Devouring Dragon Heir

The battlefield is no longer rumbling with clashing steel or magical storms. For the first time in hours, the night was still, and peace had finally come after so many hours of chaotic battles.

Only the sound of moans, the crackling of fires, and the shifting of soldiers remained.

Duke Albretch was dead, and this fact hung in the air, still unbelievable to everyone.

But no one could deny it now. Everyone had seen how the transcendent had died under the mercy of the messenger.

His body had been carried away by the deathly abominations somewhere they didn't know about.

Duke Albretch's thunderous aura, which was once feared like a natural disaster, was gone now; his strength was meaningless in front of the messenger's aura.

For the soldiers of Riverdale, this was salvation. After the demon invasions, the army of Riverdale had seen the shortage of men; many had died, and many had withdrawn, leaving the rest of the soldiers demotivated and hopeless.

Many of these men had already accepted their deaths, but when the messenger appeared, everything changed for them.

At first, there was only disbelief. They were surprised when they had seen the messenger fight toe-to-toe with a transcendent; their hopes had been somewhat revived only to be crushed after the duke threatened to nuke the whole capital of the kingdom with his magic.

They stood on the city walls and in the blood-soaked fields, blinking at the empty spot where the Duke had fallen.

Their minds had prepared for death, yet they were still alive.

The relief of knowing that they will live came like a flood.

Some soldiers collapsed where they stood, dropping weapons and shields. Others let out raw cries, their voices breaking as tears fell.

Battle-hardened men clutched each other's shoulders and wept like children who had been scared just moments ago.

The impossible had happened. Riverdale had survived the wrath of a transcendent and an empire.

Queen Andrea remained on the walls, watching the black throne where Klaus had sat moments ago. Her hands shook, though she tried to hide it.

She had ruled Riverdale for years, fought off raids, bribed empires, and survived countless wars, but she had never seen something like this.

"This..." she whispered to herself.

Andrea didn't say anything. Her eyes went towards the nine monstrous figures still standing near the throne and in between a monster similar to the strength possessed by General Caesar.

The Necrolord, a crowned skeleton wrapped in tattered robes, stepped forward, a scythe in his hand, which made him look like a death reaper.

Nine armored husks followed him, each radiating a pressure that made even other pseudo transcendents shiver.

The battle might have ended, but Riverdale wasn't safe just yet.

The Necrolord raised a skeletal hand. His voice, deep and hollow, spread across the battlefield without effort.

"By the authority of Lord Klaus, sovereign of this universe and the god of every being on this land, the battle is concluded."

He sounded like a fanatic priest devoted to himself and running a cult. His descriptions reflected exactly how highly he saw Klaus as his master.

"The soldiers of the Falcon Empire who are still alive are prisoners of war from now on. You will now lay down your arms, and congratulations, you are being spared, and from today, you will fight for the cause of my lord."

There was no hesitation in his tone. It was a decree, not a negotiation.

The Falcon soldiers, still on their knees, looked around helplessly, still hesitating; some underestimated him, thinking that it was just an SSS-rank monster.

There were three commanders at a pseudo-transcendent level who exchanged tense stares, but none dared to speak against it.

Their Duke was gone. The transcendent they had believed invincible was nothing more than a discarded corpse in front of that man.

The three of them now looked at the nine abominations at the same rank as them, but the auras of death on their forms gave them even more edge over a normal pseudo-transcendent like them.

Their throats swallowed as they realized that against the skeleton and the nine abominations, resistance meant certain death.

They were the first three to drop the swords as the whole army was looking at their signal. The normal soldiers were trained to follow commands, and this habit was so ingrained that even in a life-and-death situation, the soldiers looked at their superiors for the choice.

After the first swords hit the ground, the rest followed suit, and soon the clang of metal sounded across the battlefield.

One by one, the soldiers of the Falcon Empire dropped their weapons into the mud; thousands of men surrendered at once.

Riverdale soldiers erupted in cheers from the walls.

"They're giving up!"

"We've won!"

"Riverdale stands!"

Their voices grew louder, echoing through the night. For the first time in weeks, they felt not despair, but victory.

The Necrolord lowered his hand, his empty eye sockets glowing faintly; he turned around and looked at the queen and his general.

When Klaus left the ground, he had given just one order to Necrolord, and his words still echoed in Necrolord's mind.

"Under the authority of my name, take control of the kingdom and prepare it for long wars. We are going to take over the continent. I know you are much more intelligent and sentient than a simple monster; this is your chance to prove your worth. Kill anyone who resists."

Klaus had also left the nine pseudo transcendents that he had recently added to his legion to assist him. Now these nine would obey the necrolord at any time and moment and will clear the path for him ahead.

"Lord Klaus is indeed no normal being; he saw my past with just a simple gaze."

-----

While the battlefield was secured outside,

Inside the capital city, the citizens began to crawl out from hiding as news of victory arrived. Doors creaked open, shutters lifted, and faces peeked out.

Mothers clutched children, merchants held trembling hands, and priests whispered prayers as they stepped into the torch-lit streets.

The news had spread fast, and now they were just waiting for their men, wishing their safe return. They had not been told that the battle had been fought by just one man from their side, the messenger.

The commotion subsided as soldiers started returning one by one, each carrying a different story to tell, but the ending of all stories came to a common end.

"The Duke is dead!"

"The messenger killed him!"

"We're saved!"

People fell to their knees, thanking gods, ancestors, or anyone they could think of. Others embraced, sobbing with joy.

Riverdale had prepared for the end, but instead, they had witnessed a miracle.

The news and rumors spread hand by hand. The scope of the messenger's strange power magnified with each retelling.

Some had even started calling him a god.

"They say the messenger summoned the dead to fight."

"Did you see those monsters take the Duke's body?"

"He sat on that throne like… like a king of death."

Hope mixed with fear.

---

As the night wore on, the battlefield was cleared.

Most of the corpses of soldiers had already been turned into death monsters by Klaus, so the battlefield was mostly empty and just filled with blood.

Only the low-level soldiers had been ignored by Klaus, and now their corpses were being dragged into piles for burning.

Meanwhile, wounded soldiers were carried into the city for treatment, and the prisoners were lined up in holding camps under the Necrolord's watch.

The soldiers who had seen Klaus battle with their own eyes also gave him various names.

"The Slayer of Transcendents."

"The Sovereign of Ruin."

"The King of Death."

Each title carried its own weight. Each one spread faster than the last. By dawn, every man and woman in Riverdale would know them.

And beyond Riverdale, word would spread across kingdoms. The Falcon Empire would wake to the news that its great Duke had been slain, and panic would follow.

But for now, in Riverdale, there was only relief for tonight.

------------

Before retreating into the shadows, Necrolord said his final words to the prisoners of war.

"By Lord Klaus's will, the prisoners will be processed and placed into service under the Riverdale army.

The pseudo-transcendent commanders will remain bound until judgment is passed. From this night forward, all who live here live under Lord Klaus's protection… and his rule."

He raised his skeletal hand once more. The abominations saluted with eerie precision, their weapons clanging in unison. The sight silenced both Riverdale and Falcon soldiers alike.

"Remember this," Necrolord finished. "Defiance means death. Loyalty means survival."

With that, he turned and vanished into the darkness with the nine abominations.

-------------

When the first rays of dawn broke over the horizon, the battlefield was no longer a place of chaos but of peace, the people woke up happy and safe.

But for Queen Andrea and General Caesar, the morning might not be so pleasant as significant shift will happen today in the Riverdale's political and administrative structure under the lead of necrolord.