Chapter 1104: War of Establishment I
The day was clear and warm, with a pleasant breeze spreading the scent of mountain flowers throughout the Artor Valley. Birds sang in the trees and men and animals went about their business, even in the newly-shrouded mountains surrounding the valley.
The day was peaceful and relaxed… until it wasn’t.
The eddies and currents of magic shifted from one moment to the next, and the water at the beach miles to the south receded. The watching river nymphs reported what they saw, and seconds later, alarms blared throughout the valley. Warriors scrambled and arks took flight, and Leon in his villa bolted from the nine-peaked mountain as quickly as his prodigious power could carry him.
In but a moment, he hovered above the southern Talon, his eyes locked upon the King’s Ocean a stone’s throw away. Maia’s voice echoed through his head, bringing him news that the inevitable had arrived.
[The Ocean King’s arks are moving.]
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There was no greater legitimizer than power in Terris’ mind. The strong ruled, the weak served; such was the way of things. In the grand scheme of things, he was strong, with only the Basileis, Anakes, and Elemental Kings above him.
Given the civil duties imposed upon him by Khosrow’s Law, he rarely had much of a chance to express his power, to feel powerful, so as his arks fanned out through the sea and his power emanated from his grand palace ark, a gleeful smile spread across his face.
He pulled the water in over hundreds of miles. He felt some annoyance that the tadpoles in his crosshairs noticed and started mobilizing, but in the end, he felt it was no matter, and allowed himself to feel no small amount of pride in how his power affected his inferiors.