"How powerful is the Crimson Queen? Do you know?"
"No one truly knows, and that's what makes her so terrifying. Anyone who has ever witnessed her full power... is already dead."
"Interesting coincidence. No one knows the full extent of our king's strength either. But that's not because witnesses die—it's because no one has ever forced him to go all out."
On the smooth, wide roads of Gai Kingdom, a general assigned by Muria to observe the Crimson Queen's forces engaged in conversation with the envoy leader from Xishan.
Both men seemed to be bragging. One was exalting the strength of his enemy, while the other was praising his ruler.
The Xishan envoy described their enemy's unparalleled might in vivid detail, attempting to highlight his own nation's resilience. Meanwhile, the Gai general proudly extolled his king's unmatched capabilities, brushing aside all comparisons.
The journey continued. After traveling through a stretch of wilderness, they entered Xishan's domain.
As soon as they left the well-maintained roads of Gai Kingdom and began traversing the uneven, poorly maintained trails of Xishan, the Gai general couldn't resist making snide remarks.
"Your roads are quite... unique," the general said, his tone dripping with sarcasm.
The Xishan envoy leader, who had already tasted the convenience of Gai Kingdom's highways, could only grit his teeth and endure the veiled insults. Xishan did have well-maintained roads, but they were limited to specific regions and far from widespread.
Initially, the Gai general made frequent jabs about Xishan's infrastructure. But as the journey continued, his tone shifted from disdain to silence.
It wasn't that he ran out of things to say; rather, he found Xishan so lacking in every aspect that it no longer seemed worth mocking.
Having risen through the ranks from the bottom, the Gai general was well-acquainted with the hardships of commoners. He was a product of Gai Kingdom's meritocratic military system—a system that allowed men like him to climb from the lowest rungs to positions of power.
As such, when he saw the abject poverty of Xishan's peasants, his heart ached with pity. The suffering he witnessed reminded him of the oppressive conditions he had fought so hard to escape.
But as a guest, he kept his observations to himself, maintaining the decorum expected of an emissary.
The more he saw, the more his sympathy for the common folk turned into quiet contempt for Xishan's rulers. The impoverished peasants he encountered were treated worse than livestock, their lives valued only as tools for labor.
"This Crimson Queen might not be so bad after all," the general thought to himself, his perception of the enigmatic ruler shifting with every pitiful scene he encountered.
Where Xishan's citizens lived in squalor and fear, the Crimson Queen's forces seemed like an avenging storm—a harbinger of justice.
Upon arriving at Xishan's capital, the general received a warm welcome, orchestrated by the nation's leadership. The Xishan rulers were eager to make a good impression, having heard of Gai Kingdom's formidable strength.
The general even met Xishan's king, who personally greeted him with all the pomp and ceremony expected of such a high-profile visit. Over the following days, he was lavished with luxuries—an opulent lifestyle that bordered on hedonism.
However, the general's true purpose was not to indulge in Xishan's decadence but to witness the Crimson Queen's power firsthand. Soon, he was escorted to the battlefield, where the fiercest fighting took place.
"So this is the Crimson Queen's army?" the Gai general muttered, his eyes narrowing as he observed the clash between Xishan's forces and the enemy troops.
From the fortress walls, he could see the two armies locked in combat. Xishan's soldiers fought valiantly but were steadily pushed back by their foes—soldiers clad in white armor and red cloaks.
The general's expression grew grim. In terms of numbers and equipment, the two armies seemed evenly matched. Yet the Crimson Queen's forces dominated the battlefield with alarming ease.
The reason quickly became apparent: her soldiers fought with a ferocity unmatched by Xishan's troops. They seemed unafraid of death, charging into battle with reckless abandon.
The general watched as one of the Crimson Queen's soldiers had an arm severed by a Xishan warrior. But instead of retreating or crying out in pain, the maimed soldier picked up his weapon with his remaining arm and continued to fight.
Thanks to his keen eyesight, the general could see the subtle twitching of the soldier's facial muscles—a sign that he was in excruciating pain. Yet he suppressed it entirely, using the agony as fuel for his relentless assault.
"It's no wonder you're losing," the general said, shaking his head. "How can ordinary soldiers stand against men who fight like this?"
"Exactly. We're fighting an army of madmen," a Xishan official standing nearby lamented. "And their queen... she's beyond anything we've ever faced. No one in our kingdom can stand against her."
"Our king can," the Gai general retorted confidently, his faith in Muria unshaken.
"You'll understand when you see her," the Xishan official replied with a resigned smile. "Many of our strongest warriors once believed as you do. None of them lived to tell the tale."
The general shrugged. "Then your warriors were simply too weak."
…
That night, as the armies rested, a faint, nearly invisible black mist began to rise from the Gai general.
The mist, blending seamlessly with the darkness, drifted away from the Xishan encampment and towards the Crimson Queen's forces. It floated silently through their camp, observing everything it could.
Once it had gathered enough information, the mist continued eastward, carried by the night wind.
The further east it traveled, the more the landscape changed. The oppressive aura of Xishan gave way to something entirely different—a serene harmony where nature thrived alongside humanity.
It was a sight Muria had never seen in this world. Until now, his impression of this realm was one of chaos, bloodshed, and decay. But here, everything seemed to radiate balance and peace.
After ten days and nights of travel, the mist finally reached its destination: a magnificent palace bathed in divine light.
However, as the mist approached, Muria felt a sharp, burning pain.
"Hisss..."
A faint sizzling sound echoed as the mist began to dissipate. The radiant energy surrounding the palace was actively eroding his ghostly form.
"..." Muria was at a loss. The very power he had sent to meet his wife was being annihilated by her presence. Was there anything more absurd than this?
Unfortunately for Muria, there was.
"Who's there?"
A stern voice rang out as a figure emerged from the palace—a woman clad in golden armor, her wings shimmering like molten sunlight. Her piercing gaze swept the surroundings, searching for the intruder.
"Impossible..." Muria muttered, stunned. He recognized the angelic figure immediately.
But before he could compose himself, the woman drew her sword, her expression hardening.
"Another one of you vile specters daring to spy on the princess's chambers? You'll pay for your insolence!"
"Wait, I'm not—" Muria began to explain, but the angel was already upon him, her blade slicing through the air with deadly precision.
"Enough of this!" Muria growled, transforming into a swirling vortex of black mist to evade her strikes.
"Show yourself, coward!" the angel demanded, her blade gleaming with holy light as she relentlessly pursued him.
"I'm going to lose my mind," Muria groaned, narrowly dodging another attack. He had traveled countless miles to see his wife, only to be thwarted by her overly zealous guard.
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