The Royal Palace of Azureus was in chaos.

Nobles, merchants, and generals were shouting over each other, their voices echoing in the grand strategy room. A massive holographic map of the city dominated the center of the table, turning red as the Draconic Legion pushed through the outer defenses.

"We must evacuate!" a merchant lord screamed, clutching a bag of pearls. "The city is lost!"

"We stand and fight!" a general of the City Watch roared, slamming his fist on the table. "We are the children of the Sea! We do not run!"

"They are eating the wards!" a mage cried out, pointing at the map. "The dragons... they consume mana! Our barriers are just feeding them!"

Lord Oceanus sat on his throne at the head of the table, his face a mask of weary stone. He gripped his scepter, his knuckles white. He looked old. The burden of a thousand years of peace ending in a single night weighed heavy on him.

"Silence," Oceanus said. His voice wasn't loud, but the water amplified it, sending a pressure wave through the room.

The shouting died down, replaced by fearful murmurs.

"Panic is a poison," Oceanus stated. "We need a strategy. Where is the Eighth Guardian?"

"Right here," a voice cut through the room.

The heavy double doors of the strategy room slammed open. Alvian walked in. He was covered in black ichor and dragon blood. His [Vestments of the Void Monarch] were torn in places, revealing the black, mana-infused skin beneath. Behind him walked Valeria, her shield dented and smoking, and Seraphina, who was wiping a green toxin from her daggers.

Alvian didn't bow. He walked straight to the map table. The nobles parted for him, terrified by the sheer aura of violence clinging to him.

"The North Gate has fallen," Alvian announced, his voice calm, factual. "I collapsed the bridge to buy time, but the Legion can swim. They will be at the Second Ring in two hours."

"Two hours?" the merchant lord gasped. "We're doomed!"

"Inefficient thinking," Alvian snapped, looking at the man. "We have two hours to turn the Second Ring into a kill box."

He looked at Oceanus.

"My Lord," Alvian said. "The Draconic Legion is not a mindless horde. They are an army. They have commanders. They have tactics. And they are being led."

"Led by whom?" Oceanus asked. "The Syndicate?"

"The Syndicate opened the door," Alvian said. "But the dragons are driving the car. I fought a Commander in the trench. Drakon. He was organized. Intelligent. And he had magic immunity."

Gasps rippled through the room. Magic immunity was the nightmare of the Sea Races, who relied heavily on hydro-magic.

"We cannot defeat them in a war of attrition," Alvian continued, manipulating the hologram to zoom out. "They have numbers. They have power. And they are hungry. If we try to hold every inch of the city, we will lose every inch."

"Then what do you propose?" the General asked, crossing his arms.

"A decapitation strike," Alvian said.

He pointed to three specific locations on the map outside the city. The Storm Reef. The Abyssal Trench. And the Sunken Graveyard.

"The Legion has split its forces," Alvian explained. "They are securing the resource points we liberated from the Warlords. They are setting up forward operating bases to siege the city."

He pointed to the Storm Reef, the former territory of the Lightning Naga.

"Here. They are harvesting the [Thunder Stones]. They are building siege engines charged with lightning to break our wards."

He pointed to the Trench.

"Here. They are using the geothermal vents to incubate more eggs. Reinforcements."

He looked up at the Council.

"We don't wait for them to knock down our door. We go out there. We kill their Commanders. We burn their supplies. We break their eggs."

"That is suicide!" the merchant lord shrieked. "Leaving the city walls? Madness!"

"Staying inside is suicide," Alvian countered cold. "It's just a slower death."

Oceanus stood up. He looked at the map. He looked at Alvian.

"The Eighth Guardian is right," Oceanus said. "We cannot win a siege. We must attack."

He raised his scepter.

"I hereby name Alvian, the Eighth Guardian, as High Marshall of the Azureus Forces. All military assets are under his command. The City Watch, the Royal Guard, and the Faction Armies."

"My Lord!" the General protested. "He is a human! A surface dweller!"

"He is the Godslayer," Oceanus said, his voice final. "And he is the only one winning battles."

[System Notification: Title Upgraded.]

[Title: High Marshall of Azureus.]

[Effect: Command Authority over all Sea Race NPCs. +200 to Leadership. Access to Strategic Resources.]

Alvian didn't smile. He didn't thank them. He simply looked at the map.

"Good," Alvian said. "Now, get out of my room. I have a war to plan."

He looked at his team.

