“Let them go.” Orpal shook his head. “Those children already live in a nightmare, and the adults aren’t worthy of our wrath. Besides, if we want all of Mogar to hear about the day of our reckoning, someone has to survive to tell the story.”

The Dead King called upon the power of his steed, Moonlight, and crossed the distance to the army base of Akarn with a single Warp Step. Orpal had been honorably discharged from the military, but only because it had become clear he would never be promoted beyond first-class private.

Akarn fell in flames as Orpal rained spells from the sky, leaving his Upyrs to dirty their hands for him. Cadets and soldiers were slaughtered, while the drill sergeants and commanding officers were spared—for now.

“And you said I was unfit to lead.” Orpal spoke as he dismembered the officers he didn’t recognize and slowly suffocated the others with tendrils of Spirit Magic. “You were wrong, Sergeant Pholl.

“So very wrong. And so was our dear Commander Carkus.” The Dead King tore the sergeant’s heart from his chest and forced it into the Commander’s mouth. “I want you to die while witnessing the consequences of your actions, Carkus.

“I want you to die knowing that if not for your colossal lapse in judgment—if you had only given me the honors I deserved—none of this would have happened. I would have gladly continued serving in your army instead of building my own.

“I would have raised the Griffon Kingdom to new heights instead of grinding it beneath my heel.”