
Edgar coughed up blood, but a twisted grin spread across his face.
"Today… might be my last…" he whispered darkly, pushing himself up with trembling arms, "but I swear… I will not fall without dragging both of you to HELL with me!"
"Ha!" Songar barked with a laugh. "What are you, old man? A god? You can barely stand."
"Then WATCH ME!" Edgar growled.
He gripped his blood-soaked sword, dragging it across the ground, sparks flying beneath its weight. The air around him ignited—a burning aura of vengeance, fury, and dying royal fire.
With a roar that split the battlefield, Edgar charged like a berserker beast—each step a drumbeat of rage. His sword danced death across the enemy line:
—Beheading one.
—Stabbing another clean through the throat.
—Slashing left, right, a storm of steel and blood.
He carved his path straight toward Orion and Songar, ignoring the arrows that pierced his back, the blades that sliced his sides. All that mattered was vengeance.
CLANG!
His sword met Orion's with a furious spark.
CLANG!
He spun and struck Songar across the chest, sending him stumbling, bleeding.
Orion grunted, caught off guard by Edgar's sudden force. "How—how are you still moving?!"
"Because I am KING!" Edgar bellowed. "And I die only when I choose!"
The three clashed again—steel grinding, sparks flying, curses screamed into the wind.
But the king's strength was fading. Wounds gushed. Breath short. The fire dimmed… but his will did not.