The battlefield of the 24th Floor slowly fell silent.
Broken weapons lay scattered across the field. There were shattered shields and bent spears.
The ground was stained with the aftermath of a war fought by three armies.
Imperial soldiers who had retreated toward their fortress.
Rodric's human soldiers breathing heavily as they slowly lowered their weapons.
And the silent ranks of the Elite Bone Legion standing motionless as if the battle had never happened.
The wind moved across the plains carrying the smell of iron and dust. For several seconds nothing happened.
Then the familiar sound finally echoed in the air. A voice that did not belong to the world itself.
The system had spoken.
[Floor 24 Cleared]
[Condition Achieved: Command Two Hostile Armies and Secure Battlefield Victory]
[Battlefield Assessment Complete]
[Result: Strategic Victory]
A new series of messages followed immediately.
[Leadership Evaluation in Progress…]
[Army Organization: Improving]
[Command Authority: High]
[Morale Influence: Exceptional]
[Final Judgment: Commander Worthy]
Kael stood quietly as the system continued.
Behind him the armies waited.
Even the skeleton warriors seemed to pause.
[Reward Distribution Initiated]
[Primary Army Evolution Detected]
[Elite Bone Legion → Abyssal Bone Legion]
The skeleton army reacted instantly. Dark energy surged through their frames.
Bone armour thickened. The faint blue flames inside their eye sockets deepened into a darker violet glow. Their bodies became taller, stronger and more defined. Spikes of hardened bone formed across their shoulders and forearms.
Their presence changed. They no longer looked like simple undead soldiers. They looked like warriors born from death itself.
Another message appeared.
[Secondary Army Evolution Detected]
[Rodric's Veteran Soldiers → Royal Vanguard Legion]
The human soldiers reacted as well. Golden light briefly surrounded them.
Their armour changed. Steel turned darker and thicker. Their shields gained reinforced edges. Their posture straightened instinctively. Even their exhaustion faded slightly.
They now resembled elite guards of a kingdom rather than wandering battlefield veterans.
Rodric looked down at his armour in surprise. His sword felt lighter and sharper.
His men murmured quietly.
"What… just happened?"
Rodric looked toward Kael.
The answer was obvious.
The Tower had recognized the army.
But more importantly It had recognized the commander.
And Kael could see the level of the soldiers where the soldiers were level 110 before but now, they are level 150 and the Captain Roderic's level went onto a huge leap from 135 to 170, that was the level compared to the Commander of floor 22nd.
More system messages appeared.
[Additional Rewards Granted]
[Authority Growth
Strategic Insight Increase
Command Efficiency Enhancement
Increase in experience]
Shen Yao floated beside Kael, arms folded.
"Interesting."
Kael remained silent.
Shen Yao continued.
"The Tower is rewarding not just power. It's rewarding for you leadership and for your command."
Kael nodded slightly.
That was exactly what Shen Yao had been training him for.
Then the final message appeared.
[Next Challenge Available]
[Floor 25 – Boss Floor]
[Mission Type: Imperial War Resolution
Objective: Lead your army to victory or survive the mega battle]
The battlefield slowly dissolved.
The Tower began transporting them. The sky cracked like glass. The world shifted.
And within seconds they arrived somewhere completely different.
Stone walls rose high into the sky there were massive towers. Royal banners fluttering in the wind. A fortified capital city stood before them.
Rodric froze the moment he saw it.
"This is…Home" automatically Captain Roderic's started to shed tears, even the other soldiers shed tears because its such a long time seeing their home and their family.
Kael glanced at him.
"This is your kingdom?"
Rodric nodded slowly.
"The Kingdom of Ardenthal."
The soldiers behind him also stared. Some looked emotional. Others confused.
They had died long ago. Yet somehow, they had returned to their homeland.
But something felt wrong. Very wrong.
The moment the city guards saw them—
Chaos erupted.
"UNDEAD!"
"Sound the alarm!"
"Enemy army!"
Archers rushed to the walls. Ballistae turned toward them. Hundreds of soldiers began gathering near the gates. The city guards pointed their weapons directly at Rodric's army.
Rodric stepped forward quickly.
"WAIT!"
"I am Captain Rodric of the Third Legion!"
The guards hesitated. They recognized the name. Some even recognized the man.
But then they saw the skeleton army standing beside them.
Their hesitation vanished instantly and all of them started to shout.
"You march beside the undead!"
"Traitors!"
"Necromancers!"
Rodric froze.
"What…? No, it's not like that your misunderstanding"
His own homeland was pointing weapons at him.
Behind him, the skeleton army remained silent.
Kael watched everything calmly.
Shen Yao floated nearby clearly entertained.
"Well, this escalated quickly. But I feel something not right, how quickly they have concluded, at least hear the Captain Roderic's words but none of them are ready to listen to him"
Kael did not respond. He already knew something was wrong.
After several tense minutes the city gates opened.
A royal messenger rode out with a squad of heavily armoured knights.
Just the squad of heavy armoured knights were of level 190, so strong.
The messenger shouted.
"Captain Rodric!"
"His Majesty commands your presence!"
Rodric looked confused.
"At once."
The messenger continued.
"You and your commander."
His eyes shifted toward Kael.
"And the armies of Captain Rodreic's and not the undead army."
