The Guardian gods

Chapter 875

None of the soldiers or mages laughed at him, nor did they speak a word of reprimand. They too simply watched in absolute silence as the blood-drenched crowd continued its steady march, disappearing deeper into the Silver Kingdom.

Finally, the captain let out a ragged breath, trying to force authority back into his voice. "Report back to the capital immediately," he ordered.

But he got no response. Instead, as he looked at his own men, he saw only a lost, greedy look spreading across their faces as they watched the retreating crowd, their minds already wandering over the border, chasing the lingering taste of blood.

He knew exactly what they were thinking. He could feel it too, that insidious temptation pulling at the edge of his mind like a physical weight. But then he remembered his own actions from just a few minutes ago, and a shudder racked through his body. He reached up, pressing a hand to his jaw. His teeth were actually aching, for some reason, right at the height of the frenzy, he had genuinely believed his teeth would be a good way to catch an incoming weapon.

It was absolute madness.

The bizarre, intrusive thought left a sickening taste in his mouth, and suddenly, the Captain found himself appreciating the Queen’s rigid, methodical policies more than he ever had before. Her ways were slow. They were frustrating, and under her rule, advancement felt weak and stagnant. But at least under the Queen, your life was guaranteed. Your mind belonged to you.

During those few chaotic minutes under Björn’s gaze, he had been exposed to a raw, existential danger unlike anything he had experienced since the day he was born. The strength was real, but the price was your very humanity.

He looked back at his silent, staring squad, his voice dropping to a harsh, desperate whisper. "Look at yourselves," he commanded, trying to break the trance. "We are soldiers of the people of Björn, not rabid dogs. If we don’t send word now, we risk the kingdom being unprepared for what is to come."

The urgent report reached Yuki’s desk before the common folk even realized that members of countless families had quietly slipped out of their homes under the cover of night, chasing a violent, intoxicating dream left behind by Björn.

Yuki, reading the desperate dispatches from the border, immediately moved to suppress the information. She enacted strict media blackouts and intercepted communications, ensuring the news did not reach the ears of the other Paragons.

Just from the graphic, blood-soaked descriptions of the event in the report, she didn’t need to guess. She knew exactly who was involved.

It had been a long time since her union with Björn. Since that day, he had always listened to her, operating in the shadows to bolster her agenda. She had gained popularity and political power at a meteoric rate precisely because of his calculated actions from the sidelines. He had never done anything without her explicit knowledge or consent.

But now, he had. He had gone rogue.

Driven by a mix of fury and growing unease, Yuki traveled to the physical boundary of his realm. The dark, oppressive atmosphere hung heavy in the air. Stepping forward, she reached out to pass through the threshold as she had a many times before only to gasp as a harsh, invisible pressure shoved her back.

She was being rejected. Björn had locked her out.

She reached out again and got the same result, which made her to reflect on her recent choices to stand against him, the realization hit her instantly. She had unknowingly displeased him. Yet, the suddenness of it caught her entirely off guard, apart from their initial disagreement, he had shown absolutely no outward reaction that he was unhappy, maintaining a cold silence until unleashing this sudden, chaotic strike.

A deep frown creased her forehead. "Björn?" she called out loud, her voice carrying a sharp authority, knowing full well it would penetrate the boundary and reach his ears.

She was met with nothing but the heavy, humming silence of the barrier.

"At times like this, we are supposed to stand together," she pressed on, staring into the dark expanse of his realm. "My action was for the stability of our kingdom. A war right now does not spell well for either of us."

Still, no response came.

A rare, cold knot of anxiety began to tighten in Yuki’s chest. Björn was not just an ally, he was the man who had been the center of her life for as long as she could remember. It was through his sheer power and presence that she had finally gained her freedom, escaping from her father’s suffocating sight and watchful eye.

It was through him that she had secured the stable life and meteoric growth she had enjoyed for the past century. Every ounce of effort she had poured into the kingdom was driven by her own ambition, yes, but it was also designed to build a world where she could be of true help to him.

To be shut out so completely, without a single word, made the ground beneath her feet feel terrifyingly fragile.

Building this kingdom, elevating his name, and securing their rule, it was the only way she knew how to thank him. And now, he wouldn’t even speak to her.

Placing a trembling hand against the cold surface of the boundary wall, she let her forehead rest against it. "I realize now how my actions must have looked in your eyes, and in the eyes of our subjects," she murmured, her voice losing its sharp edge, sounding smaller than it had in decades. "But it was never my intention to challenge your status. Not to our people. Not to anyone."

She waited, holding her breath, hoping for even a ripple in the barrier or a whisper in the wind. No response came.

With a heavy sigh, she gave the invisible wall one last, pained glance before turning on her heel and leaving.

Deep within his realm, Björn stood in the shadows, watching her retreating figure. His crimson eyes flickered with a storm of detached calculation.

It didn’t matter what her intentions had been. The consequences of her actions had spoken loud enough, exposing a dangerous truth about his current standing among his own people. If his influence could be so easily managed, mitigated, and quieted, then that had to change.

There had to be a repercussion. His name needed to carry the same terrifying weight it did when he walked the earth physically. It was a lesson everyone needed to relearn, especially his brother, Olaf, who seemed to have forgotten just what kind of terror he truly was.

Back in the capital, the pressure finally forced Yuki’s hand. She called an emergency meeting with the other Paragons. The only non-Paragon permitted in the chamber was Prince Leiko, whose presence only added to the suffocating weight of the room.

As everyone took their seats around the massive council table, Yuki didn’t waste time with political pleasantries. She laid out the grim reality of what had transpired at the border wall, detailing the slaughter, the manifestation of the Red Mist, and the corrupted soldiers who had marched into the Silver Kingdom.

As the report concluded, the faces of almost everyone in the room grimaced in a mixture of fury and dread. Only Finn remained impassive. The others wanted to roar in anger, to demand who allowed such foolishness to occur but as their eyes drifted toward the vessel of Björn sitting silently near Yuki, the words died in their throats. They all swallowed their rage.

Indeed, they were Paragons now. They held mighty, world-shaping power. On paper, they possessed the strength to battle a god. But having once served under Björn, having been the very men he led into the jaw of meat-grinder battles, they knew the absolute terror of his true power. They knew how monstrous he could be when he stopped playing the role of a silent deity.

This terrifying reality was amplified by a bitter truth, they were currently nowhere near their peak. None of them had yet figured out how to breach the problem of the immense, long-standing mana required to actively deploy and sustain one’s conceptual laws. In a prolonged fight, they were vulnerable.

With a deeply grimaced face, Olaf finally broke the silence, his voice heavy with resentment and fear.

"What is Björn’s plan then?" he asked, directing the question straight at Yuki, the woman who was supposed to be closer to the monster than anyone else in existence.

Yuki was utterly at a loss. The sudden question hung in the air like a heavy weight, suffocating her. She didn’t know how to answer, he hadn’t spoken a single word to her, so how was she supposed to know what was brewing inside his mind? She opened her mouth to speak, to craft a diplomatic deflection, but the opportunity was instantly stripped away.