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The Rulers were asking for forgiveness from the Shadow Sovereign.

They occupied an overwhelmingly advantageous position. As long as they willed it, they could have sent the Shadow Sovereign back to the empty void, yet they wished to make up with him, instead.

This was their own way of showing their respect towards a comrade, born together at the same time, as well as the greatest warrior who once stood at the forefront with his Army of Brilliant Light, in the war against the powers of the Sovereigns.

Although the Shadow Sovereign was never their leader, his comrades nevertheless respected him greatly.

And that was why they ignored the command from their leader, the 'brightest Fragment of Brilliant Light', to get rid of the Sovereign and instead chose to kneel before him.

[We no longer have any reason to fight each other.]

The enraged voice of the Shadow Sovereign resounded throughout the land next.

[What do you mean, there's no reason??!]

The Sovereign reached down and grabbed the collar of the Ruler asking for forgiveness and yanked him up by force.

[Have you not harmed my liege with your swords and spears?!]

[He was our master as well.]

[That is precisely why your crimes are even more heinous!]

The Rulers maintained a courteous attitude, even towards the enraged Shadow Sovereign.

[You know better than anyone what we felt in our hearts when we raised our banners of rebellion against our master.]

The Shadow Sovereign raised his head and discovered that the silver-clad winged soldiers had gathered around them before he had noticed it, and they were looking in his direction with worried expressions etched on their faces.

These were truly loyal soldiers.

How could he not know what they felt, watching their comrades die at the hands of their enemies? It was him who led these soldiers in countless battlefields and shed blood in honour of their master, after all.

[We only wished to end this war. That was all.]

The Sovereign's grip holding onto the Ruler's collars loosened just a tad.

[And finally, we have the opportunity to do so.]

[That's right. You can finally end this war.]

The Shadow Sovereign let go of the Ruler, picked up his discarded sword, and made the angel grip the weapon's hilt.

[Strike me down with this sword.]

And then, he looked at the other Rulers and shouted out.

[Pierce my heart with your spears! That is the end that you so desperately seek! With this act, you shall finally become the victor of this war!]

But, the sword powerlessly fell from the Ruler's grasp and clattered noisily onto the ground. No one else tried to push forward their spears against the Shadow Sovereign. Only the pleading voice came back his way.

[Please, find it in your heart to forgive us.]

Unfortunately, their earnest plea struck the Shadow Sovereign more painfully than any weapon known to man.

After he lost his subordinates, after he lost his master, and after he himself was trapped within the darkness, the only thing that motivated him to carry on were the thoughts of revenge.

The desire for vengeance helped him to endure until now.

He had led the army of the dead with the singular thought of making these Rulers pay for their transgressions.

But now, how could he continue to hate those asking for his forgiveness in order to save their own soldiers from this endless cycle of warfare?

After all, both he, fighting to protect his master, and these Rulers, who fought to keep their subordinates alive, were victims of fate's cruelty, were they not?

The truth, that these kneeling angels weren't his detestable enemies, but comrades who went through hell together, began tearing at his heart mercilessly now.

With that, the sole reason for his existence gone, the Shadow Sovereign cried out towards the others as if he was vomiting blood.

[Come! Kill me!]

Everything shall end here.

He'd rather return to the embrace of the void and rest for eternity while forgetting everything that had happened.

[Hurry!]

None of the Rulers moved an inch.

No, they remained kneeling on the ground, their heads pressed to the floor, just like how it was from the beginning.

The Shadow Sovereign raised his head up next.

That prompted all the silver-clad soldiers in the air, still remembering the greatest warrior ever to grace the heavens, to place their fists where their hearts were and lower their heads.

[....]

Although they had to fight against him because of the differing ideals, they still hadn't forgotten about their admiration towards him in their hearts and consequently, they paid their utmost respect.

The number of such soldiers utterly dominated the entire sky. And when all of them lowered their heads, the Shadow Sovereign stopped silently watching them and turned around to leave.

The Sovereign of Death left the scene just like that, and afterwards, he completely vanished without a trace. Meanwhile, the combined forces of the Sovereigns, now that their own armies had been greatly depleted by the internal conflict of the three Sovereigns, met with a resounding defeat at the hands of the Rulers.

The defeated remnants escaped to the crack between dimensions with their remaining forces. Jin-Woo watched the Sovereigns and their defeated army escaping through the enormous Gate and became utterly dumbstruck.

'The scale of the defeated remnants were that big....?!'

He couldn't even begin to imagine just how many soldiers from both sides had to be sacrificed for the sake of the Absolute Being's entertainment.

He kind of understood where these Rulers were coming from when they rebelled against their master's rule.

But, it was then.

The Shadow Sovereign that secluded himself from the worldly affairs, appeared before the other Sovereigns again.

When the Shadow Sovereign and the Sovereign of Beastly Fangs ran into each other, others became extremely tense that another violent clash might take place, but due to the intervention from the Dragon Emperor, the feared event didn't come to pass.

[Now is the time to replenish our depleted forces. I understand the history between you two, but I shan't allow a fight to take place.]

The Dragon Emperor then accepted the Shadow Sovereign back to their fold once more with open arms.