The mysterious figure made his way into the banquet hall with an air of undeniable authority. As he walked, the murmurs of conversation hushed, and the room seemed to hold its breath. Without a word, he took his place at the table, sitting next to me as if he were already familiar with the space, as if he belonged here.

  And then I felt it—that presence. A powerful aura that seemed to radiate from him, curling around the room like an invisible force. It was the unmistakable feeling of golden dragon spirits, their energy alive and pulsing within him. My pulse quickened. Who was this person?

  I couldn't tear my gaze from him. Even my father, the mighty King of Valoria, stood with a certain reverence and bowed to the stranger, greeting him with the utmost respect. My father, the very king who commanded armies and who had never bowed to another living soul, had bowed to him.

  The sight was so shocking that I almost forgot to breathe. A person powerful enough to make my father bow... Who is he? What makes him so powerful?

  My mind was a flurry of questions, each one more pressing than the last. The room was deathly silent as the man calmly took his seat, and then, as if sensing the need to explain himself, he spoke.

  “I am Kyle, Hai Ri’s disciple,” he said simply.

  The name hit me like a thunderclap. Kyle—the third most powerful person in the world, after Hai Ri and Queen Riva. The Dragon Queen herself had trained him.

  My heart raced, the weight of his words sinking in. Kyle. A legend among legends, a man who had the power to stand side-by-side with Hai Ri, the immortal protector of humanity. To meet him in person—it was beyond an honor. It was a privilege.

  Before I could fully process the shock, Kyle’s voice cut through the silence again. “I have urgent matters to discuss with you, King Alaric. I need to speak with your family and trusted allies.”

  The gravity of his tone left no room for argument. The room seemed to collectively hold its breath as my father, still clearly in awe of him, gave a sharp nod. “Of course, Kyle. We’ll make the arrangements immediately.”

  Within moments, we had gathered in the castle’s meeting room—the room where important decisions were made, the walls lined with old tapestries depicting the kingdom’s glorious history. The air felt heavy, charged with anticipation. Rihanna, Ya Fei, Alaric, and a few other trusted advisors took their places, sitting around the long table. Even Ravel—my brother, the one who had lost his cultivation—seemed to sit straighter in his chair, as if the very presence of Kyle demanded it.

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  I couldn’t tear my eyes away from him. He sat with an unsettling calm, his hands folded in front of him, and then, without preamble, he broke the silence with words that made my blood run cold.

  “There has been a war,” he began, his voice low, but carrying a weight that made everyone lean forward. “The Kingdom of Hanyan—the sixteenth most powerful kingdom—has fallen. The Demon Queen Riva has attacked them. And more than that, she has unlocked the forbidden poison techniques.”

  The words hit like a strike of lightning. My thoughts immediately scrambled to process what he was saying. Poison techniques? Impossible. The Demon Queen had always been powerful, but this… this was something new, something worse.

  Kyle continued, his face grim. “Riva has become a poison master. With the mastery of these forbidden techniques, her power has increased exponentially. Her cultivation has skyrocketed by many dragon scales. Now, she is no longer just a threat—she has become a force that even the Dragon Queen Hai Ri cannot ignore.”

  My heart dropped. Hai Ri—our protector, the immortal goddess who had kept us safe for over a century—had always been a beacon of hope. To hear that Riva was now stronger than ever made my mind reel. If she could defeat Hanyan, what could stop her from conquering the rest of the kingdoms?

  “After her destruction of Hanyan, Hai Ri appeared on the battlefield to defend the innocents from Riva’s wrath,” Kyle said, his tone growing heavier with each word. “The two of them clashed in a battle that shook the very earth beneath us. It was… a challenging match for both.”

  A sudden chill ran down my spine. I had seen Hai Ri fight, and her power was unimaginable. If even she had struggled, it could only mean that Riva’s new abilities were beyond anything we had anticipated.

  Kyle’s eyes darkened as he continued, his voice soft but piercing. “Both of them were badly injured in the fight. But that’s not the most troubling part.”

  My breath caught in my throat.

  “After the battle, Hai Ri… disappeared.”

  A collective gasp filled the room.

  The words hung in the air like a weight too heavy to bear. Hai Ri—the unshakable protector, the symbol of hope for all humanity—was gone. Disappeared after such a catastrophic battle.

  Kyle looked around the room, his eyes meeting each of us. “I don’t know where she went. Some say she’s in hiding to heal. Others… others believe she might be dead. But I have no answers for you. The one thing I do know is this: the world is on the brink of another war. Riva is more dangerous than ever, and she’s planning something far worse than anyone realizes.”

  The silence in the room was suffocating. I could barely breathe, let alone think clearly. The Dragon Queen’s disappearance was a blow to everything we had fought for. Riva had returned with a vengeance, and now, with Hai Ri gone, it felt as though the very foundation of our world was crumbling.

  I looked at Ravel, sitting across from me. His eyes were clouded with worry, and for the first time, I saw something I hadn’t seen in a long time—fear.

  “Kyle, what do we do now?” I finally asked, breaking the silence. My voice felt small, insignificant in comparison to the magnitude of what we were facing.

  Kyle’s gaze sharpened as he stood, his presence commanding the attention of the room. “We prepare for the worst. And I need your help. All of you. The Demon Queen Riva is just the beginning.”

  The weight of his words settled over me like a storm, and I knew then that everything was about to change. The peace we had known, the fragile balance, had already shattered. A new era of war, death, and destruction had begun.

  And I was not ready.