Supreme Bloodline Evolution System

The air changed almost immediately. The calm sky began to churn as darkness spread across it, swallowing the clear blue and smothering the warmth of the sun, yet when the warriors lifted their frightened eyes, they quickly realized that no storm clouds had gathered above them.

It was something else, something vast and black, like living magic or an endless mass of shadows casting itself over the fortress. It stretched farther with every passing second, creeping across the heavens like the open jaws of some enormous beast preparing to descend and swallow every last one of them whole.

Max had never been particularly good at holding his temper, and now, more than ever, being humiliated and spoken down to by a handful of nameless guards was something he could not tolerate. He had approached their walls without hostility and given them every opportunity to recognize him, yet they had answered his patience with mockery and disrespect.

Now, they had to be made to believe that blood would be shed.

Dry gulps echoed along the top of the wall as the warriors stared upward, their faces rapidly losing color. Those who had laughed at his claim, refusing to believe that the man standing beneath their gates was King Maximus himself, were now witnessing the very same black magic rumored to have subdued the entire dragon region and brought several ancient clans beneath his rule.

The stories they had dismissed as exaggerations suddenly no longer seemed impossible, especially when the darkness above them began to twist and descend, stretching toward the walls in slow, curling tendrils.

The first weapon slipped from trembling fingers and struck the stone with a sharp clang. Another followed, then several more, the sound spreading across the battlements as swords, spears, and bows were abandoned by men who had only moments ago been laughing at him. Some weapons bounced across the wall while others tumbled over the edge and crashed onto the ground below.

Then the warriors began to flee.

One after another, they turned away from their posts and ran, shoving past each other in their desperation to escape the darkness gathering above them, their discipline collapsing so completely that the narrow battlements became filled with panicked screams and pounding footsteps. Yet no matter how quickly they moved, the black shadow continued to follow, spreading across the fortress as if it had already chosen every living soul within its walls.

"Wait! Please, calm down! We believe you! We believe you! King Maximus, we beg your pardon!"

The warrior who had spoken so arrogantly only moments earlier stumbled away from the edge of the wall before dropping to both knees, his weapon already lying forgotten somewhere behind him.

His body trembled so violently that he could barely keep himself upright, and even the strength in his legs seemed to have abandoned him after he came face-to-face with the taste of death itself. It was one thing to look down from the safety of a high wall and insult a lone traveler, but another entirely to witness that man discard the mask of a patient observer and reveal a power capable of erasing every living being within the fortress.

To them, Max no longer looked human. He looked like an annihilator who had descended upon their city to pass judgment.

All of the mana in the surrounding air was vanishing at a terrifying speed, drawn toward the darkness gathering above them until the warriors felt as though they were suffocating. The enchanted runes carved into the fortress walls began to dim one after another, their light flickering weakly before disappearing altogether, while the defensive formations that had protected the city for generations trembled beneath the pressure and threatened to collapse without Max even touching them.

It was a deliberate move on his part. Max truly did not wish to kill anyone today, even though their mockery had pushed him dangerously close to doing exactly that. He had come here seeking information, not corpses, but if these fools refused to believe his word when he told them that he was the king of Voidstar, then he had no choice but to make them believe.

"Your Majesty!" another guard cried as he threw himself flat against the stone, pressing his forehead so firmly against the battlement that the skin threatened to split. "Please forgive these worthless eyes for failing to recognize you! We were blind! We were ignorant! We are nothing but dogs guarding a gate, unworthy of standing in your presence!"

"Yes! Dogs!" the first warrior immediately agreed, lowering himself until his posture was even more humiliating than that of the man beside him. "No, worse than dogs! A dog would have recognized its master, but we dared to question Your Majesty! Please, punish me alone if you must, but spare the others! They only followed my foolish command!"

The remaining guards quickly dropped to their knees as well, competing with one another to bow lower as their previous arrogance disappeared without a trace.

"King Maximus, your reputation has already spread across the continent! Everyone knows that no wall can stop you and no army can stand before you!"

"We should have opened the gates the moment we saw you!"

"We should have rolled out a carpet and welcomed Your Majesty with every treasure in the fortress!"

"Please allow us to correct our unforgivable mistake! We will open every gate, prepare our finest escort, and personally accompany Your Majesty wherever you wish to go!"

The warrior closest to the edge pressed both palms against the stone and lowered his head until Max could no longer see his face.

"If Your Majesty wishes to enter, then please step upon our backs rather than dirtying your boots on these unworthy walls. We would consider it the greatest honor of our miserable lives."

Max stared up at them in silence, watching grown warriors grovel so desperately that they seemed ready to tear the gate from its hinges with their bare hands if he commanded it. Only moments earlier, they had mocked him from above, protected by stone and misplaced confidence. Now, none of them dared even lift their eyes without permission.

The darkness continued to coil across the sky, and Max allowed it to remain there for several more breaths, giving every guard enough time to understand just how close they had come to dying.

"Open the gate," he finally said.

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

The command had barely left his mouth before the warriors scrambled to their feet, tripping over abandoned weapons and one another in their frantic race toward the mechanism, each of them desperate to be the first to obey King Maximus and perhaps earn enough favor to keep his head attached to his shoulders.

The darkness finally began to withdraw. It folded back into itself above the fortress, releasing the sun one narrow ray at a time, yet none of the warriors dared to move until the last trace of Max’s magic disappeared from the sky and the mana around them slowly began to recover.

"I am traveling to your capital," Max said as he stepped through the opening gates, his calm voice making the guards straighten immediately. "You will provide me with an escort, fresh horses, and whatever else is necessary to reach it without delay."

"Yes, Your Majesty! Everything will be prepared immediately!"

The same warrior who had mocked him hurried down from the wall and bowed so deeply that his upper body was nearly parallel to the ground. Up close, Max could see beads of cold sweat clinging to the commander’s forehead, while his eyes remained firmly fixed upon the dirt, too terrified to meet Max’s gaze.

"And you will send a message ahead of us," Max continued. "Inform King Caratacus that Maximus, king of Voidstar, has entered his kingdom and requests a meeting with him. I expect an audience to be arranged before I arrive."

"Of course, Your Majesty. King Caratacus will be honored to receive someone as powerful and distinguished as you. I am certain the entire royal court will consider your arrival a blessing upon Britana!"

Max raised a brow at the shameless change in attitude, but the commander only lowered his head farther.

"We will dispatch our fastest messenger this very moment," the man continued hurriedly. "No horse in the city will be spared, and if one collapses along the road, the rider will take another. Your message will reach the capital before nightfall, even if the messenger must crawl the final distance on bleeding hands."

"See that it does."

The commander struck a fist against his chest and immediately began shouting orders. The entire border post erupted into frantic movement as the gates were cleared, horses were dragged from the stables, and soldiers rushed to polish armor that had already been polished that morning. Every man wanted to appear useful now, as though a few moments of desperate obedience could erase the insults Max had already heard.

Yet before the messenger could mount his horse, an older officer emerged from the gatehouse carrying a narrow white case sealed with golden wax. His face was pale, though unlike the others, his fear did not appear to come from Max.

"Commander," he called, his voice unsteady. "This arrived from the capital at sunrise."

The commander snatched the case from his hands and broke the royal seal, but after reading the first few lines, all color vanished from his face.

Max noticed the change immediately.

"What does it say?"

The man slowly lifted his eyes from the message, his lips trembling as he looked at Max.