CHAPTER 219: CHAPTER 220: UNIFICATION

Centuries. After centuries.

Humanity faced a god.

Not a metaphor. Not a legend embroidered by time. But a real, wrathful, radiant being—Ouserous. The God of Storm and Salt. And when he descended, with thunder echoing like war drums across the skies, every kingdom, every tower, every soul... trembled.

Even now, the world still held its breath.

In the borderlands of Berkimhum, in the eastern seat of Phoenixia, the city nearest to the site of divine descent, the palace walls felt too thin. The marble floors seemed to sweat. Servants whispered; courtiers flinched at echoes. As if even now, the storm might return. As if Ouserous might stretch his hand across the horizon and drag their cities into the sea.

The nobles, the monarchs, the crowned heads of seven human kingdoms—all gathered.

And yet, two chairs remained empty.

One, bearing the crest of a flaming crown—the seat of King Henry of Berkimhum.

The other, newer, darker in tone, with a sword carved into the armrest—the seat of his son. Atlas.

They all knew. They had all heard. Rumors, like rot, spread fast.

"Atlas went back...," one had whispered.

"To face the god," another muttered.

"To speak with him," someone else said. "Or die trying."

They didn’t know whether to call it bravery or madness. But silence claimed them all.

Until—

The massive chamber doors groaned open.

Heavy boots echoed over stone and velvet, as King Henry entered at last. His face was a careful mask—expression set, lips pressed flat, but his eyes... his eyes betrayed him. They moved too quickly. Too sharp, too wide. Not the eyes of a victor. The eyes of someone who had touched the edge of an abyss—and hadn’t yet told anyone how deep it went.

Everyone leaned forward. Some didn’t even breathe.

Would they all be punished?

Was humanity—again—condemned?

The air thickened like old smoke. Some nobles instinctively reached for prayer sigils hidden beneath their robes. The Merchant Queen of Luthes covered her mouth, her knuckles white on her armrest. The Scholar-King of Helverin muttered numbers, perhaps an ancient spell or calculation of odds.

But then—

Henry sat.

And he smiled.

"...Your worries," he said, voice almost casual, as if commenting on the weather. "Are not to be concerned that much."

A moment of stunned silence. Was he joking? Was it the calm before a death sentence?

He added, more clearly: "The god has forgiven us."

And then it came.

The sigh.

One collective, desperate release of breath—like an entire continent let go of its own neck. It rippled through the chamber in waves. No one questioned it. Not yet. No one needed truth. Just the illusion of peace.

Even if it was a lie. Even if forgiveness was temporary.

They didn’t care.

They needed to sleep again.

"But... we clearly heard the storm. The thunder. The flood Ouserous promised," the Merchant Queen said carefully, folding her gold-rimmed shawl across her lap. "What happened after we left? Was his lordship... satisfied with Merlin’s death?"

Henry tilted his head. That smile lingered—but something cold sat behind it now. Like a hunter remembering the beast he barely outran.

"...He’s alive. The High Mage. The magical symbol of humanity. He still breathes."

Gasps exploded like flares across the council.

"How?!"

"What?!"

"Impossible!"

They leapt to their feet, shouting over one another—rational minds thrown into chaos.

The words "divine pardon" and "liar" and "illusion magic" spilled into the chamber.

And Henry only smiled deeper.

A flash of memory hit him then, unbidden—a boy, his son, standing between gods and mortals, white fire blooming from his back, his voice cracking open the sky. Henry blinked. That image would haunt him forever.

"...The rest of the story," he said, "will be foretold by my son."

And the doors opened again.

This time, the room stilled entirely.

Atlas entered.

Not as the scrappy young prince they’d once whispered about, the prodigy with too much silence and too little warmth.

No.

He walked like stone tempered by fire—his chin high, his uniform blackened but clean, his eyes sharp as spears. His hair, newly cut. His face shaved, unreadable. Time hadn’t passed. It had been carved into him.

Behind him walked Claire.

The air shifted at her presence. Someone began to speak, perhaps to protest her entry—she wasn’t royalty, wasn’t invited, wasn’t permitted—but they swallowed it the moment Atlas gave no objection.

If the storm-walker allowed her, then none dared deny it.

Atlas reached his seat beside his father.

The chair groaned under him, not from weight, but from gravity—as if something larger than a man had just sat down.

"I know," he began quietly, "my lords. You’re worried."

His voice was low but clear, like metal warming.

"But I assure you. Coming from myself—and I put my name on the line—Ouserous went away. Without killing Merlin. As the word ’forgiven’... came from his own lips."

The words struck the table like thunderbolts. Not rage—relief.

"...That’s enough for me," King Roger of the Northern Reach exhaled, slumping back. One by one, others echoed him.

None asked how.

None wanted to know what it cost.

They had all seen the storm in the sky, felt the ache in the bones of the earth, watched the heavens break open. And yet—Atlas returned. With Merlin. With Loki. With Aurora.

So they chose to believe.

Because belief was easier than dread.

Atlas didn’t speak further. He didn’t need to.

His silence did more than any speech could.

He had stood before a god.

And lived.

"...Now," Henry said, voice shifting to formality, "let us begin the real meeting."

And with that, they shed fear like old skin.

The Council of Kings sat up straight, their eyes now alive not with panic—but power. The storm passed. But storms change landscapes.

And the purpose of today... was transformation.

The adjournment of the old Council.

The potential unification of seven human kingdoms under one banner.

Not conquest. Not blade.

But fear.

Fear of the Empire. The far western titan that had once ruled everything and still had fangs buried in the world. The same Empire whose Empress Elizabeth had stepped back—but whose knights, armies, and secrets still breathed fire into politics and skies alike.

"We have been separate," Henry said, hands spread across the table. "For generations. Each of us with our own laws, our own gods, our own currencies."

He looked at them.

"But we will not survive what is coming—separate."

They all knew. Atlas knew.

This wasn’t only about Ouserous. The gods were not the only danger.

The Empire stirred again. Its eyes would soon fall upon Berkimhum. And after that—everyone else.

"But we unify now," Henry continued, "not because we trust each other. We unify because we fear the same death."

He turned slightly, gesturing to his son.

"Atlas has proven he can be our foundation. Our shield. And when needed—our blade."

A pause. A long one.

And now, Atlas felt the weight in their eyes. He wasn’t simply a survivor of godly judgment.

He was the test.

The gamble.

The question carved into the bones of humanity: Would he be enough?

Could he carry seven nations?

Could he withstand the Empire?

Could he withstand himself?

They were asking. Without words, but with breath. With gaze. With hearts that dared to hope—but barely.

And Atlas met their stares, one by one.

He said nothing. Not yet.

But inside, a flicker of white fire still curled behind his ribs. A part of Ouserous had seen him. Had spared him. Had muttered "next time..."

Forgiven did not mean saved.

Forgiven did not mean peace.

Forgiven meant watched.

Atlas shifted slightly in his seat. The stone beneath him suddenly felt cold, like winter glass. He thought—for a heartbeat—of the field of ash. Of Merlin’s blood steaming in the mud. Of the god’s breath like a tempest behind him.

A faint sound broke the quiet.

Claire had drawn a slow breath.

He didn’t look at her. But he felt it.

And the room waited.

Henry sat down, quietly. His role, for now, was complete.

"So..." he said, softer now, but with steel beneath, "shall we begin?"

The chamber doors closed behind them.

A symbol burned in the center of the table—seven stars around a sword.

The unification had begun.

The fear of gods was fading.

But what replaced it would not be peace.

It would be Atlas.

And whatever storm still lived inside him.