While Vahn worked on his Crafts, Ezekiel (with Longus and the Ghost King) continued his brutal, rapid conquest. Having broken the regional alliance of the Iron Hand Clan, the remaining small clans of Oslan were now paralyzed by terror and lacked any central defense.

​Day 6: Ezekiel conquered the Riverbank Clan, known for their trade routes. They submitted instantly upon seeing the sheer, unified military might and the ghostly auras of the Imperial Guard.

​Day 8: The Silent Peak Tribe, the last holdout in the northern mountains, attempted a desperate, suicidal defense. Longus, however, demonstrated the terrifying synergy of the new Guard by having the spectral troops pass through the mountain, distracting the defenders, allowing the Barbarians to breach the fortifications with minimal casualties to both sides. The Tribe submitted, their loyalty sworn in fear and awe.

​By the end of Day 9, Ezekiel had exceeded his King's mandate. He had conquered nine of the twelve targeted clans and unified nearly all of the accessible Oslan plains. He had secured massive resources, territories, and thousands of new, loyal recruits who were already being filtered into the Ghost King's training regimen.

​The Chancellor sent a triumphant spiritual message back to the Palace: Oslan is nearly unified. The Dynasty awaits Your Majesty's next command.

​

​Meanwhile, the external world was closing in. Princess Selena, moving with the alarming speed of a high-level cultivator, utilized a specialized Ice-Bound movement Art to traverse the vast plains. She reached the edge of the Misty Valley just as Ezekiel was consolidating his final conquest.

​She did not wait for diplomacy. She bypassed the newly established checkpoints which were too focused on local threats to recognize a foreign powerhouse and flew directly toward the massive, Royal palace hidden within the valley.

​Princess Selena landed just outside the Palace gates, her immense size and glacial aura instantly freezing the air and covering the courtyard in a layer of frost.

​The newly inducted guards panicked after seeing her so suddenly. They had faced local threats, but this towering, elegant figure radiating the absolute cold of the Frost Giant Kingdom was on an entirely different level.

​Vahn, already aware of the intrusion, stepped out onto the balcony, flanked by Seraphina and Lilith. He could have stopped her before she enter, but he didn't. He was curious about this big guest.

​Princess Selena looked up at the young man standing above her, her icy blue eyes raking over his imposing, Heaven Grade-clad figure. She saw the immense power, the regal bearing, and the casual mastery of the spiritual arts that had subdued the Barbarians.

​"You must be King Vahn. I am a Princess Selena of the Frost Giant Kingdom. My Father, King Belmont, sends me with a proposition that offers you power, security, and prestige beyond this tiny region."

​She paused, a seductive, predatory smile forming on her lips as she delivered her secondary purpose:

​"Or perhaps, I should simply start by asking if you are worthy enough to give me a strong child."

Seraphina and Lilith watched the imposing figure of Princess Selena below. Their mouths formed a shocked 'O' shape, not only at the Frost Giant's aggressive marriage proposal but at the brazen disregard for Vahn's existing queens.

​Seraphina quickly recovered, her Holy Light Aura erupted slightly in territorial defense.

​"What nonsense are you talking about? Our husband isn't interested in that giant body of yours," Seraphina retorted, turning to Vahn for immediate backup. "Isn't that right, Husband?"

​Vahn acquiesced calmly, not threatened or tempted by the offer at all.

​"Yes. I am not interested in forming any kind of bond with the Frost Giants. I already have two beautiful wives, and my bloodline is secure."

​"Furthermore, your proposition to grant me protection, power, or prestige is also unacceptable," Vahn continued, his words cutting deep into the Princess's pride.

​

​"You came here seeking strength, Princess Selena," Vahn declared. "But you mistake the direction of the offering. The Necrotic Dynasty is not seeking protection; we are demanding submission."

​Vahn gestured broadly toward the horizon where Ezekiel had completed his conquest. "We have unified the Oslan Plains in less than ten days. We command legions of Barbarians and Ghosts, and we are armed with Heaven Grade artifacts. Your paltry offer of protection is an insult to the power that now resides here."

​He fixed his gaze directly on her icy blue eyes. His Imperial Aura enhanced by the Prince of Darkness title press down on her.

​"Return to King Belmont. Tell him this: If the Frost Giant Kingdom wishes to survive the coming changes to this continent, they will not send demands or wives. They will send a tribute, and they will swear fealty. Anything less will be met with the full power of the Dynasty."

​Vahn had not just rejected the offer; he had flipped the hierarchy, demanding the surrender of the much larger, established Frost Giant Kingdom.

Princess Selena's face deflated like a balloon at Vahn's blunt rejection and counter-demand. The shame of being so casually dismissed, coupled with the insult to her powerful kingdom, was too much.

​Then, she burst out into a wild, echoing laughter that cracked the icy air.

​"Hahahaha..."

​She stopped abruptly, her demeanor becoming dangerously cold. "Who do you think you are? You really think your boasts about Heaven Grade Artifacts would scare us, the mighty Frost Giants? We crush mountains!"

​"Why would I boast? Do you see the scepter in my Queen's hand?" Vahn asked, his finger pointing toward Seraphina, who now held the shimmering Heaven Grade Scepter of Radiance. "That's a Heaven Grade Artifact I personally crafted. She is enough to kill you hundreds of times over."

​Selena's eyes snapped to the pulsating white scepter. Even from that distance, she felt a wave of oppressive Holy Light energy that made her naturally dark and cold energy tremble. A genuine, cold sweat ran down her temple. The weapon was unquestionably real, and its power was immense.

​Yet, she refused to accept it. Her pride, and her father's contingency, drove her.

Her eyes sharpened with cold, murderous determination. "Then you leave me with no other choice, King Vahn. I will show how weak your Queen is."

​Whoosh!

​

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