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  [SYSTEM ALERT: Location: Throne Hall – Kingdom of Azuria]

  [Time: Minutes After the Torture of Fraden Melois Ended]

  [Status: Funeral Silence Prevails]

  [Note: The Eight Girls Are Transforming]

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  A funeral silence reigned in the throne hall of "Azuria" after the screams of Fraden Melois ceased.

  The general was not dead.

  In the lexicon of Elias and Flora, death is a "mercy" not everyone deserves.

  Fraden lay on the ground like a tattered rag, his eyes wide open, yet seeing nothing of reality. His consciousness had drowned in an ocean of existential pain that he had lived for billions of years in just a few minutes. His body twitched with slight tremors, as if every cell in his being was still screaming from the memories of being torn apart and reshaped.

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  Arthur de Flancde stood watching the wreckage of the man everyone used to tremble before.

  Arthur felt no victory, nor pity. His emotions had been drained from him, replaced by a cold void.

  Arthur was not merely a rebel. He was an Emperor to whom the seven continents had submitted, and before whose feet the thrones of great kingdoms had knelt.

  "Azuria" was the final challenge. The only spot that dared to disobey in the face of his empire upon which the sun never sets.

  Outside the palace walls, his vast Imperial army filled the horizon. Hundreds of thousands of soldiers and knights stationed, waiting for a single signal from their master to wipe the city off the map.

  But Arthur knew that this war required a different kind of power. A power humans do not possess.

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  Behind him, the eight girls stood in a semi-circular formation.

  Their features had changed. The pale skin caused by torture now overflowed with a faint purple light. The weakness that used to break their backs had transformed into the proud stance of soldiers who know no fatigue.

  They looked upon Elias and Flora with absolute sanctity, as if they were the invincible Eternals, completely ignoring Fraden's living corpse beneath their feet.

  Elias, who looked like a piece of the night in human clothing, turned toward the giant wall behind the throne.

  Elias (In his voice that carried a cold metallic ring):

  "Time here is viscous. Your father, Arthur, did not trust humans; he knew that royal blood is but a red liquid that can be easily spilled. Thus, he sought 'solidity' elsewhere."

  Flora stepped beside Elias, provocatively playing with her pink locks, and laughed a laugh that shook the crystal chandeliers.

  Flora:

  "Oh, Elias... do you smell that? It is the scent of ancient fear. The former king trembled at the thought of vanishing despite being a king, so he built a grave for his hopes beneath this throne."

  The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

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  With a simple gesture from Elias's index finger, there was no explosion or crashing sound. Instead, the marble wall particles began to disintegrate and vanish, as if evaporating into nothingness.

  A descending passage appeared. Its walls not made of stone, but of a strange, dark metal that absorbs light and reflects nothing. A metal never seen by the blacksmiths of this world before, even in the golden ages of the Empire.

  Flora (Winking with her shimmering eye):

  "Follow me, Servant of Zero. For today you shall know that your kingdom was merely a shell hiding a metallic monster."

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  They descended into the depths of the palace.

  The air grew colder. The smell of oil and electricity—concepts unknown in this era—began to fill the place.

  After hundreds of steps, they reached a hall so vast that its ceiling was lost in the darkness.

  As soon as Elias entered, strange lights ignited on their own. Bright white lights emanating from long glass tubes fixed to the ceiling.

  Arthur's eyes widened. For the first time in a long while, he felt a flicker of amazement.

  The hall was not a storehouse for gold. It was a laboratory from another world.

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  On the right side stood rows of war machines. Massive armors made of rare metals where gears and complex engines intertwined.

  They were not just armors. They were mechanical "killing machines," silent as death, armed with magnetic blades and cannons not made to fire arrows, but to unleash pure energy.

  Beside them were stacked weapons: swords clad in cold blue flames, and spears that pierced the void with a mere movement.

  This technology was so advanced it made the strongest catapult in Arthur's army look like a toy.

  Elias (Running his hand over a massive war machine):

  "These metals... are not from your land. They were stolen from another novel, a world where science was the absolute ruler. Your father found a rift and tried to bring this weapon to protect his throne from Gladius. But he was a fool; a machine does not work without a driving 'soul'."

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  But the most awe-inspiring sight was at the end of the hall.

