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[SYSTEM ALERT: Location: The Grand Plaza of Greatness – Melngradnia Empire]
[Event: Emperor Gladius declares himself a god]
[Warning: Two entities outside logic detected]
[Threat Level: Unmeasurable]
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The sky is shrouded in artificial red clouds.
Created by the Emperor's arrogance.
Millions gather in the grand plaza. Their eyes fixed on the palace balcony.
Gladius stands there.
His armor made of ancient dragon bones. His body overflows with terrifying energy that makes the earth tremble beneath the people's feet.
He raises his arms.
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Gladius (Screaming with arrogance, his voice echoing throughout the empire):
"Look at the sky! I have erased your ancient sun and replaced it with my light! Who among you thought a mortal could reach what I have attained? I am the Sole Ruler! I am the God of this existence! For centuries you bowed to an unseen void, now bow to the one whose power you witness with your own eyes!"
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Suddenly...
Amidst this noise and intimidation, an eerie silence fell.
As if existence itself held its breath.
On the edge of the balcony, right beside Gladius...
Elias and Flora appeared.
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Elias (With cold lethality, looking at the crowds with indifference):
"What a pathetic sight, Flora. Thousands of slaves bowing to a piece of clay that thinks it owns the heavens."
Flora (Letting out her psychopathic laugh, looking at Gladius with a gaze that makes him feel small):
"Darling, this insect thinks he's a god! Hahahaha.. just because he absorbed the power of a pathetic lizard! Tell me, Elias, do you want to erase him slowly with torture? Shall we make him die 1,000,000 different deaths in one second? Or a trillion years of torture within one second? I will enjoy every second of his screaming!"
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Gladius (Stepping back, consumed by rage):
"How dare you breach my protection?! I am the Ruler here! I am the God who decides who lives and who dies! Guards! Crush them!"
The guards advanced.
But Elias didn't move a muscle.
As soon as their arrows touched the air surrounding him, the arrows turned into fine ash.
And the guards froze in place like wax statues.
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Elias (With total coldness and complete command of the situation):
"Ruler? God? How pathetic and foolish. You claim the title of the Creator while you do not even realize you are a mere toy in the hands of those who know the Truth. Your blasphemy has reached a level that makes existence vomit you out."
Gladius (Unleashing a dragon's roar, charging his maximum energy):
"I will erase you from history! My power is invincible!"
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Elias (Advancing toward him slowly, as gravity collapses around him):
"Your power? You brag about the power of a creature (a dragon) before those who manipulate logic and illogic. I will make you feel every ounce of pride you placed in your heart turn into a hell that burns your soul."
Flora (Approaching Elias and placing her hand on his shoulder with immense joy):
"Look at his eyes, darling... fear is starting to mix with his pride. Please, don't end it quickly. I want to see their 'god' begging us to erase him from the sheer intensity of the pain."
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[SYSTEM ALERT: Activating special ability]
[Physical Dimensional Multiplicity: Activated]
[Target: Gladius]
[Number of death scenarios: One million per second]
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Elias (Grabbing Gladius by the neck with total coldness, his hand not shaking a single millimeter):
"Flora, my dear, you asked for him to feel a million deaths in a second... I have granted your wish. I am activating [Physical Dimensional Multiplicity] on him now."
With a touch from Elias, Gladius's body began to tremble unnaturally.
As if splitting into thousands of transparent versions in the same spot.
Gladius (Trying to scream, but his voice comes out as if from a thousand different wells):
"Wh... what... is this?! My booody!"
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Flora (Leaning into Gladius's face, tracing his cheek with her nail and cutting him slowly, laughing):
"Hahahaha! Can you feel it? In this moment, a part of you is burning in a sun, a part is drowning in eternal acid, and a part is being crushed under the pressure of a black hole... A million death scenarios gathering in your cells right now, and all of them are happening within this single second."
Elias (Looking at the kneeling crowds with a mocking smile):
"Look, people of Melngradnia, your god cannot even control his own scream. Do you expect him to provide for you? Or protect you?"
Gladius (Collapsing on the balcony floor, vomiting black blood, his eyes turning white from the intensity of the existential pain):
"Please... stop... I am... I am just..."
Flora (Interrupting him with a light kick to the face, swaying gracefully):
"Oh, have you retreated from divinity so quickly? How disappointing! I thought 'lizard power' would help you last at least two minutes."
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Elias (Placing his foot on Gladius's head, pressing slowly as the marble cracks beneath them):
"You have corrupted the balance of this world with your claim, and terrorized these weaklings in your false name. Flora, what do you think of the (trillion years of torture in a second) offer? Shall we start now, or leave him to beg a little longer for your adoring fans?"
Flora (With eyes gleaming with madness):
"Make him beg first, Elias! I want them to hear their 'god' denying himself!"
Gladius (In a voice shattered by pain, addressing the people):
"I am... not a god... I am nothing... Have mercy on me, my masters... I am just a mortal..."
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[The End: "Humiliation and Arrival"]
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Elias (Standing before the terrified crowds, his voice echoing with power and majesty):
"People of Melngradnia! Look at this wreckage you used to bow to. Today, the era of lies ends. This being shall rule you no longer. And because I love balance, I will not leave you to chaos... I will give you a worthy ruler, a ruler who knows his own worth and yours."
Elias snaps his fingers in the void.
Snap.
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[SYSTEM ALERT: New entity detected]
[Name: Arthur de Flancde]
[Status: Elias and Flora's project]
[Power Level: 10,000× Dragon]
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Suddenly, reality tears like a shredded curtain.
From the heart of the void, a young man in his twenties emerges.
Calm. Mysterious. His presence different.
The young man has a cold beauty. His pale blonde hair flows like faint threads of light. He wears a long black robe that contrasts with his pale skin.
But the most terrifying and striking feature... his eyes.
The right: pure white, reflecting moonlight.
The left: deep crimson, as if soaked in ancient blood.
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As soon as the shattered Gladius locks eyes with the young man, his pupils dilate with a terror he hadn't shown even during his torture.
He begins to tremble violently. Tries to crawl backward. Points his finger at the young man. His eyes speak of lethal shock.
Gladius (With shock visible on his features, whispering words barely understood despite his forced silence):
"H... How is this possible?! You?! Impossible... You were... You were finished long ago! How have you returned?!"
The young man with the heterochromatic eyes doesn't even look at Gladius.
He simply bows his head slightly to Elias and Flora. With profound reverence.
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Elias (With a mysterious smile):
"Melngradnia is now in your hands... Do not fail the balance."
Flora (Winking at the young man):
"Make them scream a little if you get bored."
Elias takes Flora's hand.
And suddenly... they vanish as they appeared.
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Gladius faces an ancient nightmare returned to life.
And a people who do not know: should they flee or bow to the new ruler who possesses the eyes of life and death?
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[To be continued... Next Chapter: "The Broken Sun of Flancde" – 25 Years Ago]
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