Chapter 445: The Last War

King Wilhelm;

I watch my sons disappear into the darkness surrounding that structure.

Koda is the first to move.

His sword is already in his hand, his shoulders tense, and every step carrying the kind of determination I have seen countless times before.

Zephan follows beside him. Neither of them looks back.

They don’t need to. They know what they have to do. They know who is waiting for them inside that building.

Elián.

My son’s husband...My family. And somewhere inside that darkness is my granddaughter too.

I remain still for a moment, watching the guards spread around the ancient structure.

The air feels wrong.

Even from here, I can feel the residue of the Black Sect’s magic lingering around the place. It clings to the trees. To the earth. To the very air we breathe.

Selthía stands nearby, her ward still glowing faintly around Koda and Zephan before they disappear completely from my sight.

My gaze then moves toward her. One of my oldest allies. My son’s aunt. My late wife’s twin. Sometimes it’s uncanny how much she looks like her.

Selthía has been part of this family for longer than I can remember, and there are very few people in this world whose judgment I trust as much as hers.

She catches me staring and frowns.

"Wilhelm." She calls, and I look away. I don’t answer her.

My eyes return to the structure instead, and something twists inside my chest. Something heavy. Something I have carried for longer than I care to admit.

...Guilt.

I have spent so many years believing that I could protect my family if I simply built something strong enough.

BeastHeaven.

The kingdoms, the alliances, the armies, the walls...The throne.

I thought if I could make this place strong enough, my children would never have to experience the things I had experienced.

They would grow up safe. They would have a home. They would have a future. But somehow... Somehow, my children are still the ones standing at the edge of death.

Again, and again...and again.

I lower my gaze to my hands, and the guilt worsens.

How many times have I failed them?

The question quietly echoed in my mind, but it hurts more than any accusation ever could.

I remember my daughters. My daughters back on Earth. I remember their faces. Their voices...The way they looked at me in the end.

They hated me.

And I can’t pretend I don’t understand why. I failed them.

Perhaps I spent so much time trying to become the father I thought they needed that I forgot to actually be their father.

I built...I provided, I protected in the ways I understood. But maybe I missed the things that mattered. And eventually, they hated me enough to kill me.

Even death didn’t erase that.

If anything, coming here only gave me more time to understand the things I got wrong.

And then here, I thought perhaps this life would be different.

A new world... A new family. A chance to do things differently.

But I have already buried two wives. Two women who were supposed to grow old beside me.

Two women I loved. Two women I could not keep safe.

And my sons...My sons have spent years carrying burdens that should never have belonged to them.

They have fought wars. They have protected kingdoms. They have faced enemies that would have broken men twice their age.

And every time they walk into danger, a part of me wonders if I am watching the same mistake happen all over again...

Only this time, I am watching my sons pay for it.

I close my eyes and let out a breath. I don’t want to think about it. Not now.

But perhaps I have spent too long refusing to think about this, and that’s why things are like this.

My dream of BeastHeaven was supposed to be a future.

A place where our people could live without fear. A kingdom where my children would not have to spend their lives looking over their shoulders.

Yet my sons have had to fight for that dream with blood.

And now Elian has become part of it too. Elian...

My chest tightens at the thought of him. He is so young. Far too young to have endured everything he has already endured.

When he first came into our lives, I did not understand what he would become to this family.

I didn’t understand what he would mean to Koda. To Zephan...To the others.

I only knew that my sons had begun to change. Small things at first.

A smile, a laugh...The way Koda would look toward a room whenever Eliàn entered it, the way Zephan seemed calmer when he knew Eliàn was safe.

It was subtle. But I noticed. I always notice my children.

And for the first time in a very long time, I saw something in my sons that I had not seen in years.

...Happiness. Real happiness. Elian brought that to them. He didn’t have to build a kingdom. He didn’t have to command armies... He didn’t have to do anything grand.

He simply existed in their lives, and somehow, my sons remembered what it felt like to be happy.

I will never forget that. I don’t think I could. So when I think about him lying somewhere inside that structure, surrounded by those monsters... I can’t simply stand here.

Not this time. I have failed my family before. I will not fail them again.

My eyes move toward the structure again. Koda and Zephan are already inside.

They didn’t wait. They didn’t ask permission. They saw their family in danger and moved.

That is who my sons are.

Perhaps that is the greatest thing I gave them. Perhaps it is also the thing I am most afraid of. Because I know exactly what they are willing to sacrifice.

Everything. Their lives, their futures, their safety...All of it.

For Elian. For their family. For their child.

Their mothers would be proud of them. The thought makes something ache inside me.

Their mothers...

I know Serenía is no longer here to guide Zephan herself, but I have watched my sons grow.

I know the lessons they were given. I know the strength they inherited.

And Selthía is here for Zephan and Zethar. Their mother’s twin. Their aunt.

She has always been there when they needed another voice, another hand, another person willing to tell them when they were being foolish.

She will guide them. She will protect them. And they have each other. My sons have each other.

They are ready.

They can fight. They can survive. They have to...

But my granddaughter...

My eyes lower.

