The forest became eerily quiet.
No one moved.
No one even breathed.
McCall stared at the towering warrior before him.
The giant’s crimson eyes never left his face.
“My…
brother?”
The words barely escaped McCall’s lips.
The giant smiled.
“Not by the blood you know.”
“But by the blood that carried the Heart.”
The First King’s voice exploded inside McCall’s mind.
“Do not believe him!”
“He’s twisting the truth!”
McCall pressed both hands against his head.
“What is happening?!”
Kai stepped forward, silver energy surrounding his body.
“I don’t care who you are.”
“If you’re threatening him…”
“You’ll have to go through me.”
Lucien looked at Kai.
For a moment…
He looked amused.
“You have courage.”
“But courage…”
He gently tapped the gigantic football beside him.
“…is meaningless without power.”
He flicked the ball with one finger.
Not kicked.
Not thrown.
Just…
Flicked.
BOOOOOOM!!
The football blasted forward like a meteor.
Kai barely crossed his arms before impact.
CRAAASH!!
The explosion hurled him through dozens of trees.
The forest echoed with the sound of splintering wood.
Silence followed.
Ethan whispered,
“…Kai.”
Selena immediately disappeared.
She caught Kai before he struck a massive boulder.
Even then…
The force carried them both backward.
She slid almost twenty meters before stopping.
Kai coughed violently.
Blood stained his shirt.
Selena looked genuinely shocked.
“So this is his full strength…”
McCall couldn’t believe what he had just witnessed.
“One flick…”
“He defeated Kai with one finger.”
The System appeared.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Enemy Analysis Updated
Name:
Lucien
Legacy Status:
Unknown
Threat Rank:
CALAMITY
Estimated Synchronization:
???
Data Corrupted…
Data Corrupted…
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
McCall frowned.
“The System can’t even read him?”
Lucien slowly walked toward McCall.
Every step made the ground tremble.
The symbol on McCall’s chest burned hotter. This story is hosted at g.com.
The First King’s voice became urgent.
“Run!”
“NOW!”
Lucien suddenly stopped.
His expression softened.
“I didn’t come here to kill you.”
“I came…”
“…to bring you home.”
McCall shook his head.
“I don’t even know you.”
Lucien smiled sadly.
“No.”
“Because history erased me.”
Arthur’s voice suddenly echoed across the valley.
“That’s enough.”
A beam of golden light descended from the sky.
Arthur.
Rowan.
Leo.
The Eleven Kings.
They had arrived.
Arthur stood between McCall and Lucien.
His usually calm eyes had become cold.
“You should never have escaped.”
Lucien laughed.
“Escaped?”
He looked around at the Eleven Kings.
“You imprisoned me.”
“You feared me.”
“You lied about me.”
Arthur didn’t answer.
That silence…
Said everything.
McCall looked from Arthur to Lucien.
“Someone tell me the truth!”
Arthur slowly closed his eyes.
“I will.”
“But not today.”
Lucien laughed loudly.
“There you go again.”
“Still hiding behind secrets.”
He pointed at McCall.
“Ask him.”
He pointed at Arthur.
“Ask why there are Twelve Thrones…”
“…but history speaks of only Eleven Kings.”
McCall froze.
He slowly turned toward the Sanctuary in the distance.
The Twelve Thrones.
The First King.
Arthur.
Leo.
The Silver Queen.
That made eleven.
The empty throne…
Made twelve.
His eyes widened.
“There really was…”
“…another King.”
Lucien smiled.
“Exactly.”
The First King’s voice echoed again.
This time…
It carried regret.
“He was once…”
“Our greatest hope.”
Lucien’s smile disappeared.
“And then…”
“…your greatest mistake.”
Golden lightning exploded around him.
The forest shook violently.
“I was forgotten.”
“My name erased.”
“My throne destroyed.” This chapter was copied from g.com without permission.
“My existence hidden.”
His crimson eyes locked onto McCall.
“And now…”
“…you carry the Heart that was stolen from me.”
Ethan stepped beside McCall.
“I don’t know who’s telling the truth.”
Kai, bruised but standing once again, joined them.
“But I know one thing.”
He wiped blood from his lips.
“We’re not handing him over.”
McCall looked at both of them.
His teammates.
His rivals.
Standing beside him without hesitation.
A warm feeling spread through his chest.
The Heart glowed brighter than ever.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Passive Skill Activated
Leader’s Presence
Effect:
Nearby allies receive increased courage.
Synchronization:
7.5% → 8.2%
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Arthur smiled faintly.
“The Heart has acknowledged your choice.”
Lucien noticed the glow.
For the first time…
A genuine emotion crossed his face.
Not anger.
Not hatred.
Sadness.
“So…”
“It chose you completely.”
He lowered his head.
“I was too late.”
For several long seconds…
No one spoke.
Then Lucien turned away.
Victor’s voice echoed from the dark clouds above.
“Lucien.”
“The Crown Mask summons you.”
Lucien didn’t answer immediately.
He looked over one shoulder.
“McCall.”
“When we meet again…”
“I won’t ask you to come with me.”
He smiled sadly.
“I’ll make you remember.”
With one step…
His enormous body dissolved into black mist.
The dark clouds vanished.
The oppressive pressure disappeared.
Only silence remained.
Arthur let out a long breath.
Rowan lowered his guard.
Selena had already disappeared without a trace.
Kai looked at McCall.
“I think…”
“…our problems just became much bigger.”
McCall stared at the place where Lucien had stood.
He didn’t know whether Lucien was a liar…
A victim…
Or both.
But one thing had become clear.
The history of the Football Kings was incomplete.
And somewhere in the missing pages…
Lay the truth that could decide the fate of the Legacy itself.
Far away, inside the deepest chamber of Raven Headquarters, the Crown Mask smiled beneath his broken mask.
“The first crack has appeared.”
“Now…”
“Let the Kings destroy themselves with the truth.”