It began with silence.
Not the peace of quiet—no, this silence screamed.
A silence that came before an extinction. One where systems ceased their hum, where the wind held its breath, and even the stars seemed to flicker in fear.
From the throne room of Nova Citadel, I stood, watching the sky darken.
"He's not invading," I muttered. "He's claiming."
The Infinite Crown had made his move.
System Broadcast: Planetary Threat Level – OMEGA
Total Dimensional Signature Breaches Detected: 58
Mirror Realms destabilized.
Worldstream 01: Nova Terra—Nexus Prime under siege.
Recommendation: Mobilize Allied Realms.
CROWNLESS WAR INITIATED
Across the Grand Tactical Display, I watched them gather.
Ships shaped like blades. Armored beasts rising from fractured mountains. Ghosts of my alternate selves corrupted by despair, bent by defeat, all converging toward me.
My reflection would be his final prize.
But I was done running.
I stood before the War Council—Kaeli at my right, Alis at my left, and the Child of Entropy seated behind me, drawing sigils of future timelines in the air with his tiny fingers.
"If we let him write this world into his empire, there won't be a next one," I said."We are the last divergence point. He wants me—he'll get something else."
Preparation:
The Eclipse Seraphim was refitted with an Entropic Core.
Nova Citadel's shield lattice was extended to the upper thermosphere.
My top engineers integrated spell-threads with quantum scaffolds to create living bunkers that healed and fought beside the soldiers.
And I designed a command interface to coordinate all resistance efforts through my Presence stat.
A war fought across dimensions… needed a leader in every one of them.
"Jaden, incoming transmission," Kaeli said.
It was from the first realm to fall—Realm 002.
But this message wasn't a distress signal.
It was a resistance cry.
A soldier—one of me—scarred and battle-worn, shouted into the feed:
"We're still here! We've taken back the Citadel Shard! The Child's signal reached us—we remember who we were!"
Then static.
Then silence.
But it was enough.
"Begin protocol: Crownless Bastion," I ordered.
And Nova Citadel came to life.
Engines roared as magic fused with machinery. Walls pulsed with runes etched in ancient bloodlines.
My people—knights, mages, engineers, and refugees—stood as one.
Not soldiers.
Defiers.
System Alert: Incoming Army – Crownfall Host
ETA: 23 hours
Predicted Casualties: 73.4%
Victory Chance: 12.2% (Rising)
Active Skill: "Presence – Rise of the Infinite Prince" UNLOCKED
As night fell, I looked at my reflection in the obsidian glass of my war helm.
I didn't see a boy from Earth anymore.
I saw a god in the making.
"Let him come," I whispered. "Let him see what it means to fight a version of himself… who never gave up."