Chapter 265: Blackspire Under Siege

"Stop!"

At the head of the massive army, Valeria suddenly halted and raised her fist. The order passed backward through the formation until the marching soldiers gradually stopped behind her.

She drew a slow breath through her nose, and her expression tightened.

"Something isn’t right. Can’t you smell blood?"

Valeria turned toward the horizon and saw crimson clouds approaching at an unnatural speed. Moments later, the first blood-colored drops struck their armor, followed by a wave of rain that swept over the entire army and continued far beyond them while the crimson clouds spread in every direction.

It was no ordinary rain. The drops smelled strongly of blood, and they carried a sorrow so deep that even the most hardened soldiers fell silent beneath it. Some glanced toward the sky while others stared at the crimson trails running down their armor, all of them grieving for something they did not even know they had lost.

Valeria wiped a droplet from her cheek and watched it slide across her fingers like diluted blood before slowly clenching her hand.

For a moment, she thought of Aragon, the Emperor of the Crimson Horde. Killing him should have been impossible, yet as she watched the crimson rain slide between her fingers, she could not stop herself from wondering whether Max had somehow done it.

Then she pushed the thought aside. Whatever had happened between those two monsters no longer concerned her. Her task remained unchanged, and the enemy capital was already within sight.

Far beyond the grassy plains stood Blackspire.

Its black crystal towers stretched high into the blood-red sky, their sharp surfaces reflecting faint shades of purple and gold beneath the crimson clouds. Even from this distance, Valeria could see the massive walls surrounding the capital and the four fortified gates, one facing each direction.

"Pass the order through every division," Valeria commanded, her voice carrying over the falling rain. "Spread the army across the plains and surround the capital. I want every gate sealed before the siege begins."

The soldiers nearest her stiffened, but Valeria was not finished.

"Kill them all. Leave no one breathing."

Lucius studied her expression as though waiting for her to reconsider, but Valeria showed no hesitation. Her face remained cold, even as her clenched fist trembled beside her body.

All she could think about was the expression Maximus would make if he survived his battle against Aragon and returned to find Blackspire broken.

She imagined the gates torn from the walls, the black crystal streets buried beneath the bodies of his people, and the blood of dragons flowing through the capital he had built. She wanted him to walk through the destruction and see everything he had gathered taken away from him.

If Aragon killed him, this siege would erase everything Maximus intended to leave behind.

If he somehow survived, he would return to witness it himself.

"Begin the encirclement," Valeria ordered. "The siege starts the moment every division reaches its position."

The command spread rapidly through the Imperial Court army.

Horns sounded beneath the crimson clouds, their deep calls rolling across the plains as thousands of soldiers broke away from the central formation.

Infantry units marched toward the four gates while mounted warriors raced along the edges of the capital, circling Blackspire from both directions. Behind them, enormous siege weapons groaned across the wet earth, their heavy wheels sinking into the grass as soldiers pushed them closer to the walls.

Ranged units moved into position behind the advancing infantry, preparing to strike the defenders the moment they appeared.

The crimson rain continued falling upon both armies as the Imperial Court forces closed in on Blackspire.

Far away from the capital, Max was already returning home.

His wings beat weakly behind him, each movement barely carrying his broken body a few meters above the ground. Several times, his boots nearly struck the uneven earth, forcing him to spread his wings wider and drag himself upward before he crashed.

Every muscle felt torn, his hearts struggled within his chest, and the power supporting his flight weakened with every passing moment. Under any other circumstances, he would have landed to recover, but the silence throughout the Imperial Court Empire filled him with a growing sense of unease.

He had expected its surviving forces to attack the moment his battle ended. The Imperial Court commanders knew who he had been fighting, and they knew he would never be this weak again.

Yet no patrols rose to intercept him, and no attacks came.

At first, Max believed fear had kept them away. After witnessing what happened between him and Aragon, perhaps the remaining commanders had finally lost the courage to face him.

However, the farther he flew, the less he believed it.

The Imperial Court forces had gone somewhere else.

Before Max could return home, a familiar figure appeared in the distance and blocked his path.

Henry stood in the middle of the plains with a wild grin stretched across his face. Golden ice flames danced across his arms and shoulders before fading into the air, leaving trails of frost sparkling beneath the crimson sky.

Max slowed down, his wings barely keeping him above the ground. Facing Henry in his current condition was the last thing he needed.

"Max."

Henry nodded in greeting.

At the same moment, golden ice flames poured from his body and swept across the surrounding land. Grass froze beneath them, and a thick layer of golden frost covered the plains within seconds, stretching so far that Max could not see where it ended.

"Move."

Max spat toward the ground and continued forward, intending to fly straight past him.

"Right now is not the time for this. No matter how much you hate me or how badly you want to see me dead, you need to let me pass." His black eyes remained fixed upon Henry as the distance between them rapidly closed. "Rosalia and all the other dragons might die if I don’t return in time. Then only you will remain, exactly as you are now. Alone, pathetic, and cursed."

"Is that what you want?"

Henry lowered his head and let out a dark chuckle beneath his breath.

The response caught Max off guard. Even the possibility of his own daughter dying had caused no hesitation.

"Fine," Henry muttered. "Let them die. I don’t care."

His chuckle slowly grew louder as he raised his head again.

"As long as I get to watch you walk over their corpses with a broken heart, I will be satisfied. I want you to feel the same way you made me feel when you cast me away."

The golden flames covering the plains suddenly surged upward.

Max beat his wings and tried to rise above them, but they could not carry him high enough. The flames closed around him from every direction, freezing and hardening into enormous walls of golden ice before he could escape.

The walls slammed together with a deafening crash, sealing Max inside a massive prison.

He immediately twisted in the air and drove his fist into the nearest wall. Darkness gathered around his hand at the moment of impact, sending a deep boom through the prison, but the golden surface barely trembled.

"I wonder what will happen to your powers when they die."

Henry approached the prison and watched Max through the thick golden walls.

"Will their bloodlines disappear from your body, or have you already taken everything you need from them?" His grin widened as Max struck the ice again. "I want to see it for myself. I want to study you, Max. Perhaps once your sorrow finally breaks you, I can take your powers for myself."

Henry laughed as he turned his back on the prison.

"Don’t worry. I’ll return when there is nothing left for you to save."

"Henry!"

Max struck the same place again and again, each impact sending another boom across the plains. Blood soon coated his knuckles, but not even the smallest crack appeared. He gathered what little remained of his void power, concentrated all of it into a single point, and drove his fist into the wall once more.

The golden ice refused to break.

Henry continued walking toward the distant horizon without looking back. His dark laughter gradually faded into the falling rain, leaving Max alone inside the prison as precious seconds slipped past him.

Max stared through the distorted walls in the direction of Blackspire. With every second that passed, he became more certain that the Imperial Court forces had abandoned the hunt for him and gone after the capital instead.

He spread his wings once more and gathered the final remnants of darkness around his bleeding fist. Ignoring the pain tearing through his exhausted body, he struck the wall again.

Yet the prison did not crack.

From the highest balcony of the citadel, Rosalia watched the Imperial Court army spread across the plains, closing around Blackspire from every direction. Siege weapons rolled toward the walls beneath the crimson rain, while seemingly endless ranks of soldiers filled the horizon. Her fingers tightened around the railing.

"Max..." she whispered.