The tone was hostile. Rodric turned toward Kael.
"This doesn't feel right."
Kael simply said, "Let's go to the royal castle"
And Kael shouted back "The undead army are my army and they will come inside too and I don't care about your kings order"
The messenger was in dilemma and he looked towards one of the heavy armoured knights and he looks like the head of the heavy armoured knights.
The heavy armoured knight just nodded and let the whole army in.
Kael could see the royal castle from afar and as soon as he reached the royal castle he was stunned of the beauty and architecture of the past.
This was Kael first time seeing a royal castle, he only saw it in books, video games, descriptions from novels and some manga's but this is completely out of this league.
The castle interior was magnificent. Tall marble pillars. Massive stained-glass windows. Red carpets stretching across the grand hall.
But the atmosphere inside was suffocating. Nobles stood along the sides of the throne hall. Guards lined every wall.
All of them staring at the approaching army with disgust.
Whispers filled the hall.
"Undead…"
"Blasphemy…"
"Necromancy…"
Rodric clenched his fists. But he walked forward anyway.
At the far end of the hall stood the king.
A middle-aged man wearing golden armour beneath his royal cloak.
His face was stern. But he was not alone.
Standing beside the throne was a man Kael immediately recognized.
Tall, elegant, sharp eyes filled with calculation.
Strategist Valor.
Rodric stopped walking.
"…Who is that?"
Kael answered quietly.
"Now I know why I felt something was wrong from the start as soon I entered the 25th floor and the reason this situation exists."
Rodric didn't understand. But Kael already did.
Valor looked the same as the man from the real world and he was smiling.
A very subtle smile.
The king raised his hand.
"Captain Rodric."
Rodric kneeled immediately.
"My king."
The king's voice echoed across the hall.
"You were once one of Ardenthal's greatest commanders."
Rodric lowered his head.
"It is my honor to serve."
The king's expression darkened.
"Yet today you march beside the undead."
Rodric lifted his head in shock.
"My king, that is not…"
The king slammed his staff against the ground.
"Silence!"
The hall fell completely quiet.
The king's voice grew colder.
"You have allied with cursed creatures, you have returned to my kingdom leading monsters, you have betrayed the laws of life itself."
Rodric's face turned pale.
"That is not true!"
"We fought together to protect"
The king interrupted again.
"You fought beside the undead!"
Rodric froze.
He turned toward Kael slowly.
Only now did he begin realizing something.
This situation had been prepared before itself.
The king raised his hand again. Then he shouted the words that froze the entire hall.
"Captain Rodric! you and your army are hereby declared heretics!"
Gasps erupted across the court.
The king continued.
"You will be executed for consorting with undead forces!"
He pointed directly toward the skeleton army.
"And those abominations will be destroyed!"
Rodric's soldiers erupted in outrage.
"This is madness!"
"We defended the kingdom!"
"We fought for Ardenthal!"
But the guards had already surrounded them.
Swords drawn. Archers ready.
Kael remained completely calm.
Because he had already figured out the truth.
Kael used his appraisal talent towards the king, and he checked the level it was 200th level which was very strong and there was another line which was interesting that it showed the king was influenced by Valor.
His gaze shifted slowly toward the man standing beside the throne.
Strategist Valor.
Their eyes met. Valor's smile widened slightly.
A quiet message passed between them without words.
'I told you as you climb it will be dangerous and I arranged this'.
Kael understood immediately. Valor had manipulated the kingdom. Manipulated the king.
Created a situation where Rodric's army would be labelled traitors. Which meant Kael's army would be forced into war. Not just against the enemy empire. But against their own kingdom as well.
Shen Yao laughed quietly beside Kael.
"Oh, this is good."
"Very good, I knew that Valor guy was dangerous but never knew he was that dangerous to influence the whole kingdom."
Kael sighed slightly. This floor was not about simple battles. It was about politics and war.
Rodric turned toward Kael desperately.
"My lord what do we do? The king changed completely, he was not like this at all"
Kael looked at the throne.
At the king and then at Valor and finally at the armies surrounding them.
Two empires both preparing to attack a war on two fronts. Exactly the kind of situation that destroyed kingdoms.
Kael's eyes narrowed slightly. Valor had set a perfect trap.
But Kael was not worried even slightly.
Because this was exactly what Shen Yao had been preparing him for.
To rule. To command. To think like a king.
Kael spoke quietly.
"Interesting."
Shen Yao smirked.
"What's the plan?"
Kael looked at the throne one last time and then he turned around calmly. Walking back toward his armies.
Behind him the royal court erupted in furious shouting. Guards rushed forward.
But Kael simply continued walking. Rodric followed him immediately.
"My lord!"
"What are we going to do?!"
Kael stopped outside the castle gates. He looked toward the horizon.
In the distance another army banner appeared.
The enemy empire. They had arrived as well.
Kael smiled faintly.
Rodric looked completely confused.
Kael turned toward his armies.
The Abyssal Bone Legion. The Royal Vanguard Legion.
Two forces that once hated each other. Now standing side by side.
Kael's voice became calm and steady.
"We fight."
Rodric swallowed.
"…Against whom?"
Kael answered.
"Everyone."
And somewhere behind them
Strategist Valor watched. His smile grew slightly wider. Because the game had finally begun.