All eyes widened.Rogg… had brought Thalasson.Rogg… the son of Brovos.Rogg… stood before the throne.
"Honestly… he always gives me chills," Magnoli muttered with a wry smile.Xaverius remained silent, his gaze fixed, saying nothing.
What Rogg did—sitting on the imperial throne just like that—might've seemed reckless.Yet somehow, it radiated an undeniable authority.But not everyone accepted it.
Todius clenched his teeth."Whoever you are… just because you brought Thalasson doesn't mean you can sit on that throne! I still don't believe you deserve it!""We've never truly known you! Never seen you on the battlefield! How could we bow to you?!" Prince Dorges bellowed."Get down! My eyes burn just watching you sit there!"
Rogg rose slowly, locking eyes with each of them."We can settle this my way… or yours. I sit here because this is where I belong.If you believe I'm unworthy… then issue a challenge. I won't back down."
The hall rumbled.Damerius, who had been staring blankly, now sank deeper into silence.On the very day he fought for the throne…He now had to watch it slip away.
"I'll challenge you! Just like two years ago!" Prince Dorges roared, brimming with fury."Hahaha! Be sure of it, brother..."Rogg chuckled coldly. "You're only going to embarrass yourself.""Overconfident, aren't you?!" Todius snapped."We don't even know who you are! And you expect us to kneel?! Will you accept or not?!"
"Very well..." Rogg took a deep breath."It may be improper to fight in a hall of judgment this grand. But when there are too many voices… and none can unite… then strength becomes the answer.""You want to see who's most worthy? Then let's find out."
Suddenly… Robb stepped forward."Brother… it wouldn't be right for an emperor to fight his own war commander. Let me handle this."He smiled calmly.
A wave of cheers and astonishment swept through the palace.Robb… looked so much like Rogg.
"Robb… Dorges is still our brother. Don't humiliate him too much," Rogg said lightly.Magnoli gave a faint smile."Dorges! This is for your name! Your title as a prince! Your family's honor! Don't lose!" shouted Todius, firing up his younger brother.
The hall of judgment transformed into an arena.Every official, elder, and noble fell silent.
"Choose whatever way you want to fight. But you only have one..."Rogg lit a small candle at the corner of the stage."Just one… the smallest candle."
Xaverius turned slightly, clearly uneasy."Rogg… who determines the winner? This… feels too crude."
"If Robb loses—or if it ends in a draw—I will step down from this throne," Rogg answered coldly and concisely.
That sentence…shook every heart in the chamber.
All eyes turned to the center of the arena.The little candle flickered quietly in the corner of the stone platform, as if challenging time itself.
Robb stepped forward—silent, unarmored, no helmet—just a light combat vest and two gleaming silver short swords: the Illeum Heraxes.Dorges, on the opposite end, stood tall and broad, clad in black armor bearing the emblem of a burning sun on his chest.In his hands, a massive greatsword—the Sword of Cindral, an heirloom from the concubine Netia's family, forged by the Torens bloodline.The Sword of Cindral could cleave steel like rotted wood… but not the Heraxes blades, forged from Lovarian steel.
"We begin… the moment this candle is lit," Rogg declared from the throne, his voice echoing across the judgment hall."No aid. No mercy. Only honor. Only victory."
The small candle flickered to life…Time began to tick.
Dorges moved first—CRASH!!—leaping forward as his massive blade slashed toward Robb like a bolt of lightning.But Robb dodged, sliding beneath the blow with a speed nearly shadow-like.Dust swirled.Their weapons clashed—brilliant, ear-splitting.
"Hraaahh!!" Dorges roared.Swing after swing from his greatsword tore through the air…But not once did he touch Robb.
Robb didn't strike back—not yet.He was watching, reading Dorges' rhythm—one step… two… three…
Dorges attacked harder, more brutally.Some officials began to cheer softly, thinking Robb too defensive.But suddenly—CRACK!! Robb deflected a strike to the side and countered—fast, precise—cutting across Dorges' right chest.
Blood dripped.The crowd fell silent.
"One," Robb whispered."You've got fourteen minutes left, Prince."
Dorges snarled.With a growl, he began channeling his family's signature technique—Cindral Flame Form—striking the ground and sending a shockwave.
The stones cracked.Robb leapt!Landing atop Dorges' blade, he twisted—spun—then drove his sword into Dorges' left shoulder from above!
"You fight like a giant… but your heart is ruled by rage," Robb said calmly.
Dorges staggered.Sweat and blood mingled at his temples.The audience held their breath.
Dorges made one final attempt to end it all—a furious spinning slash, blazing with rage and fire.
But Robb slipped in… twisted his body—
Clink!Robb's blade stopped at Dorges' neck, just a breath away from his artery.
"Stop. You've lost."
The candle was still burning.But the duel… was over.
Dorges froze.He dropped his sword.Lowered his head.Blood trickled through the seams of his armor.
Robb stood tall—untouched, unscathed.His eyes were sharp.His breathing steady.
Everyone in the hall was stunned in silence.Some ministers gaped in disbelief.The Empress clenched her fists.Prince Todius lowered his gaze.
"Time remains. But honor has already decided the victor,"said Xaverius as he rose from his seat.
"A flawless victory—Robb Robelix."
And for the first time since the tribunal began—Every soldier bowed their heads.
Robb stepped once again beside Rogg."This throne… is yours, brother."
His words—once again—sparked resentment in the hearts of certain officials, who believed Rogg was far too naive to wear the crown.But not to those who knew him.Not to those who understood who Rogg Robelix truly was.
A true leader never doubts the best of his own.
"Forgive me, Prince… but today, you're going to learn humility,"Robb said, with a calm yet devastating smile.
Dorges could only bow in silence, crushed beneath a defeat as humiliating as it was complete.His blood still dripped—not just from his wounds, but from the gaping tear in his pride.
But before the silence could settle—
Todius rose.
"Enough!" he roared.
His eyes burned with fury.His breath came heavy.His hand gripped Aegisfang—the legendary warhammer, symbol of the imperial family's power and the revered emblem of the Whitesand dominion.
"I don't care who claims the throne! But today, anyone who dares sit upon it... will have to go through me first!"His voice boomed like thunder across a calm sky.
The hall froze.
Prince Todius—the most formidable warrior in the entire Whiteheaven Empire.He wasn't just a noble; he was the embodiment of power and discipline.
And now—he directly challenged the would-be emperor.
"Rogg! I challenge you, right here, right now! Or whoever dares to stand behind you!"he shouted again.
Rogg exhaled slowly. Calm.But in his eyes—there was fire.
"Prince Todius… I know you are the greatest among us. Just the sight of you makes many knights tremble. But listen to me—today is not about strength alone. It's about the direction this Empire must take."
"So you won't fight?!" Todius stomped the ground, the impact echoing like a quake.
"Don't think you can claim that throne if you can't carry the weight of a duel!"
"If that is the only way to calm this storm… then so be it."
Rogg slowly lifted Vermithor—the legendary axe of his grandfather, won long ago in the Knight's Arena of Smokeland.
The air thickened.Silence.Breaths held.
"If I lose, I will forfeit the throne. But if I win—you will surrender all your forces to me, and bow to this united Empire."
Todius nodded."For honor. I accept."
Suddenly—the palace gates flung open in unison.
Seventeen colossal gates, spreading wide like the wings of the divine, revealed armies from every corner of the Guava Valley.
The legions of Whitesand.The towering ranks of Larfex.The noble banners of Patisia.And the armored cavalry of Smokeland's Doliex.
All had gathered in that majestic courtyard—a parade fit for the end of the world.