The first sky fractured at dawn.
It cracked—not metaphorically, but literally—as the Crownfall Host breached our atmospheric boundaries, rending through layered dimensions like knives through cloth.
"Enemy signatures confirmed," Kaeli reported, eyes locked on the overhead console. "Multiple fronts. East Sky Gate breached. West Skyridge folding."
Alarms screamed.
The city roared.
I stood at the peak of the Citadel Spire, clad in my newly-forged armor—an alloy of Divine Myrium and Voidsteel, blessed by the Cathedral of Echoes and cursed by the First Fallen King.
The armor shimmered as my mana surged into it.
I spoke only one word:
"Engage."
The Eclipse Seraphim led the aerial charge.
Behind her, ten armadas—each representing one of the ten remaining Realms loyal to me—unleashed their fury. Airships cloaked in cloudsteel, dragons enhanced with entropy stabilizers, orbital spell-sentinels that rotated in rings of light and flame.
And me—at the vanguard.
System Skill Activated: Presence – Rise of the Infinite Prince
Your army's morale increases dramatically.
Your voice reaches all units regardless of distance.
All alternate realm selves gain access to your tactics interface.
+15% combat efficiency in Presence-affected zones.
"This is Prince Jaden of Nova Terra," I said, my voice echoing across the minds of thousands.
"You are not alone. You are not outmatched. You are us. And today, we do not bend. We do not run. Today, we fight like gods."
They answered in unison, from every ship, every rooftop, every war beast:
"FOR THE INFINITE PRINCE!"
The First Sky—West Skyridge:
A Crownfall dreadnought appeared—a twisted twin of my Seraphim, its hull dripping with void energy, pulsing like a diseased heart.
I led the Seraphim's lancers headfirst into it.
"Target the rift core!" Kaeli shouted. "Don't let it stabilize!"
I weaved through black flame and gravitational mines, chanting an incantation I'd devised three nights ago—fusing mana with dark matter threads.
The spell struck true. The dreadnought screamed, then folded inward and vanished.
One sky, held.
The Second and Third Skies—Twin Ridgefields:
Here, Alis shone.
Hovering high on a winged construct made from star-forged crystal, she unleashed primal waveforms that disrupted enemy sorcery.
The Crownfall elite underestimated her.
They died learning.
System Notification:
Battle Progress: 3 of 10 Skies Secured.
Casualty Rate: 9.4%
Victory Odds Rising: 24.5%
Then… the Fourth Sky collapsed.
We had no warning. No sound. No visible breach.
Only a whisper from the boy beside me—Entropy's Child:
"He's here."
The Infinite Crown arrived.
Not in a ship. Not in an army.
But as a concept—projected from fractured time, threading himself into the battlefield like a ghost.
He stepped onto the battlefield at the edge of Sky Six. Each step erased history beneath him.
"So this is the best I'll become?" he asked me directly, voice booming through time.
"A child king. A sentimental architect."
I stepped forward. My system core burned white-hot.
"You're not me," I said. "You're what I could have been if I lost myself."
He laughed—cold, regal.
"We'll see."