Silence filled the battlefield.
The Forgotten Sovereign looked down upon Lucien with undisguised admiration.
The young Crown Prince had not won through superior numbers.
Nor through overwhelming strength.
He had rewritten the battlefield itself.
Three days passed inside the simulation.
Lin Tian's once-proud army had been reduced to barely twenty thousand exhausted soldiers.
Starvation spread through the ranks.
Morale collapsed.
Desertions became common.
On the opposite side, Sylvia had managed her forces carefully, but she too was slowly being cornered.
Lucien...
Had not fought a single large-scale battle.
Instead, he controlled rivers, destroyed roads, seized mountain passes, and spread false intelligence.
Every move forced his opponents into making mistakes.
He never chased victory.
He waited for it to come to him.
Lin Tian slammed his fist onto the command table.
"Damn it!"
"Every route is blocked!"
"Every ambush fails!"
"It's like..."
"...he knows every decision before I make it."
A general lowered his head.
"Commander..."
"The enemy has surrounded our headquarters."
Lin Tian froze.
"When?"
"No one knows."
"Our scouts never saw them."
Meanwhile...
Sylvia sighed softly.
She looked toward the distant black banner of House Noctis.
"So this..."
"...is the mind of the future Emperor."
She smiled bitterly.
"I've already lost."
Instead of sacrificing her remaining soldiers, she raised a white flag.
"I surrender."
Golden light descended upon her army.
In an instant...
She disappeared from the battlefield.
Only Lucien...
And Lin Tian remained.
The Forgotten Sovereign's voice echoed through the heavens.
"Final Phase."
"No more strategy."
"Only the commanders remain."
Two bridges slowly extended across the battlefield.
Lin Tian walked onto one.
Lucien onto the other.
The two finally stood face to face.
There were no armies left.
Only silence.
Lin Tian took a deep breath.
"I underestimated you."
Lucien nodded slightly.
"You did."
"But that's not your greatest mistake."
Lin Tian frowned.
"Then what is?"
Lucien looked toward the ruined battlefield.
"You believe victory belongs to the strongest swordsman."
"I believe victory belongs to the man who decides where the sword is drawn."
For a long moment...
Neither spoke.
Then Lin Tian smiled.
"I won't lose next time."
Lucien returned a faint smile.
"I look forward to proving you wrong."
The battlefield dissolved into countless particles of light.
The trial had ended.
The Forgotten Sovereign slowly descended before them.
His eyes rested on Lucien.
"For ten thousand years..."
"I searched for an heir."
"I believed I needed someone invincible."
"I was wrong."
He raised his hand.
A black-and-gold seal appeared in his palm.
The seal radiated an ancient authority that caused even space to ripple.
"This is..."
"...the Sovereign's Seal."
"It is the key to my true inheritance."
The seal floated toward Lucien.
The moment he touched it—
Ding!
Hidden Quest Completed.
Reward Obtained: Sovereign's Seal.
New Function Unlocked: Destiny Ledger.
Lucien's eyes flashed.
"A new function?"
Before he could inspect it, another notification appeared.
Warning!
The Heavenly Script has detected the transfer of the Sovereign's Seal.
Current Hostility: Increased.
Heaven's Chosen Reinforcement Protocol: Activated.
At the same moment...
Far beyond the Eternal Heaven Realm...
In a palace suspended above endless stars...
A mysterious figure slowly opened his eyes.
A giant golden book floated before him.
One page began to burn.
Upon it was written a single name.
Lucien Draven Noctis.
The figure frowned.
"The script..."
"...has changed again."
He gently turned another page.
New names began to appear beneath Lucien's.
The game had grown larger.
Much larger.
Back inside the inheritance realm, the Forgotten Sovereign looked at Lucien with a solemn expression.
"Crown Prince..."
"My inheritance was never the real prize."
Lucien met his gaze.
"What do you mean?"
The Sovereign looked toward the crimson sky.
"There are beings..."
"...who can rewrite destiny."
"And now..."
"They know your name."
For the first time since arriving in this world...
Lucien felt that he had stepped onto the true battlefield.
Heroes.
Villains.
Emperors.
Even Sovereigns.
They had all been pieces on the board.
The real players...
Had only just begun to move
____