I have never held her. I haven’t seen her face, haven’t heard her cry, haven’t watched her take her first breath...And yet the thought of losing her makes something inside me feel almost unbearable.

She hasn’t even had the chance to live. She hasn’t had the chance to know her father. She hasn’t had the chance to grow up in this family.

...She hasn’t had the chance to complain about her grandfather embarrassing her in front of her friends.

A small, almost painful smile touches my lips at the thought.

I would have done it. I would have been an annoying grandfather. I would have spoiled her...Probably far more than I should.

I would have watched my sons complain about me giving her everything she wanted and then done it again anyway.

I would have held her. Protected her. Watched her grow.

And perhaps, for the first time in a very long time, I would have had the chance to simply be happy.

Not king. Not father. Not the man responsible for an entire empire.

...Just grandfather.

The thought disappears as quickly as it comes.

Because she is in there. And she is in danger.

No.

My jaw tightens.

Nothing will happen to her. Nothing. I look at Selthía again.

She is watching me carefully now.

"You are thinking out loud," she says, and I almost smile.

"After all these years, you still know me too well."

"I’ve known you long enough." There is no teasing in her voice. Only concern. Then she steps closer.

"Wilhelm..."

"I am going in."

Her expression hardens immediately. "I know."

"I am not asking permission."

"I know that too." She replies.

I look toward the structure again. "My sons are in there."

"They are." She replies, and I swallow.

"And Elian is in there as well as my granddaughter."

Her expression softens. "I know."

For a moment, neither of us says anything. Then Selthía reaches for my arm.

"You cannot protect everyone."

The words hurt because they are true.

"I know."

"You cannot carry every loss yourself."

"I know."

"Then what are you planning to do?" She whispers, and I look at her.

And for the first time, I let myself say the thought that has been sitting inside me since I watched my sons disappear into that structure.

"Whatever I have to."

She studies me and horror begins to creep into her expression. "Wilhelm..."

"I have spent my entire life trying to keep my family from suffering," I say, my voice quieter now.

"And somehow, they have suffered anyway."

Selthía doesn’t interrupt.

"I lost my children once." I swallow. "I lost two wives."

My fingers tighten around my sword. "I have watched my sons bleed for a kingdom I built because I believed it would give them a better life."

I look toward the structure. "And now Elian is in there."

My voice breaks slightly on his name. "The first real happiness I have seen in my sons in years."

Selthía’s eyes soften.

"I will not let that be taken from them."

She is silent, so I continue.

"I don’t know what is waiting for us in there. I don’t know how powerful the Sect has become. I don’t know what they want from Elian or what they intend to do to my granddaughter." I take a breath. "But I know this."

I look at her.

"If someone has to die today, it will not be that child."

Selthía’s expression changes. "What are you..."

"My sons are ready." I shake my head slowly. "They are stubborn. Reckless. Sometimes completely impossible."

That earns the faintest smile from her.

"But they are ready."

I glance toward Koda and Zephan’s last known position.

"They have each other. They have the people who love them. They have their mothers’ strength. They have you." I pause. "And they have Elian."

My throat tightens. "They just need to bring him home."

I look down at my sword. "And I need to make sure they have the chance to."

Selthía understands before I say anything else. She always does.

"You are willing to lay down your life." She whispers, but I don’t answer. I don’t need to. Because the truth is simple.

I have spent enough of my life being afraid of losing the people I love. Fear has not protected them. It has only made me hesitate.

Not today.

I lift my head.

I am still a king. Still a father. Still a man carrying the weight of an entire kingdom on his shoulders.

But right now, none of those titles matter. I am a grandfather. And my granddaughter is in danger.

I take one step toward the ancient structure. Then another. The guards immediately notice.

Several straighten.

One begins to speak, but I raise my hand. "No."

He falls silent.

I don’t need anyone to tell me to stay behind. I have done enough standing behind.

My sons are already fighting for their family.

It is time I fought too. I look once more at Selthía.

"If I die today—"

She shakes her head. "Don’t."

I smile faintly. "You always hated when I finished sentences like that."

"Because you have always had a terrible habit of tempting fate." She snaps, and I smile.

"Perhaps."

I turn toward the structure. "But I have no intention of dying today."

That is not entirely true. But it is what I need to believe. Because there is still a family waiting for me.

A family I have failed before. A family I have lost pieces of. A family I have spent this entire life trying to protect.

And perhaps I cannot save everyone...Perhaps I cannot undo every mistake I have made. Perhaps I cannot...give my sons back the years they lost or give my daughters from Earth the father they deserved.

But I can do this.

I can stand between my granddaughter and whatever had dared to threaten her. I can make sure my sons do not have to carry this burden alone.

...I can finally choose my family before everything else.

My grip tightens around my sword.

Somewhere inside those ancient walls, my sons are fighting. Elian is waiting, and my granddaughter is still fighting to enter this world.

I will not let the darkness take her before she even gets the chance.

Whatever happens today... Whatever it costs... Whatever I have to give... I will protect them.

Even if the price is my life.

...Especially if it is my life.

Because I have failed enough families in one lifetime. I will not fail this one. Not again.

Never again