Chapter 343: Capital troubles
Meanwhile, in the center of the empire
The Golden Palace was eerily silent. The grand throne room, once the vibrant, opulent heart of the Dragon Kingdom, now resembled a slaughterhouse.
Blood pooled across the polished marble, staining the golden serpentine banners torn from the walls.
At the base of the dais lay the Dragon Kingdom Emperor. His heavy platinum crown rested discarded in a puddle of his own blood, his legendary armor ruptured and ruined. Beside him rested the broken, mutilated bodies of his two remaining sons.
The royal bloodline had been extinguished in a matter of minutes. The elite imperial guards sworn to protect them were scattered in pieces across the hall.
A nightmare occupied the Emperor’s throne.
The creature existed as a shifting, unstable mass of dark, putrid flesh. Dozens of yellowed eyes blinked erratically across its surface, looking in every direction simultaneously.
Jagged mouths filled with needle-like teeth opened and closed across its torso, whispering overlapping curses in a dead, guttural language. This was a High Envoy of the Abyss.
Hundreds of Void demons knelt in the blood of the fallen royals.
They came in terrifying variations hulking brutes wielding massive jagged weapons and spindly, multi-limbed horrors twitching with nervous energy. None dared to lift their gaze toward the throne.
"The mortal vessel is broken," one of the mouths on the throne spoke, producing a wet, grating sound that vibrated the stained-glass windows.
"The human rulers have served their purpose. Their despair has thoroughly saturated the leylines of the capital."