"Valeria, you're in charge of the city defense. Take the Vanguard and the City Watch. Hold the Second Ring. If a single dragon gets past you, I'm docking your pay."

Valeria grinned, saluting. "Consider it a wall, Boss."

"Seraphina, I need eyes on the Storm Reef. I need to know exactly where the Commander is."

"On it," Seraphina said, vanishing into stealth.

Alvian looked at the map, his eyes locking onto the Storm Reef.

"First, we break their siege engines," Alvian whispered. "Then, we break their bones."

The transition from a squad leader to a High Marshall was a shift in scale, not mindset. For Alvian, it was simply a matter of managing more variables.

He stood in the Royal Armory, a vast chamber filled with weapons of coral, bone, and steel. The [Sea King's Treasury] access granted by his title allowed him to requisition anything.

"Inefficient," Alvian muttered, walking past rows of standard tridents. "Trash. Garbage. Useless."

He wasn't looking for weapons for himself. He was looking for weapons for his army. The City Watch was brave, but their gear was designed for policing merfolk, not fighting armored dragons. Their spears would shatter against adamantine scales.

"System. Scan armory for piercing enchantments."

[Scanning...]

[Match Found: Crate 402. Deep-Iron Harpoons. Enchantment: Armor Penetration.]

"Better," Alvian said. He turned to the Quartermaster, a terrified Crab-Kin. "Issue these to the front line. And distribute the [Shock-Wands] to the support mages. Dragons hate electricity."

"Yes, Marshall!" The Crab-Kin scrambled to obey.

Alvian walked to a workbench. He pulled out the [Thundergod Bracers] and the [Storm Trident] he had looted from Kaelen (before returning it) - wait, he had returned it. He pulled out the [Shard of the Avatar's Mask] and the [Phantom Dragon Scale].

He needed to upgrade his own gear. The battle with Drakon had shown him the limits of his current build. He needed more burst damage to bypass the magical immunity of the Dragon Knights.

"System. Initiate Reforging. Target: [Thundergod Bracers]."

He placed the bracers on the bench. He placed the [Phantom Dragon Scale] next to them.

"Fuse."

[Ding!]

[Authority Invoked.]

[Consuming Daily Charge 1/2.]

The bracers glowed. The red heat of the Dragon Scale merged with the blue lightning of the bracers. The metal turned a deep, bruised purple.

[Item Evolved: Draconic Storm Bracers (Mythical).]

[Effect: Lightning damage now carries [Dragonfire] property. Ignores 50% of Draconic Resistance.]

"Perfect," Alvian said, equipping the new gear. He felt the power thrumming against his skin. Now, his lightning would burn as well as shock.

His comms crystal buzzed. It was Seraphina.

"Alvian, I'm at the Reef," her voice was a whisper. "It's... it's bad. They've terraformed it. The coral is gone. It's all metal and machinery now. They're mining the [Thunder Stones] and feeding them into massive cannons."

"Siege cannons," Alvian realized. "They're planning to bombard the city from the reef."

"And there's a Commander," Seraphina continued. "Not Drakon. Another one. He's floating in the center of the mining operation. He's... eating the lightning."

"Describe him."

"Humanoid. Blue scales. Four arms. He wields two hammers that look like engine pistons. His mana signature is off the charts. It matches the frequency of the storms."

"General Fulgur," Alvian identified the target from his past life's lore. "The Storm-Eater. He's the siege specialist."

"He has a barrier," Seraphina added. "It's powered by the storms. As long as the lightning strikes, he's invulnerable."

"Then we turn off the lights," Alvian said.

He turned to the door. Valeria was waiting there, her armor repaired and reinforced with new plating from the armory.

"The defense is set," Valeria reported. "Master Thorne and Master Kaelen have taken the flanks. Lady Ola is holding the center with the barrier. We're ready."

"Good," Alvian said. "Hold the city. I'm going to take a walk."

"You're taking the Abyssal Guard?" Valeria asked.

"No," Alvian shook his head. "They're too slow. This is a stealth mission."

"Stealth?" Valeria raised an eyebrow, looking at the massive [Lance of the Void Winter] strapped to his back. "With that thing?"

"It's stealth if no one survives to report it," Alvian said.

He walked past her.

"I'm going to the Reef. If I don't report back in three hours, assume the cannons are firing and evacuate the East District."

"Just come back," Valeria said softly.

Alvian paused. He nodded once.

"Efficiency dictates survival," he said.

He activated [Void Step]. He vanished.

The war had moved to the enemy's territory. And Alvian was bringing the storm with him.

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