  Eighteen giant glass tubes filled with a glowing green liquid. Inside each tube swam a being in a state of deep slumber.

  Arthur approached the tubes.

  They were not entirely human.

  In the first tube was a being with pointed ears and skin as if carved from moonlight—an Elf. But he did not resemble the delicate legendary creatures; he was muscular, his face bearing battle scars.

  In another tube was a short, broad-shouldered being with a body like solid rock—a Dwarf—surrounded by advanced war tools.

  The others were "hybrids": a girl with a red fox tail and claws sharp as daggers, a man with predatory wolf features, and other hybrid creatures combining human beauty with the strength of fierce beasts.

  These 18 beings, with their raw power, were enough to wipe out the city of "Azuria" and defeat "Gladius" in mere minutes.

  Flora (Whispering, standing before the fox girl's tube):

  "The 18 Forgotten Ones. Stronger than the armies of Gladius combined. These are the 'elite' your father aspired to use as a poisoned dagger in his enemies' backs. But they lack motive... they lack absolute loyalty."

  Elias turned to Arthur.

  Elias:

  "Arthur, these shall be your army. They are not humans who lust for gold, nor slaves fleeing the executioner's whip. They will be an extension of your will... as long as your will is mine."

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  At a gesture from Elias, the green liquids in the tubes began to drain with a powerful roaring sound.

  The tubes began to open one by one.

  The eighteen beings emerged, coughing up green liquid and falling to their knees simultaneously.

  The room filled with a terrifying energy. An immense pressure that made the air feel heavy.

  The "Elf" stood first. His eyes void of any emotion until they landed on Elias.

  At that moment, the being, who possessed enough power to demolish city walls alone, felt his entire existence vanish before Elias's majesty.

  He fell to his knees again. But this time with a desire for absolute submission.

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  Flora stepped forward with confident strides. A scroll of black leather appeared in her hand, emitting purple smoke.

  Flora (In a voice carrying promises of immortality and supreme power):

  "Hybrids. I am Flora, the beautiful face of the Abyss. You have awakened in a new age where ancient kings have no value. You have two choices: either return to the nothingness from which you came, or sign this 'contract.' I will grant you power beyond your imaginations and bodies that do not age, as supernatural beings in this world, in exchange for one thing... your souls and your absolute loyalty to Arthur, the servant of your master Elias."

  The 18 beings looked at one another. Then looked at Elias, who stood behind them like "Death" itself awaiting an answer.

  They had no choice. Nor did they want one. They felt Flora's power stroking their minds, a power both seductive and terrifying.

  One by one, they stepped forward and touched the black scroll.

  Upon touching it, a black mark scorched by fire appeared on their wrists.

  One of them screamed from the force of the influx. They felt that their veins no longer carried only blood, but the energy of "The Absolute" and the might of the Eternals.

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  Elias (Directing his gaze toward the exit):

  "Now, you have an army, Arthur. The 18 hybrids are your blade, and the eight girls are your inseparable shadow. As for those machines and armors, let them be the terror that crawls upon Azoria."

  Elias looked at Arthur sternly.

  Elias:

  "The rebel nobles, the followers of Fraden who think they will seize power after his absence, and the commoners dreaming of revolution... they all wait outside these walls. Go out to them, Arthur. Do not ask for loyalty; impose it through annihilation. The eight girls need to test their new power, and the 18 hybrids are hungry for blood."

  Flora laughed loudly, looking at Arthur.

  Flora:

  "Go, my dear, turn Azoria into a theater for our madness. I want to hear the symphony of bones crushing beneath your new army's feet, while your old Imperial army watches in silence as true history is made. Are you ready to erase the word 'rebellion' from the dictionary of this world?"

  Arthur, looking at his army of hybrids, machines, and killer girls, replied in a voice that seemed to come from the grave.

  Arthur:

  "By your command... I shall make Azoria a lesson history will never forget."

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  The procession moved from the secret laboratory toward the palace surface, where the pale sun of Azoria waited to witness the beginning of the end.

  The boundary between "logic" known to humans and the "illogic" represented by Elias and Flora had begun to vanish completely.

  The Imperial armies stationed outside began to hear the thud of strange footsteps coming from inside the palace.

  Footsteps that did not belong to this world.

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