Aurlith, the capital of Aurgoth.

Though Aurlith did not face any less than its tier 3 counterpart, the land here was as dry as ever; courtesy- their top of the class drainage system.

Aurgoth was a nation that invested the most in prosperity of the people. Since its inception back when Ervilia itself came into the picture, the Auras family took the helm as the leaders of the nation. The family of merchants became Royals.

The head of the Auras family back then, the first king of the Kingdom of Aurgoth was wise and foresighted. He thought that investing heavily in military just like its Eastern neighbour, Darkshore, was foolish. He believed that expending into the prosperity of the people would create a cycle that would make the nation richer as a whole. Not to mention, the land itself was naturally blesses.

And he was right. More importantly, his successors shared the same view as their ancestor. They stayed true to their beliefs and overtime, Aurgoth became one of the richest nations in the continent and later, the richest in the Confederation- even beating the mighty Nemphis by a margin.

But this success came at a cost. Their military, was one of the weakest in the entire Confederation- even weaker than some of the stronger tier 1 nations. This unsurprisingly led to exploitation. They were bound to give away resources when their neighbours ‘asked’ for help.

But fortunately, those neighbours never crossed the line. However, a Prince- a tier 5 talent that came once in a decade in the Confederation- vowed to change everything.

A middle aged man, sitting on the throne-like seat in a dark room with his right elbow resting on the armrest and head lying on his right knuckle, suddenly opened his eyes. The brown orbs had layers of depth that would even have a king from a lower tier kingdom bow in respect.

“Umbra?” His deep voice resounded through the room.

A cloaked petite figure came out of thin air and knelt on the ground, on one knee.

“As expected of your Majesty.” A bewitching feminine voice sounded out. “Your Majesty is the only one who is able to detect me despite using my concealment spell to the fullest.”

“You are the only one in the Kingdom who have the right to test us.” His voice was devoid of any emotions, befitting a King. “And don’t lie to us. You held back.”

“It was this servant’s fault.” The newcomer bowed, still on her knees. “Your Majesty is wise.”

“Forget it.” The middle aged king waved his left hand. “How was your trip?”

“I personally visited each and every one of our bases, examined everything- including the situation and progress.” She brought out a thick scroll from underneath her cloak. “Here is a thorough report.”

The king of Aurgoth, Leopold de Auras, finally sat straight. His whole right forearm fell on the armrest. “Bring it to us.”

The cloaked lady, Umbra, bowed before standing up. She walked towards her King with a steady pace. Her arms were stretched out, the scroll was lying on her palms.

Once she was before the king, one of her knees touched the ground again. She bowed and raised her arms, along with the scroll.

King Leopold nodded and took the wrapped piece of paper from the woman’s hand.

He opened the scroll and began to read through the contents within. At first, his expression was nonchalant as before, but he would occasionally nod. But suddenly, his eyes formed a frown. And the more he read, his brows knitted further and further while his forehead creased more and more.

Soon, his hands began to tremble. His teeth grinder against each other. By the time his deep and brown eyes reached the end of the text, the scroll was almost half balled up from his clenched hands.

“FUCK!” He hurled the paper into the ground with extreme force. The paper was completely destroyed. Even the expensive gold plated floor formed a crack.

An overwhelming aura gushed out from his body. Even though it was not targeted at anyone particular, Umbra, the only other occupant of the room- had to take brunt of his rage.

Her back arched even lower; her other knee slammed onto the ground. She could barely breath from the majestic aura choking her. But she remained silent, not moving an inch.

King Leopold regained a bit of his senses and noticed the state of his subject. He somewhat calmed himself, taking back his aura. But his eyes were still bloodshot.

Umbra heaved out a short sigh and got back to her previous position- one knee on the ground.

The king was not surprised at all by his most loyal subject’s demeanour.

“How did this happen?” He asked. His tone was lacking the indifference from before; it was… shaking.

“I apologise your Majesty.” She bowed her head even further. “I believe we are compromised.”

“It might have been the case if every one of the nations discovered us. After all, it’s in the clause of the Confederation to inform every other nations if such a threat is discovered.” He looked up, his gaze piercing through the ceiling. “It’s as if all of the nations are keeping it a secret from each other.”

“Your Majesty is wise.” The lady spoke. “Darkshore, Northguard, Kraten and Damcus- these are the only sectors that faced trouble. Everything else is fine. I think-“

“Adrian Darkheart.” His voice trembled even more than before as he uttered these two hated words.

“Yes.” The woman answered.

“But what is he up to right now?” He sighed, totally composing himself. “Is he baring his fangs? Or maybe it’s a warning.”

Umbra remained silent.

“Cancel everything.” He said.

“What!?” The lady looked ahead with widened eyes. “Leopold, you-“

The king showed her his palm. “If I go any further, the whole Kingdom will fall with me.”

The woman could only bite her lips under her cloak. “As you wish.” She sighed. “But I am not cancelling anything.” She cried out. “We are going to standby and serve you till the end.”

The king remained silent. He knew how stubborn this woman was.

Umbra gave him one last glance, still biting her lips, and disappeared into the darkness.

The King remained alone in the dark and silent room, looking up at the ceiling.

Suddenly-

“Hahahahaha”

Laughter echoed through the room. It was loud- and crazy.

“The only dream I ever had. All these decades of planning. All those burnt resources. Everything. Everything was destroyed by a single youth- who is barely twenty years of age.”

“Hahahaha!”

Tears leaked from his red eyes, sliding down through his solid skin. He felt his heat clench inside his chest.

Soon, the laughter stopped. The room was silent. But those tears- they kept streaming from his eyes.

He used one of is hands to cover his face, all of the fingers spaced out from each other.

“WHY?!” He screamed. “I wanted nothing but honour for my Kingdom. I wanted to show everyone that just because we have a weak military, doesn’t mean we are to be looked down upon.” He said every word aloud.

“All I want is to look down on the world from Aurgoth!” He cried his heart out.

“And you will.” A beguiling voice entered his ears.