"Everyone, stay here and protect the palace! I’ll worry about protecting the citizens!"

The kings voiced boomed with authority. Everyone slowly started shaking off the effects of the dark mark they looked at. Katra slowly walked over and bowed his head to the king.

"Please, sir. Allow me to take revenge on the man who scarred my face."

The king looked down at Katra with a threating glare.

"I need you alive. That would be a suicide mission."

"I know how to defeat him now. Please let me do it."

After three moments, the king walked down to Katra. He reached into his pocket and took out a strange looking key.

"There’s a secret door near the wall by the back of the palace. Use the opportunity to sneak around them and flank."

Katra grabbed the key while still bowing to him.

"The rest of you, stay here and protect the throne. None of you take your eyes off of Jacob or his friend. Protect them with your lives."

The king continued to walk toward the door of the throne room with confidence.

"Wait. Where are you going?"

The king didn’t turn his head but stopped walking for a moment.

"I’m going to show my dear brother what it means to be a king. He may have a storm on his side, but I have a storm of my own to fight back with."

The ground beneath them started shaking. Small drops of blood started leaking through every crack and flow towards the king. All around the kingdom, the same occurrence was happening. More and more blood seeped through the ground and begun forming into sharp shapes pointed at the sky.

The entire sky turned from a dull grey to a dark red. The king walked out in the rain with a small red umbrella to shield himself from the rain. He lifted a finger up and pointed up towards the sky. The water all around him turned into jets of force, streaming down aiming to destroy the entire kingdom. But before it could...

"... release."

An explosion of red blood shot towards the sky, meeting the water and stopping it in its tracks. Millions upon millions of rain droplets desperately clashed against thick red pikes shooting through the sky. The entire scene was something akin to gods fighting each other from the air vs the ground.

As the red blood splattered against the water, it would absorb it and grow while continuing to shoot through the air. The king was effortlessly defending against a barrage that could devastate an empire in mere moments.

As more and more blood spilled on to the streets, it started wrapping itself around the citizens of the kingdom and hardening. Each and every person was given their own set of armor to protect themselves from the downfall in case he missed a drop or two.

"W-what the hell is this red armor? How did it just leak from the ground?!"

"I’m not sure. Is it just me or do you feel stronger?"

"I... I feel like I could move giant boulders with ease wearing this. Who is granting us this strength?"

"A better question is why are we receiving this? Is something happening to the kingdom?"

"I don’t know, but if someone is trying to attack, they are in for one rude awakening."

"It has to be the king! He’s trying to protect us!"

"What? No way he would!"

"Who else could this be from?!"

"If the king is trying to protect us, we need to help him. I don’t like the bastard, but I have kids I need to protect here."

"I’m coming too. I just got a new grill for my shop!"

The king continued walking slowly toward the exit of his kingdom at a steady pace. A concentrated beam of water combined in the sky and shot towards him faster than he could blink. The king simply raised his right hand, and a shield of hardened blood blocked it. The sound from the impact rang through the entire kingdom like a bell.

"He’s so predictable. How could he not even care for the citizens of this kingdom in this assault?"

The rain seemed to be endless. However, the king’s blood seemed just as enduring. Even though the water was weakening his blood, there was way too much of it to make a difference.

As he reached the front of the kingdom, a large ocean of blood started slowly appearing around the king. He let it carry him forward out of the large gate to see his opponent face to face. Waiting for him outside the kingdom was none other than his brother-in-law, Leo. Next to him was a man the king assumed to be the man of the forest.

"Dearest brother. What a surprise to see you outside the kingdom! How long has it been since then? Hmm... never?"

"Enough of your jokes, Leo. Stand down or I will have no choice but to destroy you and your friend."

Behind Leo, a massive ocean of water grew more and more as the rain fell. Leo let out a small laugh.

"I believe you have it backwards. You see, I’m sure you are already aware of just how large my friend’s army is. If you don’t stand down, I’ll have him destroy every pebble that stands behind these walls, as well as the walls themselves."

The massive man next to Leo stayed quiet and looked at the king with a serious expression.

"You really have it all planned out, don’t you? Waiting for a storm to appear? I would expect nothing less from you! How smart!"

The ground around them started to rumble slowly.

"However, I believe you made a gross miscalculation of my rule."

Behind the king, a small army of crimson colored amor with a myriad of weapons started forming. Then the army grew... and grew... and grew.

Soon, seemingly hundreds of thousands of people covered in red armor stood their ground behind the king. Each of them held a different weapon. Some had bows, others had swords and shields, and some even had spiked gauntlets.

Leo’s face turned from arrogance to surprise.

"Oh? You’re capable of brainwashing people with your blood? I never expected that to happen, I must admit."

"They aren’t brainwashed."

Leo paled a bit.

"How else would they fight for someone as corrupt as you?"

All of the crimson soldiers unanimously pointed their weapons and drew their bows against their opponents. When they did this, duplicates of the man in front of the king started flooding around the meadow to meet them on the front line. They also had wooden weapons of their own and pointed them forward.

"Many may disagree with the idea of me being king. Many more may disagree with some of the decisions I make. However, Iron Kingdom is still their home, and they are all willing to die defending it. Even it is me who is ruling over them."

A collective yell echoed across the people, sending a chill down Leo’s spine.

"Glory! Glory! Glory!"

Suddenly, an ear-piercing sound started making its way toward them that sounded like something really powerful was cutting through the air. A bang rippled around Leo, and his companion, Monty, was sent miles and miles away from the battle while something grabbed hold of his throat. The person holding on to his throat with an iron grip was none other than Zeke Katra, here to take his revenge on the man who changed his face forever.

The king slowly made himself his own dark red armor around himself and a long spear to compliment it. He held it by his side and slammed it next to him three times, each impact sending a shockwave through the earth.

"Iron Kingdom will not fall today!"

The army behind him followed his slams with kicks of their own on the ground.

"Fight! Fight! Fight!"